The following letter was written by Constant Crandall Hanks (1821-1871), the son of Uriah Hanks III (1789-1871) and Florilla Howes (1803-1890) of Hunter, Greene county, New York. Constant was married to Hannah Reynolds (1818-1881) and had several children when he left his “hoop shaving” job in Ulster county to enlist in September 1861 as a private in Co. K, 80th New York Infantry (originally designated the 20th NYSM).

Regimental records inform us that Constant was promoted to corporal soon after his enlistment and was wounded in action on August 30, 1862, at 2nd Bull Run but recovered and mustered out on September 12, 1864. However, he again enlisted on October 6, 1864 and was wounded on April 3, 1865, at Petersburg, Va.; mustered out on individual roll, June 7, 1865, at McClellan Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa.

See also—1862: Constant Crandall Hanks to Florilla (Howes) Hanks. It should also be noted that The Military History Institute at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, holds two of Constant’s letters from 1865, and Duke University claims 53 letters of Constant’s.

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

Upton Hill, Virginia
Camp Wadsworth
Col. Pratt, N. Y. S. M.

Father, dear Sir,

May your shadow never be less. It is my earnest wish that you may pick up courage [and] live till Old Jeff Davis is strung up by the neck, nibbled to death by punkys such as torment a man in bark peeling, live till the last vestige of this foul treason at the South her is sunk to the deep hell where it belongs till all at the North who sympathize with it—the South—may follow it there, till peace and its blessings may once more come to our land, till I come home so that you & I can drink one barrel of good cider in honor of the triumph of Freedom, law, order, and the constitution over slavery, anarchy, and those damned traitors that for their own aggrandizement would destroy all. Then, if your time has come, may you go in peace saying as did good old Zachariah after seeing our Savior, now let my servant depart in peace for my eyes have seen the salvation. You can then let thy servant go in peace for you have seen the salvation of the country.

I don’t know as I should bother you with a letter now only that I wrote a letter to mother Sunday and forgot to put a postage in it so she could write me again and she is the only [one] that will write me any now and I want to hear from home once a week if I can. I have not got any this three weeks.

Our regiment went off into the rebel country some 10 miles from our camp. We took some 50 loads of corn and hay. We started 2 o’clock in the morning. We did not see any of their soldiers. We got back just in good spirits. I wrote Mother that we did not have very comfortable blankets. I had just got the letter done and in the letter bag when they issued out to us good heavy warm ones. If they had give them a month ago, it would saved a good many lives.

Tell Mary Rose that while sitting in my tent tonight I can hear right across the street some soldiers singing the hymn, “There is rest for the weary” in four bunks “of Eden there is rest forever more.” Tell her I want her to sing to you. for me. I want you to get Mother to write me a good long letter [and] to tell me in it how you are all. Tell Cyrus that was an interesting letter he sent [and] that I thank him kindly for it.

They say Old tory John Burtis had to put up the Stars and Stripes before they would raise that house. Good Amen!

Be a good bot—take care of yourself. Hoping that we may drink that cider. I will say goodbye, — Com Hanks