Civil War letter, Battle of Fredericksburg

Dear Alaia Fonk,

I am sitting here with pen in hand trying to form into words
what exactly is going on here. We are an outfit of 100 men strong.
We are tired, we are hungry. The fighting is continues. We have 35 men wounded.
We are down to 5 canons and running out of ammunition.
Mayor Toby has been wounded and left me in command. I was proud to be a confederate and to
serve my states.
Our uniforms are soiled with
blood and dirt and it was hard to see that there were once grey and respected.
We are sleeping in dug out trenches. While lying in the trenches
you can hear the sounds of crying and screaming as homes are being
burned down, and peoples lives are being destroyed. With this happening around you
one has to be strong and maintain his strength and courage and go ahead and try to save
us much lives and homes as one can. Our food rations are getting low. My men are hungry.
We try to sneak to farmhouses where there are wells, where we can get some water without
being noticed and shot. We want this war over.
So we can all live peacefully. Hopefully after this there will be no more civil war.
And that the south will live peacefully with the north.


My best,
Devin de Veer