The following letter was written by William C. Cook (1843-1936), the orphaned son of Asa C. Cook (1810-1850) and Mary Margaret Campbell (1814-1846) of Dalton, Wayne county, Ohio. William entered the service at age 18, enlisting for three years on 30 August 1862 in Co. C, 41st Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI). He made the jump from musician (drummer boy) to sergeant on 9 July 1864 and was appointed the 1st Sergeant of his company on 9 January 1865. He mustered out as a veteran on 27 November 1865. William married Eliza Ellen Fletcher (1847-1914) in 1868 and was a merchant in Dalton in the latter half of the 19th century.
Over the years I have transcribed a few other letters by soldiers in the 41st OVI; three of them by members of Co. C: These letters include:
Addressed to Miss Linda Hughes, Farmer Center, Defiance county, Ohio
In front of Atlanta, Georgia August 21, 1864
Miss Linda Hughes, kind Friend.
Thinking a few lines from a soldier friend would prove acceptable to you, I take the liberty to address a few lines to you. As I have not written to you yet, although I believe I promised to write soon after I left Dalton [Ohio] for the army.
We are having a different time now that we had last winter. We are marching or fighting most all the time—more amusement than I like. I would rather go to Orrville to a concert and see the picture of a battlefield as some we see here. How should you like to take another wagon ride? I think I could enjoy one now very well. But the party that took that ride will never be all together again. I heard from Dalton a few days ago. Gust [Augusta] McDowl [McDowell] is more than down on us boys. She does not believe Ed was killed She says we do not know anything about it. Well perhaps we don’t, but I know she will never see him again as I never knew of a dead man coming to life yet.
Since we left Dalton, we have seen some hard times. We have been under fire almost every day since the 6th of May. Now we are in sight of the rebs and are skirmishing with them every few days. There has been some hard fighting along the line but none in our front. But we have our share. We are close to Atlanta but there is going to be some hard fighting before they let us go in.
Today is Sunday and is midling quiet but can’t tell how long it will last as they start up firing all at once sometimes. We can’t tell one minute what shall happen the next. Don’t care much either. If we have to fight, I want to do it and get home again—that is, if they don’t hurt me.
Linda, I hardly know where to direct my letters to as I do not know whether you are at your home or not, as it has been quite a while since I heard from you. Milt Fletcher says he wrote you some time ago and never received any answer. It is now getting late and I shall have to close for this time but if I am so lucky as to receive an answer, I will write more the next time. Hoping to hear from you soon, I remain your friend, — W. C. Cook
P. S. Milt & Will sends respects. Direct to W. C. Cook, County. C, 41st O[hio] V[et.] V[ol.] I[nfantry], Marietta, Georgia
The following partial letter was penned by Corp. Alfred H. Bryant (1840-1902), a 23 year-old machinist in Rochester, New York, when he enlisted in the 18th Independent Battery—Capt., Albert G. Mack. This battery, known as the “Black Horse artillery,” or “Billinghurst battery,” was recruited and organized by Capt. Mack at Rochester, where it was mustered into the U. S. service for three years on Sept. 13, 1862.
The 18th Independent Battery left the state on Dec. 2, 1862, and joined Sherman’s division, Department of the Gulf. It was attached to the 19th Army Corps and was active at Fort Bisland, the Amite river, Plains store, and the siege of Port Hudson, La., where it participated in the assaults of May 27 and June 14. After the surrender of Port Hudson it went into the defenses of New Orleans; was engaged at Bayou La Fourche in July, 1863; took part in the expedition to Clinton and Liberty creek, La., in Nov., 1864; and in the spring of 1865, participated with Gen. Canby’s forces in the siege of Mobile, engaging at Spanish Fort, and at Fort Blakely and Mobile. It was mustered out under Capt. Mack, at Rochester, N. Y., July 20, 1865, having lost during service 4 men mortally wounded, and 23 men by disease and other causes, a total of 27.
In July 1863, the fort and buildings burned during the Bayou Lafourche campaign were associated with Fort Butler (pictured below) at Donaldsonville, Louisiana, and the surrounding Kock’s Plantation. The destruction occurred during the Battle of Kock’s Plantation on July 13, 1863, after Confederate forces under General Tom Green engaged Union troops. Fort Butler, an earth-and-log fortification designed to guard the confluence of the Mississippi River and Bayou Lafourche, was the anchor point of the Union stronghold in Donaldsonville. Union troops and gunboats shelled and burned portions of the surrounding town, while retreating or attacking Confederate forces also destroyed nearby government and plantation buildings.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
[Editor’s note: This partial letter begins on page 5 of an eight page letter. It was probably datelined from Donaldsonville, Louisiana in mid July 1863.]
..and attacked Banks force here. They had an idea that they could draw our force away from Port Hudson but their plan didn’t work. This place is situated on the bank of the Mississippi River about 100 miles from New Orleans.
We have had two terrible battles here—one while we was at Port Hudson and one the day before we arrived here. They tried to take the place but our troops kept them back at the point of the bayonet until our gunboats arrived and burned the place down. We have a small fort here but there wasn’t men enough to man the guns at the time of the fight. It was a terrible sight the day we arrived here. The buildings was all burned to the ground and was still smoking while the dead still lay upon the ground, unburied, left there for their friends to recognize them while there was hundreds of man made graves all along the road while the wounded was being carried to the hospital at Baton Rouge.
How long we will remain here, I do not know. The rebel force is about 15 miles from here. I do not think they will give us a chance to try our big guns again right away. We have a large force in their rear and I think we will be apt to bag them all. Fighting is about played [out] in this state and I guess it is all over. I think the rebels have found out that the Yankees are too much for them, If they hain’t, it is about time they had. I told a reb in Port Hudson that I could whip 3 rebels and keep it up 7 days in a week.
