Friday Dec 19, 1862

                       

Camp Misery neer Fairfax Station

 

Dear Father Mother Brother and Sisters

I now sit down to write you a few lines to let you no that I am well and hope these few lines may find you the same we started away from camp on wedensday and have marched every day since till to day which made 8 days we marched we marched about 20 miles below fairfax Station and got in sight of Dumfries landing and laid there over night and then turned back and then we marched back near fairfax station where we are a laying to day we have not heard any name for this camp yet so I called it Camp / Misery for I could not think of any thing elce I received 2 letters from home this morning and was very glad to hear from you one that pap wrote on the 12^th and said he put one dolar in it and some postage stamps he said he put one dolar in it but there was only 85 cts in it and the one that mother sent on the 15^th had ten cts in it it will come very good I got a letter just before we started from you that had 20 cts in it I had ten of it left yet the things that you sent me we had to leave back except the quilt that I gave to one of the teem drivers to take care of it the cans we had to leave back and the tin box to our stove we sold to the sutler again for two dolars we thought that was better than never to get any thing for it /

                       

Saturday Dec 20^th 1862

                        Yesterday while I was a writing we had orders to pack up and move in the woods it is a very nice place here in the woods it is a fine strip where we lay and oak each side of it and the woods is very thick and it is nice here and not very cold when we was on the hights and heard that we had marching orders we did not believe it at first but the next thing we heard was to get redy to move against 8 Oclock the next morning we was all redy against the time and then we did not get off till about noon then we started down to the ferry and crossed over into verginea and then we had to help the wagons up the hill and so we did not get / over to miles from the ferry that day but when night came and we stopped we all pulled after rails and got a good big pile of them and then built up a smashen big fire and then cooked our suppers and then made our beds around the fire for the night but I did not lay very good that night for I did not take my boots off that night and my feet swelled and hurt me all night but the next night I took them off and slept as sound as a buck and have slept warm every night yet we get plenty to eat but the water is scarce and hardly fit for a pig we have had to take water out of the puddles in cornfields to make our coffee and some times out on the ditches long side of the road it looked more like milk than water 

 

but where we now lay we can get prety good water I have stood the march first trait but some times it went prety hard through the mud the mud was nee deep to the hourses and up to the hubs of the wagons and canons and over shoe tops deep in the fields and along side of the road wher we had to walk and before we came to lees burg we were all drawed up in line and ordered to fix baynets and and when we marched through the town the women peeped out of the windows up stairs and through the crack of the door and the men stood on the corners of the streets and looked as mad as a bull and the next day after we passed through the rebbel cavelry tried to take some of our cavelry / there were about 40 of ours and between 2 and 3 hundred of theirs and they had a kind of a skirmish and killed one of ours and 3 hourses and then our men started for help and when they got back they could not find any there

 

it is now getting late and I must stop for this time and will write in a day or to again you must give my love to all inquireing friends Steward sends his respects to you you must write soon Mother wanted to no wether I have that cough yet I have not got it and am as harty as a buck so good buy all

 

write soon from Will

to Andrew Swartz       good

Catharine Swartz        buy

and his Brothers

            Sisters

 

write soon and often

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