Early American Trade

1806: Jeremiah Winslow to Thomas Rotch

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The following letter was written by Jeremiah Winslow (1781-1858), an American shipowner and industrialist. He was seduced by the French Government’s encouragement of the whaling industry to establish himself in Le Havre in 1817, becoming a citizen there in 1821, and promoting the trade in sperm whale oil. In a short biographical presentation, Winslow claimed that he had already “made 46 voyages since 1817 and brought back to Le Havre the product of 1144 whales.”

Jeremiah wrote the letter to Thomas Rotch (1767-1823) with whom he had had a long relationship. One source claims that Jeremiah went to live with the Rotch family in New Bedford, Massachusetts, when he was only 14 years old. Thomas Rotch, a Quaker (Society of Friends), was the son of William Rotch, Sr. (1734-1828) and Elizabeth Barney (1735-1824) of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Thomas was married to Charity Rodman (1766-1824). In Hartford, Thomas owned a store, a linseed oil pressing mill, a rolling and slitting mill, and a woolen mill. In 1812, Thomas purchased land in Kendal, Stark county, Ohio. It’s reported that they moved to Ohio upon the advice of Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia and Dr. Eli Todd of Hartford, due to Charity’s chronic illness. The modest home they built, called Spring Hill farm, was an early day station on the Underground Railroad. It’s now restored and open to the public.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

On board the Brig Thomas
at quarantine near Island of Pomégues [off coast of Marseille, France]
10 Month, 24, 1806

My dear friends, Thomas & Charité Rotch,

I wrote to you on the 5th ultimo from Malaga [Spain] giving you an account of the voyage so far. We sailed from Malaga on the 6th and after beating about the Mediterranean for 34 days & having been some time on a short allowance of water, we found ourselves near the Port of Cette [now spelled Séte] and as the wind was directly ahead to go to Marseilles, we entered the Port of Cette which was a very fortunate circumstance for soon after our arrival there, the wind blew extremely heavy & there was one of the hardest storms that had been known for a long time and I doubt not we should have been cast away if we had remained at sea. 1

We were detained at Cette 9 days by contrary winds and then sailed for Marseilles where we arrived after a boisterous passage of 26 hours. But owing to our having been boarded by a Moorish Frigate and having no bill of health from the French consul in America, we were obliged to come to this place to perform quarantine an we shall have the liberty to return to Marseille (which is about six miles from here) in six days. You may readily conclude that my situation is an unpleasant one. I have not put my foot on land since I left America, but here I am allowed to go every day onto what they call an island which is composed entirely of stone and is very uneven so that there cannot be much pleasure even in that. All letters passing from vessels at quarantine must be put in vinegar. Therefore you must not think it strange if the paper should be colored.

We have a French pilot & a guard on board whom we shall be obliged to keep until we are released ourselves, and I shall rejoice when the time comes for I am in haste to dispose of my cargo. And whether I may return to America in the Brig or remain in France until spring is uncertain. But I have suffered so much in a summers passage that I dread going upon the American coast in the winter. The voyage has been long and very different from what I expected and I have many times wished I never had undertaken it. But on the whole, I hope it may be of use to me, and teach me to put my confidence in him whose care is over all His works.

I suppose we have had one of the most boisterous passages ever known at this season of the year, and several times we were very apprehensive of being drove on shore. The power of man was vain and nothing but the interposition of providence could have preserved us, and I think I have felt very thankful for it. If I should remain in France a few months, I hope to be preserved from anything inconsistent with the profession I make but among a volatile people. You know the many temptations to which we are exposed and in your petitions to Him whom you serve, I hope you will remember one whose greatest satisfaction will be to do nothing but what shall meet your approbation.

During my voyage, I have been surprised that seafaring peoples are so generally profane & void of the principles of religion. Some writer observes that “an undevout astronomer must be mad” and it appears to me that an undevout seaman must be likewise, the interposition of Providence is so often to be perceived. But our company are less profane than any I ever knew. I have heard some of them swear a few ties and have not neglected to give them a lecture on the subject and likewise some of the cards which you furnished me with, which I think have had a good effect. My captain was several voyages in the Barclay and since has sailed from New York where he left off the Quaker not only in appearance but I can perceive since we have been out there has been a change in him for the better & I have often heard him regret that he had so deviated from his profession, but I believe he may yet be a religious man.

