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My passion is studying American history leading up to & including the Civil War. I particularly enjoy reading, transcribing & researching primary sources such as letters and diaries.
96th Pennsylvania Infantry, Rapidan Campaign

1862-63: Edward Henry to his Sister

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Edward Henry (1836-1899) was born on July 28, 1836 in Pottsville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. He was living in his father’s household when he mustered into service as a private in Co. D, 96th Pennsylvania Infantry. He served three years, from 1861 to 1863. After the war, he worked as a carpenter in the south, married Mary Speacht (1843-1906), and fathered five children: William E., Robert C., Frank W., Caroline M., and Mary E. Henry.

“There seems to be a fatality attached to this army. We have now fought them for two years and today we find ourselves back in our old position.”

— Pvt. Edward Henry, Co. D, 96th Pennsylvania Volunteers, 17 Oct 1863

“This remarkable series of letters by a Pennsylvania private covers almost the entire period of the Civil War, every major phase of the war in the Eastern theater, and the three typical arenas of the common soldier’s experience–camp, battlefield, and hospital. Together, they reflect the changing rhythms of the war felt by the Army of the Potomac, from eagerness to disillusionment, excitement to boredom, blithe optimism to weary determination.

Edward Henry grew up in Schuylkill County, in the Allegheny coal-mining country of central Pennsylvania. On September 3, 1861, he joined the 96th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel Henry L. Cake, and was assigned to Co. D, whose Captain, John Boyle, and First Lieutenant, Zaccur Boyer, are frequently mentioned in his letters home. The regiment formed part of Slocum’s Brigade, Franklin’s Division at this time, later being incorporated into the Second Brigade, First Division, Sixth Corps. In the first week of May, the regiment joined McClellan’s ill-fated Peninsular Campaign, skirmishing with Rebel troops below West Point. Private Henry’s letter of the 13th of June reflects McClellan’s unruffled confidence as his forces settled down south of Richmond to await the arrival of Fremont and MCDowell before laying siege to the city. Fremont and McDowell, harassed by Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley, never arrived, and on June 26, Lee attacked the Federals at Mechanicsville, opening the Seven Days Battles. On the 27th, the 96th Pennsylvania was heavily engaged at Gaines’ Mill, charging the Rebel batteries that menaced the left flank of the federal line; its losses were 13 killed, 59 wounded, and 14 missing when, at nightfall, it crossed to the southern shore of the Chickahominy with the rest of Porter’s battered V Corps. Captain Boyle of Co. D was among the wounded. Successive engagements at Glendale and Malvern Hill took a further toll on the 96th, bringing their combined casualties, according to Henry’s letter of July 5th, to 130 killed and wounded in four days of fighting. In these battles the regiment was armed only with the heavy Austrian-made muskets that had been issued to the men before they left Pennsylvania; only when they finally reached the Union encampment at Harrison’s Landing were they issued the lighter and more accurate Enfield rifles. Thus ended what Edward Henry was later to refer to as “the grand skedaddle from Richmond.” (letter of Nov. 2, 1862).

In August, the 96th Pennsylvania was transported back north to Alexandria along with most of McClellan’s troops, and on August 30th reached the vicinity of Fairfax Court House just in time to take part in the Union army’s crushing defeat at Second Bull Run at the hands of Lee and Jackson. Returning to Alexandria with Pope’s army, the regiment soon set out—under McClellan again, this time–to embark on the Maryland campaign, an attempt to repel Lee’s invasion of that state. On September 14 it took part in the Battle of South Mountain, forcing its way through stiff Rebel resistance at Crampton’s Gap, one of two approaches to Harper’s Ferry; in this action the regiment lost twenty killed, 85 wounded, out of an effective force of 400. [See “We Gave Then Hell”—Company G, 96th Pennsylvania in the Battle of South Mountain, Wynning History Blog] Three days later, the 96th helped shore up Hooker’s decimated corps in Miller’s cornfield at the horrific engagement of Antietam.

Meanwhile, at or about the time that his regiment was battling for
control of Crampton’s Gap, Private Edward Henry was sent back to a hospital near Washington, suffering from what appears to have been some form of rheumatic fever, possibly contracted in the pestilential marshes of Harrison’s Landing. On September 17th–the bloodiest single day’s fighting of the entire war, with combined Union and Confederate casualties of 27,000 men–he wrote his sister a letter from his sickbed, passing along rumors of a Union victory in Maryland. Though his report of 15,000 captured Rebels proved wildly exaggerated—McClellan claimed about 6,000—the Maryland campaign was construed as a Union victory after Lee quietly withdrew his forces back across the Potomac the following day. From the many photographs of Harewood Hospital that survive, Henry’s description (Oct. 9, 1862) can be seen to have involved no empty reassurances—the place was large, clean, airy, and offered a degree of comfort and a standard of care exactly comparable to the best civilian hospitals of the period. Volunteer nurses flocked to these permanent hospitals from all over the Union; one of these, future authoress Louisa May Alcott, spent part of her nursing career at Harewood during this period and may well have been one of the “hundred ladies” mentioned in Henry’s letter of September 9th. Under the supervision of Dr. Jonathan Letterman, the North poured tremendous energies into the construction and expansion of those hospitals; by late 1864, Washington alone boasted two dozen of them.

Such places were needed as Union casualties mounted. Though the
“coming Battle…across the Potomac” mentioned by Henry on November 2nd never occurred—much to the dismay of Lincoln, who replaced the timidly overly-cautious McClellan with Burnside on November 7th—the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13th left thousands of dead and wounded Union troops strewn thickly on the slopes below the impregnable Rebel position on Marye’s Heights. Edward Henry’s angry prayer “that we may not lose thousands of men again for nothing” (letter of Dec. 15th) echoed the bitterness and despair that gripped the Army of the Potomac in the winter of 1862-63.

