This letter was written by 17 year-old Mary Sackett (1847-1890), the daughter of Emanuel Sackett (1811-1875) and his wife Mary (1815-1857) of Cornersville, Drew county, Arkansas. Drew county is located in southeast Arkansas, not far from the Mississippi river.She was married in 1881 to Pierce Tindall in Sebastion county, Arkansas.
Mary wrote the letters to her cousin, Mary Brummett (1842-1874), the daughter of George Washington Brummett, Sr. (1809-18xx) and Malinda Cage (1809-1861) of White Sulfur Spring, Jefferson county, Arkansas.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Drew County, Arkansas
November 9th 1864
Dear Cousin,
I seat myself this evening to write you a few lines in answer to yours of the 18th October which came to hand the 2nd instant. We were all much gratified to hear from you and to hear that you were all well. Your letter found us all well and this leaves us so and we sincerely hope that these few lines may reach you in due time and find you enjoying the same blessing. Your relations here are all well so far as I know. Your Aunt Jenny and family were all well about four weeks ago. Hunter is in the Federal lines and I expect will stay there.
Your cousin Frany has married a Confederate prisoner in Pine Bluff. He is a widower with one child. His name is Daniels. He was taken and paroled and remains at the Bluff. We have never heard anything from Washington since he was captured. His wife and child were both well the last account we had from them. Jack Gentry has lost his wife. The rest of your relations were all well so far as your Aunt could tell us. We have not heard from John since the 15th June. He was well then and at Little Rock but where he is gone to is more than we can find out.
William 1 has gone to Missouri with Price’s cavalry. We have not heard from him since he left here. We hear that Price is near Jefferson City, doing well, recruiting rapidly, and supplying his men with everything needful. We have [had] Feds and Confeds here alternately until we are very near fed out of anything to feed upon. I have nothing more of importance to write.
[Brother] Monte says he has not forgotten you yet and says he wants to see you very much. Martha and Sarah send their love and respects to you, William, and Pleasant. Give my love to all my relations. Tell them I would be glad to see them all if I could but I see no prospect or probability of doing so. Write as often as you can and let us know how you are getting along. So nothing more at present but remain your affectionate cousin. — Mary Sackett
To Miss Mary Brummett
1 William Sackett (1844-1927) was Mary’s older brother who served in Co. C, Wright’s Arkansas Cavalry.
This letter was written by Mary A. Hanna (1836-1864), the daughter of James Hanna (1803-1859) and Margaret Fulton (1793-1859) of Short Creek Township, Harrison county, Ohio. Both of Mary’s parents died of typhoid fever with 15 days of each other in the late summer of 1859. We know little about Mary except that she was enrolled in 1856 at Oberlin College and she died in 1864, unmarried.
In her letter of October 1863, she mentions three brothers, two of whom were in the Federal service. The oldest, Alexander Fulton Hanna (1830-1863) was married to Ellen Thompson in 1853 and died of typhoid fever on 9 April 1863. He attended Franklin College at New Athens, Ohio, and was a teacher in Cadiz when he died—a devastating blow to the family as he served as the patriarch after the death of the parents. The second was James “Johnston” Hanna (1839-1890), who also graduated from Franklin College and was commissioned a Major in the 69th Ohio Vol. Infantry (OVI). He led the regiment in their charge up Missionary Ridge. The third was Archibald (“Archie”) Nelson Hanna (1841-1900) of Co. H, 126th OVI. She also mentions her younger sister Amanda Margaret Hanna (1843-1891) who was attending a Seminary (possibly the Steubenville Female Seminary) at the time. She married in 1865 to Dr. James Emmet Finley (1837-1911), a physician from Mt. Pleasant, Jefferson county, Ohio.
Mary’s younger sister, Amanda Margaret Hanna. The only member of the family who had a picture attached to their Ancestry.com record.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Old Homestead [Short Creek township, Harrison county, Ohio]
October 7th 1863
My dear friend,
Do not censure me too hard for not replying sooner. My reasons for not doing so is this—that I have not been at home for several weeks. Have been visiting my friends in Guernsey [?]. Since my return our County Fair has come off and consequently have not devoted much of my time to writing. This I trust may answer for apologies and I’ll venture on.
We are all well at this time. Have had no sickness in our family since in April last. ‘Twas then my eldest brother Alexander died of typhoid fever. How much we miss him. None but the members of our broken family can tell. To him we went for counsel & advice and in everything his willing hand was ready. Our loss is an irreparable one and although we feel it deeply, yet our loss is not to be compared with his widow. Poor woman! I feel sorry for her. She seems so lonely & sad. She has returned to her Father’s and although she is now an inmate of her childhood home, yet it has not the endearments it once had for her. But we must learn to be content and submit to the providence of an all wise Creator. This world was never meant for a Paradise. What trying times we have! Death seems to stare us on all sides.
Yesterday’s mail brought us word from brother Johnston who was again engaged in this last battle. Oh how uneasy we were until we heard that he was safe. Many, very many, of my acquaintances were wounded & killed in the conflict. This is the second heavy battle that brother has been in and escaped unhurt. I trust that same good Being that has thus far preserved his life, may still watch over & bring him back safely again.
My youngest brother, Archie, who has been in the service over one year tis now at Washington D. C. He was sick last April whilst in Martinsburg, Va. I was with him nearly three weeks. I was there at the time the Rebels destroyed a portion of the B&O Railroad [which] stopped the Eastern train from running so that I was compelled to return via Hagerstown, Maryland, Harrisburg, Pittsburg, Steubenville, & Cadiz which was quite a long way round and traveling alone too. I got along very well and have never regretted my trip.
I was so glad to hear from you all. How I would like to see you. Why it is that cousin Rachel & Lizzie never write me? I would love to hear from them although I wrote last & never received a reply. Think it rather discouraging to make the attempt again. And I never hear from Phillips’s anymore. When you see them, remind them of me please.
