Camp Mar Falmouth, VA
March 11th 1863

Mrs. Gibbons
Dear friend if
you will permit me
to so address you, there
is in our company a [Sergeant]
by the name of Levi Rosa
whom I count among
the men who serve faithfully
and deserve will of their
country. When after enlisting
he passed the doctor
he told him "Now there
are six brothers of us in
the army and we are all
abolitionists." A solution of
the question of how they
all came to be there. One
of those brothers has since
died from the effect of

[left side]

wounds received at Bull
Run, another was killed
outright in Missouri. He
came from Kanzas and
was orderly sgt. but might
have probably carried a
commission had he been
willing to disguise his abolitionism.
Sgt. Rosa received
news from home not long
since that his wife who
had recently lost two brothers
in the army was sick
and that her [?] son
had died. He applied for
and received a furlough
to go home. When he reached
Kingston he learned that
his [crossed out: brother] remaining child
a firm intelligent boy three
years old had been taken
suddenly sick and he too

[right side]

was dead. You may think
that he would have been
justified in [sketching?] his
furlough for a few days.
I certainly should not have
blamed him, but promptly
on time Sgt. Levi was
at his post ready to do
his duty. In the hardest
marches in the worst of
weather I have never heard
Sgt. Rosa complain or
grumble.  Now he has a
brother Isaac E Rosa in
the hospital at Point Lookout
in Maryland and hearing
that you were there
I wish that if you can
see him you would do
so. I am not acquainted
with him but he must
be a [underlined] man [/underlined] or he would

not be Sgt. Levi's brother.
Now from what Levi says
of him he is probably
a fit subject for a discharge,
but would probably
prefer to join his [regiment]
where he would not be
fit to do duty and would
probably endanger his life
for nothing. Now if you
can help or induce him
to get his honorable discharge
I dont believe it
will be time wasted. We
can afford to [lose] our
noblest men when it
will tell but not when
it will not avail any
thing. Please be kind
enough to [?]
the receipt of this
from your friend
Lt E H Ketcham
129th N Y [?]