The spring and early summer of 1863 found the 96th Pennsylvania—now once again including Private Edward Henry—engaged in the hardest marching and fiercest fighting of its three-year term of service, struggling its way out of an ambush on Bowling Green Road at Chancellorsville and pushing back Rebel advances on Little Round Top at Gettysburg. After that battle, it joined the rest of Sixth Corps in pursuit during the second week of July, a pursuit that involved the crossing of Cotocin Mountain at night in the middle of a thunderstorm punctuated by burst of artillery fire from the rear-guard of Lee’s retreating army. Later that month, the regiment was detached to New Baltimore for routine picket duty, leaving there in mid- September to take part in Meade’s Rapidan Campaign—a series of hard marches and skirmishes between Chantilly and the Rapidan. Henry’s letter of the 17th of October probably refers to the engagement at Bristoe Station on the 14th, in which two brigades under A. P. Hill were cut to pieces by three Union divisions under G. K. Warren, a miscalculation that earned Hill a stinging rebuke from Lee the next day, while Henry was “expecting the enemy on us any minute,” Lee was already moving his troops on a muddy march away from Chantilly, south along the railroad line to Brandy Station. The 96th finally went into camp for the winter at Aestham Creek near the banks of the Rappahannock.

The following spring the regiment would join the Wilderness Campaign under Grant, and would show its mettle at the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania. What part, if any, the rifleman-turned-carpenter Edward Henry played in that campaign is unknown. Happily, we do know that he returned to Schuylkill County with his regiment to be feted by the good citizens of Pottsville on September 26, 1864, and that, on the 21st of October, in West Philadelphia, he and his comrades were paid and officially mustered out of service.” — Patrick Leary

[Note: Pertinent excerpts from 19 of Edward Henry’s letters that were sold as an entire collection back in 1980, save the one appearing below, are included in the footnotes below. There are an additional 8 transcripts of Edward Henry’s Letters that appear on Private Voices (eHistory of University of Georgia)]

More letters from the 96th Pennsylvania published by Spared & Shared:

Mathias Edgar Richards, F&S 96th Pennsylvania (1 Letter)
John Dentzer, Co. A, 96th Pennsylvania (1 Letter)
John Madison, Co. A, 96th Pennsylvania (15 Letters)
Henry Reinhart, Co. A, 96th Pennsylvania (1 Letter)
Robert T. Rigg, Co. A, 96th Pennsylvania (2 Letters)
Zaccur P. Boyer, Co. D, 96th Pennsylvania  (1 Letter)
Daniel Faust, Co. H, 96th Pennsylvania (3 Letters)

Lt. Col. Wm. H. Lessig (4th from left with his arm on a tree) and members of the 96th Pennsylvania Vol. Infantry at camp near Dranesville, Va., June 1863. (Shared by Doug Sagrillo on Civil War Faces)

Letter 1

Lithograph of George McClellan from letterhead

Washington D. C.
November 28th 1862

Dear Sister,

I received your welcome letter today. Also one yesterday and was happy to hear you were well with the exception of father. I am sorry to hear he is no better and hope he may speedily recover. In your first letter you mentioned a needle case you had sent but I have not got it yet. Perhaps it is laying in the post office. I will look after it this evening and if I get it, will let you know. I got the dollar you sent in your last letter but could have done without it as I will get two months pay today. Nevertheless I am much obliged. The notes of Miners Bank are taken here in preference of government money which the people are getting rather dubious about.

The only news from the front today is the capture of five hundred government wagons by the rebs but the report is not confirmed. Yesterday being thanksgiving day, we were treated to a handsome dinner got up by the ladies of the different relief associations of the city. It seemed a little natural to sit down to a good table and waited upon by the ladies. In fact, I hardly knew how to behave myself or how to act and reached more than once into a dish with my fingers without thinking. But I suppose we could be civilized again with practice.

Mrs. Quinn pities the poor soldiers as she calls them. Perhaps it seems a little rough to persons coming from a comfortable home out here but she has made it a little tronger that it really is. Coming from the field as we have, it’s a paradise compared with what we have gone through such as no other troops have gone through with. I did have a slight cold lately but am entirely rid of it now and my rheumatism has almost entirely left me.

Our tents have been furnished with stoves and are very comfortable. You need not be uneasy on my account as I am doing very well and would not keep anything from you. I received a letter from home. I wrote to Charley but got no answer. I will write again in a few days. Give my respect and love to all while I remain as ever your brother, — E. Henry

P. S. Give my love to Miss Spacht and Miss Hartline and excuse comments. — E. H.

Letter 2

Chantilly, Virginia
October 17th 1863

Dear Sister,

I received your welcome letter and was pleased to hear you were all well as this leaves me at present. You will perceive by this that we are back to our defenses again. Like birds of passage we are thrown from one point to another, advancing today and retreating tomorrow. We left the Rapidan last Saturday and reached here two days ago. We had two days heavy fighting and are now laying under arms expecting the enemy on us at any minute. We have entrenched ourselves and are prepared to meet them on fair and equal footing. There seems to be a fatality attached to this army. We have now fought them for two years and today we find ourselves back in our old position. There is a report that Lee is going to invade Maryland and Pennsylvania but I do not think he will undertake it at this late season of the year for should he be defeated the roads would be in such a condition as to make a retreat impossible.

Our army has been weakened by reinforcing other points and we must act on the defensive until reinforced. We do not get any papers at present but by report, Governor Curtin has been reelected by a large majority. I do not trouble myself about politics enough at present to care much who is elected but I say Andrew Curtin is and always was the soldiers friend, but I despise the party he belongs to. We here in the field have enough to do to watch the enemy on our front without dabbling in politics.

