I have come across a letter from a member of the 42nd Va relating exchanges that supposedly took place between CS and US soldiers while both were on picket along the Rappahannock River in Janaury 1863. Here's what the letter says: “When our regiment was on picket, a Yank halooed across the river to one of our men that he would give him a gallon of whiskey (which by the way is only worth $80.00 in camp) for a plug of tobacco; but the fellow was not allowed to make the trade. Another, I understand, called to one of our men to know if we had a sorry corporal. He said if we had, he wanted to swap Burnside for him.” It would be nice if this exchange actually did take place between men in the 42nd and their Union counterparts; however, I have a sense that some or all of these two situations -- the whiskey/tobacco trade and Burnside for the sorry corporal -- may have been stories generally making the rounds in the army. Can anyone shed some light on the origin of these two situations, or help put them in context?