1862: Lewis E. Childs to James Webster Childs

November 1, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

*Hon. James Webster Childs*, *ca. 1860.*

The following letter was written by Lewis E. Childs (1835-1889) who entered the service at Ypsilanti on 24 August 1861 at 1st Lieutenant of Co. I, 11th Michigan Infantry. Through the influence of his uncle, he was promoted to Captain of Co. H on 12 March 1862; was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Chickamauga on 20 September 1863. Exchanged and mustered out of the service on 30 September 1864.

After the war, Lewis married Fanny Richardson (1842-1900) and worked at the Board of Trade in Detroit. He then was engaged in the produce and greenhouse business at Ypsilanti where he died at the age of 53.

Lewis was the son of Aaron Childs (1806-1882) and Hannah From Bemis (1814-1896) of Washtenaw county. He wrote the letter to his uncle, James Webster Childs (1826-1882), a Washtenaw county civil leader and politician who served two terms in the Michigan Legislature and then in the Michigan Senate.

[Editor’s Note: The photocopy of this letter was sent to me for transcription and publication on Spared & Shared by Janet Buchanan, a descendant relative of the Childs family.]

This is a photograph of Stanley’s Brigade of the Army of the Cumberland assembled near Stevenson, Alabama (19th Illinois, 11th Michigan, 18th Ohio, plus Battery M, 1st Ohio. In the Battle of Chickamauga where Capt. Lewis Childs was wounded, the 11th Michigan held its ground for two days and repulsed repeated attacks on Snodgrass Hill, saving the Army of the Cumberland.

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

Head Quarters, 11th Regt. Michigan Vols.

Belmont, Kentucky

March 21, 1862

Dear Uncle,

Knowing the willingness you have already manifested to use your influence for my benefit, I again ask a favor of you. Lieut. Col. [William Lewis] Stoughton (the man of the regt.) with some of the other officers of the regient have written to Gov. [Austin] Blair to give me a captain’s commission, and Ephraim G. Hall a 2nd lieutenant’s commission. The Col. requested me to write to you requesting you to recommend us to the Governor for the same. The Col’s letter was sent last Saturday. If you will write the Gov. as soon as convenient and can conscientiously recommend us for those for those positions, you will much oblige. The Col. said there was no doubt but the Gov. would grant them but he wished you to write so the Gov. would know and feel satisfied.

Fortune has seen fit to cast out lot in “the Dept. of the Ohio” but not in the advance of that army which has lately moved its Headquarters from Louisville to Nashville. Four months have we been anxiously waiting to be ordered into more active service, but today finds us scattered for thirty miles along the railroad guarding its depots and bridges. This line of railroad is indispensable to our army and every bridge from Louisville to Nashville is guarded night and day. The trains run on the road so one can go to Bowling Green and back in a day.

Some of us are talking of going to see the cave in a few days but situated where we are, one does not wait to go for to find scenes interesting and wonderful to us who have never seen a hill much higher than our heads. Just to the south of our camp are three high hills and the one in the center, which is a number of hundred feet higher, looks as if it were monarch of all it surveyed. I went to the top of it a few days ago and for the first time in my life, stood where I could look in every direction just as far as the eye could reach. ¹

Today the paymaster is here and we are being paid off. The paymaster is late from Washington and he and his clerk were well acquainted with Webster. This afternoon as soon as they are through paying [us], we are to ride out in the country. I am to be pilot and shall direct the way to where two young ladies live.

And by the way, you remember the Browns? They attended his school at Mount Washington and have given me a whole history of their proceedings in Kentucky. But I must close for the room is full—they are paying in my room. ² Please answer soon and receive this hasty note from your affectionate nephew. — Lewis E. Childs

¹ Lewis is probably referring to the Bullitt County “Knobs” immediately around Belmont Furnace where the 11th Michigan was stationed in March 1862. Belmont Furnace was located on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. The highest knob—Dobbins Knob—is about three miles southwest of Belmont Furnace. The geography of the area was quite a dramatic departure from that of southern Michigan. The cave that Lewis refers to was probably the Mammoth Cave which was a popular site for soldiers to visit during the Civil War.

2 The 11th Michigan Infantry was assigned to railroad guard duty in March 1862 and the main objective of those posted at Belmont was to protect the L&N Railroad Bridge located roughly 3/4 of a mile from the Belmont Furnace village. Because the iron-producing furnace had shut down in 1861 and was deserted, the Union soldiers did not have to live entirely in tents. Many of the men, at least the officers, were quartered in the workmen’s cottages left behind by the furnace laborers.

