Thanks for your comments and information. Margaret Hays does not mention receiving this letter in her late 1864 or early 1865 letters but it does seem to be authentic in both the names of the soldiers and the description of events. The regiment was the 2nd Missouri Cavalary, CSA formed by Col Upton Hays from the Jackson County Brigade in about the summer of 1862 when he joined the CSA under Hindman in Shelby's Division. This regiment was reorganized into the 12th MO Cav in late 1862. Margaret Hays was living in Williamsburg, Callaway Co., MO when the letter was sent and may not have received it until she returned to Jackson Co. in late September 1865.