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.
This letter was written by Lydia (Thompson) Olney (1818-1867), the first wife of Ephraim Zelotus Olney (1816-1892). The letter was penned in late June 1861 from Superior, Boulder county, Colorado Territory. The couple were still enumerated there in 1865 though Lydia died two years later. That census informs us that Lydia was born in New York State, probably in the vicinity of her husband who came from Tioga county. The couple were farming in Potter county, Pennsylvania, before coming to Kansas. Lydia’s parents were Isaac C. Thompson(1794-1874) and Keziah Wicks (1797-1876). They had numerous children; the letter was directed to one of the youngest, Israel Thompson (1841-1909) who lived in Harrison, Potter county, Pennsylvania in 1860.
Lydia does not give us much information about her husband’s occupation but the mention of wagons to and from Pikes Peak suggests to me that he was likely transporting supplies to the mining regions. It’s curious that Lydia datelined her letter from Superior. Though the first settlers arrived in this area of the foothills between present day Boulder and Denver, a coal seam was not discovered here until 1864 and local lore claims the town derived its name from the “superior” quality of the coal mined in the area. The town itself was not platted and officially named until 1896. Native Americans of the Arapahoe and Ute nations still frequented the area in the 1860s.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Superior [Boulder county, Colorado]
June 29, 1861
As I was alone today, I was thinking of you & I thought I would write to you & I want you to answer it. We are all well. I have been [well] all winter and summer. It is a general time of health. There has been but two deaths in this county this year. One is the man we bought of hurt him lifting at a raising. The other was Mr. Fish [who] fell from his wagon & the wheel run over his head & breast.
Oh, about our dog. We have got the best one we ever had. There is not an Indian or squaw that dare come near the house unless we speak to the dog for if we let him alone, he will act as though he would eat them up. Now when Ephraim went to the Peak, he brought home some current bushes that bore red, black and yellow currants bigger than ours & he see droves of buffalo every day—sometimes 5 in a drove & sometimes a thousand. It was prairie so he could see them a great way off. But sometimes they would [be] close to the wagons. One day the men had all gone with the guns but Ephraim, he lay down in a ravine a little ways off from the wagon & an old big fellow come cantering along very slow till he came within 5 yards of him & he could see just how they acted. He also saw flocks of antelope. [They] look like a deer only not quite so big & the mountain sheep bigger than our sheep—some black some white—[and] go in flocks from 20 to a 100 in a flock. And the Jackass rabbit lives out there that is twice as big as your rabbits & no dog can catch them unless they run in a hole.
Israel, please send me some seed of the cotton milkweed & spearmint if there is any. 1 Goodbye, — Lydia Olney
1 It’s hard to imagine today why anyone would want these plants but they were most likely desired for their medicinal properties. Cotton milkweed roots were used to treat respiratory illnesses and Spearmint was used to treat colic, indigestion and stomach aches, among other uses.
These letters were written by George “Washington” Brummett, Jr. (1836-1864) and his brother William (“Bill”) Harrison Brummett (1845-1926). They initially enlisted in Co. I (the “McCulloch Guards”), 9th Arkansas Infantry (CSA) in November 1861 at Memphis, Tennessee. However, due to heavy losses at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, Co. I was disbanded and they were transferred to Co. A.
I could not find an image of either Washington or Will Brummett but here is one of Abraham C. Armstrong who served in Co. F, 9th Arkansas Infantry. He was wounded in October 1862 during the attack on Corinth. (Ancestry.com)
Washington was captured in Jefferson County, Arkansas on 1 February 1864 and sent to the military prison at Rock Island Barracks in Illinois in May 1864 where he died on 20 September 1864 from erysipelas. He is buried in the post cemetery, grave #1516. He had married Martha Jane Brantley (1843-1912) in February 1861 and they had one child, Billy, born in March 1862.