18th Ohio Infantry, 19th Illinois Infantry

1863: George W. Clark to Margaret (Smith) Clark

November 1, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

The following letters were written by George W. Clark (1837-1901) of Co. K, 18th Ohio Infantry. He enlisted on 21 October 1861 and was mustered in as the 1st Sergeant of his company. His second letter of August 1863) suggests that he was on detached service and performing duties normally given to an officer although he had not yet received officer’s pay. Muster rolls reveal that he was commissioned a 1st Lieutenant on 4 January 1863, but this may have been backdated. He resigned his commission and left the service on 20 September 1864.

George’s death certificate informs us that he was born in Philadelphia to Irish emigrants William Clark and Margaret Smith. He died in Dupont, Jefferson county, Indiana, where he had been a farmer. The 1850 US Census reveals that the Clark family had settled in Ohio, prior to that date. At that time, his 62 year-old father, was farming in Sutton township, Meigs county. George was enumerated as a 12 year-old. Other [resumable] siblings in the household included 26 year-old Henry, 19 year-old Thomas, and 19 year-old John (though Henry and John may have been half-siblings?).

Letter 1

Murfreesboro [Tennessee]

March 27, 1863

Dear Mother,

I received your letter three or four days ago but did not have time to answer it, we have had so much duty to do. Tuesday I was on picket. Wednesday on camp guard. Thursday we were on review. Gen. Negley has come back. He is a Major General. We were reviewed by Gen. Rosecrans. We went out on the parade ground at eight o’clock and stood around with our knapsacks on until 12 o’clock, Then we were inspected by the General. As he rode along by our regiment, he kept saying, “Nice…nice boys…good fighters.” Then we marched by him in review after. The rest of the Division had gone to camp [but] they kept our regiment and the 19th Illinois to drill awhile. We drilled in the bayonet and Battalion Drill. They said we were as well drilled as any regiment in the army. ¹

Mr. Sweeney is here. I am going to send this letter by him. Harvey Stanchman is sutler of the 6th Tennessee Regiment. If you had the box at Cin[cinnati] , Mr. Sweeney could have brought it right to me.

*Col. Timothy Robbins Stanley of the 18th OVI* *(Find-A-Grave)*

I am not going to write much more. I do not know what to write about. Ed[win] Cross, my partner, is going to be discharged. We have slept together ever since we left Camp Dennison. I do not like to have him leave. Col. [Timothy Robbins] Stanley is his uncle. ²

Deserters are coming in from the rebel army every day. They say that they are on half rations. I wish they would starve out. I have not heard from John for some time. He was well when I last heard from him. Charley Stivers is Brigade Commissary. Will & him are together. Harry Stanchman is at Cin[cinnati] now and if you could get the box there, he could bring it o me. I do not know what else to write so I will close. Give my love to grandfather & grandmother. Kiss Frank & the girls for me. Goodbye. — George

¹ The 19th Illinois Infantry was widely recognized and celebrated for it exceptional drill, discipline and military appearance. When General Buell reviewed the regiment, he accepted Colonel Turchin’s proposal to watch a full battalion drill instead of just a standard march. After observing the manual of arms, loading, firing, bayonet exercises, and evolutions, Buell confessed he “never saw a better drilled Regiment.” [Source: 19th Illinois Infantry Regiment History.]

²Edwin Cross served as a private in Co. K, 18th OVI. He was discharged on 4 April 1863 on Surgeon’s Certificate of Disability.

Letter 2

Camp near Stevenson, Alabama

August 23rd 1863

Dear Mother,

I received your letter last night and was very glad to hear from you. I got a letter from John the other day but have not answered it yet. I expect he will be home before I will have time to write to him.

Oh, it is so hot that I can hardly write. We are encamped between two mountains and there is scarcely a breath of air stirring. I was lucky to get acquainted with the old farmer. I did not eat but three dumplings. We do not get anything to eat now but hard tack and sow belly. We are about thirty miles from Dechard and about 40 from Chattanooga. They are shipping pontoons down to the river and I expect we will cross before long. ¹ When we were at Cowan, two of the regiments of the Brigade were over the mountain about 12 miles and I had to go over twice alone. I tell you, it was lonesome and I began to think about bushwhackers. When I had got half way over, I saw a citizen coming towards me with something in his hand that I thought was a gun. I got my revolver out, cocked it and held it under my coat so as to be ready and get the first shot if he made any false motions. When he got up close to me, I saw that it was a crooked stick in his hand so I put my revolver up.