If I should ever be favored to arrive in my native land, I think I shall not be tempted again to cross the mighty ocean except from necessity for it is impossible for a person not accustomed to the sea to know the anxiety experienced, but times of the greatest danger I have felt more calmness than I could have experienced on the most high was my only refuge, and it is my sincere prayer than nothing may ever erase the remembrance of it from my mind. My best love to you all & to my friend, R. Jordan.

Yours most sincerely, — Jeremiah Winslow

Marseille
11th month, 3rd, 1806

I have yet ten days to remain in quarantine and as we are near several American vessels, the times passes more agreeably than at sea. This port is one of the finest in France & the country round appears to be very pleasant and I hope soon to have the pleasure of observing it more particularly.

I am afraid to go to th Health Office every day, where, I can converse with people through a grate, and what little French I know has been of great use to me. I have several times seen Jn. Mollet who resides here & was well acquainted with your Father’s family in England. He is a very agreeable man—a Quaker in principle and very plain in his appearance for a French man, and I anticipate spending a few agreeable hours in his company when I get ashore.

1 The October 1806 storm in the Mediterranean was a massive, severe gale with high winds and heavy surf that sank several vessels including the HMS Athenienne on the night of October 20, 1806. She was en route from Gibraltar to Malta as was navigating the Strait of Sicily when she was run aground near modern-day Tunisia by the violent storm. Three hundred forty-seven lives were lost.

Aurora, Illinois, Illinois Homefront

1863: Abbie Rosalie (Hall) Brundage to John Emerson Anderson

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The following Aurora, Illinois home front letter was written by 19 year-old Abbie Rosalie (Hall) Brundage (1844-1926), the wife of Charles F. Brundage (1842-1903). The couple were newly married and had no children. County records indicate they were united in marriage on 13 April 1863 in Kane county, Illinois. Abbie was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, the daughter of John Sidney Hall (1818-1901) and Abigail Hasting (1818-1923) who also resided in Aurora, Illinois, where her father was employed as a carpenter/carriage maker. Abbie’s husband had served in Co. I, 11th Illinois Infantry early in the war as a 3-month volunteer.

Abbie wrote the letter to her cousin, John “Emerson” Anderson (1833-1896), the son of John May and Parney (Hastings) Anderson of Oakdale, Worcester county, Massachusetts. Emerson enlisted on 25 May 1861 as a private in Co. D, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry. He was taken prisoner on 24 May 1862 during the battle of Winchester but was paroled in June 1862 and promoted to sergeant, mustering out of the regiment in mid-July 1865. The 2nd Mass Vols. participated in the battles of Cedar Mountain, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain, Siege of Atlanta, March to the Sea, Savannah, and others.

The letter was penned just three days after President Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Aurora [Kane county, Illinois]
November 22d 1863

It has been some time since you got a letter from me and now I will try in my poor way to write you a few lines. I supposed the reason why I did not get a letter was that you had gone to help Rosecrans and I believe I was right. I cannot write anything that will be interesting to you that I know of.

I had a letter from cousin Lewis [Marble Hastings]. 1 He was married to a young lady whose given name is Phebe [Arnold] the 15th day of August. I have both his and his wife’s photograph. She is not handsome nor even what is styled good-looking, but I should judge her to be a good amiable girl. She is a school teacher and Lewis has taken charge of the Seminary at Osceola, Iowa, and she is an assistant. I had begun to think he never would see anybody that he thought was good enough, and his marriage took me very much by surprise. Uncle Lewis 2 is in the army but in what capacity, I do not know. I thought he is rather old for army service.

I suppose if you live until the war is over, there will be no need of your traveling for you have done considerable of that since you have been in the army. Your health seems to be good and to keep so, and I suppose you have no fears now but what your health will be good as you have stood it for so long a time.

I have not heard from your mother yet and Sarah Bigelow does not write—only about two letters a year. It seems to me as if she might get more time to write than I do but does not have near as much I know. I have as many as 8 or 10 to write to all the time and sometimes find myself with lots of penning to do and sometimes I get almost discouraged before I get them all answered. I really would like to know how the folks East are getting along. Sometimes it seems as if they did not care for us. I have not seen the folks at Batavia & Geneva [Illinois] for some time but presume they are well.