Washington and Will were the sons of George Washington Brummett, Sr. (1809-18xx) and Malinda Cage (1809-1861) of White Sulfur Spring, Jefferson county, Arkansas. They occasionally wrote to their younger brother Pleasant (“Pleasy”) Brummett (1849-1896) or younger sister Mary Brummett (1842-1874). We learn from the boys’ letters that their father was a farmer but the 1860 US Census also informs us that he was a Methodist Minister.
Note: There are seven letters by members of the Brummett family housed at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock, See BC.MSS.10.22.
Letter 1
Memphis, Tennessee August 29th 1861
Dear Sister,
I once more take my pen in hand to inform you that I am well and hope these few lines may find you the same. We had a very disagreeable tramp of it on the account of the hot weather. We are camped about two miles of Memphis. Dear sister, I would be glad to see you all once more but I reckon it will be some time before I see you all again for we are received and turned over to the Southern Confederacy and as soon as we get well drilled, we will go right in for fighting.
Give my best respects to all the girls. Tell them God bless all their pretty souls. Tell them to think of me in my hours of distress for a soldier’s life is a hard one. They have many of troubles to go through with—more than I thought of when I went into it. But I am in for it now and I expect to stick to it the tighter.
You must write to me as soon as you get this letter. Give me a detail of all the news, how all the folks are getting along. Give my best respects to all enquiring friends and save a portion for yourself. So no more at present—only remains your affectionate brother until death, — William H. Brummett
Direct your letters to Memphis, Tennessee, Ninth Regiment, In care of Capt. J. M. Hawley
Letter 2
Camp Beauregard, Kentucky December 23rd [1861]
Dear Father,
I take my pen in hand to write you a few lines to inform you that I am in reasonable health at the present time, hoping these lines will find you all well. I have nothing of interest to write to you. We are still preparing for winter quarters & in a few days we will be in our house which will be nothing extra when we do get in them. They are built 12 by 14 and covered one way camp fashion and chimney on the eave side and no floor in them. We have got no straw for beds and I expect we will have rather cool comfort this winter but I guess we will not freeze. Times is sorter gloomy at this time.
There is some sickness in camps at this time and some pretty serious cases and there is one thing here that I will have to relate which pains me very much and that is the death of Jesse Smithee. He died tonight about 10 o’clock of pneumonia. He died very unexpectedly. He did not talk anything about death or the future or anything else. There is one thing certain—life is uncertain and death is sure. But what is death? It is nothing if we are prepared. But when a man comes to the dying hour far away from his home and family, no friends to cheer him through the vale of death and without the least ray of hope in the future, it is awful to think about. I do hope and pray that it will never be my lot to leave this world under such circumstances. I have been very wicked and bad but I am going to turn a new leaf in regard to my soul’s eternal welfare. I want you all to remember us in your prayers for we are in an awful place. Many are the snares to draw a person away from the right tracks. Even men that I thought did have some firmness and religion about them are cursing and swearing. I think our Colonel 1 has pretty well lost all of his religion from what I can gather. He is now under arrest. What for, I am not hardly able to tell. I think that it is charges brought up by the regiment. He had several of the captains arrested—that is, their swords taken away from them. They kept working along with it until they got his sword taken away from him.
I have nothing of much importance to write to you about the war. There is some such talk as peace being made before long but I don’t know how true it is. I hope it will be the case and we will get to come home before long. The boys are all well at this time and has been ever since I got here with the exception of colds. So I will have to close my letter for it is getting late. I want you to write to us pretty often and let us know how you are all getting along. I want you to go down and see Martha and see how she is getting along, whether she is needing anything or not, and if she is, write to me and I will send her some money. I would like to see you all very bad but I don’t know whether I will get the chance to come home or not before my time is out so I will close for the present farewell. – G. W. Brummett
P. S. Tell Nancy [that] John is stout and hearty, and that [he] wants to see her very bad. He is going to come home some time this winter if he can get a furlough. Tell her to write to him as soon as she gets this. — G. W. B.
