The following letters were written byJoseph Steele Ramsey (1838-1913) who, at age 22, enlisted on 16 July 1861 to serve three years in Co. D, 47th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI). He reenlisted as a veteran in the regiment and mustered out on 11 August 1865. Serving in the same company with Joseph was his younger brother John Knox Ramsey (1841-1863) who died of illness at Paducah on 10 November 1863.

Joseph was the son of Thomas Lackey Ramsey (1812-1881) and Jane Steele (1808-1851). He wrote two of the following letters to his older sister, Rebecca Jane Ramsey (1836-1891) and one to Sarah (“Sallie”) Rachel McQuiston (1843-1926) with whom he would marry on Christmas Day 1866. Sallie was the daughter of David McQuiston and Margaret Hamilton of Preble county, Ohio.

Letter 1

Larkinspur, Alabama
January 17th, 1864

I received yours of the 2nd inst. in due time and should have answered it before this but we have been so busy at work building houses that I did not have time to write, Our houses are finished now and I will try and answer it now.

I received a letter from Father more than a week ago which gave an account of the death of our brother John. It is a sad thought to think that he died away from all his friends with no one to speak a parting word. But it was the will of the Lord and may we take warning and bear in mind that our time on earth is but short and may we be ready when our Master calls us to our final home to give an account of the deeds done in the body. I suppose we will never know much about his sickness. He left Chickasaw on the evening of the 4th and was taken down to Eastport and put into an old building without much accommodations—only what he got by the hands of [Sgt.] Jim Magee. He lay there until the 6th when he was put on the boat and the boat lay there until 10 o’clock on the 10th but no one was allowed to go onto the boat to see him. It must be a mistake about the time he died for J. M. says that the boat left Eastport at 10 o’clock on the 10th and it would take them two days to go through.

J. M. left Eastport about a week after and when he got to Paducah, he could not find or hear anything of him. But one of the sick men in one of the hospitals told him that he thought that [John] had died on the boat the day they landed but he did not know the name. Three days after J. M came, one of Company A boys come and he said that he was sick in the hospital and was getting better and that made me feel more easy. I was thinking of trying to get permission to go to Paducah to see him when I got that letter from Father. I do not know whether I would have got to go or not. That is all that I can find out about him.

The weather here has been beautiful for the last week. We had some pretty cold weather about New Years but not near as cold as you say it has been up north. We did not have any tents but we did not suffer any for all that. We was at Bellfont at that time and had our houses nearly finished but we had to leave them and come to Larkinsville where we are now.

We have got our houses built and are in them and they are quite comfortable. We have eight houses twelve feet square to our company. The furniture in our house consists of two beds, one table, and three stools or benches. Last night for supper was the first tie that I had eaten off a table in a house for more than a year and a half.

There are five of us in our shanty. Their names are as follows: J[ohn] Cook, [Andrew] B. Rock, E[lias] Dunkelberger, S[amuel] Hockersmith. I send you 50 cents for postage stamps which you will please send me in your next letter.

From your brother, — Joseph

Letter 2

On picket, Cherokee County, Alabama
October 23rd 1864

Friend Sallie,

Your very kind letter of the 5th just was received a few days ago, read and reread with much interest. I will try and scribble you a few lines this morning but as I have no good way of writing, you will have to excuse scribbling. I have written but one letter in the last month, consequently I am sadly behind in business—that is, literary business.

We did not get to rest as long at Eastport as we expected to. The rebel army was about to get in our rear. In fact, they did, and destroyed about twelve miles of our railroad between Ackworth and Big Shanty. Consequently we left Eastport on the 4th last and have been going it almost day and night ever since, trying to overtake Hood and his hoards of mighty men but we have not found many of them yet. We had a little skirmish with their rear guard at Snake Creek Gap but it did not amount to anything worth speaking about. We have been roaming all over the State of Georgia and are now in Cherokee county, six miles west of Gaylesville. We arrived here day before yesterday. How long we will remain here, I cannot say. Neither do I know where we will go to.

While you have been having so much wet weather up North, we have been having nice dry weather—beautiful weather for marching—rather cool at night, but we make up for that by burning fence rails which are very plenty in this part of the country. We are having a gay time on this march, plenty of everything good to eat, but the citizens have to suffer for it. But you know that we cannot go hungry where there is so many hogs and potatoes. For my breakfast this morning, I had sweet potatoes, beef, slapjacks, and coffee—not as good as we have sometimes. We often have chicken, molasses, and various other things that the country affords. It looks hard to take things away from the people that way but it is the only way that we have to live as Uncle Sam does not give us full rations but slows us to gather it from the country.

Capt. [Joseph L.] Pinkerton started home yesterday but did not get farther than Dawson Headquarters before he was ordered back. He will go home as soon as there is an officer appointed in his place. He is a good officer—I think a little the best one that our company has ever had. He is well liked by all the boys and will be missed very much in the regiment.

