1861: Rodolphus Payson Tryon to his Parents

The following letter was written by 24 year-old Rodolphus Payson Tryon (1837-1862), the son of Rodolphus Tryon (1809-1894) and Lavinia Derby (1810-1888) of Alaiedon, Ingham county, Michigan. He was married in August 1859 to Eliza Jane Topping (1840-1876) and the couple had a small child when he enlisted as a private in Co. B, 7th Michigan Infantry on 22 August 1861. He received a gunshot wound to the head in the fighting at Fair Oaks, Virginia, on 31 May 1862 and died at a hospital in New York City on 29 June 1862.

Print of a drawing by J.L. Richardson showing the 7th Regiment of the Michigan Volunteers at Camp Benton, situated near Edwards Ferry. Text underneath the drawing labels buildings, from left to right, as “Hospital Buildings,” “Magazine,” “Guardhouse,” “Quarter Master,” “Head Quarters,” “Officers Mess,” “Band,” and “Bakery.” Text at bottom reads “Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1862 by B.R. Young in the Clerks Office of the District Court of Md.” Text at bottom right reads “Lith. by . Hoen & Co. Baltimore.”

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

Camp Benton (near Edwards Ferry)
September 24th 1861

Dear Parents,

I now take my pen in hand to write you a few lines to let you know that I have not forgotten you. I am well, all except a very bad cough. We are about 90 miles from Washington and 20 from Harpers Ferry. Now I suppose that you want to know what kind of fare we have. Well, it is hard fare and nothing else. We have hard sea biscuit and salt meat and then for a change we have salt meat and hard bread three times a day. We are in the advance brigade under Brigadier General Landers. We are in two miles of the rebels and I have been within sight of their camps and that was all. It is not very cold here yet. There is no chance to know what is going on as there is not any paper or anything else to get hold of as yet.

I got one letter from [my wife] Eliza and that is all. I wrote to Mary and Emma and have not got one word from them and I think that they have forgotten their brother or else they would of wrote by this time. The mail has not come in only once a week. Tell all of the friends that we are well at present, that Clark and Charley are all right and send their best wishes to you all. You must excuse my not paying the postage as there is not one cent of money to be had in the company. You see that I do not have much chance to write. I have to stand on my knees to write these few lines to you. There is not much time to write anyway as we have to drill all of eight hours of each day and then we are all tired out and want to rest.

Write as soon as you get this and let me know how you get along and what is going on. Tell Dwight that he must take good care of the old gun and that he must think every time that he whips it out that if I had it, that I would not give it for half of the guns in our company.

When you write, direct your letter to Rodolphus P. Tryon. Company B, Michigan Seventh Infantry, Washington D. C.

Write soon. — R. P. Tryon