Sister Amanda is home now. She returns to the Seminary the first of next month. This will be her last session there. Suppose we look into the future as far as next spring & say we meet there & hear sister’s graduating performance & then you come home with me? That I think would be nice. At any rate, let me hear from you soon. With my love—yes, my best love to all my relations & say to them, “Mary Hanna wants a long visit from them.” Excuse this scrawl as I am ready to start to Cadiz with sister to do shopping. Ever & ever your friend, — Mary
This POW letter was written by Capt. Jacob Warwick Mathews (1839-1930) of Co. I, 25th Virginia Infantry. Mathews was among the “Immortal Six Hundred”—a group of 600 Confederate officers held as prisoners of war, assembled in direct retaliation after Confederate forces employed Union prisoners as human shields in Charleston, South Carolina. After being subjected to weeks of bombardment on Morris Island, these prisoners were transferred in late October 1864 to Fort Pulaski on Cockspur Island, Georgia. Confined within the damp brick casemates of Fort Pulaski, they endured an exceptionally harsh winter, severe overcrowding, and a punitive “starvation diet” consisting only of moldy cornmeal and pickles. Thirteen prisoners died from disease and deprivation on the island before the remaining survivors were returned to Fort Delaware in March 1865. [Source: The Civil War Picket, July 26, 2021]
Mathews was a merchant/farmer of Alvon, Greenbrier county, (West) Virginia, when the Civil War began. He was taken prisoner in the Wilderness on 5 May 1864. He wrote the letter from a prison at Fort Pulaski, Georgia, in mid-February 1865 to Mrs. J. Eliza Bestor, a Southern sympathizer residing in Baltimore who had two sons in the Confederate service and provided assistance whenever she could to Confederate soldiers imprisoned in the North.
Header image: Confederate officers held prisoner at Fort Pulaski during the winter of 1864-65 shared bunks with multiple other prisoners; no mattresses, nor anything to keep the damp cold air out in the winter. (NPS Photo. Source: Prisoner of War Experience.)
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Fort Pulaski, Georgia
February 11th 1865
Mrs. J. E. Bestor,
Your very kind & long looked for letter was rec’d this morning it. It found me enjoying tolerable health. I might say very good health when I tell you we have had nothing in God’s world to eat for the last forty-one days but corn meal & pickles. Our prison is nothing more than a hospital. There is not ten sound well men in our prison. There is some hope of it getting better now & God grant that it may for there is great room for an improvement.
I am a thousand times obliged to you for the information you gave me of my brother & father & also for the stamps you sent me. I think our prospects for an exchange is brighter now than they ever have been & if I should be so fortunate as to get through, I will take grate pleasure in delivering your message to your sons & also tell them when I heard from you last, which will be a great satisfaction to them. Your letter containing the money you spoke of I have not received but I expect it is here as we have not rec’d any money letters for some time. But they are to be delivered soon. Please excuse this badly written letter & write soon. From your friend, — J. W. Mathews
If any of our friends in Baltimore would send some clothing to this prison, they would be thankfully received as we are very needy for clothing.
This letter was written by Samuel Beach (1827-1892) of Co. B, 27th Connecticut Infantry—a nine-months regiment. He was mustered in as a corporal on 3 October 1862 and mustered out on 27 July 1863.
According to the Samuel Beach Papers at the Robert S. Cox Special Collections (UMass Amherst Libraries), Samuel Beach was born in Branford on 27 July 1827, the son of Samuel Beach (17xx-1828) and Mary Barker (18xx-1881). In March 1851, he married the elder daughter of Increase Cooke (1807-1847) and Harriet Delia Griffing (1812-1849).
“On August 31, 1862, Samuel Beach was drafted into the 27th Connecticut Infantry, a nine-month’s regiment noted as much for the hardships of its service as its brief duration. Part of the First Division, Second Corps of the Army of the Potomac, the regiment was thrown into the toughest part of three of the most momentous battles of the eastern theater. At Fredericksburg in December 1862, the 27th sustained 110 casualties during the failed assault on Stonewall Jackson’s forces on Marye’s Heights. After a harsh winter spent in the mud along the Rappahannock gave way to spring, the 27th was swept by illness. Beach was among several who required hospital care to recuperate, and he was thus not present at the Battle of Chancellorsville, when eight of the regiment’s ten companies were taken prisoner. Two months later he was in a convalescent camp when the regiment’s remaining companies, much reduced, sustained fifty percent casualties the Battle of Gettysburg, fighting in the Wheat Field.
Samuel Beach’s Civil War letters [at UMass, Amherst] cover the bulk of his nine-month’s service, from the early days serving in the defenses around Washington, D.C., through the turbulence of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Addressed to his wife Harriett, the letters are exceptionally literate and richly descriptive, with two excellent letters detailing his experiences at Fredericksburg, and several on the long winter that followed and the infamous Mud March. After the war, probably in the early 1880s, Beach wrote out a stunning 17 page account of his memories of Fredericksburg, using free pages in the center of an ledger containing accounts of labor of his fruit farm (box 2:4). The exceptional detail and energy of the account suggests he may have been working from a diary or contemporary notes that have not survived.”
Camp Convalescent near Alexandria, Virginia
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Camp Convalescent, Alexandria, Virginia
Saturday afternoon, July 18th 1863
Dear Sister,
Your letter dated July 17th and mailed the 15th [reversed dates], I received this noon. I did not much expect another though I knew there was time enough for a letter or two. Sloat, captain of Co. A, has arrived in camp today. I understand Lays [?], the colonel, is in Washington yet. If that is the case, we probably shall not get home before the last of the week. Most of us are out of all manner of patience with the colonel for not making more efforts to get us home under the circumstances. Still he may be doing more than we think for, I think I might have got a furlough and gone home a few days sooner by the assistance of Elton. But I would have had to have paid half of my traveling fee, and the time was so short I did not think best, our time was so near out.
I don’t think I could have got a discharge which would have given me my pay and transportation home. It would have taken till our time was out probably to have worked it through. In short, I don’t think my discharge would be granted when the time was so near out. I should have been of little use at home.
Am improving pretty fast now here & I rather prefer coming home with the regiment, all things considered now. If I were in a hospital, I might be transferred to New Haven perhaps, but this is a Convalescent Camp, not a hospital. Though there are a great many in the hospitals not half as bad as a great many here, they are classified differently and have to be governed accordingly.