Before I got back to camp, the rain just poured down. I got as wet as a drowned rat but I have got used to that so that it does not hurt me. All the pistols that I have belong to Uncle Sam and I could not send them away. Maybe I will capture one from a reb before long and I will send it to you.

I only have a little over a year to serve now and I don’t believe I will serve that. I think the war will be over this winter. Then we will trim the Copperheads in fine style. I do not get any more wages than I did when I am with the regiment. Will get commissioned officer’s pay. A 1st Lieutenant gets somewhere near $100 per month.

I am sorry that John is sick and I hope he will get to go home. I have had good luck. I have not been sick two days altogether since I enlisted.

We have a brass band with our Brigade now. I wish you would send the shirts as soon as you can for I am about out of shirts and do not want to draw any off the commissary. Never mind the pictures now. You can send them by mail some other time. If I had a thought [of it], I could have had you send them down to Aunt Carrie. My Captain just came from home and brought some things for Will. No more at present. From your affectionate son, — George

I could not send you any money this time for I had to buy me a pair of boots. I had none and could not draw any. We will be paid off soon again. — George

¹The pontoons were being moved toward the Tennessee River crossings west and southwest of Chattanooga. Rosecrans put most of his army across at places including Caperton’s Ferry, Bridgeport, Battle Creek, and Shellmound. By September 4th, virtually the entire striking force was south of the Tennessee.

Battle of Fort Stevens, Mount Pleasant General Hospital, Washington D. C., President Abraham Lincoln

1864: William Little Chrisman to Mary (Carpenter) Chrisman

October 31, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

This letter was written by William Little Chrisman (1834-1917), the son of John Chrisman and Sarah Evans of Warwick, Pennsylvania. “His father was a farmer who owned $14,300 of real estate in 1850. He grew up in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and attended Tremont Academy and Morgantown Academy. He began studying medicine in 1854, and he enrolled at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1855.

He graduated two years later and began practicing medicine in Virginia. He settled in Eldred, Pennsylvania, in the late 1850s, and by 1860, he was working as a teacher. During the Civil War, he served as a surgeon in the Union army. He married Mary Carpenter around 1863, and their daughter Mary was born around 1870.

He became a prominent physician in the Eldred community, and by 1870, he owned $4,000 of real estate and $500 of personal property. In the 1870s, he began diversifying his economic interests, purchasing oil-rich lands and buying stock in a Colorado gold mine. He also reportedly became “one of the leading and most progressive farmers in the county.” His wife died in 1915, and he passed away of “general paresis” in Eldred on August 4, 1917.” [Source: Letters Home, University of Virginia]

Chrisman’s letter is not dated but must have been written on July 13, 1864 after two days of skirmishing (11th and 12th) between Confederate Gen. Jubal Early’s men and the Union fortifications around Fort Stevens northwest of Washington City. Early began the withdrawal of his men during the night of July 12-13th. The incident involving the near shooting of President Lincoln at Fort Stevens took place on July 12th.

The letter suggests that he was contemplating leaving the service at the time. A roster of men examined in 1864 for physical disabilities reveals that he was examined on June 28, 1864 and determined eligible for discharge due to “loss of teeth.”

Header image: This c. 1892 painting by Eugenie De Land Saugstad hangs in the superintendent’s lodge at the Battleground National Cemetery. “President Lincoln is shown visiting Fort Stevens during the battle on July 12, 1864 as he comes under enemy fire while standing on the parapet.… The painting was donated by the artist to the Lincoln Museum which became Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site.” — NPS

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

Mount Pleasant Hospital, Washington D. C.

[@13 July 1864]

Dearest Companion,

I have not received anything from you yet and have not been looking.

We are fastened in by the rebels. They have been two days within 2 or 3 miles of this hospital. The lines were fighting all day yesterday. We could hear it all. President Lincoln was very near being shot by a Sharp-shooter. The ball struck a surgeon by his side.

It is believed by everybody that our fortifications can grind them to powder. Our men are trying to coax them in. Part of Grant’s army is here. From our hospital we see most of the movement as it is between the two main streets to the defenses.

The weather is very hot here but I can have a cool suit of clothes and live in a tent in the woods and it is not so bad. I supposed you got a letter written last Friday. I would like to know what you and Marcel intend to do and how he succeeds with his collection.