I will have to finish this letter the same as I did my pants the other day—haft to patch it.
There is rumors in camp that there is proposals of peace at Washington. We have a few in our company who correspond with the Rochester paper. I will send you some papers as soon as I get some stamps. I have one or two letters that I will send you. One was taken from the New York Herald. It will give you a slight sketch of our doings. We have nigh 7 months pay due [us]. It is hard telling when we will get pay. My health is good at present. I have had a slight touch of the fever but I am better now.
I must close this letter for there is a dreadful shower driving up and I must try and fix my shelter tent so as it won’t leak. This is a dreadful rainy month. One hour the sun will shine dreadful hot and the next it will rain. It has rained every day for the last two weeks. Goodbye. Remember me to all my friends. Farewell from your ever affectionate brother. Write soon. Please direct to Mr. Alfred H. Bryant, 18th New York Battery, Care of Capt. A[lbert] G. Mack. General Banks’ Expedition, New Orleans
I could not find an image of Charles but here is a watercolor of Pvt. John H. Bario of Co. C, 7th Connecticut Infantry
Charles L. Hewitt (1844-Aft1919) enlisted in the Union Army on 27 August 1861, was mustered on 7 September 1861 into Co. E, 7th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, and was mustered out on 12 September 1864. Charles was the son of John and Eliza (Platt) Hewitt of West Winsted, Litchfield County, Connecticut.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill contains a collection of 31 letters written by Charles L. Hewitt to his parents and siblings and a notebook in which Hewitt recorded the fates of nearly 120 of his fellow soldiers, including those who were wounded, killed in action, promoted, or deserted along with the dates and locations of these occurrances. Hewitt’s letters, written onboard a gunboat and from various locations in Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, document army life; his evaluations and speculations; his time drilling, serving in a boat infantry, and picketing; descriptions of his surroundings; family and social news; and descriptions of fighting.
The University of South Carolina’s Manuscript Divisions has six of Charles L. Hewitt’s letters written between January 1862 and November 1863.
After mustering out of the service, Hewitt returned to Connecticut where he worked as a carpenter and farm laborer, raising two children with his first wife, Jennie, whom he married about 1868, and two more children with his second wife, Charlotte Lawrence Sage, whom he married in 1879.
Letter 1
Addressed to Mr. John Hewitt, West Winsted, Conn.
Jones Island Fort Vulcan March 11, 1862
Dear Parents,
I received your letter of the 16th of February and was very glad to hear from you and that you was all well. How is Uncle Charles’ folks getting on? I have not had a letter from there in two months. They have not answered my letter yet. I received the combs, thread and buttons and vest. I mentioned it when I wrote my last letter. The Rowly boys have not got their box yet. You needn’t send me any more combs at present for I have plenty now. Sterling Milliman had a letter stating that Jake had got home. When you write, please write and tell me if he brought that box that I sent by him. I paid him for carrying it.
We are not afraid of the rebels now. I came on guard to the battery on the Savannah River today. She mounts 9 guns: two 30-pound rifle cannon about 12 feet long with 3 or 4 smaller ones, one 24 Howitzer and one Columbiad, one which carries a shot 11 inches through, besides which we have got a battery right opposite across the river of 6 rifle cannon [and] two gunboats to support them—the Western World and E. B. Hale. 1 Our men took two secesh this morning. Savannah isn’t taken yet. There is no land cultivated in this part of the country. We have not time for that for green peas I have not seen some yet since I left home.
As for the Darkies we keep them mostly for oarsmen. They make the best oarsmen in the world. They will row from morning until night without stopping. Rowing is their delight. Gen. [Egbert Ludovicus] Viele has got six of them to man his boat. He has got them red shirts and blue caps and they feel big, you can bet.
I received the paper that you sent me at the same time that I received the letter. You can tell Duck that I got her letter and wrote her another one. I get the letters directed either way but the best way is to direct to Port Royal, S. C., and tell her to let Frank have 50 cents of she wants to borrow it again and I will pay her. I shall be much obliged for the beef. As for the pickles, I rather think I can make way with them. I have not tasted of one since I left home—only as one of the sailors on board the Western World gave me part of one the other day. It was a luxury you can bet.
Our boys think they have a hard time here standing guard in the mud. The mud is about like it is at home in the spring when the frost begins to come out of the ground, only there ain’t no bottom to it. But the 48th New York have it worse than we do. They have to make the battery of it and get it all covered with mud from head to foot.
My paper is getting scarce and I must stop by sending my love to all. — Charles L. Hewitt
1 On 14 February 1862, Western World and E. B. Hale drove off four Confederate vessels which attempted to break the Union blockade of the Mud and Wright’s Rivers, tributaries of the Savannah. This restricted Confederate activity upon the Savannah River and protected the newly installed Federal battery at Venus Point. After remaining off the Savannah through May, Western World returned to Port Royal on 2 June. [Source: Western World (Screw Steamer)]
Letter 2
Charles wrote this first letter to Samuel Lloyd Andrews (1811-1882) of Winsted, Litchfield county, Connecticut. Samuel was a 50 year-old master carpenter in Winsted who had previously employed and boarded Charles with his family. Samuel’s son, George L. Andrews (1840-1907) married Sarah Jane (“Jennie”) Fenton (1842-1908) before the Civil War; he enlisted in 1862 as the Orderly Sergeant of Co. F, 28th Connecticut Infantry (having previously served in Co. F, 2nd Connecticut).
