This letter was written by George Washington Cone, Jr. (1840-1911), the son of George W. Cone (1806-1882) and Nancy A. Cone (1812-1852) of Utica, Oneida county, New York. George may have been working in Connecticut at the time the Civil War began because he first enlisted in the Co. B of the 1st Connecticut Infantry (3 months) and then reenlisted in Co. B, 7th Connecticut Infantry, entering as a corporal and mustering out as a sergeant.

After the war, in 1866, he married Helen Augusta Louisa Cole (1846-1925) and worked as a carpenter in Herkimer, New York, for a time and then relocated to Springfield, Missouri. He died in 1911 and was buried in Fordland, Webster county, Missouri.

George wrote the letter to Jennie Bradt (1844-1915) who married in December 1863 to Delos Curran Dempster (1840-1924 at Herkimer.

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

Fort Pulaski
May 11, 1862

Friend Jennie,

I now take this opportunity to answer your letter of May the 5th. I received it this evening and was very glad to hear from you once more but was very sorry to hear that your Father is unwell. This is a very lonely evening and I am on guard so I will write tonight when I have time.

A few days after we came into the fort, some of the 3rd Rhode Island Artillery men were working among some shells that had not exploded when one of them burst and killed four of them instantly. It seemed hard after passing through a battle without getting a scratch to get killed so suddenly.

We have got a balloon here now to reconnoiter Savannah City. ¹ It went up with a couple of Gents and Ladies the other day. The Ladies make frequent visits to the fort. There is one or more visits us nearly every day. The fact is, before we had stopped firing 15 minutes, some Ladies came down to our Battery. They must have run in order to get there so quick. We have got the fort fixed up pretty well now. The masons are repairing the breaches that we made in the fort. I saw a picture in Harper’s Weekly that was intended to represent the fort but it don’t look a bit like the original. One of our steamboats went up to Savannah with a flag of truce the other day.

The weather is very fine here now and our men are enjoying good health with the exception of a [few] cases. You spoke about the letter that I sent to Charles. There was nothing of great importance in the letter so it won’t make any difference for I will write another letter. I am glad that Charley has got a good wife.

You want to know where we are going, I suppose. Our regiment is quartered in the fort at present but whether we are going to garrison the fort all summer, I am not able to say. We expect to help take Fort Sumter before long but it is only a report and it will go with all camp stories. But I think that we shall stop here some time yet. My health has been quite good since I have been here. I had rather fight one or two more battles before I come back but I can’t have any choice.

I have not any news to write at present so you must excuse me this time. Please give my best respects to all of your friends. When you write, please tell me all the news. I remain your sincere friend, — Corp. G. W. Cone

P. S. Direct to Co. B, 7th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, Port Royal, South Carolina

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¹ There is no record of balloon observations made in the vicinity of Savannah until after the fall of Fort Pulaski. Sometime in May 1862, aeronautics John Starkweather observed Confederate positions around Savannah.