CSA 1, 5¢ green (small faults) canceled with Tuscaloosa star (AC-15A) and matching TUSCALOOSA Ala JAN 28 (1862) CDS on cover to “Mrs. Sarah Devenport Rogersville, Al” with ORIGINAL LETTER, 2-pages (letter, page 1) (letter, page 2) written on high quality blue-lined paper with an embossed British watermark by Kent Mill of St. George and the dragon, headed “Tuscaloosa Al Jany 26 1862” regarding mutual friends or family “is at Camp Low near Dumfrease. I have a Brother Living 4 miles from Dumfrease…expecting a Big Battl som ware near that place…I am a man of pease…bles an by favored Rebel on the face of the earth But hey hav let political dimagoges bring ruen on the…an they have boock up and if the best government that God ever give to a Reb well J Davis, Lee every thing but r…. before…a battle in Kentucky and our army is badly beatton and rutted and four of our …. Is killed …there is a father battle expect in tenessee near Paris …well God have mercy on us…John Purcell Wells 12 Mils Ky Tom Maleat.” Hard to read due to both handwriting and awful spelling, but worth careful transcription. Ex-Skinner. $600.

Sarah Davenport is listed as a seamstress with the Alabama 18^th Infantry. Listed in the same unit as her husband, Private F. Davenport. Although the letter mentions a large battle expected in Virginia with 150,000 on both sides and another in Tennessee, there were no major battles in Virginia around that time. Fort Donelson and Island No. 10 were captured by the Union about two weeks after this letter was written.