Charles tells Samuel that the regiment has just returned from an expedition that attempted to destroy a part of the Charleston and Savannah Railroad near Pocotaligo led by General Terry. Two days after this letter, the regiment left Hilton Head for Beaufort.
Hilton Head [South Carolina] October 29, 1862
Dear Friend,
I received your letter and should have answered it before but we had to go off on our expedition and when we got back, we were pretty much tired out. I hope you will excuse me this time and I will try and answer your next letter sooner. I sent you a paper the other day that is printed here with an account of our last fight in this part of the country. I sent you $5 through our folks. I sent it to them because I could send it all together. They will hand it to you and I will see that you get the rest before long.
Heard that George had gone out as Orderly Sergeant. Is that so? Wheelock [T. Batcheller] has been promoted to Lieut. Col. [of the 28th]?
If we get reinforcements down here, you will hear some good news from this quarter before long for we have got a man at the head of the department that means [to] fight—Gen. O. M. Mitchel. We cannot muster more than 5 or 6 thousand men to start off with here now but he has started us twice already—once to Florida and once for the railroad between Savannah and Charleston.
George—or “Lengthy” as we call him here—is well and getting along first rate. He says he will write to you before long. He sends his best respects and so does Jim.
We do not have much to do now for a few days back. We are resting from our labors in the last fight. We get soft bread every day and fresh meat every few days. We are living pretty well now.
How does Jennie get along without her George? Give her my best respects and tell Mother Andrews that [even] with all our fresh meat and soft bread, I had rather board with her. I hope this war will close before long for I, for one, am sick of it. Give my best respects to all the folks and save a good share for you and Mother Andrews.
Write soon and I will try to answer quicker next time. — Charles L. Hewitt
Letter 3
Addressed to Mr. John Hewitt, West Winsted, Connecticut
Bermuda Hundred, Virginia August 7th 1864
Dear Parents,
I received your letter of July 31st and was very glad to hear from you that you was well as this leaves me at present. I received the box the day before I received the letter. The things came all right except Jim’s and Sterling’s ¹ cheese that was moldy but mine come pretty good. It was moldy a little on the outside. Some of the lemons came all right and some were rotten. Sterling’s rusk were all spoilt. The rest of them were all right except the medicine which did not come at all.
We have some very hot weather with very little rain. We are not having duty quite so hard just at present. We have to go on picket once in 4 days and fatigue once in awhile.
New potatoes are 8 cts. a lb. That is $4.80 acts. a bushel at the sutlers. Tobacco $1.50 a lb. Milk 70 cts. a can, butter 60. Apples as big as walnuts a cent apiece. So you see we feel the high prices here as well as there. We are not troubled with buying much for we have not seen the pay master yet. We get orders on the sutler though — two dollars a month — which won’t much more than get a good meal. I think I shall have to stop chewing tobacco. It cost most too much.
I saw Jonas Leroy ² the night before the fight at Drury’s Bluff. Give him my best respects if you see him again. I hope to dinner within 5 weeks from today — just one month more to serve Uncle Sam in and then I shall bid him good day and tell him I want to settle with him.
There is no news here at present. There was very heavy firing at Petersburg the other night but I have not heard how it turned out. ³ There are rumors afloat that the rebels blowed up one of our batteries and made a charge but Gen. Grant found out that they were mining and built another battery in the rear of the one they were mining and removed everything out of it and when they charged they did more than give it to them. I don’t know how true it is though.
Give my respects to all enquiring friends. The boys all send their best respects. My love to you and mother and all the rest. Write soon. You won’t have many more to write.
From your son, — Charles L. Hewitt
¹ Corporal Sterling D. Milliman served in Company E, 7th Connecticut, with Charles.
² Jonas Leroy (1843-1921) was from West Winsted, Litchfield County, Connecticut. He served in Company G, 117th New York Infantry. Prior to that he served in Co. A, 1st New York Infantry.
³ Charles is no doubt referring to the Battle of the Crater which took place in the early morning hours of July 30, 1864.
This letter was written by Corp. Titus Andrew Euson (1837-1885) while serving in Co. C, 12th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The 12th was first organized as 3-months regiment in late April 1862 under Col. A. De Villiers but before the end of June, it was mustered in for three years under Col. John Lowe.
The regiment first saw action in the Battle of Scary Creek—little more than a skirmish really—in Western Virginia on July 17, 1861. It was up against an enemy that has already settled in for a fight beyond a ravine. The Twelfth fought for three hours and completely running out of ammunition, fell back to its camp at the mouth of the Pocotaligo. Official records stated the Union loss as 5 killed, 30 wounded and 4 missing—figures that vary widely from those reported by Corp. Euson who had the honor of carrying the colors of the 12th Ohio into the battle.
Titus was the son of James Montrose Euson (1811-1891) and Hannah Harden Gage (1817-1872) of Troy, New York.
Corp. Euson’s stationery is headed by this patriotic imagery captioned. “Wait ‘Till the War is Over” by Mumford & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Camp D’Villiers 4 miles above Red House on the Kanawha [River], Virginia July 21st 1861
Dear Father,
Not waiting for an answer, I hasten to give you the report of the Battle of Camp Scary which I judged by this time has circulated freely through the papers.
On the morning of the 17, the 12th [Ohio Regiment] was ordered to proceed six miles up the river and take a battery of three guns and engage some 4 or 400 rebels under Gov. Wise. As we marched within 100 rods of the battery which was unseen, our cannoneers opened fire on their trenches and then their (rebel) battery began first by two charges of grape and after by round shot to clear the road. None of the rebel shots hit our ranks but the shots from our rifled cannon told every time somewhere and made the rebels scatter. After the 4th round, our artillery changed positions, and after 2 shots silenced their battery and with a shell blew up their caissons.