You wrote about reenlisting. I will not do so if father is opposed. I will serve my present term, if God spares my life, and if I am needed then, it will then be time enough. We have had no news from other departments and are ignorant of what is transpiring outside of our own lines.

Dear sister, I received the two dollars you sent but can make little use of them at present. The sutlers have been sent to the rear and we cannot even buy an ounce of tobacco. There is nothing I want you could send me at present until we get settled. I may then want some shirts but do not make them until I let you know. I received two letters for William but as he is in the rear, I cannot deliver them. I must close as my candle is nearly gone. I will close with my love to father, Matilda and family, Liza & family, to Lue [Lucretia] and all inquiring friends. With my love to you, I will close.
Direct as before. — Edward Henry

Lights out. Good night.

Notes—excerpts of Edward Henry’s letters

11th Massachusetts Infantry, Battle of Malvern Hill, Peninsula Campaign

1862: Jeremiah Downs to his Family

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“I have got old abe nailed up to the head of my Bunk,”—the title of a brief biographical sketch of Pvt. Jeremiah Downs prepared by historian Patrick Leary decades ago after perusing and taking notes on eight of Jeremiah’s war time letters. Leary’s sketch reads:

Pvt . Jeremiah Downs

A self-described “mariner” from Newburyport, Mass., Jerry Downs enlisted in the Eleventh Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry on November 1, 1861, aged 25. Barely three months before, the “Boston Volunteers”—as the regiment was locally known—had lost 8 men at the first Battle of Bull Run, where Union forces had been ignominiously routed. After spending the winter of 1861-62 on picket duty along the Potomac south of Washington, the regiment moved south to join the forces being gathered under General McClellan at Fortress Monroe on the tip of the peninsula formed by the James and York Rivers. McClellan’s plan was to move up the peninsula with an overwhelming body of men and lay siege to Richmond, capturing the Confederate capital and ending the war in one bold stroke. Beginning the march on April 2, the Union army had got only twenty miles along when it was checked at Yorktown by a force of 13,000 men under Confederate General John B. Magruder. By skillfully deceiving McClellan as to the size of the city’s garrison, Magruder prompted his opponent to settle down for a careful siege, thus tying up the 53,000-strong Union forces for an entire month. On May 3, under command of the newly arrived General Johnston, the Rebels evacuated the city, pursued by the Yankees. After brisk skirmishing before Williamsburg on May 4—described by Private Downs in his letter of that date, written in the middle of the all-day artillery exchange—the Union divisions of Generals Hooker and Smith attacked the Confederate earthworks the following morning. Hooker’s division, of which the 11th Mass. was a part, was then attacked by a large force of Rebels; holding its position alone under constant fire for the rest of the day, the division was finally relieved by General Kearny’s division, after having suffered 1,700 casualties and the capture of five pieces of artillery.

After the Battle of Williamsburg, the Confederate forces moved northwest behind the Richmond defenses, while McClellan deployed his forces north and south of the Chickahominy, with his headquarters at West Point, at the head of the York River. Seeing the Union forces thus split, straddling the Chickahominy, Confederate General Johnston attacked the 19,000 Yankees south of the river at Fair Oaks with a Rebel force of 32,000 men. This battle—mentioned by Private Downs in his letter of July 24—lasted two days (May 31-June 1), ended in a draw after Union reinforcements arrived, and cost each side about 6,000 casualties. The rest of that remarkable letter describes in graphic detail the Seven Days’ Battles—Mechanicsville, Gaines’s Mill, Glendale, and Malvern Hill—in which Robert B. Lee’s army, beginning its attack on June 26, pushed the Union forces down the peninsula in a series of ferocious encounters that ended with McClellan’s retreat to the fever-ridden marshes of Harrison’s Landing. Jerry Downs calls it, simply, the “hard times we had coming from Fair Oaks.” The particular battle he describes is probably Malvern Hill on July 1, where Union batteries and infantry repulsed wave after wave of Rebel charges. One of the most severe artillery barrages of the war left 5,000 Rebel dead and wounded lying on the slopes—“sawed ends out” like stacks of wood, in Downs’ painfully graphic phrase.

Jerry Downs was one of many Union soldiers of the Peninsula Campaign
to survive fierce combat unscratched only to be felled by malaria and dysentery at the Harrison’s Landing camp. He was eventually moved to the large Federal hospital at Alexandria near Washington; he was discharged from the army for disability on December 5, 1862, and returned home.”

Jeremiah Downs was the son of Jeremiah (b. ca. 1815) and Abigail L. Downs (b. ca. 1809). According to the 1850 Census, he had one brother, George (b. ca. 1840) and two sisters, Sarah Smith (b. ca. 1832) and Mary Colton (1827). It should be noted that there are other letters by Downs written while he was in the service. Several of his letters appear on Private Voices under Authored Letters although they are transcripts only.

Transcription

Camp near Harrison’s Landing, Va.
July 24th 1862

Dear sister and mother,

I received your letter this morning & was glad to hear from you and that you are well as it leaves me at present. But I have been very sick with the slow fever. I have been in the hospital but now I am in the company and well. I was sick for one month and that since the Battle at Fair Oaks. I have not told you what hard times we had coming from Fair Oaks. We had our position on the left of the whole army till the right of our army got in our rear and then we fell back slowly and the Rebs came after us thinking to drive us, but we whipped them dreadfully. They were so drunk, they came up 1,000 at a time to the mouth of our cannon and we poured grape and canister into them that they were piled up sawed ends out. But now we are in a better place to receive them. We have got forts for nine miles around and the gunboats on the river to protect our flanks and if they come here, they will get a whipping [like] they never had yet since the commencement of the war.

Dear sister, we have fought over the same ground that our forefathers fought and the forts are still here that they made. President Harrison’s house is on the James River where we camped the first day we got here. It has a beautiful view up and down the river, is the house that [Edmund] Ruffin lives in—the first man that fired the first gun against Fort Sumter.