I do not think that there is anything wrong is showing good, well written letters to ones best friends but my letters are so very poor that I am almost ashamed to let anyone see them. As you have told the whole truth, I do not think that you have done anything to be forgiven for but I had rather beg pardon myself. You’re wrong in thinking that i thought you were that kind as to be showing my letters to everyone. I think you are flattering me in saying that my letters are too good to be laid away where no one would see them. I was not aware indeed of having gained so much favor in the eyes of your good friend, It is a fine thing to gain favor if it is only in the right way. Oh Sallie, I did not know that I was a thief. I do not know how you can blame me with stealing her heart away. Do you think that I want to steal anyone’s heart. No, never. If they cannot give it me with a good will, I do not want it. I am sure I could not steal one. I think that you blame me wrong for I do not know that I have any such thing in my possession. If I ever am so lucky as ever to gain anyone’s heart and affections, I do not want to have to steal them….

There was a big frost last night but it is quite warm and pleasant now. The boys are all well and hearty. It is almost dinner time and I must go into camp and see what the boys have for dinner. As this is so poorly written that I expect you will be tired reading, I will bring this to a close hoping to hear from you soon. Excuse mistakes and bad writing. Every your friend, — Jos. S. Ramsey

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Letter 3

Camp Near Goldsboro, North Carolina
March 1st, 1865

Dear Sister,

As it seems your tirn for a note and I have received three from you since I come here, I will try and scratch you a few lines that you may know what we are doing and how we are getting along. It will not be necessary for me to go back and give a history of our late trip through South and North Carolina as I wrote to brother Sam the other day and told him about all that I knowed about it. I have kept a kind of a diary that I intend to send home that will give you some idea of the route that we went, how we fared, and what we were doing each day. I sent the first two weeks of it in Sam’s letter and I will send two more in this and so on until I have it all sent. I have kept it from the first of the year and I want you to take it all and put it together so that it will not get tossed.

We are encamped two miles east of Goldsboro. It is a very nice place to camp. We have got out little tents fixed up and things arranged so that we can live very well. The only objection that I have to this camp is the soil is very sandy and the high winds that we have here is continually blowing sand into everything—into our eyes, into our victuals, and everything else. But we have got so used to having sand in our victuals that we do not mind it much. Don’t you think that we ought to be getting gritty? They say sand makes things gritty. If that be so, we will be sure.

The weather is very warm and pleasant. We had some rain yesterday but today is clear, warm and windy—sand flying as usual. the peach trees have been out in full bloom for two weeks. The prospects for a large peach [harvest] is good. I think if we stay down here until they are ripe, I will have some of them. Apple trees are very scarce here. It is only once in a while that we see one and very shabby at that. We have plenty to eat at this place and had on the whole trip excepting three days that we subsisted mostly on parched corn. That was the time that Johnston thought to stop us near Bentonville, 20 miles from this place. The cars commenced running to this place the same night that we did and trains are arriving now almost hourly ladened with rations and clothing. We have not got our clothing yet and are in a very bad need of it. I tell you that we are a ragged looking set of boys. Would not look well promenading around in [ ] in our present state of existence as we were doing this time one year ago.

Our clothes are at the Division coming and we will get them as soon as they can distribute them out which will be tonight or in the morning. Col. Parry has been promoted to rank as Brevet Brigadier General. I suppose he will leave us in a few days and then Captain Pinkerton will have command of the regiment as soon as he comes back, We are looking for him every day. Lt. [James H.] Bullock is commanding our company. He was only promoted about two months ago from sergeant. We have not had anything to do since we came here except one day we went out with the wagon train a foraging. I think that we will have to drill before long.

There is a great talk about peace in camp today. Rumor says that Gen. Lee has gone to Washington to make peace and that Jeff Davis has run off out of the country. I hope it is so but can’t believe it. I look for peace before long but I think that there will be some fighting yet before this affair is ended yet. It is also said that Grant has taken Richmond with the loss of 20,000 men and taken 40,000 prisoners. That we do not believe although it may be so, We hear so much now days that we do not believe anything until we know it to be so.

From the letters that I have received from the North, I think that you must have had a gay time sleigh riding this winter. I would like to have been there to have enjoyed some of it but duty must go before pleasure in these war times. I have not saw a speck of snow this winter. The hardest freeze that we had did not make ice more than an inch thick. I like the climate of this country very well but the land is too poor to suit me. I do not like black-eyed peas well enough and that is about the only thing that will make more than half a crop in this country.

I received that housewife [sewing kit] that you sent me day before yesterday. I am very well pleased with it and think it a very nice one and for it you have my many thanks well wishes…

Very respectfully, your brother, — Jos.