1 The Colonel of the 9th Arkansas Infantry at the time was John Milton Bradley, a lawyer and a Methodist Minister.
Letter 3
[Editor’s Note: This letter was originally transcribed in December 2014 and published on Spared & Shared 9. I have reposted it here to be included with the other letters by Washington and Will Brummett]
Bowling Green, Kentucky January the 22nd [1862]
Dear Brother P.
I seat myself to write you a few lines to let you know how we are all doing. Well sir, we are all enjoying reasonable health and how when these lines come safely to your hands they will find you enjoying good health. I guess when you read these lines it will sorter surprise you for I know you won’t be expecting one from me. I just happened to think about writing you a letter to see how it would work, and what sort of an answer you would write me and if you don’t answer it, I won’t write you anymore — that’s so.
Well, Pless, I would like to see you very much and go a possum hunting with you for I have not been a possum hunting since I have been out. I want you to have my pup well trained by the time I get back so we can rake in a few of the fattest of them. You must write how he performs and if he don’t perform right, kill him dead for I don’t like mean dogs. There is some of the prettiest little Bull pups here I ever saw. If I could, I would send you one but I can’t do it.
Well Plesy, we have not had the chance to fight the Yankees yet, nor I don’t think we will for they are afraid of us. I hear some talk of peace before long. I guess you would not much care, would you? I don’t recon we will come home before our time is out unless peace is made, and if peace is made, then we will come raring and pitching, saying hurrah for the sunny South!
Bill, Bob, and John is all fat and saucy. We have a little hole dug out in our tent and we are all sitting around it while I am writing to you. Bill and Bob says they would give anything almost to be with you tonight so they could take a big hunt and catch a rabbit. Pleassy, I guess you would like to take a small hunt with us, wouldn’t you? But it may be that some of us has taken our last hunt with you. That is not for us to know. I hope though that we will all live to get back and see you once more.
We are still here at Bowling Green, Kentucky, and I expect we will stay here till next spring and then we will pitch in to the Yankees rough shod if they don’t give it up before then.
We are going to making chimneys to our tents and then how warm we will sleep of a night. We have had no cold weather here much yet and I hope we won’t for if we do we will suffer in the fat, but we have straw now to put in our tents for the first, only what we get ourselves.
Pleasy, I want you to write to me as soon as you get this and write everything common, what you are all working at, and what your neighbors are all doing. Tell daddy that they would not have my old shot gun in the company — we had plenty of guns. I expect I will lose her.¹
We have elected Capt. [Isaac L.] Dunlop [as] Colonel of our regiment. We all like him very well so far. So I will have to close for this time. Tell all the family howdy for me and tell yourself “howdy do” for me. And tell them all to write and don’t forget to write yourself. So farewell, dear brother, for the present. Direct to Bowling Green.
— G. W. Brummett
¹ We learn from this letter that George enlisted in the service carrying his own shotgun which was common among many of the Arkansas regiments early in the war. A regimental history tells us that the 9th Arkansas was one of the regiments eventually receiving flintlock Hall’s rifles that had been confiscated from the Federal Armory at Little Rock in February 1861.
Letter 4
Murfreesboro, Tennessee February the 23rd [1862]
Dear Sister,
I seat myself to drop you a few lines to inform you that I am well. The boys is all well as far as I know. John was left at the hospital. He had the mumps. He was getting [better] the last account. I hope when these few [lines] come to hand, they may find you all well.
We have just landed here a few days ago. We marched about a hundred miles. I hain’t got a letter since [Capt.] Hawley come. I feel lonesome [without] hearing from you. Mary, this is my last letter I [will] write to you until you take to writing more to me. Washington gets a letter from his wife every mail. He says he has wrote his last letter. I can’t here from you all more than what I do. You don’t know how much good it does me to hear from you all.