During the time the artillery were engaging the enemy, our men were crossing a field on the left of the road to gain their position. The shot from their cannon made merry music for our ears but did no harm. After taking up the ravine, we took our position on top of the hill and fired by company. Pretty soon the Jeffies began to run, and then our boys charged bayonets, driving them from their trenches and battery, and driving them across the bridge leaving the field entirely to us. Lucky for our boys they did not pursue them across the bridge for as soon as they (the rebels) were over, [they] fired a train and blew the bridge to atoms.
Just as we were all cheering over our victory, we espied a rebel reinforcement of some 1600 coming to their aid. Then our hearts come up in our throats for we knew we must lose the battle as we had no reserve to hold our position gained. After some firing and skirmishing with the rebel reinforcement & our boys finding their cartridges giving out, they beat a retreat for camp, feeling rather down-hearted over their loss of victory. My position during the battle was that of color guard. We were ordered not to fire unless attacked at close quarters although at times the bullets and round shot fell like hail around us.
During the retreat, I give out from the effects of heat and with some wounded lay an hour after all our forces had left. After that time, some of the wounded could get up and walk and those that could help support them till we got down the road did where we all were taken into a baggage wagon and brought into camp. The effects of the heat I have not got over yet, but I will be all right in two or three days. During the first part of the fight, I had a cannon shot come so near me as to have the wind of it knock me down. It frayed the binding to my fed hat—near enough to suit my taste.
Gen. Jacob D. Cox—“advised to resign and is pronounced by both officers and men to be a good for nothing; cowardly, incompetent, and worse than worthless general. The 1st & 2nd Kentucky Regiments swear they will shoot Gen. Cox the first battle they get into providing he is brave enough to go with them into a fight.”
Our defeat can be laid onto Gen. [Jacob] Cox as he stayed here to plan and kept three regiments here to guard him while [only] one regiment (or 7 companies; 3 companies absent) done all the fighting. At the time we need reinforcements, a messenger came to Gen. Cox stating the fact to him. After the firing ceased, he sent the 21st with some ammunition for us (5 rounds). Now at present, there are 6 regiments of infantry, two batteries, and one company of cavalry here at present (2 regiments come today). Gen. Cox has been advised to resign and is pronounced by both officers and men to be a good for nothing; cowardly, incompetent, and worse than worthless general. The 1st & 2nd Kentucky Regiments swear they will shoot Gen. Cox the first battle they get into providing he is brave enough to go with them into a fight. The 2nd Brigade is composed of the 1st and 2nd Kentucky, 6th, 8th, 11th & 21st Regiment O. S. V., Co. A—Cleveland Light Artillery, and Ironton Cavalry Battalion.
I don’t know whether this letter will reach you or not as we have to pay individuals money instead of having stamps to put on the letters where if we had stamps they would be sure to go. Martha Hull wrote me a letter which I answered giving her an account of the Battle at Scary Creek.
If it would not be unhandy, I wish you would send me a few stamps as we cannot get them here for either love or money. Money we don’t get anyway. Give my best respects to mother, the children, and all kind friends, and do not forget a large share for yourself.
Trusting in God and thanking Him for my past preservation, I await an answer from you hoping at the same time this will find you all in good health an fine sprits. I remain your son, — Titus A. Euson
Titus A. Euson Care of Capt. Watts McMurchy, Co. C. 12th Regiment, 2nd Brigade, Ohio State Volunteers, District of the Kanawha, Western Virginia via Gallipolis, Ohio
The Battle of Scary lasted two hours and 40 minutes. Our loss was 9 killed, 10 taken prisoner, and 20 wounded. Col. D’Villiers & Norton of the 11th & 21st [Ohio] were taken prisoners among the rest. They were a mile off looking on the fight and when they saw our boys drive the rebels, at the time their reinforcements came up and thought we had gained the battle and come riding over to congratulate us when they fell into rebel hands as prisoners. They would not have advanced so boldly but the rebels came up under the stars and stripes and when they had their position, raised the “3 bars and 5 stars.” 1
The rebel loss by their own account was 65 killed, 200 wounded, and 10 missing.
1 It’s true that both Col. De Villiers and Col. Jesse S. Norton of the 21st Ohio were taken prisoner in this action but not quite the way Corp. Euson reported it. Norton was shot while personally leading his regiment, fell on the field, and was taken captive. De Villiers of the 11th Ohio, however, was taken prisoner after sundown along with other Union officers when they saw buildings burning at Scary Creek and assumed Union forces had won the engagement. They crossed the river in a skiff to join in the celebration only to discover that the revelers were Confederate forces commanded by Capt. George S. Patton & Col. Christopher Q. Tompkins. For their error, they had the pleasure of being a guest at Libby Prison.
Anderson West was an 18 year-old “farmer” from Jackson County, Arkansas—presumably a former slave—when he enrolled as a private in Co. B, 11th US Colored Infantry at Fort Smith, Arkansas, for a period of three years. The original enlistment papers, signed by Capt. James M. Steele of the 12the Kansas Volunteers on 21 December 1863, made it official. The enlistment could only be official after Anderson was examined by a physician to determine that he was of sufficient physical fitness to serve. That duty was performed by Asst. Surgeon Alijah D. Tenney (often spelled Tenny) of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers who described Anderson West as a 5’4″ tall Black man with “black eyes, black hair and a dark complexion.”
Though Anderson may have been healthy when he was examined by Dr. Tenney, we learn from his muster roll records that a month later, on 26 February 1864, Anderson was taken to the General Hospital at Fort Smith and that he died there on 9 March 1864. His cause of death was described as “Febris Remittent.” His clothing withdrawal account records are consistent with his enlistment date of 21 December 1863.