You ask me who wrote the last letter. Well, it was a man by the name of Wordell in our company.

You say give your love to David and William. Well, I will, and they send their love to you and the rest of the family. Also you say that you wish you coulda been here to take care of some of the soldiers. 1 I guess you would get sick of it and go home again. Tell George to stay at home if he can’t earn but 4 cents a day. Tell him not to enlist in the army anyhow if he wants his health. Tell him that the weather agrees with us so we do not mind it now. This is a very healthy place where we are so do not be worried of me being sick. I am just as well as I was six months ago. I have got the letter and paper that you sent me Monday. When you send the box, put anything in that you have a mind to. Please do put in a salt fish and some whiskey.

The directions to send:

Company D, 11th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers. Fortress Monroe, Va.
Harrison’s Landing
Hookers Division

Ask the expressman to be sure. That is all that I can think [of] now. I will close. Give my love to all. Goodbye. Write soon. From your brother, — Jeremy Downs

1 Jeremiah’s sister, Sarah E. (Downs) Smith volunteered her services as a nurse during the Civil War. She began her nursing early in 1862. Her husband, George, had died in 1854 in St. Thomas, so at 32 yeas of age and a widow, she was readily accepted into the nursing corps. She became a matron in the Trinity Church Hospital in Washington D. C. She eventually died of tuberculosis at the age of 42 which she probably contracted during the war.

Notes from Patrick Leary’s perusal of all eight of Downs’ letters.

Battle of the Crater, Siege of Petersburg, U. S. Colored Troops

1864: David Hopkins to his Family

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The following letters, written in pencil from the breastworks before Petersburg in the summer of 1864, were composed by 38 year-old David Hopkins of Buffalo who mustered in as a sergeant in December 1862 to serve in the 27th New York Battery. He was discharged in early February 1865 to accept a commission as 2nd Lieutenant of Co. C, the 13th Heavy Artillery Colored Troops, joining the regiment at its post in Smithland, Kentucky.

David’s letter informs us that the 27th Battery, New York Light Artillery was in Burnside’s IX Corps, Ledlie’s 1st Division, and joined by two other batteries—the 2nd Maine Light Artillery and the 14th Massachusetts Light Artillery. The 1st Division black troops were the 56th, 57th, and 59th Massachusetts Regiments.

These two letters, in combination, make interesting reading. One was written roughly a month before the Battle of the Crater and the other a few days after that “big fizzle” as he termed it. The contrast in attitudes toward the Black soldiers is evident and unfortunate as they the USCT were made the scapegoats for the poorly executed battle plan of the Union leadership.

US Colored Troops at Petersburg (1864)

Letter 1

Addressed to Mrs. W. W. Hopkins, West Andover, Ashtabula County, Ohio

In the field
June 23rd 1864

Dear Sister,

I am now lying in the breastworks of our front lines, beside of my gun & occasionally firing a shot at the enemy & keeping my head out of sight as much as possible when not necessary to otherways. The sharp shooters are busy on both sides and make it very unpleasant, to say the least about it, for one dare not stir outside of the breast works.

We came into the present position at two o’clock this morning. How long we shall have to lay here is hard to tell. Our breastworks are within about three hundred yards of the Petersburg & City Point Railroad which constitutes our skirmish line. The rebel works are about the same distance beyond the railroad. Consequently we are firing over our own skirmish line. This is the second time we have been in the front line. The night of the 16th inst., we were in a warm place about two miles in rear of this place & lost three men wounded—one of whom has since died. Two more have been slightly grazed since we came here—all by sharp shooters. It is rumored that there is to be a charge made tonight & an attempt made to drive the enemy from his present position in front of us. If we are successful, it will leave us in the rear once more where we can hold up our heads.

“The knowing ones say that the colored troops are to make the charge. All former prejudice against the colored man has given way to words of praise. Every man is now willing that the negro should be a man & enjoy the rights of man with themselves.”

David Hopkins, 27th N. Y. Battery, 23 June 1864

The knowing ones say that the colored troops are to make the charge. All former prejudice against the colored man has given way to words of praise. Every man is now willing that the negro should be a man & enjoy the rights of man with themselves.

I trust you will excuse anything wrong in writing or composition in this sheet, for to be honest, I am not any cooler than I ought to be to sight a gun properly, for whilst I am writing, some of our own guns are firing which shakes the ground so that I can feel it very sensibly, and then a Mass. Battery which lays on our left & a little in the rear of us is sending her compliments to the enemy in the shape of rifled shell which scream like mad as they pass over our heads.

But I must close as the company clerk is around gathering up the letters of the men for mail. Please write often. Remember me in your prayers. I feel that I have great need of help from above at this time more than ever before. Much love to all the family. I have not time to write all separately. They must take will for the deed & consider this a family letter and all answer it. A little tin, if you can afford it, of black pepper in each letter or paper will be very thankfully received as I can’t get such things here in such quantities as are needed. Tea I cant get at all at any price.

Address 27th New York Battery, 1st Division, 9th Corps. There is a band playing national airs at the present time about one mile in the rear but we can hear it very distinctly & no doubt the Rebs can too, which must be anything but pleasing to them. But I don’t suppose that Grant intends to do anything to please them if can avoid it. But I must close. Goodby & may God bless you all, — David Hopkins

Letter 2

Monday, August 1, 1864

Dear brother Charley,

Yours of the 26th came to hand in due season. Also the fourth paper containing tobacco which many thanks. Also for the postage stamps which were just on time.