The Yankees is a p[l]aying smash with our boys up here. They have taken two forts [Donelson & Henry]. We have run from Bowling Green and them after us but we burned the town into ashes before we left it. We have not been in any fight yet. We are looking for them here every day. We will stand here and fight them and whip them too. They think that [they] have got us about whipped but they are fooled in their hand. They’ve taken some of our boys at Bowling Green. They’ve taken one out of our company. They made our boys tremble at Fort Donelson. They’ve taken everything they had but we will get them yet.
So I will have to come to a close. Tell Father howdy for me. Give my best respects to all enquiring friends. Give all the young men hankies. Tell them that they are cowards to the core. Give me all the news if you ever write to me anymore. Tell Father to write soon for this is my last letter until I get more than what I have been the [ ] of. So I remain as I was, — William H. Brummett
To Miss Mary Brummett
and the last one.
Letter 5
Corinth, Mississippi April 9th 1862
Dear Father and sister,
I [take] the present opportunity of writing you a few lines to let you all know that I am yet in the land of the living. We are all well at this time and in good spirits.
We have just landed here this morning from off the battleground. I thought I had seen something when I saw the battle at Columbus [Battle of Belmont] but it was not approaching to the one we have had here. We have been marching ever since the last of March and [we are] very much fatigued. We was in the fight here. This regiment was very badly cut up but I did not get hurt. All the boys that you know came out safely. This regiment fought like heroes. General [John S.] Bowen 1 says that the 9th & 10th [Arkansas] made a charge that no other two regiments would have done. I was in the fight from the beginning to ending. We routed them completely. This is some of the paper that I [had] taken from them.
We have fell back here to rest two or three weeks [when] I think that we will give them a turn again. So I will have to close or I can’t send my letter by hand. Write soon as you get this. — William H. Brummet
1 Brig. Gen. John S. Bowen commanded the 9th & 10th Arkansas as well as unites from Missouri and Mississippi in the Battle of Shiloh. They saw heavy fighting at the Peach Orchard and other parts of the field. The 9th Arkansas had about 132 men killed, wounded or captured of the 338 men that entered the fight.
Letter 6
Corinth, Mississippi April 13th 1862
Dear Sister,
I seat myself to write you a few lines to inform you that we are all alive after fighting one of the hardest battles that was ever fought on this continent. It makes my heart ache to think of it and to think of it, it looks like a Providential affair that we come out as many of us did. Surely I never want to experience another such a fight. Men was shot down all around us, bomb shells bursting, cannon balls flying amongst us, taking off the tops of trees. It was enough to make the stoutest heart quake. God forbid that I shall ever have to experience the like again. But from what I can gather, we will have to go into another fight again before long and if we do, many will be the poor soldier that will pass from this world to another. I think we have gained the victory so far. We repulsed the enemy every charge we made, drove the enemy out of their camps, and took [ ] possession.
My dear sister, I hope these lines will find you all well. You don’t know how bad we wanted to see you. I haven’t heard from you since we came here. I have not heard from Martha since she was taken down and I don’t know whether she is dead or alive, but I do hope she is well.
Jim Shelby told us that father was sick and looked worse than he ever saw him. I do hope he is well. Do write to me and let me know whether you are all alive or not. I do hope kind Providence will spare all of us to see each other again. Mary, write to me how all the connection is doing and how Martha is getting along. We are getting along as well as might be expected. Me and Bob & Bill are still together. I have not heard from John Keene’s in a long time. I don’t know what has become of him. I am afraid he is dead or taken prisoner. I want you to write to me if you have heard anything of him or not.
I expect we will see hard times before our time is out but I don’t care how hard [just] so our lives is spared to get back home. I reckon you see hard times back there as well as we do. I don’t see what the women and children will do for [ ] on another year but [ ] way will be provided for them.