The officer signing the Volunteer Enlistment papers was Captain James M. Steele (Lawrence, KS) of Co. E, 12th Kansas Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was formed in September 1862 and spent much of its early deployment guarding the Kansas-Missouri border. In 1864, the 12th Kansas transferred to Arkansas, where Co. E actively engaged Confederate forces and operated out of Fort Smith.
The following images were downloaded from Fold3 which are consistent with the above enlistment papers of Anderson West.
Pip: Every letter in this episode was written by someone who had no idea if it would be the last one — and Griff has been collecting them anyway, one careful transcription at a time.
Mara: That's the thread running through this episode. We're looking at infantry letters from the front lines, and a shorter segment on cavalry and artillery correspondence — voices from the field, the siege lines, and the garrison forts.
Pip: Let's start with the infantry.
Infantry Letters From The Front
Mara: The question this segment keeps circling is a simple one: what does a soldier actually write home about when the war is right outside the tent?
Pip: And the answer, it turns out, is chestnuts. The unidentified Louisianan Zouave writing from Camp Rightor near Yorktown in November 1861 sets the tone early, describing camp life with genuine warmth.
Mara: He writes to his "Dear Lou": "We have fine times roasting Chestnuts by our camp fires at night, smoking our pipes, spinning yarns, &c. — some fun practical jokes and occasionally a little row just for excitement."
Pip: So the upshot is that even on the Virginia Peninsula, in a unit doing picket duty along the Warwick River, the dominant mood in this letter is cheerful domesticity — a flourishing village, merry men, not twenty sick in the whole battalion.
Mara: Which makes it a useful counterweight to the letters from Frank Fletcher Rice, the young Vermont soldier whose correspondence runs from late 1862 through 1865. Frank enlisted at what was likely fifteen, and his letters to his mother and sister track the full arc — from cracking walnuts on picket duty near Alexandria to a late-war letter from Cloud's Mills still owed two hundred and sixty-six dollars in back pay.
Pip: Frank's letters have a quality the Zouave's doesn't — you can watch him growing up in real time across the pages.
Mara: By January 1863 he's writing from Camp near Fairfax Court House: "I think what I have see has learned me a good lesson and now I think if I was where I could enjoy the comforts of a good home as I had, I should be perfectly willing and contented to stay there."
Pip: That's fifteen years old doing philosophy by firelight.
Mara: Richard Welling Burt writes from a very different position — he's a first lieutenant of the 76th Ohio, twenty-two days into the Siege of Vicksburg in June 1863. His letter home describes earthwork construction, a man shot through the neck who asks "Who wouldn't be a soldier?", and five Tennessee deserters coming over to the Union camp.
Pip: The deserters reporting that Confederate officers claimed the Union had only six days' rations — while Burt is eating an excellent supper — is a small masterpiece of wartime information asymmetry.
Mara: Lewis Low's letters to his brother John run from Memphis through Sherman's march and cover more ground than almost any other collection here. He's writing about farm speculation in Minnesota, Spencer repeating rifles, a woman in Poynette he won't name directly, and by the final letter from Lowville in March 1865, he's home on furlough with a wife and a plan for the family farm.
Pip: Harmon Trask writing to his sister Calista from Memphis adds another register — shorter, more personal, asking her to go to school on his dime and urging her toward faith with real feeling.
Mara: And the earliest letters here, from Charles Barrett, Frank Parcher, and Edward Gammon of the 5th Maine, written in July 1861 from a camp on Pleasant Hill Farm, capture a moment before the weight of it all had settled in — Lincoln riding past, a balloon overhead, letters prized above gold.
Pip: Benjamin Nicholas writing from Fort Gaines in 1862 rounds it out — he includes a hand-drawn sketch of the earthwork fort, notes that someone stole his postage stamps, and asks his sister to write more often.
Mara: What connects all of them is that the letters are doing two jobs at once — reporting the war and maintaining the thread back home. The cavalry correspondence gives us a different angle on the same effort.
Cavalry And Artillery Correspondence
Mara: Martin Baxter of the 3rd Ohio Cavalry writes from camp near Corinth on May 28, 1862, the morning after his regiment's first skirmish, and captures the particular tension of waiting.
Pip: He'd just seen two rebels killed in a cavalry charge, returned to camp, and then sat down to write home while the artillery opened up around him.
Mara: His words: "The big guns are a booming today about as fast as you can count. I expect that the battle has opened this time which I hope that it will terminate in our victory. Our horses are all saddled, ready for a moment's warning."
Pip: What this gets you is the strange simultaneity of the Civil War letter — the man is writing and the guns are firing and both things are equally real.
Mara: Joseph Vail's 1864 letter from the Gayoso House in Memphis is a different kind of document entirely — he's writing to his father while facing a court martial he insists he's innocent of, composing six careful pages from a luxury hotel while his regiment scouts along the railroad without him.
Pip: From chestnuts at a campfire to a court martial at the Gayoso House — the mail carried everything.
Mara: What stays with you across all of these is how much the letters were doing — keeping families intact, processing fear, making plans for after.
Pip: And most of them got home. The next episode will tell us what else did.
The author of this letter only signed it with the initial “C” so I can’t be certain of his identity but I suspect he was a member of Richtor’s 1st Special Battalion, Louisiana Infantry—a short-term unit that was formed near New Orleans and sent to the Virginia Peninsula to conduct picket and garrison duty at Young’s Mill and the Warwick River line near Yorktown. The unit was initially led by Lt. Col. Charles D. Dreux and then by Major/Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas H. Rightor.