I have another letter to write this evening and my side aches so badly I shall have to make both letters short. I do not know how all the poor are going to get along this long cold winter but I presume something will be done for them. Things are very high and it takes all one can earn to get along comfortable.

Direct to Care of C. F. Brundage, Box 18, Aurora

Write soon and tell me how the soldiers fare this winter. Love from all and a good share from your loving cousin, — Abbie Brundage

1 Lewis Marble Hastings, Jr. was born 18 April 1837 at West Boyleston, Mass. He came to Iowa in 1858 where he began public school teaching. In 1863 he was married to Phoebe Arnold of Garden Grove, Decatur county, Iowa. He was a pioneer in the development of the public school system of Iowa. In 1864 he organized the public schools of the city of Otumwa, which were previoulsly ungraded. He remained there until 1873 when he became President of the Iowa State Teacher’s Association. From 1873 to 1882 he was engaged in public schools in Illinois (West Aurora). He then returned to Iowa in 1882, moving to Iowa City in 1888.

2 Lewis Marble Hastings, Sr, (1813-1901) of Decatur county, Iowa. He was married to Margaret Green (1811-1878). During the Civil War, Lewis served in Co. C, 9th Iowa Cavalry but was discharged with injury in 1865.

63rd Ohio Infantry, Sherman Carolina Campaign

1865: John Augustus to Jane Augustus Anderson

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I believe this letter was written by John Augustus (b. 1839) of Ross county, Ohio, who served in Co. K, 63rd Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry. His muster records indicate he was discharged for disability in November 1862 but I think he may have reenlisted after recovering his health. He wrote the letter to his sister, Jane (Augustus) Anderson of Ross county.

Over the years I have transcribed several letters by soldiers in this regiment. They include (to date):

John W. Scott, Co. B, 63rd Ohio (1 Letter)
Mahlon VanDyne, Co. F, 63rd Ohio (1 Letter)
Francis H. Emley, Co. G, 63rd Ohio (1 Letter)
Alfred A. Laughlin, Co. G, 63rd Ohio (1 Letter)
Mahlon Pitney Davis, Co. K, 63rd Ohio (2 Letters)

T R A N S C R I P T I ON

Addressed to Mrs. Jane Augustus Anderson, Ross county, Ohio; annotated envelop, “Soldier’s Letter attested by W[illiam] C. Thomas, Adjt. 63rd OVVI (Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry)

Pocotoligo, South Carolina
January 23d 1865

Sister Jane,

It’s been a long time since I have heard from you or anyone else from home. I have almost come to the conclusion that John is forgotten amid the rejoicings over the returned soldiers of the 18th [OVI, C. A from Ross county]. Can’t blame anyone under such circumstances. They are entitled to all the respect that can be shown them.

We are having awful times in the line of rain and mud. Has been raining for several days and all South Carolina is afloat. We have to wade to our waists to get to the picket line and then build pens and lay across to keep out of the water. The entire state, far as I have seen, is flat as a pancake. I would not give your farm for the whole state [and] all its rice and sweet potatoes. Poor South Carolina—she is gone up.

I have almost come ot the conclusion that friends are like shadows seen only in sunshine. Then I think the matter over of home, tho hearts first rest the seat of warm affections and of childhood’s hopes and the tired spirits rest, Oh what comforts, what joys are derived from the thoughts of home and fireside. Jane, pray that your brother John may be spared to again enjoy the old fireside—the hoe circle of Mother, sisters & brothers. Oft do I think of the good advice I have received, the prayers in my behalf, and wonder if any pray for the wandering soldier. Now Jane, remember me at a throne of grace.

My health is good. Pres[ley] is well and sends his regards to all. My love to the family and don’t, sis, excuse this short note. Do better soon. Your brother, — Johnnnnnn

7th Wisconsin Infantry

1864: Charles Egbert Weeks to “Friend Brown”

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Charles Egbert Weeks (1839-1923)

The following letter was written by Lt. Charles Egbert Weeks (1839-1923) of Co. B, 7th Wisconsin Infantry (part of the Iron Brigade). Charles enlisted on 11 May 1861 and was wounded on 2 June 1864 at Bethesda Church, Virginia. He mustered out of the regiment on 3 December 1864. At the time of his enlistment, Charles was residing in York, Dane county, Wisconsin. He was married in 1864 to Harriet Marshall Mortram (1840-1870).