Billy, I wrote you a few lines [ ] but [ ] not have time to write much for the [ ] he sent it by [ ] him. Write to me whether anyone is tending my place or not and how all my stuff is doing. I don’t know what on earth I will do for something to live on when I get back—if I am so fortunate as to get back. Give all the folks my best love and respects. Tell them I want to see them all very bad. So I will close for I have told you all that I can think of at this time. Write how father is getting along with his crop. I know he has a hard time of it and has a great deal on his mind and much trouble and anxiety, but I hope it will all work out for the better. Give father and Pless and Nancy my best love and reserve a portion for yourself. So farewell. — Geo. W. Brummett, Jr.
Bob K [or R?] says to tell all his friends that the [ ] ball went through his hat [ ] and scratched the back of his head. He says his head was too hard for that ball.
Letter 7
Corinth, Mississippi April 22nd 1862
Dear Father,
It is with much thankfulness to kind Providence that I am permitted to write you a few lines to inform you how we are all getting along. We are all well except Bob. He had something like the cholera morbus but is better. I hope when these lines comes to hand, they will find you all well. I am very anxious to hear from you all for I have not received a letter since Col. Ingram came back, and you don’t know how uneasy we are about you all.
We are all getting along as well as might be expected under the circumstances for we have went through seas rough battles. How it is that we are not all dead I will leave for you to say for of all the battles that ever was fought, I reckon we have fought the hardest. Our officers acted very gallantly. Col. Dunlap & Major Wallace needs a great deal of praise. The Major was wounded in the heat of the battle on Sunday morning, He can be set down amongst the brave. Also Col. Millsap [?] acted bravely until he got wounded and had to retire from the field. Our company officers all got wounded on Sunday—the first day of the engagement. They all behaved themselves greatly to their edification. Col. Ingram can’t be beat. He also got wounded and had to fall back. 1 I had no idea the Colonel would hold out so long as he did for he was very weak & feeble. He is coming home in a day or two on the account of his health. He says he is not able to serve his government. The company don’t want to give him up for he is the only officer that has the entire confidence of his men.
You will see perhaps a piece in the Pine Bluff paper showing the regard the company has for him. Capt. Hawley was not in the battle so I shall say nothing about him for I expect you will hear enough. He has lost the good will of his company.
I don’t think we will have a fight here soon though our skirmishers has a brush every once in a while. It is rumored that Gen. Marshall has possession of Nashville but how true it is, I can’t tell. There is about 30 thousand Yankees scattered between here and there, and perhaps there will be another fight somewhere in that direction before long. I suppose our Congress has passed a law to hold all the twelve months troops for two years longer or the war, and it has created a right smart of dissatisfaction amongst the troops. I think it is a bad thing for they are determined to go home anyhow when their times is out. They say they won’t fight if they are pressed but if they will let them alone, they will go home and stay a while and then reenlist again.
We have not received any pay yet but I suppose they are making preparations to pay us for two months in a few days. If they do, me and Billy will send ours home if we have a chance for we have no use for it here. I want you to write to me how you are all getting along and how Martha is getting along. I suppose there is no man person on the place to do one thing and I am afraid she will suffer. I do hope that I will be permitted to come home when my time is out and see you all. If I could hear from you all occasionally, I would be much better satisfied. But it looks like we can’t get any letter here. From what cause, I can’t tell. I want you to write to me and write often. Perhaps some of the letters will come to hand. I have written Mary one letter since the battle but whether she will ever get it or not is uncertain. When you write, give us all the news in general. I expect you get plenty of venison to eat since we all left. I hope so at least. All Bill thinks of is the good milk and butter at home that he has been so used to having this time of the year. He says he intends to make it squat when he gets back.
Tell Nancy I have not heard of John yet and what has become of him, I can’t tell. Write to me if you have heard from him lately or not. So I will have to close for this time. Give my best love to all my connections. I wrote one letter to Jack Gentry. Write to me whether he ever got it or not. Farewell. — G. W. Brummett
Direct your letters to Corinth, Mississippi
1 Washington calls him Col. Ingram but I believe he is referring to 45 year-old Lieut. Benjamin F. Ingram (1817-1862) of Pine Bluff. He was seriously wounded in the Battle of Shiloh and his wounds would prove fatal.
