The following letter came to me for transcription identified as having been written by William (“Billy”) Pooley (1839-1864), wgo served as a private in Co. A, 127th Illinois Infantry. He was Killed on 7/28/1864 at Atlanta, GA. The letter was only signed “William” and it was written to his brother “Eber.” There is a surname following Eber’s name and though one might construe it to be Pooley, I don’t believe it is. There are a number of reasons why I don’t think this letter was written by William Pooley of the 127th Illinois Infantry.

First and foremost, William fought in the western theatre for most of the war and because he was beloved by his company and killed in the fighting before Atlanta, his comrades eulogized him and never once mentioned his being taken prisoner in 1863. Further, they claimed he was with the regiment all of the time and fought in all of the battles until his death. Second, William had no brother named Eber that I could find. He did have a brother named John—a name that appears in the letter—but John served in the same company as William and would not have been at home farming in 1863 as he indicates. Third, the writer expresses concern for “Horace,” an apparent comrade in his company (or regiment), and there was only one Horace in the 127th Illinois but he was a Lieutenant in another company so I doubt seriously this was who he referred to.

So if it wasn’t William Pooley, who wrote the letter? The date and circumstances of the letter suggest to me that it was written following the author’s exchange as a prisoner of war who was captured during the Battle of Chancellorsville. Though he doesn’t give his location, most likely he wrote it from a paroled prisoners camp in Virginia or Maryland, where Union POWs were billeted until their exchange could be negotiated and they were allowed to return to their regiments. Also, if he was in Virginia or Maryland, his suggestion that farmers would be planting “up there” suggests his home was in a location much further north, like New York or one of the Northeastern states—not “out there” in Illinois. In my opinion, William was probably among the roughly 4,000 Union troops taken prisoner at the Battle of Chancellorsville and taken to Richmond.

Seeking help on my Spared & Shared Facebook page, Rose Lynn Beyke correctly deciphered William’s surname as Tooley (not Pooley) which led me to his identity as William Tooley (1840-1865) writing to his younger brother, Eber Tooley (1842-1914). William and Eber were the sons of Cyrus F. Tooley (1802-1880) and Sophronia (“Mary”) Lumbard (1804-1891) of Granville, Washington county, New York. William’s older brother, Horace Tooley (1836-1864), also served in the same company as William, which was Co. K, 123rd New York Infantry. William and Horace enlisted together on August 19, 1862. Horace survived Chancellorsville but was wounded in action on 25 May 1864 and died near Dallas, Georgia, on 8 June 1864. His remains are in the Marietta National Cemetery (Plot A, 449) William was captured in action on 3 May 1863 at Chancellorsville and paroled but was killed in a late-war skirmish on 10 April 1865 at Aiken’s Creek near Raleigh, North Carolina. His remains are in the Wilmington National Cemetery (Plot 2, 739).

The 123rd New York Infantry entered the Battle of Chancellorsville as part of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, of Slocum’s XII Corps. Here is a roster of the soldiers in Co. K of that regiment with a brief description of their service. Though I have not read it, apparently Sgt. Rice C. Bull of the 123rd New York Infantry taken prisoner at Chancellorsville and left an account of it in the book, “Soldiering, the Civil War Diary of Rice C. Bull.”

Transcription

[Paroled prisoners camp, Alexandria, Virginia]
Thursday, May 28th 1863

Dear Brother,

I hope you have received my letter ere this for I am anxious to hear from you. I am well and it is a fine morning. The sun has just risen. I have been to the brook and washed. The rest of the men are all asleep in their bunks. O! if you were here or I there with you, how we could enjoy ourselves. But as it is, I feel very lonesome here alone. But I hope things will change sometime. I would [like] to be there at work for John this summer. I suppose you are planting yet up there. But here it is too late for that. Nearly three weeks ago I saw them hoeing corn at Richmond.

I would like to give you a history of our journey to Richmond and back but you know I can not write long stories and I hope sometime to see you so that I can give you the history of it without writing it. They treated us as well as we expected they would but they had nothing for us to eat. We should have starved if we could not have bought bread—one half of a small loaf of baker’s bread—and about two ounces of meat was a day’s ration. If you did not get my other letter, I wish you would send me some money as soon as you can for I am so lonesome I want it for company. I don’t care how much you send me for I have had to borrow five dollars and used it up.

I have not heard from the regiment yet. I do not know whether Horace is dead or alive. Mother, I would give all that Uncle Sam owes me if I could see you and the rest of them. Write when Eber does if you can. Write soon. — William

[to] Eber Tooley