The following letter was written by Gilbert Hamilton Mitchell (1842-1908) of Co. A, 57th Pennsylvania Infantry. Gilbert was the son of Henry Horatio Mitchell (1816-1896) and Alsina Darrow (1811-1887) of Lemon, Wyoming county, Pennsylvania. He wrote this letter to his sister Amanda Mitchell (b. 1845).

Gilbert enlisted as a private in October 1861 and mustered out as a corporal in June 1865 after serving 3 years and 8 months. The 1890 Veterans Schedule and an obituary inform us that he spent six months in the prison at Andersonville, “coming home a mere shadow of himself after his exchange, and weighing but about 75 pounds, so reduced was he by starvation and disease.”

After he returned home from the war, he married Mary Ann Ace and moved to Kansas, then Nebraska, and finally Oregon.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Washington D. C.
February 9th 1862

Dear Sister Amanda,

I will now write you a short bit of a letter to let you know how I am getting along. I am well and hope you are the same. There is no news here except that our troops have taken Fort Henry. That is a bully operation. We would like to hear of more such. Our Colonel said last night that McClellan expected an attack by the 10th of this month. If so, we will no doubt leave here in a short time. All that prevents an onward movement is mud. You have no idea how muddy it is here. It takes 4 horses to draw an empty wagon almost.

I actually believe that the war will be over by the first of May if nothing happens more than we know now. The prospect grows brighter and brighter every day. Hiram says he can see through the whole concern and see just how it is going to end. Our boys are all in first rate spirits. They all think the war is about over but we would like to have a squirmish as Mr. Mead says before we come back. Ervin says before we will see our captain slain, we will fight till we perish. He makes lots of fun. He is a first rate soldier. We call him Daniel S. Dickinson. He says he won’t take any office short of General.

You say you hope I won’t be in a battle. You are a pretty girl. I should think after I have been down here living on uncle Sam so long to want me to come home without doing him any good. I would like to pop over one secesh before I come back.

I have just been to meeting and heard a good but short sermon. I think our chaplain [William T. McAdam] is a good Christian. He takes our mail out and fetches it in every day. Our old Colonel [William Maxwell] is very particular about our going to meeting. If we don’t go, he will put us on guard next day. But we all like to go to meeting so he has no trouble to punish us. I would like to see how he would act in a battle. He has got a savage look but I don’t know whether he is very courageous or not.

I got a letter from Joseph a few days ago. He said he did not know but he should enlist but he is only talking. He is too much of a secessionist, I think. Jerry is a perfect fool to put a letter in a girls that she is sending to a young chap to save paying postage but I expect he wanted to show me that he was over to Mr. Mallison’s to see Louesa. I don’t know whether I shall ever write him another letter or not but I think it is a doubtful case.

Ledyard Avery, George Earll, George Amey, myself, and two or three others in our tent have sent for the Wyoming Republican. We wanted to know what was going on at home. Several copies of that miserable thing, the M. B. Democrat, finds its way down here weekly. The prospect is good for having fair weather now and I hope we may. I think this will answer for the present. You must excuse poor writing for I have a poor place to write. George Earll sends his best respects. We are all writing home today. This is 5 letters that I have wrote home in a little over a week and have got one. We have the name of being the best regiment around here that has been here yet. You must write soon. You must not feel uneasy about me at home for I am determined to see Gib safe through this scrape and fetch him back again. I seen two letters in the Wyoming Republican from S. H. Mitchell in Capt. [Peter] Sides company. I have been thinking to find him but I don’t think he is here. They are [ ]. Give my best respects to the girls. From your brother — Gilbert H. Mitchell

To his sister, Amanda.