I can draw my pay every month it is said when there is plenty of money so I can send you some when I get [it] but don’t let the people know it. You will have to send me some in course of a week or two. I have enough to satisfy it three weeks if it can be had.

What is the feeling about my leaving? I guess I will remain long enough to get us out of debt and build us a house and buy a carriage, &c. but I cannot tell.

What have you done with George?

The shirts and stockings you may send when you get ready. I guess you had better hold on with them. I may send for a trunk. The stockings ought to be colored too.

I don’t want you to sell Frank until late in the fall without we are compelled to do it as I may want him and he will cost us nothing and will be all the better and I am quite fond of him.

I want you to pay Marcel first when you pay my debt.

I would like you and Marcel to write me soon and often, not that I care what you are doing. What [can____] if any are made in the neighborhood? Tell Mrs. Moses that there was a Moses from 58th, same company, but not same initials, but I am sure it was Josh, here some time ago. He was sent to New York City.

Give my respects to all. — W. L. Chrisman, A.A.S., USA, Mount Pleasant Hospital, Washington D. C.

13th Massachusetts Infantry, Fort Independence, Boston

1861: Silas A. Coolidge to his Parents

October 30, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

The following letter was written by Silas A. Coolidge, a 20 year-old shoemaker from Marlborough, Massachusetts, who enlisted as a private in Co. F, 13th Massachusetts Infantry on 29 June 1861. He was discharged for disability on 11 October 1862 but later served in the 59th Massachusetts Infantry. He did not survive the war. He died of disease in Washington D. C. in July 1864.

Silas was the son of Rufus Coolidge (1813-1889) and Laura Ann Hapgood (1814-1895) to whom he probably sent this letter.

*Birds Eye View of Fort Independence, Boston Harbor*

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

Ft. Independence, Boston

June 30th 1861

We arrived here yesterday at 2 o’clock. It is the most pleasant place I ever was in. When we landed, we were escorted into the fort by the Fourth Battalion of Rifles. Col. [Samuel H.] Leonard met us at the Common and came down with us. There were five companies came down with us. We have camped on the south side of the fort in tents. We each have a straw bed and blanket. I had a good night’s sleep last night. The old battalion here is the best drilled in the New England States. They say after we have been here three weeks, this will be the best regiment in this country.

Col. Leonard is a good but strict officer. They have no liquors to drink. If a man gets the worse for it, he is punished severely. There is the best set of boys here I ever saw. There are about 15 ares of land on this island. The wall to the fort is about 20 feet high and from six to fifteen thick of nice stone. The fort covers about four acres inside the wall. There is a parade ground of over two acres. On the wall there are forty great cannon and room for 80 more.

Beefs come down in the Westboro Company. There is a good cool breeze most of the time. They allow visitors on Wednesday & Sundays only. The island is crowded with visitors today. The Major [Jacob Parker Gould] inspected our guns this morning and said if there was an insurrection in Boston, he would throw them away and fight with his fists.

The Colonel asked us to go to meeting this afternoon. I wish I had some books to read for we loaf about here most of the time. We each have a knife, fork, spoon, tin plate, and tin mug. Our living [food] is better than I expected. I should like to have you come out here. If anybody comes to Boston from that way, tell them to come out here. I borrowed this paper and wrote on the bottom of my plate. When you write, direct to Fort Independence, Co. F.

Tell Lucy where to direct & to write and let me know if she comes out here. — S. A. Coolidge

14th New Hampshire Infantry

1862-63: William M. Lunn to Catherine (Stone) Lunn

October 30, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

*An unidentified private in the 14th New Hampshire Infantry, from the Dave Morin Collection. Dave thinks this soldier was likely from Co. D or I based on the location of the photographic studio.*

The following letters were written by 30 year-old William M. Lunn (1832-1863), the son of Joseph Lunn (1785-Bef. 1850) and Sally Dodge (1790-Bef. 1850) of Coos county, New Hampshire. William was married to Catherine (“Cate”) H. Stone (1830-1921) in 1853. They had three children, Rosina (b. 1854), George (b. 1858) and Joseph (b. 1860). In the 1860 US Census, the family took their mail at the Stark Post office in Coos county where William earned his living as a farmer.