We get the news every day, soon after published. I have had none (papers) from home a long time. You said nothing about the raspberries. Are you picking any now? I hope there will be a few left when I get home. My love to Ma, Mother, and all the rest. Hoping to be home soon, I remain your affectionate brother, — S. Beach
This letter was written by 36 year-old Nancy Redd (Alley) Vernon (1826-1909) to her 40 year-old husband, Richard (“Dick”) Anderson Vernon (1822-1863) of Beaver Island, Stokes county, North Carolina. Dick enlisted with Co. H, 22nd North Carolina Infantry on 1 March 1862. He was wounded during the Battle of Beaver Dam Creek (Mechanicsville, Va.) on 26 June 1862, not long after mustering into the regiment, but survived only to die of disease at his home on 6 May 1863, leaving Nancy and her seven children. Three of her youngest children are mentioned in this letter, John Buchanon (“Buck”) Vernon (b. 1857), Marcella Vernon (b. 1859) and the babe Ruth (b. 1862). Dick was buried at home in the Buffalo Cemetery but lies in an unmarked grave.
Nancy’s letter is profoundly distressing as she recounts the severe hardships she faces at home in his absence. One can clearly discern why many Confederate soldiers chose to desert or remain on extended furloughs under such circumstances. Receiving reports of this nature would undoubtedly have had a serious, adverse impact on morale.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Stokes county, North Carolina
November 16th 1862
My dear husband,
I am once more permitted the opportunity of writing you a few lines to let you know that I just received your letter that you wrote the 3rd and 6th of November. I got your letter the 13th of this instant. I was very glad to hear from you though I was sorry to hear you had such a bad cold and to hear you was so painafted [?]. I was very sorry to hear of any more fighting. I was in hopes there wouldn’t be any more fighting.
This leaves us all well—[no] more than bad colds. I have a very bad [cold] myself. The babe has most got well of the whooping cough so I hope when these few lines come to hand, they may find you in the best of health.
Dick, I had to tato py [potato pie] for dinner today. I wish you had some of it to eat. Dick, you never wrote whether you got them apples and potatoes that i sent you or not. I want to know. Dick, you sent me 23 dollars here and told me to use it to the best advantage. I don’t [know] what to do with it. I can’t lend it out to nobody that is good [for it] nor I don’t no what to do with it. I wish you was here and you would know what to do with it yourself. Everything is so high. Nobody can’t buy nothing. I want some leather to make the children all some shoes. The worst of anything, we won’ have any meat enough and it will be so high we can’t buy it.
Dick, my hand is so numb, I can’t half write. You must excuse me. Dick, you said I hurt your feelings. I didn’t write nothing [ ] to hurt your feelings. Ben’s children told your children that their [ ] said you give him that little piece of land. I only wrote it to you to be satisfied about it. You needn’t to go mad with me about it. I only wanted to know whether you did or not. So enough of that, Dick.
It is raining now and is very cold. I wished you was here where you could be in your new house where you could keep dry and warm and to stay with me these long cold nights. Dick, I feel very lonesome and bad. I want to see you very bad at this time. Dick, the children all says they want to see you very bad and wants you to come home and make then some shoes. I know you are most naked and bare footed. I want to know what you do for stockings. I am a knitting you some stockings and want you to have them.
Dick, I only wrote to you about reinmustering [reenlisting] because Sarah Jane has told it all about in the neighborhood that I was the cause of you reenlisting. She got mad about your mule. She wants it to hitch with Shole’s mule to Shole’s buggy to go to Associations. You know Mike was hitched to a buggy so I will stop that.
Dick, I want to see you bad and if I never see you no more, I will never be satisfied in this world again. Dick, if the children don’t get no shoes, we will all freeze to death this winter for I can’t get fire wood and feed and do everything else. I am able to stand everything. Dick you wrote us word you did not want me to forsake you. No, that is something I can’t do, for you are my heart’s delight. If it was not for you and the children, I wouldn’t care to live in this unfriendly world any longer. So I don’t want you to think that I will ever forsake you.
Dick, times is hard here. Everything is high here. Dick, the soldiers that passes the road here is a getting very causy [?]. I want you to come home, Dick, to your wife and children once more.
Dick, there is so much news a going here that it is no use to write everything that you hear. Dick, your father’d folks is all well at this time and tell [George] Will Shaffer that his folks is all well. And tell Sam Trogdon his folks is all well. And tell George [S.] Jackson his folks is all well. And tell Rolly [G.] Amos his folks is all well at present. So I will stop that.
Dick, I dreamed last Sunday night of being with you and awoke and I wished it was so. Dick, your sweet little sugar lump is a saying pappy now and it almost breaks my heart to hear it. Dick, it almost kills me to hear the babe say Father and to hear Buck and Marcella talk about Father when I can’t see him. Dick I want you to think about me and your poor little children every day. Dick, I think about old times some times and it brings tears to my eyes. Oh Dick, if I [could just] see you one more time.
So I will bring my awkward letter to a close by saying I hope that the Lord will be with you and me forever and cause us to love each other forever. I only hope that the good Lord will bless you and keep you from all evil and from all kinds of wickedness adn cause you to love and serve Him throughout your days and keep you from the hand of the enemy. So no more—only I remain your loving wife until death. So hear is my heart and hand. Take it and remember me as long as I live.
Jefferson Burgess, Captain, as Lieutenant of Co. E (from grainy picture on page 152 of book, “Scott’s 900”
This letter was written by Thomas “Jefferson” Burgess, Jr. (1837-1885), the son of ship carpenter Thomas J. Burgess (1798-Aft1880) and Elisa Bloomfield (1803-Aft1880) of Kingston, Ulster county, New York. He probably wrote the letter to his sister, Elizabeth “Lillia” Burgess (b. 1842).
Jefferson enlisted at the the age of 23 on December 24, 1861, at New York to be a private in Co. G, 11th New York Cavalry. He was appointed sergeant major almost immediately and was commissioned a second lieutenant of Co. D on August 5, 1862; a first lieutenant of Co. E on November 1, 1862, and captain of Co. C, to date January 24. 1865. He was discharged on September 30, 1865, at Memphis, Tennessee.
The June 24th 1864 letter was written to his father from the Hermitage Plantation which was located in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, directly across the Mississippi River from Donaldsville. The October 2, 1864 letter was directed to his sister from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in the fall of 1864 while serving on the staff of Gen. Albert Lindley Lee. He also mentions Col. William Jennings Landram of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade.
