The following letter was written by Ebenezer H. Martin of Union, Broom county, New York, who claimed to be 30 years old when he enlisted as a private on 21 November 1861 to serve three years in the 16th Independent Battery, New York Light Artillery. Census records from 1850 and 1860 suggest that he was born in 1826, however, so he would have been 35 years old when he enlisted. We learn from Ebenezer’s letter that he was detailed as a hospital warden or steward while in the service but he did not survive the war. He died of chronic diarrhea on 31 December 1863 while at Union, New York, where he was buried.
Though the letter is not accompanied with an envelope and he does not name the letter’s recipient, it was most surely sent to his second wife, Mary J. (Spencer) Martin. Ebenezer and Mary had two children Ida Jane Martin (b. 1854) and William Wallace Martin (b. 1856). Ebenezer’s first wife’s name was Lodasca who died in April 1853.. They were married in Truxton, New York, on 31 December 1849. They had one daughter named Edna, born 1853, who also filed for a pension after learning of her biological father’s death.
Transcription
16th Independent Battery, New York Vols.
1st Brigade, Reserve Army Corps
Cloud’s Mill, Virginia 1
July 15th [1862]
I received your letter today and was glad to hear from you. Since I wrote before, I have moved about half a mile nearer to Alexandria. I am now in sight of five regiments—three of cavalry and two of infantry. And on the hill there is a large quantity of soldiers. Some have been to Richmond. The rest have just come from the North. There is about seven hundred sick and wounded soldiers in Fairfax Seminary and the surrounding buildings.
We got our pay the sixth and it ought to be in the Broom county bank by this time. It is late and I am tired and sleepy so no more tonight.
July 21st. I have been so busy since I commenced this I could not get time to write or anything else for myself until today. I have made two bunks so that fills the hospital. There is seven sick in it and fifteen in quarters. Saturday the 9th New York Cavalry started for Warrenton and last night the 9th Vermont came and camped across the road from here. When we shall leave, I cannot tell but possibly not very soon for the company is not full and if they keep deserting, it takes some time to fill it up for yesterday Jered Bauder 2 slid from camp and has not been seen since.
I have sent a package of peas to Binghamton for you and if they are sowed soon, they will get ripe this summer. Let Mr. William Andrews have part of them. They are the dwarf and don’t grow over five or six inches high and bear very full. The best way is to set some narrow boards up each side of the rows to keep them safe. Write and let me know if they has got there yet.
I am now where I shall get fifteen dollars every two months in addition to regular pay, making twenty dollars and fifty cents per month so I can send home twelve dollars more every two months. Tell Willie and Ida to be good children and learn all they can so they can write some next winter. If they have the summer complaint, get equal parts syrup of rhubarb, spirits of camphor, and paregoric. Dose for an adult a spoonful; children twenty to thirty drops. I don’t know of anything more at present so I will get this ready for the mail tomorrow. Give my love to all enquiring friends. So no more at present.
Direct as before to E. H. Martin, Care of Capt. Locke, 16th Battery, NY Vols. 1st Brigade, Reserve Army Corps, Washington.
— E. H. Martin, Hospital warden, 16th Battery
1 Cloud’s Mill, one of several in the City of Alexandria before the Civil War, existed for over a century. It was identified most frequently as Cloud’s Mill, although James Cloud actually owned it less than thirty years. An 1813 deed refers to a Triadelphia Mill, a name which also appears on an 1879 and a 1915 map. However, Cloud’s is the name used on most deeds and maps, especially during the Civil War when the mill also is described as a landmark in letters written by Confederate and Union soldiers. It was located on the north side of Little River Turnpike, somewhere between the present Shops at Foxchase shopping center and North Pickett Street.” [A History of Cloud’s Mill in Alexandria, Virginia by Jean A. Beiro.]
2 Jered R. Bauder of Binghamton enlisted on 21 January 1862 when he was 18 years old. He deserted on 12 July 1862 at Cloud Mills.
Spared & Shared 23 