Letter, 1863

This collection consists of a letter from James C. Franklin, a soldier in Company D, 57th Virginia Infantry, to his wife Susan in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Writing from a camp near Guinea Station, Virginia, Franklin describes a recent, difficult march through rain and snow near Fredericksburg. He then briefly recounts a massive snowball fight between Toombs' Brigade and Cross's Brigade. "It was verry dangerous they hurt some of the men verry bad," he writes. Franklin discusses the unlikely possibility of receiving a furlough but states that those not receiving furloughs are likely to desert soon. "[T]hey wil run away in the Spring and I will be one in the crowd if I live." He complains of short rations and the price of goods, then advises his brother John Billy to bring a surgeon's certificate when returning so that he will be paid for the time he was absent.