Head Quarters 20^th Regt

Stafford Court House Jan 26^th/63

Dear Wife

I now seat myself to answer your letter which I received last night and to let you know how and whare I am  I was glad to hear that you ware all well but little Freddie was very sorry that he was no better but hope that when this reaches you it will find you all well  I presume I shall hear from you againe before yoiu receive this and hope then to hear that the little fellow is better  I am well and should be in good spirits if I knew or thought that you ware all well at home we have had a hard march since I last wrote to you  we left Fair Fax Station Monday morning the 19^th  Tuesday night found us about half a mile beyond Dumfries  Tuesday evening it began to rain and rained all night, the next day and the next night, we started Wednesday morning about eight O clock and we had a tough time of it that day  I can tell you although we made but a few miles that day the mud was over shoe every step we had to pick our way at that  I will tell you how far we come that day it was but three miles  it took us on foot till about noon and the teems that belong to our Regt did not come up with us untill about 9 O clock the next morning so you can judge what kind of traveling it was  the supply train that belonged to the 12^th army Corps was back about a mile then stuck in the mud  we have now arived to Thursday 9 O clock AM then orders come for us to draw three days rations and take with us  we went for them but could not get them for the reason that the teems had not got up with us so about 12 O clock we started on our march again and paddled on through the mud till night when we halted and turned off into the pines for the night  we had a very comfortable nights rest considering how wet the ground was  Friday morning we started again without any thing to eat what we marched that day the most of us don it on an empty stomach from Thursday night till Friday night the space of 24 hours I had one hard tack to eat a pretty bit lot of feed to march through the mud on Friday night we arived here whare we now are  the next morning at half past eight our whole Regt had to go out on picket the line of pickets extended from four to five miles we got back to this place yesterday Sunday in the afternoon about four O clock how long we shall stay here I cannot tell you probably not very long however; this place is called Stafford Court House it is 8 miles from Fredericksburg; whether the army is doing any thing or not I do not know we do not know anything at all out here and a soldier is supposed not to know any; I have not got any money from the government yet and do not think I shall at presant  I  hope you will get yours the first of next month  if you get your pay up to the first of Feb you will have almost sixty dollars it being but nine days short of six months which would be just sixty; I have wrote in this that I had not got any pay yet but while I have been writing this the pay Master has come and paid us up to the first of Nov so I will send you home 20$ which you will find enclosed in this letter  I commenced this Monday it is Thursday now and as I write it is with sad feelings as I got your letter Tuesday night which brought the sad inteligence of our little Freddys death  it was a hard blow how could it been otherwise and he been spared for a comfort to us in our after years if I should be premited again to return to my family but alas the little circle is broken he is gone and his dear Father never more premitted to see his dear little face in this world but shall live in hopes of meeting him hereafter  I hope you will be able to say Gods will be done and feel as though it was all for the best the dear little fellow has gone whare he will never have any sorrow or trouble he will ever be waiting to meet his dear Father and Mother his brothers and sister in that bright and better world on high, if I could onley have been at home to have helped you took care of the dear little fellow through his sickness and administred to his wants it would have been a great consolation to me and also to have received and gave that last sweat kiss to and from that little angel and to have taken that last long farewell look of one so dearly beloved; but all of that pleasure I was not permited to enjoy, I hope you will be able to bre up under this affliction although it is a great one you must consider that I can sympathise with you here the same as if I was at home  it must be lonesom for you not to have little Freddy to stay with you whilst the other children are gone to school but although it was hard to part with him I suppose we ought not to wish him back to this world of pain and sorrow he must have gone through with a good deal of pain but that he is through with now he will never have to pass through with it again  I wish that I was at home with you and the children now so that I could see to your wants but that is out of the question when that time will come none of us can tell but I  hope it will be soon I told you that I got your letter that brought the sad news on Tuesday night  I received my mittens at the same time and was very glad to get them for we was having a cold storm at the time it rained Tuesday all day and night  I was out in the whole of it for I was on guard away from camp Wednesday morning it commenced sowing and snowed all day and was snowing hard when I went to bed if you could call it going to bed to lay down on some pieces of sticks split out of a log with blankets wet as sop for blankets over coats and every thing ware soaked through for it snowed so it wet faster than the fire would dry  I think the last two days have been the toughest of any thing that I have to go throug yet the snow is quite deep on the ground here now we have got our blankets spred out trying to get them dry so as to see if we can not lay more comfortable to night than what we did last thare was a sad accident happn in our company yesterday our Captain Henry C Smith was instantly killed by the falling of a tree  he was walking along the tree fell and struck him on the head and crushed him to ground killing him instantly our first Lieutenant starts to day in a few moments with his boddy for Hartford  I am going to send this letter by him and have him mail it at Hartford  I am well to day it is pretty cold and chilly here to day I hope when this reaches you it will fin you all well and resined to your lot  my love to you all I send Georgia a lock of hair that she wanted me to send her receive a kiss from me for all of you give my respects to all that take the pains to enquire abut me  From Your affectionate Husband   A.C. Smith

Answer this as soon as you receive it tell me if yu get the twenty dollars that I send to you in this letter  Edgar and Frank you must be good little boys and help your Mother  I should think you would feel very bad now that little Freddy is dead

Copyright © 2009 Bruce E. Leandro. All rights reserved.