Whomever penned this letter was a well educated soldier, most likely an enlisted man given the nature of his duties. His spelling and grammar was well above par.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Camp Rightor [near Yorktown, Va.?] Sunday evening, November 10, 1861
Dear “Lou,”
Since writing you last Sunday I have spent a very pleasant week, although I have had some very hard work to do—cutting and piling logs, loading wagons, &c. everyday until 2 o’clock when we return to camp and work on our houses. We have several completed and ready to move our furniture into. The one for our mess will be completed about next Saturday if we can get the boards for roofing, flooring &c. I hope we will get through soon as it is becoming colder every day. Have had two severe hail storms this week—one night before last when I was on guard. Oh! gracious how it did pelt me about the face—worse than romping with “Lou.”
“Camp Rightor” is a very lively place now—all hands as busy as bees. It begins to have the appearance of a flourishing village. You would be surprised to see with what haste some of the boys build their cottages. There is nothing like health and employment to make men cheerful. All hands seem merry and contented. There is not more than twenty men in the whole battalion sick—old cases of chills & fever. We gather great quantities of Chestnuts, Chinquapins & Persimmons in the woods near the camp. They are very fine. I wish I could send you some. We have fine times roasting Chestnuts by our camp fires at night, smoking our pipes, spinning yarns, &c.—some fun practical jokes and occasionally a little row just for excitement.
Received two papers from you last night of 21 & 27th October. Glad to hear that the Confederate Picnic succeeded so well. Hope you have a pleasant time. In my last I forgot to mention that I had received the article with white fringe as well as scarf, &c. Will try and have some fun with the night cap. We have a mess mate that is rather old maidish in his manners that I christened Mrs. N—-a a long time ago and is now known through the camp as “the old lady” 9he is now absent from camp). When he returns, I will put it on his head some night when he sleeps. Imagine his surprise when he discovers it.
With best wishes for your prosperity. I am as ever yours, — C
The following letter was written by 1st Lieutenant Richard Welling Burt (1823-1911) of Co. I, 76th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Richard mustered into the regiment in October 1861 as a 2nd Lieutenant in Co. G. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant of Co. I in January 1863. He was wounded at the Battle of Resaca on 14 May 1864 but recovered and was promoted to Captain of Co. H prior to mustering out in July 1865.
Richard was the son of Foght Burt 91799-1886) and Elizabeth Welling (1803-1877) of Coshocton, Ohio. He was married in 1848 to Malona Evans (1826-1873). He was the editor of The Coshocton Age, “but shortly before the breaking out of the Civil war he removed to Newark and afterward enlisted in the old 76th Regiment, which was composed almost exclusively of Licking county men. He served throughout the war and was a gallant soldier.”
The Pentagraph of Peoria Ill., says of the death of Captain Burt: “Captain Richard W. Burt, one of the oldest and most prominent residents of Peoria, a veteran of the Mexican and Civil wars, died suddenly at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Julius S. Starr, 111 West Armstrong Avenue, Saturday, July 8, aged 89 years. Capt. Burt was twice married, his first wife dying in 1872. At the death of his second wife, in 1891, he took up his residence with his daughter, Mrs Starr and continued a member of that household until his death. He was a man scrupulously honest and honorable, gentle, kindly and brave, and his death is being mourned by the entire community. The flag on the government building flys at half mast in his honor, a tribute that is peculiarly fitting to a man who loved his country with exalted fervor and twice offered his life for its defense.”
Siege of Vicksburg, 22nd day of siege June 9, 1863
My Dear Wife.
While engaged in eating an excellent supper last night, our Orderly Sergeant brought me a letter from you of date May 31st, finished June 1st. It was an excellent letter—such an one as it does a soldier and loving husband’s heart good to read, and I hope you will not weary in writing and sending these joy-inspiring missives. By the blessing of our Heavenly Father, our lives have been preserved during twenty-two days of the siege. Neither Philip, Jairus or myself having got even a scratch.
We keep throwing up earthworks every day and night to make us more safe from the enemy’s missiles of death. I have done a great deal of work myself with the pick and shovel to make the Captain and myself more secure from danger, and I am constantly urging it upon the boys in our company to do the same. I regard it as recklessness and foolhardiness not to do so, but there are some so reckless and lazy that they use no such precautions. Yesterday a fine young man of our company was shot under his left eye and the ball came out of the back of his neck. I feared that it was a fatal wound, but here is hopes of his recovery, and he is in good spirits. And when the captain went to see him at the hospital, he remarked, “Who wouldn’t be a soldier?” There was a low place in the rifle pit which I had spoken of several times, but the boys kept neglecting to do the work necessary to make themselves safe and which would have saved poor Jarman from being wounded. 1 Last night they went to work and threw up the earthwork.
We still remain on the same hill we first occupied and are still besieging the enemy. The 25th Iowa are between us and the river and some of them behind a mound of earth so close that they can throw stones in the enemy’s works. They think they can roll a shell into the enemy’s water battery and are going to try it. It is the one that we are in the most danger from and I hope they may succeed.
We sent to Young’s Point for our tent and trunks and they came to hand yesterday. We have got our tent up and slept in it last night—the first time we have slept in a tent since we left Milliken’s Bend more than a month [ago]. I found a cot that had been left behind in one of our camps on our march, and I had it brought along on the cart we hauled our baggage on, and I have it fixed up so that it makes the best bed I have had since I have been in the army, I believe I described our kitchen to you in a former letter. We have a place dug out of the side of the hill for our tent, near the kitchen, and out of range of the enemy’s sharp shooters.