Letter 1
Headquarters Scotts 900, 11th New York Cavalry
Hermitage Plantation, June 24th 1864
Dear Father,
Your letter to me some time ago was duly received but I have been so busy and sick since that this is the first opportunity I have had of answering it. I have been removed from my nice position at the Telegraph Station for some time and until I got sick, had the pleasure of encamping in the med on this miserable soil which seems to have no bottom. We have had rain here for every day this month and as the country is perfectly level, you can imagine what kind of a state the land must be in. The crops are all most ruined. Some of the plantations are completely under water.
I see in a book on Louisiana that by surveys made over this state that there is not a natural elevation of 8 feet in this whole state. Ain’t that curious! I have had quite a fit of sickness lately and this is the second day I have been able to get around. I had been off on a scout for about a week day and night through the rain and mud and become perfectly exhausted and want of proper food, and all put together threw me into a fever. The hot weather combined with the wet weather we are having makes it quite unhealthy now down here. But next month will be dryer and then it will be healthier.
You want to know what I think of the Negro labor arrangement in this department. Well i don’t see how it could be better’d for the present during these troublesome times. But I don’t think it will last long after the war has ended. As for Gen. Banks, everybody is down on him in this department and censure his Red River operations very much. I don’t think he is much of a general. In fact, I don’t think he ever was considered much of a one at any time.
Everything is very quiet down here now. There is hardly a rumor of war along the whole river. We are all looking now on the great conflict in Virginia as the decisive battles. I don’t think there will be much fighting done by any other troops this season. We all feel confident that Grant will win and only feel sorry that we are deprived the pleasure of having a hand in the melee.
The crop of cotton will be very good in this state this year if this wet weather don’t hang on too long. A man with about $40,000 (or a couple with $20,000 each would be better) could make a fortune in this part of the country in a couple of years by renting one of the fine plantations that are lying idle now. They have everything on them but stock and hands. When they are worked, they pay immensely. Our regiment is all together up here now and we have drills and dress parades now as in old times in Washington.
I see a piece in the papers from Col. Swain that was now a correspondent of the New York Times. If you see any correspondence signed Lee, you may know that it is from is pen. But I must close as I feel tired. I am glad that you have plenty of work in the Navy Yard. I hope you have easy jobs. I suppose it is more pleasant now that you have Lillie in the house with you.
Remember me to Ben Ball & William and all the folks in New York when you see them. Give my love to Mother & Lillie. Don’t forget to write when you have an opportunity. Goodbye. With much love to you all, I remain, your affectionate son, — Jefferson
Letter 2
Baton Rouge, Louisiana October 2nd 1864
Dear Sister,
For the first time for a long while a mail was received from the North without my getting a letter from you, but I got a letter from a friend in Poolesville in its place which partly took its place although of course I would have given two or three such epistles for one from you. But as it is raining (as usual out), I will take up my pen this evening and have a letter chat with you.
In the first place I must tell you that we expected to have had a Grand Review of all the cavalry and artillery of the division this afternoon and I received a little note from the A. A. S. to appear at the General’s (Lee) Headquarters dressed in the best manner possible to attend with the rest of the staff of the General while reviewing the troops. So I went to work and after two hours labor with the assistance of my boy brushing up of cloth and scouring up of brass & gilt I had got myself up in a gorgeous state—at least so said my boy Ruben and a thick-headed Irish chamber maid who were looking on in silent admiration and I must say that I did not feel very much flattered by their compliments as I haven’t, to tell the truth, got much of an opinion of their ability to judge of a person’s good dressing judging from the patterns with which their wardrobe is made up.
However, I hoped to have a more appreciative crowd when I emerged into the street, and I had just put on my cap to go forth when Bang! Bang! resounded Heavens artillery and splash, patter, splash, came the gentle dews of Heaven, descending by the bucket full and still continues to fall without the slightest sign of its stopping for a week to come. So that was the end of the review.
Our cavalry division still remains in camp and although there are rumors of our soon having to match, I don’t see any prospect of it myself. I still continue to have [ ] times although expensive, but I don’t grumble as I expect before long we will have enough to do to make up for it.
CdV of Gen. Albert Lindley Lee
I will send you a lot of photographs for your album and will number them and describe the for you. The numbers of the cards is on the back. No. 1. is a picture of Gen. [Albert L.] Lee, Col. Landrum (commanding the 2nd Brigade) on above staff—I was at the time it was taken just before I come on the Gen’s staff—and some of his staff officers. I would have been in the crowd but I had gone to town and just got back about five minutes too late. No. 1 is Gen. Lee, No. 2 Col. Landrum, No. 3 Major Montgomery of 2nd Ill. Cavalry, No. 4 Capt. Bradley on his staff as Chief Quartermaster, No. 5 is Lt. Gillett—Quartermaster if the 2nd Brigade on Kandrum’s staff, No. 6 is Major Craig of the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry. No. 7 is Lt. Simpson—A. D. C. to Col. Landrum.
Card No. 2 is a view of the Camp of the 2nd Brigade Headquarters after it left the Magnolia Grove. Those 4 tents in the foreground with a porch in front of them made of bushes are the headquarters. Tent No. 1 was the Quartermaster, No. 2 Lt. Simpson’s (the A. A. C.) and my own, No. 3 Lt. Dennison’s—the A. A. A. Gen. for the Brigade, and No. 4 Col. Landrum’s, commanding the 2nd Brigade.
Card No. 3 is a front view of the Deaf & Dumb Asylum now used as a hospital for the U. S. Troops in and around Baton Rouge. It is situated on the outskirts of the town on the Highland Road and is in fine view of the river and town.
Deaf & Dumb Asylum in Baton Rouge, used as a hospital.
Card. No. 4 is of Gen. Sickles and staff that I bought in New Orleans in account of its being the best I have seen yet. No. 1. is Gen. [Daniel E.] Sickles, No. 2 Col. [Orson H.] Hart—his chief of staff, No 3 Maj. [Henry] Tremain and the others I can’t remember their names although I knew them when we was with their division in Virginia.
Major General Daniel Sickles and his staff following the Battle of Gettysburg. From left to right: Major Henry Tremain, Lieutenant Colonel Orson Hart, Major General Daniel Edgar Sickles, Captain Thomas Fry, Captain Alexander Moore.
Card No. 5 is Major S[eth] P[ierre] Remington, commanding the 11th N. Y. Cavalry of which your humble servant and brother is a worthy member. There I think I have made quite an addition to your album besides writing a sort of descriptive biography for you.
