The following letter was written by Captain Franklin Johnson (1841-1870), of Company K, Twenty-sixth Michigan Infantry, which was addressed to Mrs. Austin Blair, “Michigan’s Wartime Governess.” In his letter, dated July 11,1864, Captain Johnson writes Mrs. Austin Blair from the Armory Square Hospital in Washington D.C. and mentions his badly wounded ankle, a result of his regiment’s engagement on May 12,1864, at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia. His foot was amputated due to the severity of the wound. On March 13,1865, Franklin Johnson received the rank of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, after being discharged from the service on November 30,1864. Johnson’s letter includes his reflection on the deaths of two 26th Michigan comrades—Charles Wellman and Walter H. Maxson—who were killed in action at Spotsylvania.

Franklin was the son of David Johnson (1810-1886) and Adelia A. Pollard (1821-1884) of Jackson, Jackson county, Michigan.

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Armory Square Hospital
Ward “A”, Washington D. C.
July 11th 1864

Mrs. Governor Blair,

My dear friend, your favor of June 6th reached me at a time when body & soul wavered in the balance between life and death, but the vivifying influence of a Mother to nurse me, encouraging, loving letters from home to tell me I was not forgotten, and kind friends to visit and cheer me, made their influence perceptible, and once more I am able to sit up and enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You cannot imagine how pleased I was to hear from you and to think that though sick & wounded, weak & weary, down here in this living point of suffering, I still had friends who sympathized with and mourned for me and whom it would afford pleasure to assist me in any manner they were able.

I thank God that I was not killed, though sometimes a bitter feeling comes over me as I look down at my mutilated limb and I almost wish that the bullet had sped home, as was the case I am so sorry to say with my gallant sergeants Wellman & Maxson. But then when I see cases so much worse than mine here and plenty of them, I think I have cause for congratulation that I escaped simply with the loss of my foot instead of my head. Poor Charley Wellman. How happy it makes me feel to think that he was able to obtain a furlough so soon before his death. It seems to me that that little act of kindness conferred by you in obtaining him a furlough, since it was only by your influence that he obtained a leave of absence, must ever be remembered by you with feelings of the most exquisite pleasure, the thought that you had been able to obtain for a poor soldier the pleasure of visiting his wife and family so soon before he was dashed into the jaws of death and the gates of eternity had forever closed upon him. Indeed it seems wonderful that we were not all killed and wounded amid that storm of shot and shell. It reminded me of Tennyson’s poem:

“Into the valley of death
Into the mouth of hell
Rode the Six Hundred.”

Poor Charley sleeps in the trenches of that battlefield which wet by the best blood of our country adds one more to the list of victories gained by the aid of our gallant Michigan soldiery. Peace be to his ashes.

I wrote to Gov. Blair today asking for a promotion in some Michigan regiment in which I would be able to muster as I wish to be transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps and to obtain said transfer I shall have to undergo an examination, but am not allowed to ask for an examination for any higher grade than that which I now hold. By being promoted, I could ask for an examination for the rank to which I was promoted and although if I should fail to obtain the position I aspired to, I should be awarded a commission corresponding to the merits of my examination and would thereby at once leave a vacancy for the person to whom it might more properly belong, and besides, it is much easier for me to ride now than walk, unless I should make my mind to accept of your offer, although I hardly think your delicate foot could stand Virginia marches and Virginia med. But I am so tired, I must to bed, so goodbye.

Your friend, — Frank Johnson, Capt. of Co. K, 26th Michigan Vols.

P. S. Ma sends her regards. She is quite well adn endures the fatigue of hospital life admirably.