The following letter was written by Abijah S. Spafford (1840-1882) who enlisted in 9 September1861 as a private in Co. G, 5th New York Cavalry. He reenlisted on 11 February 1864 as a 1st Sergeant and mustered out on 19 July 1865 at Winchester, Virginia. The muster rolls inform us that he stood 5 foot 10.5 inches tall, had grey eyes, brown hair, and a light complexion.

The 5th New York Cavalry Regiment, also known as the 5th Regiment New York Volunteer Cavalry, and nicknamed the “1st Ira Harris Guards“, had a good fighting reputation, and had important roles in the Battle of Hanover and the Battle of the Wilderness. It was present at nearly 175 battles and skirmishes, including Gettysburg, Opequon, and Cedar Creek. A majority of its fighting was in Virginia. The regiment was originally called the Ira Harris Guard in honor of the senator from Albany, New York. It was named 5th New York Cavalry on November 14, 1861. The regiment’s battle flag was blue with “painted inscriptions and a semi-elliptical red shield in the center” inscribed with “5th.”

Abijah was the son of Milton R. Spafford (1811-1873) and Lucy Sheldon (1810-1888) of Middletown, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania. His name was spelled variously as Spafford or Spofford but his family headstone reads, “Spafford.”

Transcription

Camp Scott, Staten Island, [New York]
October 26, [1861]

Dear Cousin,

I sit myself down this pleasant Sabbath morning to write a few lines to you to let you know how I am getting along. I am well at present and enjoying myself first rate and I hope this will find you the same. I am getting so fat that I can’t hardly see out of my eyes. I have gained about 25 pounds since I left home and I never enjoyed myself better nor enjoyed better health for the same length of time in my life. I wish you and Sile was here and I know you would enjoy yourselves better than you ever did in Pennsylvania. We have got all of our uniform except overcoats and we are to have them tomorrow. We hain’t got our horses yet or rather we hain’t got them distributed out to us yet but they are here on this island. There is 1,000 horses here and 2,000 men here in this camp besides. There is five other camps on this island but I don’t know how many men there is in either of those camps but I presume there is as many in either camp as there is in this.

I received a letter from Orange the 24th and he said that Sile got kicked by one of B. L. Canfield’s horses in the face. You tell him I say that he won’t be in as much danger of getting killed here as he will there. Tell him I want him to write to me. The reason why I hain’t wrote to you or him before is because I hain’t had much time to write and what little time I have had I have to write to our folks and the last letter I got from them was mailed October 6th and I have wrote four or five to them since. I have wrote to them to send me $1 in postage stamps but I have not received any yet. We have to pay four or five cents a piece for them here. You tell them that I say if they don’t send me any stamps that I shan’t write them anymore letters if I had got any money. I would send to the city after some but my money is gone and I don’t know how long it will be before we will get our pay.

Write as soon as you get this and let me know whether our folks is going to send me any postage stamps or not. Write and let me know…

— Abijah Spafford

Direct to Camp Scott. Write as soon as you get this. Give my love to all enquiring friends.