Well there is nothing more to write about that I know of. I would like to hear very much how Willie gets along. I hope he will be able to get home now on a sick leave. The weather is getting quite cool down here. In fact, too cool to be comfortable without a fire mornings and evenings. Trust the war news [is] good. They fired a salute last night from the fort in this place in honor of Sheridan’s victory in the valley.
But I must close. Give my love to Mother and Father and remember me to all enquiring friends. I am enjoying good health and spirits and hoping that you all so the same. I remain your affectionate brother, — Jefferson
A family cherished portrait of Sgt. Almond M. Chesbro, killed in the wheat field at Gettysburg on 2 July 1863.
These letters were written principally by two brothers who gave their lives to preserve the Union in the American Civil War. They were Captain Dennis Chesbro (1840-1864) of Co. G, 46th Pennsylvania Volunteers, and Sgt. Almond Chesbro (1842-1863) of Co. G, 53rd Pennsylvania Volunteers. Almond was killed at Gettysburg on 2 July 1863 and Dennis was killed in the Battle of New Hope Church on 25 May 1864. They were the sons of Hiram Hale Chesbro (1816-1886) and Laverna Clark Hall (1822-1882) of Potter county—a county directly bordering the state of New York to its north. Besides the two older boys, the Chesbro’s had four younger children at home—Ellen (1848-1865), Hiram (1852-1914), Warren (1854-1921), and Hattie (1859-Aft1880).
In 1860, Potter County remained predominantly rural, characterized by extensive tracts of dense, old-growth forest that were only beginning to be opened to commercial timber operations. Numerous young men lacking formal educational opportunities participated in felling these forests and in rafting the logs down local creeks and rivers to major sawmills. Owing to limited access to Eastern markets, most farms operated on a largely subsistence basis. Census records provide little detail regarding the specific means of livelihood of the Chesbro family. They do indicate, however, that the head of the household was blind.
The Chesbro family lived in Inez, a small hamlet in Homer township, some five miles due south of Coudersport—the county seat.
[From Olin Nespor:] “We also have Almonds Diary from 1863, with entries all the way up to his death. One of Almond’s letters to his Mother says he had heard Dennis was taken prisoner at the Battle of Chancellorsville (though he was exchanged shortly thereafter). In another Letter from Dennis to Almond, Dennis tells his brother that if they see their “rebellious” relatives to not spare them and “Give them everything they want”. One letter in 1860 when Dennis was a school teacher he berates the “copperhead” democrats and tells his mother he gave all his money to a slave who was trying to buy his wife’s freedom. Reading these family letters has been deeply moving, and I’ve had a strong desire to transcribe and share their story.
I have been photographing and sorting these letters digitally, I have maybe 50 letters and the diary organized and scanned, but I am only part way through sorting the collection. We have several Tin photographs of Almond and other family members, Almonds revolver, pieces of his uniform, notes from other Union officers, etc.
I’d love to make this collection digitally available and thought inquiring with you might be a good way to start. I’m also in contact with a member of the Potter County Historical Society who has encouraged us to document and transcribe what we have. They even said they have letters from other soldiers from G company who mention the Chesbro’s.”
When Dennis H. Chesebro first entered the service, he was a private in Co. H, 46th Pennsylvania Vols. He was promoted to Commissary Sergeant in August 1862, and to Captain of Co. G in November 1863. Alexander W. Selfridge, Orlando Rees, and Merrick Jackson of Co. H would have been his officers in the first couple of years of service.(Robinson Family Collection)
Letter
Andover, Massachusetts
January 9, 1860
My dear Mother,
I have been waiting patiently a long time hoping to hear from you. I do not feel like studying—don’t feel very well today—so I write. I sent you a Bible and the children some pictures with a letter the week before Christmas in order that you might receive it the day following Christmas. Have you got them? I got a letter from Mr. Blake the other day, the first one in a long time. He is in Chester county, Penna. [and] is well, also his family. He sends his regards to you. He went to locate in a school not far from Harpers Ferry but the outbreak frightened the people there and he came back to Penna. 1 The money from Philadelphia comes direct to me. My chum, Mr. Tracy from Erie county, Penna., receives from the same source.
We have had very cold weather since before Christmas until a day or two ago when it moderated and now the snow is all going off. This cold weather has eat up wood fast. But you Pennamites would not thought of burning as little as I have done. I think of burning coal when I get to college, or it will depend on where I go to college. If I could afford to get a coal stove, I should burn it here as it is cheaper.
I suppose the time of the New York Observer is up. I have not had an opportunity to read it much but I have never seen anything in it except conservatism until the Harpers Ferry outbreak. But the last few numbers have become too strong of proslavery for me. But the New York Independent is just as far to Ultra Abolitionist. Henceforth I shall not read neither much. But to see the slander which has passed between these two professed Christian papers, I am led to think that there is not much Christianity about either. If they were not so blinded by ambition both of them, they would see the influence they are exerting upon men who care not for Christian principles. Yes, they are exerting an influence against the religion of Jesus. I will have nought to do with either after this. 2
I am not as you seemed to have thought in your last an old Hunker [Democrat]. I am just as far from it as you. I am a Republican. Neither have I forgotten the faith which my dear mother brought me up in, nor shall I depart therefrom. She never taught me disunion till the last letter. A slave came along here a spell ago (he had been a slave) buying the freedom of his wife. I gave him all I had which was not much. I write this to show that I am no Democrat. 3
I send my likeness this time. I intended to have sent it with the rest but could not get it taken. I wish you could get Hattie’s taken for me.
The term is passing pleasantly, though some of these nights I am rather cold as I sleep alone. I have been thinking lately a great deal of home and of friends there. I have been thinking too of my association. This compared with them last, and I thank God for the change. If you have not written, please write soon for I want to hear from there much and write if you have received the things. Yours affectionately, — Dennis
I have just received your letter. Since using glasses, my eyes have become stronger than ever before. Just received a letter from Blake. He is well. I can almost cry over Clem’s picture. God bless you all.
1 The “outbreak at Harper’s Ferry” is a reference to John Brown’s attempted slave insurrection at Harper’s Ferry in mid-October 1859, which resulted in his capture and the deaths or capture of his 21 followers. Presumably Dennis’s friend Blake intended to teach a school near there beginning in the fall of 1859, but the citizens elected not to bring any more Northern schoolmasters into their midst who might introduce antislavery notions.