The 7th Wisconsin fought at Bethesda Church (part of the Battle of Totopoyomoy Creek) during the Union’s Overland Campaign. Throughout May and June, 1864, the regiment suffered numerous officer and enlisted casualties, including the loss of First Lieutenant Burns Newman and other company commanders. The intense tempo of operations was so exhausting that their commander, Colonel William Robinson, resigned the following month due to being worn out and harassed by wounds.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Columbus, Columbus County, Wisconsin
October 8, 1864

Friend Brown,

Dear sir, with respect I write you a line. Your father and sister was to see me today. They say you are about to be placed in the Invalid Corps which I was sorry to learn. I started to go to Regt. yesterday but when I got to Columbus, the Dr. stopped me [and] said that I could not go just yet. However, I shall be with you in course of two or three weeks. I don’t think you are obliged to go into the Invalid Corps unless you are a mind to. I think you can have a better position than you have if the will let you go back to the Regt. If you don’t, you can then go into the Invalid Corps. I will give you a sergeant’s berth if you have to be assigned to the [ ].

Enclosed you will find a letter from the Colonel to me which please read or show, if necessary, &c.

I will write the regiment on the subject if that will help you. Also I will call and see you if possible on my return.

Respectfully yours, — C. E. Weeks, 1st Lt., Co. B, 7th Regt, Wisconsin Vet, Vols.

114th Ohio Infantry, 120th Ohio Infantry, Fort Blakely, Mobile, Alabama

1865: John Melville Crabb to John W. Cleland

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I could not find an image of Sgt. Crabb but here is one of Corp. Michael A. Sweetman who served him in Co. C, 114th OVI.

The following letter was written by John Melville (“Mellie”) Crabb (1842-1910), the orphaned son of John M. Crabb 91804-1859) and Amanda R. Root (1818-1848). John enlisted Co. C, 120th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI) which was later consolidated with the 114th OVI. John was a sergeant in Co. C of the 114th OVI when he wrote this letter of the fall of Fort Blakely in Alabama in April 1865.

As described in the letter, the 114th OVI made the march from Pensacola to Mobile Bay where they participated in the 9 April 1865 assault on Fort Blakely—the last major assault in the Civil War. Following the capture of Mobile, the regiment was assigned duty in Alabama and Texas before mustering out in July 1865.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Addressed to John W. Cleland, Co. F, 111th Regt. OVI, 20th Army Corps, Kinston, N. C.

Blakely, Alabama
April 17th 1865

Friend John,

Your kind letter of the 16th ult, was received yesterday with much pleasure. Since I last wrote you we have been on the move pretty much all the time. We left Pensacola, Florida, the 20th of March. After a very wearisome march through swamps and marshes and through a barren country, being compelled to live on half rations a good portion of the time, we arrived in front of Fort Blakely [on] April 2nd. General [Frederick] Steele, in command of the expedition, immediately laid siege to the fort and opened communications with Gen. Canby’s forces in front of Fort Spanish, a few miles below.

On the night of the 8th, the Johnnies evacuated the Spanish fort. Sabbath evening the 9th, we charged the enemy’s works at Blakely and carried them, capturing several thousand prisoners and 40 or 50 pieces of artillery, a large amount of ammunition and other stores. Our loss was very small. Soon after the capture of Blakely and Fort Spanish, the rebels evacuated Mobile. I think our work is about done now.

We have received the news of the capture of Richmond and the surrender of Gen. Lee and his army and other very important news. I think that the time is not far distant when we will be permitted to return home, there to enjoy the blessing of a lasting peace.

I received a letter from Charles a few days ago. Also one from his wife yesterday. He was in good health and did not complain of anything. I think that going to the army has done him a great deal of good in a political point of view.

