Camp Near Fredricksbg

            Feb 20^th 1863

Dear Sarah

I set down with my paper on my nea to address a line to you to let you know that I am in good health at the present time and do hope that you and all of the of our friends are also engoying the like good health Dear Mussy to inform you of the death of Agustus Haugh he died very sudently at about nine oclock on yesterday morning some two weeks ago he cought a bad cold and was complaining some along of not being very well but was able to run round and appeared Merry untill the / the evening of the 19^th instead when we was attacted with very severe chils and pain in the hed he was removed that evening to the hospitle and died on yesterday morning about nine oclock P.M. I washed him and helpt to lay him out and have gust returned from this berring he was berried with the honour of war about one half mile from our camp you will please inform his friends of his death he a little over six months wages coming to him at the time of his death which will amount to 78 dollars Dear Mussy in my last letter to you I stated to you that I had six months / wages due me on the day I wrote which letter was dated on the 15^th I made a mistake in the amount due me I told you that it amounted to fifty six dollars our pay amounts to thirteen dollars per month which will amount to seventy eight dollars and then my extra pay for the time I worked in the hospitle amounts to eleven dollars which will amount eighty nine dollars I have not received any of this pay yet but I think that we will receive our pay sometime in March I think that you must be in nead of mony to get along with as your 20 dollars must be nearly / spent by this time I have not had any mony myself for perhaps two months I have had a hard time to keep my self in tobacco but have managed to get along the way we get tobacco we save coffee and when we are on picket guard we trade our coffey to the rebel pickets in exchange for tobacco the way we do this the revel pickets stands on one side on the rapahanick river and we stand on the other we take a short board an fix a sail cloth on it and ties our coffee on it put the board in the watter and it flotes over to them they then change the sail and / and ties their tobaco on the board and it then flotes over to us they are very scarse of coffee and it demands a very high price consequently we get a large plug of tobacco for a very small porthan of coffee the rebels are very friendly to us when on picket they talk to us a great deal across the river they appear to be tierd of this war and so are we they say that they have nearly all got tired of this war and it will scoone play out our army has become very much dissatisfied and if it was not for the / severe punishment which deserters receive when caut the two thirds of the Pottomach armey would have deserted and gone home before this time and not withstanding they have thousands of our army deserted since the bludy battel faut at Fredricksburg last which is stiled and knowen here as the Burnsides slauter pen

            dear Mussy we are laying here in camp we are driled every day more or less when the wether is good / and we have to stand on picket guard one nite and two days of each week which is very disagreable on bad and cold nites we have had but very little cold wether here this winter yet the days are warm with white frosts at nite the only snow we have had here yet fell on last tuesday Monday was a very warm summer day and on tuesday it snowed all day on wendsay morning the snow was 6 inches deep the next day it rained and melted the snow all of the / the rodes are very bad here now and are almost impasable for teams to travel. Jacob Haugh has just returned to his company to day he was left sick at C_______ when we left that place was sent to the Yorktown hospitle and was their ever since he appears to be in pretty good health at this time please give my love to Oliver and Mary Thompson and children and now my dear Mussy I conclude by sending my love to you I also send you 20 kiss good by for this time I remain your

                                                                        W Rodgers to S. Rodgers

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