William enlisted in Co. E, 14th New Hampshire Infantry on 23 August 1862 and died of disease in Washington D. C. on 9 November 1863. After the regiment was mustered in at Concord, it was sent in October 1862, to Washington, D. C., where it camped on East Capitol Hill before establishing winter quarters at Poolesville, Maryland. From November 1862 to April 1863, the 14th NH served picket duty along the upper Potomac River. In April 1863, the regiment moved its quarters to Camp Adirondack, in northeast Washington D. C. From April 1863 to the end of the year, the 14th NH performed guard duty at Old Capitol Prison, at the Navy Yard Bridge (Benning’s Bridge), and the 6th Street Wharf.

William’s formal education appears to have been limited, as evidenced by his very poor handwriting and composition. I have interpreted his intended meaning as faithfully as possible.

Through the years I have transcribed many letters by members of the 14th New Hampshire. They include:

Alexander Gardiner, F&S, 14th New Hampshire (1 Letter)
John Amsden, Co. A, 14th New Hampshire (1 Letter)
Frank Tileston Barker, Co. A, 14th New Hampshire (1 Letter)
Alonzo C. Packard, Co. A, 14th New Hampshire (1 Letter)
Otis G. Cilley, Co. D, 14th New Hampshire (1 Letter)
Henry Calvin Day, Co. D, 14th New Hampshire (1 Letter)
George W. March, Co. D, 14th New Hampshire (1 Letter)
Solon Augustus Carter, Co. G, 14th New Hampshire (1 Letter)
Austin Abel Spaulding, Co. G, 14th New Hampshire (6 Letters)
Leonard Erastus Spaulding, Co. G, 14th New Hampshire (13 Letters)
John Warner Sturtevant, Co. G, 14th New Hampshire (3 Letters)
John Warner Sturtevant, Co. G, 14th New Hampshire (1 Letter)
Thomas L. Scriven, Co. H, 14th New Hampshire (1 Letter)
Daniel Colby Currier, Co. I, 14th New Hampshire (3 Letter)
Daniel Colby Currier, Co. I, 14th New Hampshire (1 Letter)

Letter 1

Tuesday, October 28, 1862

Dear Cate,

I have moved from the City of Washington. We started from the city last Friday and marched 4 miles or to Georgetown and lay our knapsacks [down] and then we put them aboard of a small boat and then marched 11 miles and then camped on the blankets on the ground with our blankets. [We] then got up in the morning and marched 20 miles to Seneca and then we was about [ ] 5 miles and we marched 2 and a half only and rode the same, and then we went onto picket guard that night and the next day it rained like thunder and the mud was six inches in depth and [we had] no tents hardly and when we woke up the next…[quarter section of paper where an image that adjoined the words to the Star Spangled Banner was excised]

…ferry. We are now in Maryland. I wrote that you should send the Concord papers to me for I can’t hear no news. There was a man drowned in the [Chesapeake & Ohio] Canal. Only one or two papers for it would not hardly pay.

Tell the youngens that I am a comin’ home by and by. The orders come last night for every man to sleep on their arms for the rebels was on the other side of the Potomac River. We are encamped about 75 rods from the Potomac and the Rebels are on the other side of the river.

Direct your letter to Washington and write soon for we have got about sick of writing. Direct to Washington D. C. Mr. William Lunn, Co. E, 14th Regt. NHV.

Excuse mistakes.

Letter 2

Camp Adirondack [in northeast Washington D. C.]

June 10, 1863

Dear wife,

I now take my pen to let you know how that I am a getting along. I ain’t so well as I was when I wrote to you before but I ain’t sick abed now. That paper that Josh got was for Joseph. There was a mistake made in [addressing] him and I want that you should go over and get it. Take the letter and read it to him so that they won’t think that you lied about it, but it was for Joseph now, sure.

I am a going to send you a 5 dollar bill in this letter for you, You can use it as you want to. You will get a letter this week and a paper. I want that you should write whether the steers are very [ ] about fence or not.

You may give Rosina the picture side of this letter. I want that you should make me a pair of outside woolen shirts and you may color them what you are a mind to and have them so that you can send them this fall.

How does the grass look? Does it look as though there was going to be much hay cut this [summer] or not. I don’t think of much more to write so goodbye for this time. Write soon. Write all the news. This from William M. Lunn

Arkansas Homefront, Price's Missouri Expedition

1864: Mary Sackett to Mary Brummett

October 29, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

This letter was written by 17 year-old Mary Sackett (1847-1890), the daughter of Emanuel Sackett (1811-1875) and his wife Mary (1815-1857) of Cornersville, Drew county, Arkansas. Drew county is located in southeast Arkansas, not far from the Mississippi river.She was married in 1881 to Pierce Tindall in Sebastion county, Arkansas.