2 The contrast between the New York Observer and the New York Independent could not have been more stark in January 1860. Both weekly New York City-based newspapers had deep religious roots. The Observer was anti-abolitionist and fell into the conservative “old School” Presbyterian camp. The Independent, on the other hand, was militantly anti-slavery, and fell into the progressive, radical Congregationalist camp.Dennis’s letter reveals that he fell squarely in the middle.
3 The donation by Dennis may have been made to William Carney who escaped from slavery in 1857 and settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts. While there he worked tirelessly to purchase freedom for his wife Nancy from Joseph Carter, Norfolk, Virginia. He collaborated with anti-slavery ministers across Massachusetts, including Andover, to raise the necessary funds. See William Harvey Carney, City of Norfolk.
Letter
Home [Potter county, Pennsylvania]
April 20, 1862
Dear Brother,
It is Sunday today as you see by the date of this and Mother asked me why I did not write to you. I told her that I could not write or if I could, I could not think of anything to write. However, I thought I would try and write a little. We are going to meeting at three o’clock. Mr. Lyman preaches today.
We hear that you are at Yorktown and expect to have a battle before long. I hope not though. The last we heard from Dennis they were at Woodstock but expected to move right away. They expected to have a hard fight right away but I do not know as they have had one yet. I suppose that you do not know that Elmina Parish 1 is coming to Uncle Dennis [Hall]’s to work. I am very glad of it for I think she will take our Sabbath School class. Sabbath School organizes today but I did not go up.
We are all well as common. The flowers are blowing out [illegible]. I would send you some but I suppose that you have lots of them about there. But maybe they are not the same kind as ours. You must send me some. By the way, you have never said whether you got that letter written by Emma Lambert and myself or not. But I suppose that you have not or you would have answered it.
Capt. Archibald F. Jones, Co. G, 53rd Penn. Vols.
Monday, 21st. Well, it is raining hard this morning. I guess that the sugar weather is most over with but suppose that it is a good thing for farmers. 2 We are all well as usual. I have not had a letter from you in a long time. We will not send this till we see whether we get a letter from you or Dennis. [Our neighbor,] Mr. [Furman] Quick heard in Coudersport that Captain [Archibald F.] Jones had got to be one of the worst of tyrants in the United States and that he used his men worse than so many dogs. 3
Hattie is getting to be [the] greatest girl in the world, I think. The other day she pulled out all of my….
Monday, April 21, [1862]
Dearest Almond,
Another week has rolled around and no tidings from my loved son. And as I write and listen to the howlings of the storm, I think Oh where is my boy tonight knowing that this must reach coming from the southeast as it does and it is cold enough to make one perish if exposed long to its fury. I have not got a letter from you since you wrote at Warrenton but suppose you are now at Yorktown as the papers say that all of McClellan’s forces are before that place and I suppose you are in his part of the army.
I heard directly from Dennis last week. Mr. Green came home on a furlough to see his wife as she is not expected to live long. I went over on the hill to see him. He said Dennis was well now. He sent seven dollars by him. When he had the measles, he went to a private house and his board and his expenses were considerable and he had not got his extra pay yet. He said when he did, he would send more.
I understand that a great deal of complaint is coming home about Mr. Jones’ ill treatment to his men. I truly hope he is not the tyrant they represent him to be. If so, I would much rather be one of the men that was miss used than him for it will [be] worse in the end for him.
We had weather last week as warm as June. We are all looking to the crisis at Yorktown with very anxious hearts, hoping and praying it may be the finishing stroke to the rebellion. They have passed a [bill] in Congress abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia. 4 100 men…
1 Elmina Parish (1837-1908) was the daughter of Charles parish (1806-1846) and Minerva Hackett (1812-1890) of Potter county, Pennsylvania. She married Albert L. Rennells (1844-1922) in 1866. In 1860, she was 23 years old and working a teacher in the common schools.
2 The heavily forested hills of the Sinnmahoning Creek watershed included beech, birch, and white pine, as well as a high density of sugar maple and red maple trees. The sugar from these trees became an even more precious commodity during the Civil War when can sugar from the Southern states was cut off.
3 Archibald F. Jones (1825-1879) served as the Captain of Co. G, 53rd Pennsylvania Infantry. He was a farmer in Potter county, Pennsylvania, before the war but afterwards, returned to Coudersport where he went into the dry good business. I transcribed one of Jones’s letters to his wife, Mary (Ross) Jones back in 2025. See 1862: Archibald F. Jones to Mary (Ross) Jones, dated 20 November 1862.
4 President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act into law on April 16, 1862 which abolished slavery in Washington D. C. Over 3,000 enslaved individuals in the Nation’s Capitol were freed and loyal slave owners were compensated $300 per freed person. It also made kidnapping of freed persons a felony.
Letter
Camp near Stafford Court House
March 11th 1863
Dear Brother,
Your kind favor was received some days ago but owing to duties and the sickness of my Lieutenant, I have not answered it. If you can get me a good watch for $35, bring it along. I need one. I cannot tell whether I can pay for it right away or not but think I can soon. But who will you get it from? If you get one and don’t come yourself very soon, send it by someone who will deliver it safely, writing me who you send it by.
I wrote a letter to Aunt Elvina [Hall] a few days ago which if you can read will give you an idea of my idea of the Copperheads and especially of those of our relatives who are rebellious. Don’t spare them. Give them all they want. Kick Lathans if he crosses your road. I cannot stomach the hypocrite, nor will I.
I had intended to pay a visit down front but sickness and duty will hardly allow me. I am not sick myself. But if you do come, remember to leave the cars at Brooks Station and inquire for Stafford Court House. You will find our regiment not far—about a half mile to the right.
Give my regards to Miss “G” and love to all of our people. Aunt Elvina [Hall] says she don’t know as she will betray confidence by letting me [know] that Almond is engaged [to M. E. Green]. Of course she will not to me. But write very soon. My photographs have not come yet. Bring me your likeness or you can get it taken here. Did I ever tell you that Nina Reynolds has my likeness and I want to get it away from her. I wish you would for me. Your loving brother, — Dennis H. Chesbro
Letter
Home [Potter county, Pennsylvania]
August 29th 1863
Dear Brother,
Yes gladly would I give you that title for a brother I feel you are. Your very kind andmost welcome letter of August 19th inst. came at hand last Tuesday and this is the first opportunity that has presented itself for me to answer it. I have been helping Aunt Elvina [Hall] a few days. Came here this morning to stay until school commences.