So you see we are getting along very comfortably right here in sight and within talking distance of the enemy. Five deserters came over to our camp night before last—all Tennesseans. They don’t think the Rebs can hold out long. Their officers keep encouraging them by telling them that we have only 6 days rations and that our supplies are cut off. I think we shall be in Vicksburg by next Sunday, but it may be not for three weeks.
We hear that Banks has them surrounded in the same way at Port Hudson, and is besieging them.
Danny Miskimen visited me only a day or two since and had not been taken prisoner as reported but his regiment has since been up to Memphis with prisoners taken at the battles in the rear of Vicksburg. Either Jairus or me write to you every two or three days and if either of us meet with any harm, you will be immediately informed of it. I will write some to Isaac on another sheet. Remaining as ever your loving husband, — R. W. Burt
1 William S. Jarman served in Co. I, 76th IVI.He survived his wound and lived until 30 June 1926. He died at East Hartford, Connecticut.
A post war image of Harmon J. Trask, veteran of Co. K, 8th Iowa Infantry
These letters were written by Harmon J. Trask (1843-1912), the son of Israel Trask (1804-1844) and Sophia Mallory (1818-1854). Israel and Sophia emigrated from Ohio to Fulton County, Illinois, from which place they removed to Jefferson township, Louisa County, Iowa, in 1837. Harmon’s three siblings were Emily Bly Trask (b. 1836), Cornelia Evangeline Trask (1840-1915), and Calista Sophia Trask (1844-1912). Emily married George W. Hook in 1854. Cornelia married Roseberry M. Wilson in 1862. Calista married William H. Prouty in 1867.
Harmon was also born at Wapello. He married Elizabeth Weber on November 2, 1878, in Newton, Kansas. They purchased land in Macon Township, and also in Newton Township. Prior to this, Harmon served five years in Co. K, 8th Iowa Infantry. He was a survivor of the Lewisville, Alabama Confederate Prison, where he was taken after his capture at the Battle of Shiloh. They had one daughter, Elsa, and a son who died as an infant. Elsa was graduated from Bethel Academy, later marrying V. E. Duncanson. They had one son, Lowell, and they lived in San Bernardino, California.
Letter 1
Camp Near Black Water [Mississippi] July 25, 1863
Dear Sister,
I received your letter a few days ago written the 29th of June & was glad to hear that you were all well &c. &c. I am hardy as a buck & Seth Strand [Stevans?] came from the hospital today. He is well &c. &c.
Cornelia, we have fine times a gathering peaches. We have all we can eat or use in any shape or form. I made $4.50 yesterday and today gathering peaches and selling & we have to go about two miles for them.
I wrote you a letter while we were at Jackson [Mississippi]. We had fine times chasing old [Joseph E.] Johnston & if he had of stayed there in Jackson two days longer, we would of had his entire army but we got a great many as it was.
And yes, I heard about that & I was shocked when I heard of it for last summer when I heard she was going with him, I wrote to her and tried to persuade her to not have anything to do with him & she said that she would not have anything to do with her but it appears as thought thought I knew nothing about him.
I will bring this to a close for I want to write a few lines to Calista. You need not send any paper now for I have got my knapsack now and have got a plenty.
But when we start off on a march, we leave everything behind so as to be as light as possible. No more. Write soon. — H. J. Trask
Sister Calista,
I have wrote you one letter since I have not heard from you. I wish you was here to help me eat peaches. We have some of the best peaches I have eaten for a long time. Calista, Saturday will be my birthday & shall sister: would like to know whether you are going to school or not. If you are, I will send you some money for we will get our pay shortly. Please go for me. I will pay the bill.
Goodbye. — H. J. Trask
Letter 2
Memphis, Tennessee August 28th 1864
Dear Sister,
This is Sunday evening and “all quiet on the Potomac,” I guess, for it did not make more than his salt in that raid [on Washington D. C.].
I received a letter from you yesterday & one the day before. They both surprised me although I was glad to hear that you was all well for I was afraid I would hear some had sickness. I hope none of them will take any back set. I got a letter from Rhoda about a week since. She took it pretty hard about leaving her babe. If I ever see its daddy, he will go the same road if it costs me my life. I wrote her a letter two or three weeks ago. Hard I are her Hale Columbia. [?]
I would like to have you come down here but I would be afraid you would get hurt coming down for the guerrillas frequently fire into the boats. One of our boys has is wife here & is keeping house. Tell Cornelia she might throw a load of melons in the river and let them float down.
Frank Bros is here in town. I saw him yesterday. He is hearty as I ever saw him. He said that the boys in his regiment were well & going to Atlanta. Our Brigade and Devision has started for Atlanta. Been gone two or three weeks from here. Tell Blade I will be his grandfather as long as he lives if he will be so ever lasting obliging as to step so high and stoop so low as to write me a few lines.
I am sorry to say that I cannot accommodate you but I think we will get pay about the 15th or 20th. Borrow some of Mosier until I can send you some. I know he will let you have it. Edgar just came in. He was out to the 45th Iowa. He says they are all well. Marshall and Sam are a going to come to [ ] after they go home.
Well, supper is pretty near ready and I will have to close or they will get the start on me. This leaves me in good health. Write soon. Your brother, — J. J. Trask
Well, Sis, I have eaten my supper and feel some better since I ate a bit of supper. You need not be afraid for me showing my lettrs. I have no trouble reading your writing. I can read your writing better than I can my own. I don’t expect you can read it for I have such a poor pen and I always get in such a hurry after I get a letter half written. Your letters comes here from three days, the most of them from 5 to 7 days. No more at present. As ever, your brother, — H. J. Trask
A private in the rear ranks, Co. K, 8th Iowa
Letter 3
Memphis [Tennessee] January 15, 1865
Dear sister Calista,
I will try to write you a few lines to let you know that I am still a kicking. I received a letter from you yesterday. Am sorry to hear that you was all sick with colds. I can’t see that I was down-hearted any when I wrote you last.