Mary wrote the letters to her cousin, Mary Brummett (1842-1874), the daughter of George Washington Brummett, Sr. (1809-18xx) and Malinda Cage (1809-1861) of White Sulfur Spring, Jefferson county, Arkansas.

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

Drew County, Arkansas

November 9th 1864

Dear Cousin,

I seat myself this evening to write you a few lines in answer to yours of the 18th October which came to hand the 2nd instant. We were all much gratified to hear from you and to hear that you were all well. Your letter found us all well and this leaves us so and we sincerely hope that these few lines may reach you in due time and find you enjoying the same blessing. Your relations here are all well so far as I know. Your Aunt Jenny and family were all well about four weeks ago. Hunter is in the Federal lines and I expect will stay there.

Your cousin Frany has married a Confederate prisoner in Pine Bluff. He is a widower with one child. His name is Daniels. He was taken and paroled and remains at the Bluff. We have never heard anything from Washington since he was captured. His wife and child were both well the last account we had from them. Jack Gentry has lost his wife. The rest of your relations were all well so far as your Aunt could tell us. We have not heard from John since the 15th June. He was well then and at Little Rock but where he is gone to is more than we can find out.

William ¹ has gone to Missouri with Price’s cavalry. We have not heard from him since he left here. We hear that Price is near Jefferson City, doing well, recruiting rapidly, and supplying his men with everything needful. We have [had] Feds and Confeds here alternately until we are very near fed out of anything to feed upon. I have nothing more of importance to write.

[Brother] Monte says he has not forgotten you yet and says he wants to see you very much. Martha and Sarah send their love and respects to you, William, and Pleasant. Give my love to all my relations. Tell them I would be glad to see them all if I could but I see no prospect or probability of doing so. Write as often as you can and let us know how you are getting along. So nothing more at present but remain your affectionate cousin. — Mary Sackett

To Miss Mary Brummett

¹ William Sackett (1844-1927) was Mary’s older brother who served in Co. C, Wright’s Arkansas Cavalry.

Ohio Homefront

1863: Mary A. Hanna to “My dear Fiend”

October 29, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

This letter was written by Mary A. Hanna (1836-1864), the daughter of James Hanna (1803-1859) and Margaret Fulton (1793-1859) of Short Creek Township, Harrison county, Ohio. Both of Mary’s parents died of typhoid fever with 15 days of each other in the late summer of 1859. We know little about Mary except that she was enrolled in 1856 at Oberlin College and she died in 1864, unmarried.

In her letter of October 1863, she mentions three brothers, two of whom were in the Federal service. The oldest, Alexander Fulton Hanna (1830-1863) was married to Ellen Thompson in 1853 and died of typhoid fever on 9 April 1863. He attended Franklin College at New Athens, Ohio, and was a teacher in Cadiz when he died—a devastating blow to the family as he served as the patriarch after the death of the parents. The second was James “Johnston” Hanna (1839-1890), who also graduated from Franklin College and was commissioned a Major in the 69th Ohio Vol. Infantry (OVI). He led the regiment in their charge up Missionary Ridge. The third was Archibald (“Archie”) Nelson Hanna (1841-1900) of Co. H, 126th OVI. She also mentions her younger sister Amanda Margaret Hanna (1843-1891) who was attending a Seminary (possibly the Steubenville Female Seminary) at the time. She married in 1865 to Dr. James Emmet Finley (1837-1911), a physician from Mt. Pleasant, Jefferson county, Ohio.

*Mary’s younger sister, Amanda Margaret Hanna. The only member of the family who had a picture attached to their Ancestry.com record.*

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

Old Homestead [Short Creek township, Harrison county, Ohio]

October 7th 1863

My dear friend,

Do not censure me too hard for not replying sooner. My reasons for not doing so is this—that I have not been at home for several weeks. Have been visiting my friends in Guernsey [?]. Since my return our County Fair has come off and consequently have not devoted much of my time to writing. This I trust may answer for apologies and I’ll venture on.

