1864: William Little Chrisman to Mary (Carpenter) Chrisman

This letter was written by William Little Chrisman (1834-1917), the son of John Chrisman and Sarah Evans of Warwick, Pennsylvania. “His father was a farmer who owned $14,300 of real estate in 1850. He grew up in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and attended Tremont Academy and Morgantown Academy. He began studying medicine in 1854, and he enrolled at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1855.

He graduated two years later and began practicing medicine in Virginia. He settled in Eldred, Pennsylvania, in the late 1850s, and by 1860, he was working as a teacher. During the Civil War, he served as a surgeon in the Union army. He married Mary Carpenter around 1863, and their daughter Mary was born around 1870.

He became a prominent physician in the Eldred community, and by 1870, he owned $4,000 of real estate and $500 of personal property. In the 1870s, he began diversifying his economic interests, purchasing oil-rich lands and buying stock in a Colorado gold mine. He also reportedly became “one of the leading and most progressive farmers in the county.” His wife died in 1915, and he passed away of “general paresis” in Eldred on August 4, 1917.” [Source: Letters Home, University of Virginia]

Chrisman’s letter is not dated but must have been written on July 13, 1864 after two days of skirmishing (11th and 12th) between Confederate Gen. Jubal Early’s men and the Union fortifications around Fort Stevens northwest of Washington City. Early began the withdrawal of his men during the night of July 12-13th. The incident involving the near shooting of President Lincoln at Fort Stevens took place on July 12th.

The letter suggests that he was contemplating leaving the service at the time. A roster of men examined in 1864 for physical disabilities reveals that he was examined on June 28, 1864 and determined eligible for discharge due to “loss of teeth.”

Header image: This c. 1892 painting by Eugenie De Land Saugstad hangs in the superintendent’s lodge at the Battleground National Cemetery. “President Lincoln is shown visiting Fort Stevens during the battle on July 12, 1864 as he comes under enemy fire while standing on the parapet.… The painting was donated by the artist to the Lincoln Museum which became Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site.” — NPS

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

Mount Pleasant Hospital, Washington D. C.

[@13 July 1864]

Dearest Companion,

I have not received anything from you yet and have not been looking.

We are fastened in by the rebels. They have been two days within 2 or 3 miles of this hospital. The lines were fighting all day yesterday. We could hear it all. President Lincoln was very near being shot by a Sharp-shooter. The ball struck a surgeon by his side.

It is believed by everybody that our fortifications can grind them to powder. Our men are trying to coax them in. Part of Grant’s army is here. From our hospital we see most of the movement as it is between the two main streets to the defenses.

The weather is very hot here but I can have a cool suit of clothes and live in a tent in the woods and it is not so bad. I supposed you got a letter written last Friday. I would like to know what you and Marcel intend to do and how he succeeds with his collection.

I can draw my pay every month it is said when there is plenty of money so I can send you some when I get [it] but don’t let the people know it. You will have to send me some in course of a week or two. I have enough to satisfy it three weeks if it can be had.

What is the feeling about my leaving? I guess I will remain long enough to get us out of debt and build us a house and buy a carriage, &c. but I cannot tell.

What have you done with George?

The shirts and stockings you may send when you get ready. I guess you had better hold on with them. I may send for a trunk. The stockings ought to be colored too.

I don’t want you to sell Frank until late in the fall without we are compelled to do it as I may want him and he will cost us nothing and will be all the better and I am quite fond of him.

I want you to pay Marcel first when you pay my debt.

I would like you and Marcel to write me soon and often, not that I care what you are doing. What [can____] if any are made in the neighborhood? Tell Mrs. Moses that there was a Moses from 58th, same company, but not same initials, but I am sure it was Josh, here some time ago. He was sent to New York City.

Give my respects to all. — W. L. Chrisman, A.A.S., USA, Mount Pleasant Hospital, Washington D. C.