My pen will not describe the heartfelt gratitude that I feel towards you and your dear parents, brothers and sisters all, for the kindnesses that you have shown and I bear with you. How could I ever ask for such a blessing. It is more than I could have looked for. But there is no place that I can be as happy as with Almond’s friend. I can never repay you for this blessing. But God will bless you. I know He will.
If your friends had never recognized me, I believe this anguish would kill me for then I would have had to [have] mourned alone. [But] with the many blessings that my Heavenly Father is passing down on my heart, I feel that my grief is more than I can bear. I know that it is all for the best that God called Almond home for He doeth all things well. Still, I cannot feel it. I miss him so much in everything I do and in every place. I keep looking for him and for letters from him every mail that comes. It seems as though it would bring me one of those kind letters that it so often used to bring. How can I ever give him up? I know I must, but it is so hard. If I could have one little spot beside his grave where I could sit and weep, it would be all I could ask.
Oh Dennis, I can truly sympathize with you. But my brother, do not faint. Look to Jesus. He is able to move that dark cloud and let the light shine. God is able to make your pathway smooth again and restore your happiness if you will put your trust in Him. His chastenings are in love and we must receive them in love. Let us look up with a pious submission and feel, “Thy will be done, and not ours.”
Mother says she will go to you just as soon as she heard you cannot come home. But we all hope you can come. Our prayers are for you. Do not remain in that gloomy state. It will kill you. I will ruin your health. Look on the bright side. Look forward to that day when we shall meet where partings are no more—tears [are] all dry—[and] dark clouds never rise and destroy our happiness. If you are meek, lean on Jesus. He is strong and will help carry your burden. The heavier the burden, the brighter the crown you shall wear if you prove strong—like gold tried in the fire.
I thank you for your kindness and am so glad that you feel as though you could be my brother. The kindness that all of your friends have shown me has did a great deal towards raising this broken chord. Thank God for such friends. I hope to hear from you very often and may you soon be at home.
May the blessings of Heaven rest down upon you. No more this time. Your friend & sister, — M. E. Green
The following letter was written by Charles Francis Thurber (1846-Aft1884), the son of Nehemiah and Susan Thurber of Preston, New London, Connecticut. Census records inform us that he was born in Rhode Island.
Charles mustered in as a private in Co. F, 18th Connecticut Infantry in mid-August 1862. He mustered out of the regiment on 27 June 1865 as a 3rd Corporal. The regiment spent the winter of 1862-63 in garrison and were not sent into Virginia until the spring of 1863, as described in this letter). He was wounded slightly in the battle of Piedmont on 5 June 1863 and taken prisoner along with most of his comrades in the 2nd Battle of Winchester less than two weeks later.
18th Connecticut & 9th Maryland trying to cut their way through at Winchester, Va., June 15th 1863.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Winchester, Virginia
May 26th 1863
Dear Mother and Father,
I now take my pen in hand to write you a few lines to let you know that I am well and hope this will find you the same. We left Baltimore Friday morning and reached this place last night. We are encamped now on the battlefield where the 5th Connecticut was so badly cut up. The guerrillas here take our men and kill them. They don’t parole them as they used to. We marched from Harpers Ferry here and rode in the cars to Harpers Ferry. You ought to see the buildings there where the rebels used to live—all stove to pieces.
One of the teamsters of our company went out in the woods with some of the boys after wood and the guerrillas chased them inside of our lines and we took seven of them and shot them on the spot. If I get a shot at one of the damn bugers, I will blow his brains out and suck them through a quill. We didn’t think anymore about the rebels than we did when we was to Harewood when first got here, but we have to keep an eye peeled now. When we go out on picket, we have to lay flat on our belly in the bushes with our gun loaded and cocked.
I saw a band of them guerrillas last night about two rods from us. If they knew that we was there, they would had us. We pick up skull and every other kinds of human bones. Old dead horses are thicker than bees to home. If I ever thought of home, I did when I had that knapsack on my back and the sweat rolled in streams down my face and my blistered feet from marching day and night.
But I am well now and if I was sick, I shouldn’t let you know it because it would only fret you. You need not fret at all about me, Mother. I will do the best I can to take care of myself. If I never see you again—but I hope I will see you soon, but we can’t tell. I may and I may not. But I want you to send me some money in the letter you answer this. Send me twenty dollars without fail. If I never come home, you can have the rest of my money.
Give my best respects to grandmother and al the folks in Boston and Norwich and take a large share for yourself and father. Kiss the children for me. Give my love to Jane and her folks. Tell George to be a good boy and help his mother and mind her. I could write a good deal of good news but I will in the next letter. Direct your letters, — Charles F. Thurber, Winchester, Virginia, Co. F, 18th Regt. Connecticut Vols.
This letter was probably penned by James W. Pickering (1840-1879) of Elmira, Chemung county, who enlisted as a private in Co. K, 23rd New York Infantry in mid-May 1861 to serve two years. He signed his letter with his initials. There was one other soldier in the regiment with the same initials at the time this letter was written. His name was John Wesley Patrick (1841-1913) but he was from Cortland county so I lean strongly toward Pickering as the author. Pickering survived his two year term of enlistment and then returned to Elmira where he married a woman named Adele and earned his living as an oil speculator.
Pickering wrote the letter to his friend, Helen Louise Wynkoop (1841-1906) who was from Chemung, Chemung county, New York. She married Charles Samuel Farrar, a professor at Elmira College, in July 1865 but later separated from him.
Pickering’s letter describes the trip from Elmira to the District of Columbia made by the regiment and of his first impressions of Alexandria and Washington City. He reports that the regiment was reviewed by Abe Lincoln and that he had sat in the gallery of both houses of Congress to listed to the debates. The letter was written on 19 July 1861, just two days before the Battle of Bull Run, but did not participate. They were not ordered to cross the Potomac into Virginia until the 23rd, at which time they occupied Fort Runyon.