We are all well at this time. Have had no sickness in our family since in April last. ‘Twas then my eldest brother Alexander died of typhoid fever. How much we miss him. None but the members of our broken family can tell. To him we went for counsel & advice and in everything his willing hand was ready. Our loss is an irreparable one and although we feel it deeply, yet our loss is not to be compared with his widow. Poor woman! I feel sorry for her. She seems so lonely & sad. She has returned to her Father’s and although she is now an inmate of her childhood home, yet it has not the endearments it once had for her. But we must learn to be content and submit to the providence of an all wise Creator. This world was never meant for a Paradise. What trying times we have! Death seems to stare us on all sides.

Yesterday’s mail brought us word from brother Johnston who was again engaged in this last battle. Oh how uneasy we were until we heard that he was safe. Many, very many, of my acquaintances were wounded & killed in the conflict. This is the second heavy battle that brother has been in and escaped unhurt. I trust that same good Being that has thus far preserved his life, may still watch over & bring him back safely again.

My youngest brother, Archie, who has been in the service over one year tis now at Washington D. C. He was sick last April whilst in Martinsburg, Va. I was with him nearly three weeks. I was there at the time the Rebels destroyed a portion of the B&O Railroad [which] stopped the Eastern train from running so that I was compelled to return via Hagerstown, Maryland, Harrisburg, Pittsburg, Steubenville, & Cadiz which was quite a long way round and traveling alone too. I got along very well and have never regretted my trip.

I was so glad to hear from you all. How I would like to see you. Why it is that cousin Rachel & Lizzie never write me? I would love to hear from them although I wrote last & never received a reply. Think it rather discouraging to make the attempt again. And I never hear from Phillips’s anymore. When you see them, remind them of me please.

Sister Amanda is home now. She returns to the Seminary the first of next month. This will be her last session there. Suppose we look into the future as far as next spring & say we meet there & hear sister’s graduating performance & then you come home with me? That I think would be nice. At any rate, let me hear from you soon. With my love—yes, my best love to all my relations & say to them, “Mary Hanna wants a long visit from them.” Excuse this scrawl as I am ready to start to Cadiz with sister to do shopping. Ever & ever your friend, — Mary

25th Virginia Infantry, Fort Pulaski, The Immortal 600

1865: Jacob Warwick Mathews to Jane Eliza (Brown) Bestor

October 29, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

*The old veteran, Capt. Jacob Warwick Mathews*

This POW letter was written by Capt. Jacob Warwick Mathews (1839-1930) of Co. I, 25th Virginia Infantry. Mathews was among the “Immortal Six Hundred”—a group of 600 Confederate officers held as prisoners of war, assembled in direct retaliation after Confederate forces employed Union prisoners as human shields in Charleston, South Carolina. After being subjected to weeks of bombardment on Morris Island, these prisoners were transferred in late October 1864 to Fort Pulaski on Cockspur Island, Georgia. Confined within the damp brick casemates of Fort Pulaski, they endured an exceptionally harsh winter, severe overcrowding, and a punitive “starvation diet” consisting only of moldy cornmeal and pickles. Thirteen prisoners died from disease and deprivation on the island before the remaining survivors were returned to Fort Delaware in March 1865. [Source: The Civil War Picket, July 26, 2021]

Mathews was a merchant/farmer of Alvon, Greenbrier county, (West) Virginia, when the Civil War began. He was taken prisoner in the Wilderness on 5 May 1864. He wrote the letter from a prison at Fort Pulaski, Georgia, in mid-February 1865 to Mrs. J. Eliza Bestor, a Southern sympathizer residing in Baltimore who had two sons in the Confederate service and provided assistance whenever she could to Confederate soldiers imprisoned in the North.

Header image: Confederate officers held prisoner at Fort Pulaski during the winter of 1864-65 shared bunks with multiple other prisoners; no mattresses, nor anything to keep the damp cold air out in the winter. (NPS Photo. Source: Prisoner of War Experience.)

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

Fort Pulaski, Georgia

February 11th 1865

Mrs. J. E. Bestor,

Your very kind & long looked for letter was rec’d this morning it. It found me enjoying tolerable health. I might say very good health when I tell you we have had nothing in God’s world to eat for the last forty-one days but corn meal & pickles. Our prison is nothing more than a hospital. There is not ten sound well men in our prison. There is some hope of it getting better now & God grant that it may for there is great room for an improvement.

