The following letter was written by Loyal Barber Wort (1830-1893), the son of Israel Brown Wort (1804-1840) and Susan B. Dubbs Miller (1808-18xx). Loyal was married in January 1853 to Susan Gardiner Hendershot (1834-1914) and was living in Hicksville, Definance county, Ohio, where he was employed as a shoemaker just before the Civil War.

According to muster rolls records, Loyal enlisted as a musician in Co. E, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI) on 27 August 1861 and he served a little over three years, mustering out in September 1864 as a private.

Loyal’s Find-A-Grave biography includes the following entry includes the transcription of a letter he wrote following the Battle of Chickamauga where the regiment carried Colt Revolving Rifles that fired so rapidly they ran out of ammunition and had to make three bayonet charges. The letter read in part: “Our line of battle is formed at this place and whilst I write this our men are a skirmishing with the enemy and I think there will be a great battle fought at this place….We had a battle with them on last Sunday and it was a very hard one. All of our regiment was killed or wounded or taken prisoner except one hundred and eighty. Solomon Smith [Co. E.] was killed dead and John Kauffman [Co. E is wounded in the arm. There is but one Captain left in our regt. and five Lieutenants. Our Colonel is badly wounded…Our regiment got out of ammunition made three bayonet charges after all the ammunition was all gone and drove the Rebels and then they had to surrender, but some of the men would not stand it and they cut their way out and ran away….I think Dunafin is taken prisoner [He was and when released was killed in the explosion of the steamer ‘Sultana’ 4/27/65], there is only 15 men in our company. I tell you it makes me cry to think of it….I tell you, this battle beats Stone River. This was the hardest fighting ever known and it is not over yet. The Rebels throwed shells in our camp yesterday but they done no damage. The Rebs have a much larger force than we have. The prisoners say they have one hundred and fifty thousand. A part of their Richmond army is here….Through the providence of God I am still spared and I hope he will still continue his goodness to me….We were forced to fall back and leave the field so we did not get a chance to bury the dead and a great many of our wounded fell in the hands of the Rebs. It is heartrending to behold a battle scene.”

Transcription

Camp Jefferson
January 15, 1862

Dear Wife,

It is with much pleasure that I again take my pencil in hand to inform you that I am well and hope these few lines will find you and the children the same. I received your letter dated January the 5th and was glad to hear you are all well with the exceptions of a bad cold and headache. Well, it makes me feel very bad to learn that any of you are sick for it makes me feel very uneasy about you.

We are still at Bacon Creek and I do not know how long we will remain here. There is about 120,000 troops between Louisville and Bowling Green and there is nothing a doing and the papers say that Old Jeff and his Vice President is willing to settle the war and I hope that they will settle it for I have got enough of it, for they ain’t doing anything any place that I can learn by the papers. And you know that when I go to do anything, that I want to put it through.

You said if I would tell the truth, that I would say that I was a fool to enlist. Well, I can say that if I had have known as much then as I do now, I would have stayed at home. It makes me mad when I think that the government has got so many men a laying around and a doing nothing and keeping married men away from home and from the society of their families. I should like to be at home with you and the children. There is nothing in the world would do me so much good as that would. The Lieutenant told me he would give me a furlough when we were paid off, but then I will have to get the Colonel to sign it and the General and it will cost me 10 dollars to come. But if you say come, I will if I can get the furlough signed.

The weather here today is cold and rainy and the ground is very muddy and that makes it very disagreeable in camp. You know it is very disagreeable at home and much more so in camp. We just got our blankets and comforters yesterday and I slept under the comforter that you sent me and it looked natural. But I thought how pleasant it would be if I was a sleeping in your bed. You said that you thought I got good bread in Kentucky but you’re mistaken. I often think that I would like to get some of your bread and would not grumble at it being sour. I think this will cure me of that.