Over the years I have transcribed several letters by members of the 23rd new York Volunteers. They include:
Soldiers of the 23rd New York Infantry, shared by Stan Hutson on Ancestry.com
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Directed to Miss Louis Wynkoop, Chemung, Chemung county, New York
Meridian Hill, District of Columbia
July 19, 1861
Friend Louise,
This being about the first opportunity that has permitted itself for me to write, I embrace it to fulfill engagements. We are encamped on a very pleasant portion of Meridian Hill. We have a fine spring on our grounds, which by the way we know how to appreciate after drinking the wretched water in Washington. We have a fine grove which is very nice some hot days. Taking all things into consideration, I think we have as fine camping grounds as are to be found in the District.
They came near killing us before they got us in the cars at Elmira. At Williamsport we were taken in charge by the citizens who conducted us to tables well covered with provisions to which the soldiers did full justice. We had a very pleasant trip through when within two miles of Harrisburg our engine run off the track and delayed us two hours. We marched through Baltimore with flags flying and drums beating. Some of the citizens looked rather sour as we passed them, but at the same time seemed perfectly willing to stand back and let us pass. Perhaps it was best for all concerned that it was so.
I took a tramp down to Alexandria the other day to look at the [Marshall] House in which Ellsworth was killed. I have a piece of the door that the bullet passed through after killing Ellsworth. The place is deserted. Most of the places of business are closed. The most of the citizens have fled south on the approach of the federal forces. They are very careful to keep out of danger.
I was very much surprised when I came to look around the great City of Washington. The streets are wide and fine, but aside from the public buildings, I have failed to see anything very interesting in Washington. I have been present at a number of debates in the House [of Representatives]. They have some quite smart men in the Senate as well as in the House. If you should come and attend Congress a few days, you could teach school and not be troubled about the noise. They all want to talk at once. Then the speaker brings down his mallet a few times on the desk to quiet them. He never puts his club out of his hands because he has to bring the House to order every five minutes. For my part, I think Elmira is as nice a place as Washington.
Wednesday quite a commotion was created in our company by the unexpected arrival of a delegation from Elmira. It seemed as tho we were at home again. In the afternoon our colors were presented and the regiment was reviewed by Abe Lincoln and other prominent men. Governor Morgan is taking a look at the men this evening. It is reported in camp that we are ordered to Virginia immediately. I am told that the New York Tribune has an account of the cutting to pieces of the 23rd Regiment of N. Y. V. whilst crossing the long bridge over the Potomac. I am happy to state that the 23d is sound up to the present time, but if they are ordered to Virginia it is hard to tell how long we shall remain so. They are having some hard fighting over in Virginia. It is reported here that the Rochester Regiment is badly cut up, and that they lost fourteen commissioned officers. I hope it is only a rumor. Give my respects to such as see fit to enquire after me. I should like to hear from you if you can make it convenient.
Ed wishes to be remembered. Please write. Yours truly — J. W. P.
The following letter was written by Sampson Smith (1826-1894) while serving as a private in Co. G of the 22 Virginia Infantry—a regiment that had been commanded by George S. Patton until he was killed on 6 September 1864. Lt Col John C. McDonald was in command when this letter was written in late December 1864.
The 22nd Virginia Infantry Regiment (originally the 1st Kanawha Regiment) was part of General Gabriel C. Wharton’s Division. Following a devastating and brutal campaign in the Shenandoah Valley under General Jubal Early—which left the regiment with severely depleted numbers after the Battle of Cedar Creek—the unit went into camp between Fishersville and Waynesboro to endure the bitter winter months. This position was close enough to guard the vital Virginia Central Railroad.
Sampson was the son of Samuel Cameron Smith (1786-1859) and Nancy Jane Snead (1798-1871) of Alleghany county, Virginia. He was married Dollie Smith Walton (1822-1910) and made his living as a farmer and a shoemaker. He wrote the letter to Mathews Davidson Brown (1822-1905), the husband of Mary Adeline Smith (1831-1903). The couple were married in 1850. At the time of the 1860 US Census, Mathews was living in Covington, Alleghany county, Virginia.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Camp near Fishersville, Augusta county, Virginia
December 29, 1864
Dear friend,
It is again that I seat myself to write you a few lines to let you now that I am well at present & I hope when these few lines come to hand that they may find you & and all the rest of your family enjoying the blessings of health. Mathew, I can tell you I with the rest of the soldiers have had a very hard time since I left home. It have been move[ed] up and down the valley two or three times since we have come here. You know what sort of a time the 20th of this month was. We were on a march then and had to take the whether as it comes but I have had the good luck so far of not being in a fight yet & I hope I may never have to go into a fight while I have to stay in the army.
Mathew, I tell you, if you can keep out of the army, do it for God sake for you don’t know what a soldier has to undergo till you try it. We have not got to go into winter quarters yet but we are cutting logs to build our quarters now. I hope we will get in them now pretty soon but it is a bad time to build tents now for the snow is about 2 or 3 inches deep at this time and is pretty cold too. We are going to put up our quarters between Fishersville and Waynesboro about two or three miles up this side of Waynesboro off to the right of the railroad some two or three hundred yards. The 15th Regiment was working at their quarters yesterday & cut a tree on one of their men and killed him dead and last night two of our regiment cut a tree in camp after and fell it across a tent and two men that was lying in the tent asleep. One of them died just after daylight while the other one may recover but it is thought doubtful. They took him to the hospital.
Mathews, we don’t get more than half enough to eat. we draw all of flour sometimes or a 1b. of corn meal with the bran in it for a day. a lb. of beef a day we buy whenever we can, but it is hard to get anything at all. Mathews, tell Bollar to write to me & give me a history of his absence since I last saw him. Give my respects to all my enquiring friends, if any there be, & accept a portion to yourself and family. William Monroe [Monrow] sends his [regards] to you and family. Peter & Jo is well. I saw Jo yesterday.
Mathews, please do all you can to get me off for I want to come home so bad to make shoes for the people. Mathews, laying outdoors ain’t like when we were working in the shop last winter. Give my best respects to my folk at home and tell them I am well. Mathews, you must excuse me for not writing to you sooner. You must answer these few lines as soon as they come to hand and give me all of the news.
Direct your letter to Co. G, 22nd Regiment Virginia Infantry, Horton’s Division, Army of the Valley of Virginia.