I am a thousand times obliged to you for the information you gave me of my brother & father & also for the stamps you sent me. I think our prospects for an exchange is brighter now than they ever have been & if I should be so fortunate as to get through, I will take grate pleasure in delivering your message to your sons & also tell them when I heard from you last, which will be a great satisfaction to them. Your letter containing the money you spoke of I have not received but I expect it is here as we have not rec’d any money letters for some time. But they are to be delivered soon. Please excuse this badly written letter & write soon. From your friend, — J. W. Mathews

If any of our friends in Baltimore would send some clothing to this prison, they would be thankfully received as we are very needy for clothing.

27th Connecticut Infantry, Camp Convalescent

1863: Samuel Beach to his Sister

October 29, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

This letter was written by Samuel Beach (1827-1892) of Co. B, 27th Connecticut Infantry—a nine-months regiment. He was mustered in as a corporal on 3 October 1862 and mustered out on 27 July 1863.

According to the Samuel Beach Papers at the Robert S. Cox Special Collections (UMass Amherst Libraries), Samuel Beach was born in Branford on 27 July 1827, the son of Samuel Beach (17xx-1828) and Mary Barker (18xx-1881). In March 1851, he married the elder daughter of Increase Cooke (1807-1847) and Harriet Delia Griffing (1812-1849).

“On August 31, 1862, Samuel Beach was drafted into the 27th Connecticut Infantry, a nine-month’s regiment noted as much for the hardships of its service as its brief duration. Part of the First Division, Second Corps of the Army of the Potomac, the regiment was thrown into the toughest part of three of the most momentous battles of the eastern theater. At Fredericksburg in December 1862, the 27th sustained 110 casualties during the failed assault on Stonewall Jackson’s forces on Marye’s Heights. After a harsh winter spent in the mud along the Rappahannock gave way to spring, the 27th was swept by illness. Beach was among several who required hospital care to recuperate, and he was thus not present at the Battle of Chancellorsville, when eight of the regiment’s ten companies were taken prisoner. Two months later he was in a convalescent camp when the regiment’s remaining companies, much reduced, sustained fifty percent casualties the Battle of Gettysburg, fighting in the Wheat Field.

Samuel Beach’s Civil War letters [at UMass, Amherst] cover the bulk of his nine-month’s service, from the early days serving in the defenses around Washington, D.C., through the turbulence of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Addressed to his wife Harriett, the letters are exceptionally literate and richly descriptive, with two excellent letters detailing his experiences at Fredericksburg, and several on the long winter that followed and the infamous Mud March. After the war, probably in the early 1880s, Beach wrote out a stunning 17 page account of his memories of Fredericksburg, using free pages in the center of an ledger containing accounts of labor of his fruit farm (box 2:4). The exceptional detail and energy of the account suggests he may have been working from a diary or contemporary notes that have not survived.”

*Camp Convalescent near Alexandria, Virginia*

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

Camp Convalescent, Alexandria, Virginia

Saturday afternoon, July 18th 1863

Dear Sister,

Your letter dated July 17th and mailed the 15th [reversed dates], I received this noon. I did not much expect another though I knew there was time enough for a letter or two. Sloat, captain of Co. A, has arrived in camp today. I understand Lays [?], the colonel, is in Washington yet. If that is the case, we probably shall not get home before the last of the week. Most of us are out of all manner of patience with the colonel for not making more efforts to get us home under the circumstances. Still he may be doing more than we think for, I think I might have got a furlough and gone home a few days sooner by the assistance of Elton. But I would have had to have paid half of my traveling fee, and the time was so short I did not think best, our time was so near out.

I don’t think I could have got a discharge which would have given me my pay and transportation home. It would have taken till our time was out probably to have worked it through. In short, I don’t think my discharge would be granted when the time was so near out. I should have been of little use at home.

Am improving pretty fast now here & I rather prefer coming home with the regiment, all things considered now. If I were in a hospital, I might be transferred to New Haven perhaps, but this is a Convalescent Camp, not a hospital. Though there are a great many in the hospitals not half as bad as a great many here, they are classified differently and have to be governed accordingly.

We get the news every day, soon after published. I have had none (papers) from home a long time. You said nothing about the raspberries. Are you picking any now? I hope there will be a few left when I get home. My love to Ma, Mother, and all the rest. Hoping to be home soon, I remain your affectionate brother, — S. Beach

22nd North Carolina Infantry, North Carolina Homefront

1862: Nancy Redd (Alley) Vernon to Richard Anderson Vernon

October 26, 2026 Griff Leave a comment

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.

Nancy Vernon to my loving husband Richard Vernon