I must close for this time. We have had no sutler with us since we left Pensacola and therefore no opportunity of procuring paper which makes it very scarce. I remain your truly, — Jno. M. Crabb

148th Pennsylvania Infantry

1864: Mathias Shumaker to Henry Martz

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The following letter was written by Mathias Shumaker (identified as “Dias Shoemaker” on the company roster) of Co. G, 148th Pennsylvania Infantry. Mathias was drafted on 1 September 1863 in the 16th District, Chambersburg. He joined Co. G on 19 November 1863, was wounded and captured at Spotsylvania Court House on 12 May 1864,. He “died of diarrhea while in prison at Andersonville, Ga., July 10 (or 20th), 1864” according to pension records, though his wife did not learn his fate until sometime in September 1864. He was described as “a brave soldier” in the regimental history.

Mathias was married to Sophia Hosseliode (b. 1840) on 28 May 1862 in the German Reformed Church at Wellersburg, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and they had one child, Charles Milton Shoemaker, born 6 September 1863. After Mathias’ death, Sophia took Frederick Pardike (or Pardick) as her second husband. It should be noted that there are a number of Ancestry.com entries for Mathias, most of which are incorrect. This is primarily due to the fact that there was another soldier from Pennsylvania by the name of Mathias Shoemaker (1843-1864) who served in the 13th Pennsylvania Cavalry, Co. H, though an unmarried sergeant, who was also taken prisoner in 1864 and starved to death at Andersonville in June 1864.

Mathias wrote the letter to his friend, Henry Martz of Wellersburg, Pennsylvania, most likely a relative of Sergt. John Martz who served in same company.

Over the years I have transcribed a number of letters by members of the 148th Pennsylvania. They include (to date) the following:

Abraham Fink, Co. C, 148th Pennsylvania (1 Letter)
Francis Stevenson, Co. C, 148th Pennsylvania (1 Letter)
Daniel H. Harter, Co. D, 148th Pennsylvania (1 Letter)
John B. Holloway, Jr., Co. D, 148th Pennsylvania (2 Letters)
Samuel H. Holloway, Co. D, 148th Pennsylvania (2 Letters)
Simon Shuman, Co. D, 148th Pennsylvania (1 Letter)
Staci C. Jones, Co. E, 148th Pennsylvania Infantry (1 Letter)
Shelumiel Swineford, Co. I, 148th Pennsylvania (1 Letter)
Henry B. Hillegass, Co. K, 148th Pennsylvania ( Letter)

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Camp near Brandy Station, Virginia
April 22, 1864

Dear Friend Henry Martz,

I take the pleasure of writing a few lines to you for to let you know that I am well at present, hoping you still enjoy the same. The weather is very nice here at present and we are packing up our over plus of clothing for to send to Washington.

Yesterday Old Grant reviewed our corps and now I think it will be a move before long. Day before yesterday General Hancock reviewed our division and we made a nice appearance. There is nothing going on here at present but getting ready for moving today. We are going to practice at targets.

I will let you know that I am a going to send you ten dollars in this letter and let me know whether you get it or not. If my wife needs any money, why you may give her just as much as she wants. I want you to let me know how my friends are getting along at home there. I want you to give me all the news you can and answer this as soon as you can as I have wrote to you 4 letters already and received no answer yet. Jacob Sturtz is well and hearty and Dennis Hutzel is well and hearty too.

We still hold the Johnnies on the other side of the Rapidan and we are not much afraid of them yet. I like it better here than at home. We have more fun here than at home. No more at present. Your friend, — Mathias Shumaker

Direct to Mathias Shumaker, Co. G, 148th Pa. Vols., 2nd Corps. via Washington

I will send you a present in this letter. The peach trees are in full blossom here. I looks like summer.

US Signal Corps

1864: Henry Warren Ballou to Mary Ann (Arnold) Ballou

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This letter was written by Henry Warren Ballou of Chepachet, Providence, Rhode Island. He was the son of Sabin A. Ballou (1818-1848) and Mary Ann Arnold (1821-1898). Henry Warren Ballou, enlisted in Co. F, 9th Rhode Island Infantry—a regiment that was raised in May 1862 for three months service to garrison the Washington D. C. forts during McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign.

When he wrote this letter in 1864, Henry was a new recruit in the US Signal Corps of the Regular Army.  

