The following letter was written by John M. Cook (1808-18xx), a farmer in West Chazy, Clinton county, New York, the husband of Marinda Reynolds (1817-1896), and the father of Martin Cook (1838-1862) who served his country in the Civil War by enlisting in April 1861 as a corporal in Co. K, 16th New York Infantry.
As described in the following letter, Monroe was shot through the chest and died on board the steamer, State of Maine, before landing at Fortress Monroe. His wound was received in the Battle at Gaines Mills, Virginia, on Friday, 27 June 1862 and he died on 4 July 1862. In this action alone, the 16th New York lost about 230 in killed, wounded, and missing.
An interesting sidebar with respect to the 16th New York Infantry is that the men wore straw hats in the summer of 1862—a gift from a friend of the regiment who distributed them to the men in June for summer comfort. The white straw hats were easily spotted by Confederate marksmen, however, and may have contributed to their high casualty rate at Gaines Mill.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Chazy, [Clinton county, New York]
July 20, 1862
Dear brother & sister,
Under the greatest affliction that earth could put on us, we write you a few lines to let you know Martin is dead. He had a ball shot through the right lung on Friday’s battle before Richmond and on Friday night he was put in an ambulance with three other men wounded, two lieutenants, and one captain and drove two days and nights before his wounds were dressed. They were put aboard a ship to be sent to Washington. He died on board before [they] got to Fortress Monroe and taken out on shore and buried on Old Point in Virginia.
We had watched the papers to see if his name was in the list of killed and wounded and found M. P. Crook who we did not take for his. At last one of the wounded came to Plattsburgh and we went and seen him. He said when they separated, he felt smart [but] that we next heard he was dead. We have not heard the date of his death but we expect his record is in heaven among the blessed. We could not get him home but we have his funeral preached to the church next Sabbath. If you can come conveniently, come. We should be glad to have you. And stop and bring Minerva with you. Our hope is cut off on Earth but not from Heaven. — John M. Cook