Letter 8
Corinth, Mississippi May 26th [1862]
Dear Sisters,
I seat myself to write you a few lines in answer to yours which is received on yesterday. It was dated the 24th of April. Bob Nethery brought one of a later date, May 1st, I believe. I was truly glad to hear that you were all well and doing well. We are all well at this time and I hope when this comes to hand, it will find you all well.
My dear sisters, I have nothing that would interest you much. I don’t think we are going to have a fight here. I think we are going to leave this place and go further down in Mississippi. From what I can gather, Tennessee has gone back in the Union. If she has, we are in a critical condition for Arkansas will be bound to go back. I heard Governor Rector of Arkansas had left Arkansas and gone North with all the State Treasury. 1 Write to me if there is any talk of Arkansas going back to the Union.
I heard just now that we are going to attack the Yankees’ right away and drive them out of Tennessee. Our generals has stopped all the papers and can’t tell what is going on and I think it is a hard war anyway. But God works all things for the best. We can only trust in God for His protection.
I have not much time to write. The boys is all well. Write if you have any chance to send the letter & give my best love to all my friends. Farewell. — G. W. Brummett
1 As Union General Samuel Curtis moved from Missouri into Arkansas in the spring of 1862, it was assumed that he intended to capture Little Rock (he later turned to capture Helena). As a precaution, Gov. Rector had the State Archives & Treasury moved from Little Rock to Hot Springs (not “North”) in May 1862. My g-g-grandmother’s younger brother, Ralph L. Goodrich, was working for the Oliver Basham (State Treasurer) when this move was made. He wrote of it in his diary. See: July 1862.
This letter was written by Jerry Kingsbury Bullock (1838-1920) of Plano, Kendall county, Illinois to his friend, George A. Beck. Jerry was the son of Ephraim Allen Bullock (1806-1852) and Julia Ann Barber (1812-1874) of Oneida county, New York. Bullock’s letter was written from Camp Douglas, Illinois, in December 1861 where the 13th Illinois Cavalry was being organized. Jerry mustered into Co. H. as a sergeant but a little over a year later was commissioned as 1st Lieutenant of the company. He wrote the letter to George A. Beck who also served in the same company but was sick (or playing sick) at his home in Plano. George was discharged for disability in August 1862. Other people in the company mentioned include Peter Dahl who was discharged for disability less than three months after his muster; and Edward E. Avery (or Averly).
Two captains from the 13th Illinois Cavalry. (Al Niemiec Collection)
The 13th Illinois Cavalry regiment were sometimes called the “German Guides: because a large number of their members were of German descent. They had the distinction of being the very first Union unit to enter Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1863.
Bullock’s letters speaks of the mutiny carried out by the Mechanics Fusileers who were employed to build the camp’s barracks. After completing the job on 18 December 1861, Gov. Yates attempted to press the Fusileers into service as infantrymen and did not pay them what they were led to believe they had been promised for their work. They rioted and burned part of the fencing they had erected. Bullock’s letter also refers to the Washburne Lead Mine Regiment (45th Illinois Infantry) that was quartered at Camp Douglas and experienced the primitive camp infrastructure as the camp was being built. They were happy to ship out to Cairo some three weeks later.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Addressed to Mr. G. A. Beck, Plano, Kendall county, Illinois
Camp Douglas
December 20th 1861
I feel very very well now that I have things as they should be. But to tell the whole story from the time of starting from Plano. I found [those] men at the cars with those boys that came out with us, Peter Dahl & one recruit—a young man—very good too. Peter was tolerable drunk when we got to Aurora. He was bound to run off. The Lieutenant caught him & with the assistance of the rest, got or rather put him back with the pleasure of holding him on all the way, but more sport than I have had for a good while for the conductor came in [and] sat down by Pete & called for his whiskey. They passed it to him in a bottle. He passed it to Pete’s face & [threw it] out the window. I wish you had of heard the laughing. They told him it was a fine joke. He did not enjoy it as well as the rest.