You have no doubt ere this read an account of the big fizzle which came off here the 30th ult. & whilst I think of it I wish you would send me a full account of the affair as you can obtain, for although we were within long range of a good deal of the fighting, we know nothing about [it] and never shall unless we can get it from home. My private opinion is that the whole affair was very badly planned and worse executed. One thing is entirely certain, the execution was disgraceful & would have been so considered if nothing but schoolboys had been engaged in it. I sincerely hope for the sake of the cause that General Grant can find some hole to get out of for it would not do to have him fail.

We never left our park. We were ordered to turn out at 2 o’clock a.m. & hitch up and pack ourselves in readiness to march at a moment’s notice, & that was just as near as we came to moving. In the afternoon we unharnessed again and pitched our tents. The story has got around amongst the soldiers that the colored troops were the cause of the whole disaster. I hope this will not prove true. There’s plenty of white officers, however, who will leave nary stone unturned to make it so appear. If this rumor should go uncontradicted through the army, it will injure the Union cause more than a dozen such defeats produced in any other way. Men who were naturally prejudiced against the colored man & who had just begun to come to respect him, are now more bitter than ever. The Copperheads have got a new hold & mercy knows when they will cease to howl.

But enough of this. Just send me the best accounts of the affair you get. I will try & make good use of them.

Speaking of my letters not being directed in my own hand requires that I ought to have mentioned the cause. I have not always had ink & I have asked the officers to direct and mail my letters for me. As a general rule I shall direct my own but in any event, try and give yourself as little uneasiness as may be about. Be sure I shall not expose myself needlessly & if I fall to rise no more here, I hope to live in that other & better world wherewars will not trouble me.

My health is still poor & I am only half able to do duty & in fact, don’t pretend to do anything. I have not even energy enough left to wash my own shirts. And unless some important change takes place, I shall not write many letters for some days to come. But don’t you stop.

I wrote to Brother W. W. yesterday at West Andover. He may be gone before it reaches there but no matter. I shall slaim one ahead all the same. Goodbye, — David

17th New York Infantry, Battle of 1st Bull Run

1861: Gideon H. Jenkins to Mary Amelia (Hovey) Jenkins

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The following letter was written by Capt. Gideon J. Jenkins (1815-1893) of Co. K, 17th New York Infantry (the “Westchester Chasseuers”). Gideon was born and raised in Warsaw, Wyoming county, New York, where he worked principally in the mercantile business before the Civil War, including a two year stint in the State Assembly. At the outbreak of hostilities, Gideon stepped up to recruit the boys of Company K in his hometown and was awarded the command of it as they marched off to defend Washington D. C. toting their percussion muskets and wearing their uniforms—“light blue pants and dark blue jackets of strict regulation pattern.” The regiment was held in reserve, in garrison at Fort Ellsworth at the time of the Battle of First Manassas, though we learn from this letter that Gideon’s Company K was guarding government property in Alexandria on the day of the “Great Battle.”

Gideon’s account of the great skeddadle of McDowell’s army after the battle—still in flight in the early morning hours of the following day—is quite remarkable. He wrote the letter his wife of 25 years, Mary Amelia (Hovey) Jenkins (1816-1894), informing her that “Don’t worry about us. We may die. We may get killed or wounded, but some of us will never run.” Serving with him in the same regiment were his two sons—Charles Victor (“Vic”) Jenkins (b. 1839), and Adelbert (“Del”) H. Jenkins (b. 1841), both of whom are mentioned in this letter.

Being in his mid forties, however, the rigors of camp life proved to be too much for Gideon and he fell victim to typhoid fever, so debilitating that he was forced to resign his commission in December 1861, after only seven months service. In 2021, I transcribed another letter by a member of Gideon’s company named Manser M. Dunbar who also wrote from Fort Ellsworth, though a month later. In it, Manser mentions Gideon’s already having become ill: “I am sorry that our Captain is sick and First Lieutenant. All the commissioned officer we have is 2nd Lieutenant but I guess we will get along some way. We must hope for the best and do our duty in all cases and leave the rest with Providence.” [See 1861: Manser M. Dunbar to his Parents on Spared & Shared 22.]

McDowell’s Army in General Stampede towards Arlington Heights following defeat at Bull Run,

Transcription

Fort Ellsworth
July 26, 1861

Dear Mary,

When I wrote you last we were in the city of Alexandria guarding government property. On Sunday was the Great Battle. Sunday night 11 o’clock, the order came to me to form my company in front of our quarters if I heard the bell ring as if for a fire and wait further orders, and you can imagine I was not in very good condition for sleep. But at 1 o’clock I was fast asleep when the order came from Gen. Bunion to arouse my men and march forthwith to join my regiment at Fort Ellsworth, 2 miles from our quarters.

I aroused the men, packed up, & marched to the fort, arriving about 3 a.m. [We] spread our blankets on the ground, lay down, and in two minutes was fast asleep, and I presume all the men were in the same condition notwithstanding we supposed from the excitement about us that we might be attacked at any moment. At 5 a.m. we were aroused—that is, our company and one other—& ordered to march to the main road about 100 rods [550 yards] from the fort & stop the flying soldiers. I formed my company across the road & placed a guard around a ten-acre lot & as they arrived, turned them in. Such another scene I hope I may never witness—officers & soldiers flying in all shapes on foot, on horseback with horses cut from baggage trains, from cannon, & all other vehicles. Some poor fellow now & then would succeed in climbing into a baggage wagon on its bed, but the most were on foot pressing forward for dear life, although there was no enemy within fifteen miles. The fact is, the most of the officers & men engaged in that battle were cowards. I probably stopped 8,000 men during the forenoon besides there were vast numbers that went other roads.

During the forenoon, it commenced raining & rained hard all day, & about all night. Just at dark we pitched our tents & after getting our suppers, we turned in on damp straw with our clothes as wet as they could well be—overcoats & all. Well, I never slept sounder in my life. I took no cold & have suffered none from it yet. For the last two days my company have been felling the timber around the fort so as to give us a fair view & also prevent troops from approaching unseen. We are now in good health & spirits. The men have never felt as well since we left home as now. There are but few in the hospital & they are all comfortable. How long we shall remain here I cannot tell. You will know from the papers when we move & what happens to us before we could inform you by letter.