Letter 1

New Orleans, [Louisiana]
July 16 [1864]

I seat myself to write to you about my long journey. We left New York July the 6th and got here the 14th. We were out of sight of land about five days. I seen a great many curious things—seen flying fish—and when we got [to the] Mississippi, going up the river I counted 44 alligators. The Mississippi is a splendid river. I never dreamt seeing such a pretty place. It is awful hot and we have poor water but I like it first rate do far. They are not half so strict here.

We expected to go to Natchez but headquarters have been moved here. This is a camp of instruction. There was about 70 men here before we come. Mosquitoes are plenty. We are going to draw mosquito bars. I sleep with [ ].

I feel tired and [ ] long ride. We came on board the Cahaba [?]. We have got a pretty campground and camp out every night and drill. Little boys are round in camp [ ] melons. We see orange trees and everything else. I will write you more when we get settled down. I wrote you a few lines that arrived here safe and sound.

I got paid off 27 dollars. I meant to send some home. I would [have] sent it if had not come away. Well, I shall have to close. I have not got the direction yet…

Henry W. Ballou
Department of the Gulf
New Orleans Signal Camp

I guess that will do. — Henry W. Ballou

Denver, Colorado Territory

1873: Phineas Talcott to Frederick Talcott

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The following letter was written by Phineas Talcott (1845-1940), the son of Allyn Talcott (1800-1863) and Martha Goodrich Robbins (1808-1896) of Vernon, Tolland county, Connecticut. He addressed his letter to “Friend Fred” whom I feel certain was actually his younger brother Frederick Talcott (1850-1919), despite his use of the word “friend.” From the envelope we learn that Fred was working as a clerk for the Gorham Manufacturing Company in Providence, Rhode Island at the time. It was the largest American manufacturer of sterling and silverplate.

Phineas was 28 years old when he wrote this letter, describing his existence as “a Mark Twain Life.” He was likely alluding to the recently published work by Samuel Clemens titled “Roughing It,” which detailed the realities of western mining camps with a comedic lens. Phineas’ challenges as a sales agent for the Howe Sewing Machine Company are treated with a degree of levity, a style characteristic of Mark Twain.

The letter is dated December 12, 1873—just weeks following the Panic of 1873, which instigated a national economic crisis particularly detrimental to frontier enterprises. The loss of his own employment compels him to state, “I have got to skin out,” a phrase that reflects both the urgent necessity to depart swiftly and the prevailing culture of constant movement and activity that characterized many young men on the frontier after the Civil War, who generally bore minimal responsibilities.

Census records inform us that after his western adventures, Phineas returned to Vernon, Connecticut, where he started a dry goods store.

Denver, Colorado Territory, in the early 1870s.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Addressed to Frederick Talcott, Esq., Providence, Rhode Island

Denver [Colorado Territory]
December 12, 1873

Friend Fred,

Well Old Boy, how do you do after so long? I suppose you will think me a hard crowd for not writing before. Well, Fred, all excuses are foolish so here I go. I am well. As you see by my heading, in site of Pike’s Peak, and have been Bust and Rebust and am getting use to it. 

I cannot tell you much of my experience in so little a space as this letter allows me, but I will try and give you a few points. I have been in Denver one month and I tell you, Fred, have passed through the Wars and yet I am not happy. I have been Agent for the Howe Sewing Machine but they have Bust too and, to use the phrase [in common use] here, I have got to skin out.

I expect to leave here in two days. Am going up the Platt River a number of miles to a ranch to go hunting with a man who has been rooming with me. He is a Brick and has been a gunner in the army four years so you see he is prepared for war while there is yet peace. Lots of deer & antelope are brought in here every day. I have seen about 200 antelope on the plains coming here but was not near enough to hit any—but expect to soon.

You ought to have seen me talking with an Indian Chief the other day. I made slow work of it. But [I] am getting use to it some. I wish you could see some of them red devils in their war paint. This is their phrase for anything large: “Ug, heap Indian,” or “Heap building.” Everything is “heap” when large.