After we got into camp, things looked rather bad. The Orderly was so he could not perform his business & I had to take his place. The men were growling about the living [food]. I acted till yesterday, then he took the place. By this time, they had all got satisfied tolerable well in our camp but the Lead Mine Regiment had directed a spree, tore down the fence, told Old Tucker he might kiss their foot, and so on. It was on the account of passes. And after they got through, the Fusileers took it into their head they must have a time & so they tore the fence down—10 rods [of it] and burned it up. They also raised up seven flags on their barracks & they still wave. Theirs was on the account of pay. You know what they thought of getting & could only get 13 per month with 40 cents per day when they worked. All of their regimental officers have resigned. I think the whole regiment will bust up.
One word of ourselves. We have moved down in the Douglas Quarters. We had to either go in infantry or leave that regiment so we chose the latter. We now are in Bell’s Cavalry—all but some three or four. They will go into the infantry. It is not much trouble now to move, We have got use to it.
And now I will tell you the reason I feel better than a man. I now am writing on a desk that is made as I wanted to fix it. Before I had no place. It’s built as it should be.
Edward Avery [Averly] came in with me & now sleeps with me. But I write what I started this letter for—that you should be sick till after New Years if possible. This is providing you are well or are likely soon to be which I hope is so. Now stay as before anyway. Should the Lieutenant come out, be so sick that you cannot get back.
So praise my good writing & let me hear of you soon. My well wishes to all. Yours as ever, — J. K. Bullock
The author of this letter was William B. Elrod (1825-Aft1873), the son of Samuel Elrod (1797-1885) and Mildred (“Milly”) Gurthey (1799-1888) of Mountain Springs, Anderson County, South Carolina. William enlisted in Co. D, 18th South Carolina Infantry late in 1861. In signing the letter, William added the name of Drury “Edward” King (1839-1915), a comrade in Co. D who served as his 2nd Lt. and came from the same vicinity in Anderson county. Samuel’s Last Will & Testament (Ancestry.com), signed in 1873 by his mark, confirms that both William B. and Benjamin (“Ben”) Douthit Elrod (1831-1879) were his sons and Drury Edward King was his son-in-law. Drury married Nellie Caroline (“Carrie”) Elrod (1839-1917) in 1866. A letter written by Edward King to his aunt, Elizabeth Barkley is housed at the Atlanta History Center. It speaks of the hardships endured by the soldiers towards the end of the war.
A postwar rendering of Drury Edward King and his wife, Carrie (Elrod) King
The 18th South Carolina was part of Elliott’s South Carolina Brigade Brigade which belonged to Brig. Gen. Bushrod Johnson’s Division. The content of this letter pertains to the movements of the regiment as Confederate troops were shifted south towards Petersburg from the Howlett line to confront Grant’s flank movement across the James River at Weyanoke Point on 14 June 1864. Some six weeks later the 18th South Carolina, alongside the 22nd South Carolina, would find themselves holding Elliott’s Salient in the Petersburg defenses when the Union Army detonated the mine beneath their works, disabling more than 200 of its men and killing 108 from the 18th South Carolina alone. [See Co. D Roster]
I wish to thank my friend Brett Schulte of The Siege of Petersburg Facebook page for assistance in nailing down the regiment and the identities of the two soldiers who signed their names to this letter. He tells me that he used the new Google Gemini Argon as his research tool for this task.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Petersburg, Virginia June 21st 1864
Dear Father, Mother, Sisters & Friends,
We take the present chance of writing you a few lines which may inform you that through the mercies of a kind Providence we are still alive and tolerably well and hope these lines may reach and find you all in good health. You may think this a strange way of writing, but our condition is such we have to do the best we can and feel thankful we are even as well off as we are. We got your letter of the 7th and was truly glad to hear from you. At the time we received your letter, we were in the trenches some 6 miles north of Petersburg and remained till last Thursday morning [16 June] when we were ordered to Petersburg.
