The following letter was written by Rinaldo M. Whitlock (1830-1871) of Jessup, Buchanan county, Iowa, who enlisted when he was 31 years old in Co. C, 9th Iowa Infantry. He entered as a private and mustered out of the service on 18 July 1865 as a corporal at Louisville, Kentucky.

The 9th Iowa Infantry played an important role in the Vicksburg campaign, including the Battle of Jackson in mid-May 1863. They sustained 121 casualties in that campaign. As stated in the letter, immediately after the surrender of Vicksburg on 4 July 1863, they were marched out to take part in the re-siege and capture of Jackson, Mississippi, in mid-July.

Rinaldo married Maria Jane Engle in January 1867 in Black Hawk county, Iowa. He died in June 1871 at the age of 40 and was buried in Poyner Cemetery in Black Hawk county. Maria filed for a Widow’s Pension in May 1874.

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

Camp Black River Bridge
September 6th 1863

Mr. & Mrs. Goss, dear friends,

I will now try to write a few lines to you in answer to yours of July 5th. I hope you will excuse me for not writing before. I have been cooking most of the time since yours came to hand and it takes most of my time in doing my work. My health is not very good at this time. I have not been as healthy since I was taken sick last fall as it was before but I do duty most of the time.

We are now camped twelve miles east of Vicksburg on the Jackson and Vicksburg Railroad. The cars run to this place but no further. There is no force here now—only Sherman’s Corps (15th Corps).

Sunday, September 13th, 1863. I now try to write a few lines more as I did not finish it before. Nothing of importance has transpired since I began this. The weather is very fine but hot. There is a great deal of sickness in the regiment at this time but not many deaths. It is mostly fever and ague. I have had one turn at it.

You say that you had a great celebration on the 4th [of July]. I think that your celebration was not of as much of importance than ours but we did not enjoy ours a great while for we had marching orders that night and started the next morning at three o’clock for Jackson. So you see they did not give us much rest.

Two of our company are home on a furlough. Their time is out to be back to the regiment but learn that they are very sick. Their names are Nelson Bennett and George Harrington.

Our religious privileges are not very good. We have no chaplain. We have two prayer meetings a week. There is but few that attends. I have not time to write more this time. You must excuse my bad writing for I have written in a great hurry. Please write as soon as you get this. From your friend, — Rinaldo Whitlock