Well Fred, I have led a Mark Twain life. I wish you were with me. There is no better country for health than here. The view of the Rocky Mountains is grand. No words of mine can do them justice or convey to you the Grand sight of them. Send greeting to our friends. — P. Talcott

Weekly Summary Podcast

Spared & Shared Podcast 2: Week ending May 29, 2026

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Pip: Letters written in pencil, on knapsacks, in the rain, beside rivers with green water — Spared and Shared 23 arrives with a full mailbag.

Mara: All of it from Griff, who has assembled a wide range of primary sources this episode — soldiers writing home from active campaigns, a pre-war letter from a naval officer at a fashionable resort, and families writing across the distances that war and life opened up between them.

Pip: Let's start with the soldiers themselves — the ones writing from the front.

—

Writing Through the War: Voices From the Field

Mara: What these letters collectively document is the psychological and physical texture of soldiering — not the grand narrative of battles, but the daily reality of mud, bad coffee, guard duty, and the slow realization that war is nothing like what the recruits imagined.

Pip: The post anchoring this segment follows Charles E. Koonts of Co. E, 19th Ohio Volunteer Infantry — seventeen years old at enlistment, dead at Chickamauga before he turned nineteen, and the writer of twenty-seven letters to his younger sister Clara across nearly two years of service.

Mara: The early letters capture a voice still adjusting to camp life. In October 1861, writing from Alliance, Ohio, he tells Clara: "I have nothing of any importance to say as I am here in camp and nothing going on. But I expect that we shall leave here pretty soon as the regiment is about full."

Pip: That sentence is doing a lot of work. Nothing to say, and yet he writes anyway — because writing to Clara is the thing that keeps the distance manageable.

Mara: The post frames the arc precisely. Before Shiloh, soldiers wrote about hoping to see a battle. After it, the post notes, "they wrote about hoping to survive the next one. It was a grim jolt of reality that hardened the young men almost overnight." Koonts' later letters bear that out — detailed accounts of the fighting at Stones River, requests for shirts and fine combs, opinions on generals, and a strikingly bitter postscript warning Clara away from a man he calls "a contemptible snake."

Pip: The mundane and the devastating sitting in the same envelope.

Mara: Two other letters in this segment offer useful counterpoints. William Hunting Rogers of the 98th New York writes to his brother Ed in April 1862 from Newport News, watching the CSS Virginia — the Merrimack — patrol the James River within a mile and a half of camp. He's playing euchre, getting a tooth filled at Fort Monroe, and reporting on the ironclad standoff with a mix of frustration and dark fascination.

Pip: And then there's Augustus Adams of the 25th Massachusetts, writing from the same Newport News in November 1863 — rebel torpedoes floating down the James, the whole brigade under marching orders, a sister named Julia whose health is "no better."

Mara: Joseph Nellist of the 28th New York writes to his wife Loretta from Darnestown, Maryland, in October 1861 — cold nights on guard duty, one woman in the entire regiment, and an eight-year-old drummer boy in soldiers' clothes. Arthur Aldrich of the 13th New Hampshire writes to his father-in-law from Portsmouth, Virginia, in March 1864, cheerful about rebel prisoners and matter-of-fact about his malaria. Charles Huntington of the 9th New York Cavalry writes to a friend named Hattie from Camp Fenton on New Year's Eve 1861, gossiping about neighbors back home. And the unidentified James P. M., writing from Dalton, Georgia, in May 1864, passes his letter by flag-of-truce boat and reports that of all his old friends from before the war, he can "hardly count ten — all beneath the sod of the battlefield or disappeared God knows where."

Pip: Charles Ballou of the 9th Rhode Island rounds it out — a three-month garrison soldier who spent a day touring Washington and left his name scratched into the Capitol plaster.

Mara: Taken together, these letters map the full emotional range of the war — from boredom and homesickness in the opening months to grief and exhaustion by 1864. The families writing back complete that picture.

Pip: Which is exactly where we go next.

—

Home Front: Letters Across the Distance

Mara: The letters in this segment come from the other direction — from parents, siblings, and spouses writing toward the front, and from one pre-war correspondent writing from a sulphur spring in Virginia.

Pip: The anchor here is Ralph DeLancey Izard III, a young naval officer writing in July 1841 from White Sulphur Springs to his physician. He describes the resort's famous mineral water as tasting like "a solution of gunpowder."