This is the Sabbath day & I am on patrol. How I wish you was here. We have very nice weather here the most of the time. Today seems like the break on Spring. We will hardly have anymore cold weather here.
Col. [James L.] Geddes has got back. He has been at home for two or three months. We heard that he had resigned but he came back the other night & everyone was looking for him. He says he is going to stay with us till our time is out & they are going to build barracks for our regiment here in town and we will having nothing to do but patrol the town &c.
You said you would like to know who my duck is. She don’t live many miles from Blackhawk but she is now getting better. She has had the typhoid fever. I believe doesn’t care. They think about Netty. I don’t believe he ever thought a great deal of her.
I am glad to hear that you can have meeting at Tooleshard ___ more. Hope they may have good success for God knows that the people there have led far astray from the commandments and our father which art in heaven. You say that you don’t know but what you will join the church. If you do ever strive to serve our father in heaven & never be led astray from the path of God for remember, dear sister, that we had a father & mother in that blessed land above and I want to meet them there & I hope you & Cornelia and Emily will strive to serve God. Pray to him. He will answer prayers for he has said so.
I will bring my scribbling to a close. Don’t think that I was crying when I wrote this for I was not. Don’t expect you can read this for I always get in such a hurry. Excuse all mistakes from your brother until death.
The following letter was written by Martin Baxter (1835-1915) of Co. A, 3rd Ohio Cavalry. Martin was born in Tioga county, New York, but was living in Fulton county, Ohio with his parents when he enlisted. He wrote his letter on 28 May 1862 from their camp near Corinth, describing a skirmish they had the day previous, and announcing the cannonading of the 28th—events that were described in more detail in the regimental history as follows:
“On May 27th we went with a force of cavalry and infantry to the left and rear of the Rebel lines did not find the enemy in much force. May 29th, during the night, we heard many explosions in the direction of Corinth, and the illumination of the sky was more than ordinarily bright, indicating that something unusual was going on. We were early in the saddle and moving toward the town. We came to the outer line of works and found them abandoned. The works were very strong. At every point where artillery could be advantageously posted forts had been constructed. The woods in front of their fortifications had been cut down, and all the branches trimmed so that they pointed toward the front. In places where there was no timber they had constructed abatis, using for that purpose everything available telegraph poles, sharpened stakes, small trees, fastened together with telegraph wire, and a net-work of wire woven through the fallen timber, so that it would have been almost impossible for the infantry to get through. But they had concluded not to risk a battle. We marched into Corinth and found the town practically abandoned by the white population. Only tthe old mem, the women and the children were left. Most of the people we saw were negroes.”
As a curious side note, Martin was married to Ellen Carl Dudley (1828-1908) in 1864 while he was in the Veteran Reserve Corps. She was born in franklin, Kentucky in 1828. During the Civil War, “without army status or title, backed by no organization, she persisted fearlessly and with inexhaustible energy in her mission of caring for the sick and wounded soldiers in need of help.” [Source: see Martin Baxter on Find-A-Grave]
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Camp near Corinth May 28, 1862
Dear Parents,
It is with pleasure that I pen you a few lines to let you know that I am enjoying a comfortable degree of health at present and hope that this will find you enjoying the same blessing. As I had a few leisure moments, I thought that I would pen you a few lines so as to keep the news a going to you. I should think that you ought to heard from us as much or often as once a week or two certain. There is not much news to write as I have just written to you last Sunday, I think, and wrote all the news that there was at that time. But I will write all the news there is.
Our regiment received a marching order. On double quick we were mounted at four o’clock in the morning and started with three days rations. We was marched over to our inspection ground where [we] formed right into line. Then there was two other cavalry regiments fell in our rear and then we was ordered t march. We marched out about twelve miles which brought us on the right of Corinth or back to. We was ordered into line again where we got our orders for a skirmish. We were marched out in the woods where a regiment of infantry was in front.
The general gave orders for our company to take the left wing and Co. M the right. We were soon formed. The Battalion Major, which was John Foster, came around and told us to look at our arms and see that they was sure fire. I begun to think that we had got something to do. Well there was five regiments of cavalry and one of infantry so that made a pretty strong force for us. I thought that it would take a few of them secesh to rout us. The infantry was ahead and the cavalry in the rear.
The order was given to march so off we started. Our company had to march through the woods as scouts [and] keep in sight of the main body. Well I thought that I had been in thick wood but that was ahead of my time. The most of the time you could not see ten rods ahead of you. I thought that if there was any rebels there, they could pick us [off] quite handy. Well, we advanced about two miles ahead of our picket line before we see anything. There was a squad of cavalry was a going to make a charge on our infantry and our cavalry let out on them and made them retreat in a hurry. There was two of the rebels killed. We were about two miles from the Corinth Railroad and then we was ordered back to camp where we arrived about five o’clock p.m. That is all of that skirmish. That is my first.
The big guns are a booming today about as fast as you can count. I expect that the battle has opened this time which I hope that it will terminate in our victory. Our horses are all saddled, ready for a moment’s warning. they have to be saddled every day and kept on all the time except at night. I suppose that you will hear more about the battle than I can write so goodbye this time. This from your affectionate son, — Martin Baxter.
Direct to Pittsburg Landing
James is with General Nelson, a body guard. His health is not very good.
P. S. Please send me some stamps as soon as you can for mine is most gone. If I should survive this battle, I want you to write to me.
Spared & Shared 23 