Don’t worry about us. We may die. We may get killed or wounded, but some of us will never run. The Col. wanted to appoint Vic Sergeant Major of the regiment, but I told him I could not spare him as he was the only one I could depend on in time of need. He is a brave good boy. Del is acting now as Sergt. Major & if he does as well as I think he will, he will be appointed. G is an officer in the Col.’s staff and ranks next to ensign. Vick & Dell are well & in good spirits. I am as hearty as ever. Eat pork & bread with a good relish.

Dear Mary, I think of you continually. My heart is at home. Make yourself as comfortable as possible. Write often. Give my love to Frank. Vick & Dell send their love to you & for all. Goodbye for the present. Yours, — G. H. Jenkins

4th Indiana Cavalry

1862-65: The Civil War Letters of Solomon Matthias Glick, 4th Indiana Cavalry

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The following letters were written by Solomon (“Sol”) Matthias Glick (1844-1937) while serving in Co. I, 4th Indiana Cavalry. He enlisted in August 1862 and was honorably discharged in June 1865. This regiment was originally termed the 77th Indiana Infantry but was soon after redesignated the 4th Indiana Cavalry. The regiment was divided into three different battalions—Co. I being in the 3rd Battalion led by Col. Isaac P. Gray. This battalion was stationed for a time at Gallatin, Tennessee, watching John Hunt Morgan’s forces, and was engaged in a victorious fight near Munfordville in December 1862, described by this letter from William to his uncle. The regiment reunited near Murfreesboro in March 1863 and participated together in the fight at Chickamauga.

Solomon’s parents were Joseph Glick (1812-1895) and Delilah Glick (1817-1897) who came to Bartholomew county, Indiana, in 1846 from Pickaway county, Ohio. He wrote the letters to his older brother, Uriah Francis Glick (1839-1895). Describing Solomon’s 49 war-time letters after perusing them nearly fifty years ago, the director of the Historical Museum in Columbus, Indiana, Garry Shalliol wrote that “Solomon was a scholarly and moral type who wrote frequently to his family. His first letter voiced approval that he had ‘seen but one deck of cards’ since joining up and pronounced all the men in his mess ‘gentlemen.’ Solomon visited the rebel prisoners at Camp Morton [in Indianapolis] and even did guard duty there before being sent south through Columbus on a troop train.”

“The letters…are more interesting, perhaps, for their reflections on army life than as records of grand military movement and tactics. The cavalry in those days served as the eyes and ears of the army, so scouting, skirmishing, foraging, and courier duty fell to a unit like the 4th Indiana” in the Western Theatre of the war.”

“Battle appears as only a small part of the life of a cavalryman, Solomon reported the fighting in a matter-of-fact way. For example, after Co. L saw its first action he wrote home, ‘The company all have been tried as to their grit and only one has been found that would show the white feather.’ Once his unit came upon two regiments of hidden rebel infantry—‘I paused a couple of seconds. It was get out of there, a trip to Richmond, or death and perhaps the latter. A ball struck every foot of the ground I passed over and more than once I felt the cold air and jar as they went past—zip, zip, zoo, zip.’ Another time he took part in a saber charge, helped capture two cannon, 60 soldiers, and wrote, ‘that shows what 50 men can do when they go at it right.’ Thre is little of the agony of war in Solomon’s letters. If he had private thoughts about life, death and war, he kept them out of his letters.” [The Republic, Columbus, Indiana, 11 April 1979]

[Note: Scans of these letters were provided by Solomon’s g-g-grandson, James Hatch, who made them available for transcription and publication on Spared & Shared by express consent.]

Letter 1

August 2nd [1862]

Dear Brother,

I think it is the intention of going right to work at the Secesh and are not going to have any carbines and I shall take my revolver along. — Sol M. Glick

Deliver this to H. S. Glick or some of the family.

Letter 2

Camp Hollowell
August 11th 1862

My dear friends at home,

I arrived here yesterday and a Capt. Harris walked up to a stand in the Union Depot and we made it pay for about 20 minutes—cakes, cheese, pies, &c. We then marched to camp, There are about 1200 in this camp—all of them for cavalry, and this set is not as wild as I expected to find them.

Last evening about 6 o’clock we got our tents and blankets and I slept as ell as I ever did in my life. Lived on baker’s bread, sugar, bacon, beans, molasses. Yesterday we drew some nice beef. This morning I was down to the other camp in which Trotter is in. I talked to John Butler, Dave Van, Jim Van, Andy Robertson, Dock Brunsfield and a lot more. I was in the depot today and saw James Collier, S. Hall, and Logan Collier and a lot more of them get off the cars. It rained today like everything but the tents kept us dry.

I have een but one deck of cards since I came in. We have the nicest camp ground I have seen yet. I have enjoyed myself very well and do not think I shall get tired of it. We have got all gentlemen in our mess, I think. I do not know when we will begin to drill. Come up, some of you. You will see a lot of men. Tell Thompson to come up next week.

Our company is not yet named for it is not full. We have not exercised any at all as yet. There is three camps here. Our is right north of town about 1.5 miles in two hundred yards of the Lafayette Railroad west. But I must close. I think I shall be home soon. If not and you want to write, write to Sol M. Glick, Indianapolis, Indiana

Letter 3

Camp Hollowell, Indianapolis
August 17, 1862

Friends at home,

My pencil is once more in hand to let you know how I am getting along. My time has passed very pleasantly since I have been in camp, My health has not suffered in the least from the change.

