White Station Tennesee April the 5th 1863  Dear Eliza  I recived your welcom letter of the 29th of last month and was very glad to here from you/ I am sory that you had to be so disapoin ted about my not comming home/ I was very much disapointed miself but it can not be helped and we  must purt up with it and be contented/ I have not bin very well for severl days/ I have taken cold being out on gard while I was in the commpany two nights/ -it- I  was out it stormed and rained very hard and then it turned cold and ever since I had a bad cold but I am giting over it now again and I don   t have to stand  back side have most every thing taken away from them and all thair fensis burned up so thay cant put in any kind of a crop/ this spring I would rather give up all our plase then to have such a thing com in to Illinois but God knows what all this is for he is doing all this for our own dood in the end and Some must only trust in him, I have writen to you in my lst letter to sent me 25 cants worth of letter stamps/I will remind you of it in this so no more at pressent/ tell Willy to write the next time you write and let be Soon your affectionate Husband J. G. Burggraf remember to all 
        inside     left gard now any more where I am/ I have the same kind of a Job I had at Bethel but I will not get any extry pay any more/ the government has quit paying extry duty men but I would rather doo that then to stand gard and be expos ed to all kindes of bad wether and then I have my nights rest reguler/ I can not tell when we will be pait off again/ we look to be pait every day for two month up to the first of March/ the last pay I get was for four month up to the first of January and then I have two months of extry pay comming to me yet 25 dollers which I expect to get before long which will make the whole about fiftyone dollers of which I will be able to sent you about 40 dollers/ but you had beter kep what muny you have on hand inside     right your use untill I can sent you som more and then if you have it to spare you can take up that note of Kells but be shure and keep enough for yourself, and I  think you had better purt the boys out somewhere to worck this summer if you can get a good chance and let some one have the lots to tend but you can doo what you think best/ you can tell beter what you can doo then I can/ I wish I could com  home for a while and see to things  but I don   t much beleaf that I will get a chance to com home  this summer/ I doo hope and trust this rebelion will soon com to a close so that we can be and live in pease once more though the peoble in the South are the greatest sufferrers by it you can not imagine what property is distroyed/ farmers