We left the trenches just before day and came to Petersburg and was put in line of battle about 10 o’clock in rear of the main line as reserves and so remained all day. In the evening they began fighting and fought for a long time very hard but our men repulsed them. That night we moved back about a mile and worked all night on breastworks and just before dat we started back to our position.
About day break [17 June] the Yankees made a charge on our men and captured nearly a brigade of our men. 1 Then we moved on to the front and we met men coming back and they said it would not be but a little while till we would be falling back too. So everyone thought we were going right into the hardest kind of a fight. But they marched us up and gave us our position now under fire of the enemy. They gave us some tools and we went to throwing up breastworks with all our might and it was not long till we had our works that would protect us very well. Each side kept cannonading and picket firing all day till near sun down. The Yankees made a charge on our line just to our left in sight of us and drove our men from their breastworks. We are now ordered to support them, or rather protect a battery. So we left our works amidst a storm of bomb shells and come minié balls. But we did not go far till we were ordered to lie down where we were not quite so much exposed except some sharpshooters balls that wounded some of our men
I will now say two of our boys were wounded about the time of our leaving our breastworks. I am sorry to say Noel is one of the wounded but I am glad to tell you from what I learn, his wound is slight—being a flesh wound just above the knee. Spencer Carter 2 was wounded slightly in fingers. Those are all [the wounded] in our company. Some others in the regiment were killed.
But we did not stay in our exposed condition as above related but a short time when we were moved back to our works though they kept shelling of us rapidly. The hardest of the fighting was done to our left. It now became evident that Gen. Beauregard’s little army was fighting Grant’s and Butler’s combined [army] and they were too hard for us. So Friday night [17 June], about midnight, our army fell back about a mile to a new position.
Now we had no breastworks and it [was] nearly day [break on 18 June] and we didn’t know when Grant’s army would be on us. But they gave us tools—shovels, picks, and spades—and every fellow fell to work for life, tired and weak as we were for you may have some idea of our condition when I tell you we had been working night and day from the fight of the 20th. 3 Sometimes it would 4 and 5 nights a man wouldn’t get any sleep except a little nap. But by 10 o’clock we had thrown up pretty good breastworks. And after 12 o’clock the Yankees begun to come. They made a charge in front of our regiment but you may depend we sent them back in a hurry—those that were not killed and wounded. Later in the evening they made another charge to our left and they were sent back and a goodly number of them to eternity.
It is now late Saturday evening [and we are] getting good news as from a far country. Behold, here comes General Lee and his army—some 60,000—and they relieved us from the ditches that night and we have been resting since that time. How long we will stay here is unknown to us. The most of the boys are tolerably well. [Brother] Ben [Elrod] is well.
So will close our letter for this time as it is getting dark. Write soon and give us all the news. May the good Lord save and preserve us. No more but remain your son and friend till death. — W. B. Elrod & D. E. King
Remember us in your prayers. Excuse bad writing. I expect Noel will soon be at home.
1 This is undoubtedly a reference to the dawn attack of June 17, 1864 in which Union troops under General James H. Potter (of the 9th Corps) broke through Confederate lines at Hickory Hill and captured roughly 600 individual Confederate prisoners, four cannons, and five flags.
2 Thomas “Spencer”Carter (1832-1907) served as a private in Co. D, 18th South Carolina. He’s a little hard to track down because his name, apparently, was actually Thomas Spencer Cartee but frequently spelled in civil and military records as Carter. An image of Spencer (with all of his fingers) and his family can be found on Find-A-Grave.That site gives his parents as Caleb Wade Cartee (1790-1871) and Elizabeth Slaton (1800-1879).
3 Probably a reference to the fighting at Ware Bottom Church on May 20, 1864.
