The following letter was written by John Ingerson (1837-1913), the son of Alvin C. Ingerson (1815-1857) and Tirza A. Palmer (1816-1895) of Sycamore, Wyandot county, Ohio. John’s obituary, published in the Marion Star on 2 July 1913, states that he was a “veteran of the Civil War who was wounded and disfigured for life in the battle of Gettysburg…when a shell hit him in the face, cutting his upper lip and terribly disfiguring him.” He served three years and eight months; was with Sherman on his march to the sea. After the war, he followed the occupation of a farmer in Sycamore. John served in Co. G though his grave marker says “Co. C.”

In this letter, John describes the Battle of Stones River to his mother, giving the names of killed and wounded. Readers are referred to Dan Master’s article entitled, “Yelling like fiends incarnate”—the opening moments of Stones River published on 3 May 2020.

Transcription

In camp four miles south of Murfreesboro, [Tennessee]
Monday morning, January 12th 1863

Well, Mother, I thought I would try and write you a few lines to let you know that I am still alive yet but I tell you, it was close work on the 31st of last month for we was surprised by the Rebels and they shot so fast that he balls felt like hail on us and we had to fall back about three miles and by the time we had done that, we was pretty badly scattered. Our colonel was taken prisoner but he got away. R. L. Hudson and J[ames] R. Ingerson and [Amos E.] Kitchen and our 2nd Lieutenant [Isaac H. White] and several of the other boys that you don’t know were taken prisoners and now is supposed are a Chattanooga.

Now I will try and [tell] you was killed. Our Lieutenant-Colonel [Levi Drake] and J[oseph] J. Basom and two of our color guards and Post Wate, a feller that worked for John Lofton. In all that was killed made twenty-one in our regiment. I helped to bury nineteen of them. There was thirty-six wounded in our regiment but the doctor thinks that they all will get well. I hope so.

The fight lasted five days. Now, Mother, I hope this will wind it up. You wrote to me and wanted to know if you should express those things of mine. I say no, but I will tell you what to do the first time you get a chance. Send them by anyone, then send them to me. Now I must close for this time. Write soon and direct your letters in care of Capt. [Luther M.] Strong, Company G, 49th Regiment Ohio Volunteers, USA, by the way of Louisville, Tennessee. Now do write soon and give me all of the news that is on Sycamore and tell me where Ambrose is. I want you to tell to A. Coughey to write me a letter. This from John Ingerson to Tirsa A. Ingerson. So goodbye for this time.