P1
Camp near Stafords Corthouse
January 30 th 1863
Dr brother i am well at present
an hope you are the same we have marched
again it was a hard march it was mud
from the first to the last we have got
with in 1 mile of staford Corthouse an
now we cannot get any farther fore the
mud we lost 17 horses an mules on the
march this winter campain is a grate
thing. Burnsids [1] is stuck fast at
fredricks burg an resign sigil [2] is under
arest hooker [3] is now in comand an
he will bury the whole thing in the
mud if he goes as Burnsids did they
throwed Mack [4] out with out a cause
an now would like to have him in
again if he would come if he had comand
of the army the war would have been farther
on than it is he would routed them
out of fredricks burg with so hevy a los
[page 2]
P2
as what was there i believe that
they are a goin to try to starve them
now they cannot take the place by
storm fore the intrenchments is so close
to each other that they can cut bregaid
after bregid if they do advans an them.
Well Isaac this all the news i have to
tell you about the war i will give
you a histy hisery about the people down
here the nigers are all taken out of
this state an the wite people all
alike the men what is is dresed in
in reb uniforme an the girls looks as
if they had been used fore a house-
cloth or making to wipe out an
oven i was out an picket last nih
ht an i went to a house to buy a pie
an i seen the dirties girls there that
i ever saw one of them had on a
soldiers blouse fore a shimey [5] an
a pair of pants fore drawers an had a
frock on over them an a pair of govermen
[page 3]
Po 3
ent shoos an the dirt was about an
inch thick an her face an neck
there was about a dosen of youngsters
nuning about there an then looked
as if they had been brougth up in a
hogpen they wey wer crying with
cold an hunger i pittied the little
children but the old ones i didnot fore
they could stand the cold better than
the children. Well all the way on the
march i did not see but three houses
on the road it was nothing but woods
an bushes and pines all the way
along the road an it is a regular god
forsake country fore it is nothing
but mud an bushes as far as i have
in the state an it the same as far
as i can see. Well i was paid of[f] again
an i sent 27 dolars in a check the
is in your name an you will
haft to go to West Chester after it
well i must close my letter
[page 4]
P 4
rite soon as you get this
an tell me how mother is getin
g along an wether she is goin
to stay where she is rite soon
as you get this letter
send me a news paper fore
i cant get my papers here
no more at present
W A Guest
pleas rite a [letter?] [whethe?]
[r?] wether mother got that
check or not