This 1864 letter was written by William Rice Wilson (1836-1918) not long after he had resigned his commission (10 Sept. 1864) as 1st Lieutenant of Co. B, 125th Illinois Regiment. The regiment was organized and mustered into service at Danville in September 1862. At the time he entered the service, William was described as a 25 year-old, dark-haired farmer with hazel eyes and just shy of 6 feet in stature. He was married to Catherine Deck (1841-1887) and had a farm in Newell township, Vermillion county, Illinois.

William was the son of John Eilson (1811-1845) and Elizabeth Rice (1812-1901) of Belmont county, Ohio. William moved to Vermilion county in 1856. He married Catherine in January 1860 and after her death in 1887, he married Phoebe Ann Elliott (1849-1939). William’s first child, John Deck Wilson (1860-1891) was born prior to his entering the service. His next two sons were born after he returned home from the service. He named them William Tecumseh Sherman Wilson (1865-1938) and Ulysses Simpson Grant Wilson (1868-1949).

Transcription

Home
Sunday night, October 25th 1864
Vermillion County, Illinois

H. Jane Elliott

My dear cousin, yours of October 9th has just come to hand, but did not find me in the same latitude as your other letters have done. I came home the same night your letter was written & since then I have been trying to enjoy the comforts of home.

You no doubt will be surprised to receive a letter from me since I have come home, but your last was too good a letter to not be answered so I thought you should not be disappointed. Since I last wrote you it has been my good luck to visit the great city of Atlanta—the long noted den of Rebeldom. For me to attempt to give you anything like a correct account of the present appearance of the place would be more than I could do correctly. I would just say that I was surprised at seeing so small a place, and since our army took possession of the place, they have literally demolished a good portion of the place.

The soldiers have appropriated some of the fine houses of the Southern chivalry to their own comfort and convenience while many yet remain tenantless & show the effects of war to a very great extent. There are but few citizens remaining in the city, having gone north or south as suited their fancy. I think that most of the first class have gone south, being the best able to stand the scourge they are receiving.

The male portion are mostly all in the army either of choice or by compulsion. I saw hundreds of families moving north as a general thing. They were the objects of pity. Some of them had seen better days no doubt, but now they seemed heartbroken while but few seemed to pity them or share their grief. Hundreds of them have moved from Nashville to points south & have been at last overtaken by the “Yankee Vandals” of the North (as they call us) and compelled by necessity to deal with us at last. Some of them are penitent—some are not. But I hope they day will soon come when they will be compelled to live in obedience to the laws of the land.

As I told you in some of my letters that I was going to quit the service if possible, I have the good news to announce that I again breathe the air of Illinois as a citizen. I tendered my resignation on the 16th of August and on the 10th of September my resignation was accepted. Some two weeks elapsed after the acceptance before I knew it. As soon as I found out that I was out of the service, I concluded to go to Atlanta & get ready to come North. I found my regiment near Atlanta in good health—those that were left. I had the pleasure of staying with them only a few days when they were ordered to Chattanooga and then to Huntsville, Alabama, to operate against “Old Forrest.”

I have just received a letter from one of the boys stating that they were at Chattanooga, Tennessee, on the 16th of this inst. in good health.

You spoke about Amos, our cousin. I guess he has been with the regiment most of the time. He has enjoyed good health & escaped unhurt. As to the handsome picture you received in my last, I must confess it is more than I ever thought, but I am glad to know my cousin loves the soldiers I think they desire to be. I must close for the present.

I hope to see you at home on November 12th. I want to spend my birthday, viz: 13th, up at the Grove. Hoping this may find you well, I am as ever your true cousin, — W. R. Wilson

Write soon. Address. State line City, Indiana.