Mara: What that letter captures is the texture of elite antebellum correspondence — social observation, careful health updates, a dry wit about the resort's policy of housing bachelors separately from married guests. John B. Martin's 1834 letter to an old friend in Alabama covers similar personal ground before turning into a detailed critique of Andrew Jackson's presidency, nullification, and Martin Van Buren. And Catharine Bramkamp's 1865 letter to her brother in Ohio reports that her husband William was drafted, traveled twice to Cairo to report, and was sent home both times — the second time because Lincoln had just been killed and the office was closed.

Pip: The Anderson family letters — Parney and John Anderson writing to their son Emerson in the 2nd Massachusetts — are the emotional spine of this group. Relief at his survival after Winchester, careful instructions about what to put in a care package, a Thanksgiving letter that notes the absent son "was not forgotten, neither at the Festival board nor at the alter."

Mara: Distance measured in letters, stamps, and the anxiety of not knowing whether any of them arrived.

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Pip: What stays with you across all of it is how much of the war was just waiting — waiting to march, waiting for pay, waiting to hear back.

Mara: And writing through the wait, because the letters were the connection. Next episode, more from Spared and Shared.

13th New Hampshire Infantry

1864: Arthur Rupell Aldrich to Wells Wright

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I could not find an image of Arthur Aldrich but here is a great tintype of Pvt. George H. Bannister who served with Arthur in Co. H, 13th New Hampshire Infantry. (Photo Sleuth)

The following letter was written by Arthur Rupell Aldrich (1844-1918), the son of Jeremiah B. H. Aldrich (1812-1861) and Betsey Applebee (1819-1893) of Pittsburg, Coos county, New Hampshire. Arthur was married to Violetta T. Wright (1835-1909). He wrote this letter to his father-in-law, Wells Wright (1810-1884) of Pittsburg, Coos county, New Hampshire.

Arthur wrote the letter from Portsmouth, Virginia, on 1 March 1864, while serving in Co. H, 13th New Hampshire Infantry. He enlisted on 4 January 1864 and mustered out on 21 June 1865 after having transferred into Co. B, 2nd New Hampshire Infantry. While in Portsmouth, the regiment was engaged in garrison and picket duty. Not long after, they were reassigned to the 18th Army Corps (Army of the James).

[Editor’s Note: The first transcript of this letter was kindly prepared by Abbey Weber Jones.]

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Portsmouth, [Virginia]
March 1, 1864

Absent Father,

I now sit down to write a few lines to you to let you know that I am well and hope that these few lines will find you the same. I have not much to write but it is fine weather here now, but the sand flies as bad as bad as bad as you ever see the snow. The boys are all well that went from our place. The old boys are thinking some of going home to March meeting but I think that they will go.

I should like [to] come home to see how things are going on, but I don’t think that [I] shall come home until this war is settled. But I think that we shall give the rebels hell this summer and it will be a[n] end to a great many [lives] before that it is settled. But the rebels are a coming in every day. I see[n] one of them prisoners that got away from Richmond and he said that the rebels had got almost discouraged and a good many of the officers.

We took a rebel spy the other [night] he had the plans of the campground and the forts and everything. And we just took the young gent and put him in Norfolk jail and he will be apt to stay there until this war is ove[r].

I don’t think of much more to write. I am troubled with the Shakes [malaria] some, but not so bad as I was when I first came out here. David Moody and James Bacon was some homesick when they first came out but they are getting over it some. The rest of the boys enjoy themselves very well. A soldier’s life is the easiest life that a man can live, for they have more to eat than they want, and they have somebody to look after them. And when they was at home, they had to take care of themselves. So I think that a soldier stands a better chance than any other man, but I think that the war will be closed this summer so that we all can come home and tend to them meetings. I think that when the soldiers go home, they will take religion in abundance. I understand that some of the converts has backslidden—Silas especially. I don’t think [I have] much more to write this time. Tell Mary and Jules that [I] send my best respects to them and I would like to have them write to me and I will do the same. I must close now.  Write as soon as you get this. 

Yours respectfully, — Arthur R Aldrich

to Wells Wright. Direct your letters to Washington D. C. Co H, [13th] N H V

My pen is poor and my ink is pale. If you can’t read it, throw it away.