We were inspected yesterday and I was accepted. Only one of the company was rejected and that did not insult me for he was a mean, low-lived fellow that I did not like. Harris is not to be our captain. He was not authorized to raise more than 25 men so he had to form another company and if I get to see you, I will tell you the reason. Our captain’s name is Hartly. I think he is a fine man.

I understood you was coming up next week. You had better not till you hear from me again as I got word a moment ago that we would move tomorrow. If we do, we will get our arms, horses, and perhaps bounty. I was to Camp Morton this forenoon to see the secesh prisoners but I have to hurry for the corporal will soon call for the guards and I am one today. It is the first time I have stood. I go on at 6 o’clock and come off at 8 o’clock. Go on at 2, come off at 4. Go on at 8 in the morning, come off at 10, and then I am free till the company take their turn. Very easy time.

I have had very easy times so far. The rest of the boys are all well. Don’t come till I find out how things stand. If we don’t go, I will send all the money I can spare home if I get any. Be assured I am satisfied with my situation. Yours, — Sol M. Glick

The company is not yet mustered into service so it has no name. As soon as it is, I shall tell you. Simply direct to Indianapolis, Indiana, and I will get it if I stay. There was a company organized and equipped went off yesterday. [They received] one revolver a foot long, a sword, carbine, fine blade. I think I shall buy one—a large revolver—for it will be needed. We had a man in our mess that was in the Indian War and one that was in the Mexican War. He is one of our cooks. We pay 60 cents a month for cooks and it saves a great deal of trouble too.

But I must close for this evening. Write as often as you know where we are. Yours, — S. M. Glick

Letter 4

Camp Morton, Indianapolis
September 1st 1862

Dear Brothers,

I am well as ever after standing guard last night. This evening after roll call, we got the news that there were 40,000 rebels between Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky, and that we had to go down tomorrow. I don’t know whether it is authentic or not. If it is, I shall do my duty though we should like to be better drilled. We don’t know anything hardly till it comes to pass. It may be that we will stay here a month.

That revolver is very rusty from too little care and you will have to clean it before you use it. You will see a broad piece of iron passing through the barrel. Turn out the screw at the side of it and drive out the pin. Leave the trigger set the way it is and bring the ramrod down as if you were going to ram in a ball and force the barrel off. then take out the cylinder. Maybe I will take it along.

The trumpet sounds and lights must go out. Yours as ever, – S. M. G.

Letter 5

Murfreesboro, Tennessee
February 21st 1863

Brother Uriah,

Yours of the 1st ult. was received the other day. It found me well as common—fat and hearty. So you have received the pictures. The largest one is a very indifferent picture. It did not do Nipper justice. He looked in that like as if he was almost dead where[as] if you had seen the original, you would have been proud to own him. You may take the nicest horse and he will take a poor picture. He will look like an old plug.

Solomon and his mount, “Nipper,” ready to go on a scout.

I came in at six o’clock this morning from a two-day’s forage scout. Started day before yesterday at daylight, went 19 miles and camped. I and another fellow got a bushel and a half of corn for night and morning for our horses. Then I, he and Dave eat our suppers. I then went to a house, got another supper, and talked to a rebel girl until twelve. Then put off for camp two hundred yards off, laid down my oil cloth, covered up with my blanket with my revolver under my head for we had orders to sleep on our arms. Slept till morning, [then] went to a little town called Auburn in Cannon county where the advance had a little fight. One man killed out of the 4th Regulars and five wounded and two taken prisoners. Three of our Battalion were also taken. Five were taken out of our regiment when they were on that road two weeks before. Two of them belonged to our Company named Byrnie and Buchannan. They were noted stragglers. Our battalion went out to clean some of the skunks out but all we could see of them were their little squads of spies on the hills around us, but they would run. We only got three and some horses.

Feb. 26th. Scouted and laid around till sundown, started for Murfreesboro, rode all night, [and] got there about 6 o’clock. Out about Auburn there are some very large hills. There is one 16 or 18 miles from Murfreesboro that you can see back into town. Perhaps you don’t know exactly where Murfreesboro is. It is southwest of Nashville 30 miles if I don’t mistake the points of the compass, on the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad close to where the railroad crosses Stone River. By the by, the bridge the U.S. has been so long building washed away last night.

Feb. 26, today I was over to the 2nd East Tennessee Cavalry’s sutler to procure a pocket diary for 1863 but he was out. It is a very hard matter to keep anything regularly here or to carry anything in book shape for your revolver and saber belt will interfere.

It has been raining here for ten days. It is thundering and raining now. I have been very fortunate for none of the details took me out where it was raining. We have a better tent than we used to have. The one we have now is called the bell tent. [tent sketch] — Solomon

9th Iowa Infantry, Battle of Pea Ridge

1861: James Knox Polk McCoy to Laura Lavina (McCoy) Willard

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I could not find an image of James but here is one of Jerome H. Sessions who also served in Co. K, 9th Iowa Infantry. (Collection of Al & Claudia Niemiec)

The following letter was written by Pvt. James Knox Polk McCoy (1845-1862) of Tipton, Cedar county, Iowa, who enlisted on 14 September 1861 in Co. K, 9th Iowa Infantry and was killed on 7 March 1862 at the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas. Although the muster records indicate that he was 18 years old at the time of enlistment, he was not. He was born in August 1845 so he would have only been 16 when he enlisted and when he died.

James was the son of George William McCoy (1814-1881) and Harriet Sarah Nye (1822-1906). He wrote the letter to his older sister, Laura Lavinia (McCoy) Willard (1841-1915). Laura was only 16 when she married James G. Willard, 13 years her senior, in 1857.

[Note: This letter is from the private collection of Mike Huston and was transcribe and published on Spared & Shared by express consent.]

