The following letter was written by George T. Woodard (1835-1864), a native of New Hampshire, who was residing in Oak Grove, Dodge county, Wisconsin, when he enlisted in Co. D, 8th Wisconsin Infantry. He entered the service as a sergeant and was promoted to 1st Sergeant of his company before his death in 1864.

Forty-four of George’s Civil War letters are housed in the Special Collections of the University of Alabama. George wrote all of the letters to his fiancee, Gene Smith. At times he addresses letters to Genie, and the envelopes are often addressed to E. E. Smith–her name was likely Eugenia. His letters show his love and devotion to Gene and allude to activities they shared during their courtship. He also discusses camp life and the campaigns he was involved in, including the battle of Corinth and the siege of Vicksburg. A letter written on April 26, 1863, includes a small, hand-drawn battle map of Vicksburg. Many of his letters discuss his love of the Union and his willingness to sacrifice his life for his country.

In addition, there are three death notification letters written in 1864, presumably received by Gene. The nurse who cared for him at the Gayoso Hotel hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, incorrectly dated her letter on predated letterhead as February 1, 1863. Her kind letter includes details of his death, which occurred the previous day. The hospital steward at Gayoso, Michael Cahill, wrote a letter, also incorrectly dated February 1, 1863, which discusses his death and the process through which his heirs could obtain his belongings and pay. His commanding officer and friend, Lieutenant S. C. McDowell, wrote her a kind and personal sympathy letter, correctly dated February 7, 1864.

This letter was written to George’s friend from Dodge county, Wisconsin, Perry Farlow (1842-1863) who served in Co. K, 29th Wisconsin Infantry. Like George, Perry died from disease during the war almost a year to the day before George.

Transcription

Germantown, Tennessee
January 30th [1863]

Friend Perry,

It is quite a number of days since I received your kind letter of the 2nd inst., but I have delayed answering it for various reasons, the most important one being the fact that I felt so confounded lazy that I could not screw myself up to the sticking point, but at last I have concluded that it would be shameful to postpone writing any longer and here I am already.

I am sorry to hear of the severe loss that your company has sustained by death. It only corroborates the truth—that camp diseases are more fatal to soldiers than the bullets of the enemy. Our company has lost by disease fifteen men; but the bullets of the enemy only four killed and thirteen wounded. And there has been seventeen discharged for disability while four have been transferred thus making a total loss to the company of forty men. And as our term of service is about half out, we can safely calculate on having a remainder of twenty men of the original one hundred at the expiration of the three years service. I wonder if I am one of that lucky twenty? That’s the question that is of more importance to me than anything else.

I hear that Lieut. Perry [29th Wisconsin] has gone home sick. I am sorry to hear that and trust he will soon recover.

I feel quite well acquainted with your Lieut. Marsh, having met him quite a number of times in Oak Grove. We used to have a “lark” occasionally over the chess board though I believe our games used to be rather more to his credit as a player than mine. I believe I usually arose from the play “scooped.” I wish I could see him and have one more game just for old scores. Remember me kindly to him and to any other of the boys of Oak Grove or Barnett with whom I may have been acquainted.

The duty on which our regiment is now engaged is guarding the Memphis & Charleston Railroad at this point, fourteen miles from Memphis. We are having quite a vacation after five or six months of the most active campaigning. Till we camped here, our regiment has not remained in one camp over five days at a time since the 18th of August. We have marched 1,237 miles since we entered the service, participated in three regular battles, and a half dozen skirmishes. Our severest loss was at the Battle of Corinth where we lost 132 men in killed and wounded in less than twenty-five minutes. I presume there are other regiments that have done more than we have, yet we have done enough to satisfy me with soldiering.

Write soon to your friend, — George T. Woodard

[Added note]

Germantown, Tenn.
January 30th 1863

Clark,

Have you forgotten me? Old Woodard of “All the way from Roaring River” memory. If you have, you deserve to be severely castrated. I have written three letters to you without any answer. Now you had better die or forget your old friend, — Geo. T. Woodard

To Clark R. Hewitt, Trenton Company, 29th Wisconsin

From George T. Woodard, Co. D, 8th Wisconsin Regt., Memphis, Tenn.