“Thin Blue Line, Battle of Pea Ridge,” by Daniel Hoffbauer. The painting depicts the 9th Iowa in action north of Elkhorn Tavern, with Lt. Col. Francis Jay Herron on his horse. They suffered 35% casualties, the most of any Union regiment in the battle. Herron was wounded, caprured and received the Medal of Honor for his actions.

Transcription

Camp Herron
December 13th 1861

Dear Sister,

I received yours today. It found me well and I hope that these few lines will find you the same. I got a letter from Pamela and have written two letters to her since I have not got any answer, You know that I told you that we was a going away from here. We are here yet. I don’t know how long that we will be here for there is a good many regiments a leaving here and a going to Jefferson county as they are a fighting there now and I expect that from all accounts that we will go there too.

I will tell you why I keep up a correspondence with Karen [?] for it not because I love her at all. I do it just to pass the time away and to keep up good spirits. I am sure that he may sit up with her from June to all eternity and give his picture to her and his body, soul and all, to her for what I care for I am not any beau of hers. I would get my picture taken and send it to you if I could get it taken to suit me but I cannot so I will not have it taken at all.

I am glad to hear that the money I sent has got home safe. I would like to see you all and I hope that the time will come when I may see you. Dear sister, I have no more to write at present. You needn’t say anything about what I have said and I trust that you won’t.

It is very warm down here now. Your affectionate brother, — J. K. P. McCoy

to Laura L. Willard

I will send a lock of my hair in my next letter. Dear sister, fare you well.

1st Georgia Infantry

1861: James N. Ramsey to Henry Rootes Jackson

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The following early-war letter was written by James N. Ramsey, the Colonel commanding the 1st Georgia Volunteer Infantry regiment not long after joining General Robert S. Garnett’s forces in the Army of the Northwest in West Virginia. After Garnett was killed in the closing phases of the Battle of Corrick’s Ford, Ramsey (though very ill at the time) assumed command of the army, and led his hungry and exhausted troops to Montgomery, Virginia, where they were reinforced. Ramsey wrote the letter to his commanding officer, Brig. Gen. Henry Rootes Jackson.

The “Petersburg” mentioned in this letter refers to the county seat of Grant county in what is now West Virginia.

Transcription

Franklin [now West Virginia]
July 17, 1861

General Jackson,

I have reports from my scouts that they were fired upon by about twenty of the enemy’s cavalry at Petersburg, 12 o’clock today. I presume, if the report be true, a column of infantry is in rear pursuing so I shall have to keep the artillery and cavalry with me. They however cannot move any faster than the remainder of the army. Lieut. Washington will give you full particulars as he has been an active participant in that that concerned the fight & retreat. Would you not do well to met me with fresh cavalry and infantry this side your camp some five miles. I learn there is a path from which the enemy may attack us. Very respectfully, — J. N. Ramsey, Col. Commanding

To H. R. Jackson, Brig. Gen., Commanding [Army of the] N. W.

11th New York Independent Battery

1863: Andrew Benton to Charles Henry Benton

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The following letter was written by Andrew Benton (1839-1920), the son of Henry Benton (1814-1906) and Mary Ann Marks (1817-1882) of Saratoga county, New York. Andrew wrote the letter from a camp near Centreville, Virginia, in mid-October 1863 while serving as a private in the 11th New York Independent Battery (Light Artillery). He had enlisted in December 1861 and served three years.

Despite rumors of Meade’s replacement following the Battle of Gettysburg, Andrew’s letter expresses confidence not only in their commander but in the army’s ability to whip Lee’s army wherever it goes. As an artillery unit, Andrew had reason to boast as the 11th New York Light Artillery took a position near the stone wall at the point of Pickett’s attack on July 3rd and opened fire “with great deliberation and desired effect”—firing a total of 89 rounds.

Transcription

Addressed to Mr. C. H. Benton, Ballston Spa, Saratoga, New York

Camp at Centreville, Virginia
October 18th 1863

Dear Brother,

Your letter of the 14 inst. was received last evening. It found me in excellent health as well as the rest of the Saratoga Boys.

Orin’s last bereavement will near about kill him. Aunt Lydia was an excellent woman from what acquaintance I had with her. I thought her to be one of the best of women. I think Orin was very much attached to her & I hope he will try and bear up under the new affliction.

Capt. John E Burton is quite sick with a fever. He will probably go to Washington today or tomorrow. Davis Shephard will go with him to take care of him.

When I last wrote you, I expected ‘ere this, that there would be a battle in this vicinity but it has not come yet. There is a good deal of stir. Yesterday a large force of infantry, artillery, & cavalry went to the front & it was thought by some that there would be some powder burnt today but all if quiet so far & the body of the army is marching towards Fairfax. We have not received any orders yet but expect them any moment. There is various rumors in camp of the whereabouts of the Gray backs. Some say that they have fallen back; others that they are going into Maryland. Well, I don’t care if they do go into Maryland. We have whipped them there & I think can do it again. They know better than to attack us here & Meade’s force is so small that I don’t think he will follow them if they fall back. There is another report in camp but it is not credited much by soldiers. It is said that Meade is superseded by General Warren, now commanding 2nd Corps. I hope this is not the case. I think Meade is just the man to command the Army of the Potomac.

What do you think of McClellen’s letter to Chas. J. Biddle? I think it will surprise some people but I lost confidence in him some time ago. Well, I am glad he has shown [his] colors at last. The party I referred to in my last letter came off according to program. We had a good time. The family (Mr. Yancy’s) lived about 4 miles outside of our picket lines, though we did not know it at the time, but our lines were drawn in the very day we went out. We saw the pickets when we were going out but as they did not offer to stop us, we asked no questions & went on our way rejoicing. But when we came back at 11 o’clock p.m., they halted us & seemed quite anxious to take us to Headquarters under guard. But Lieut. Wyatt was with us & talked the matter over with the Officer of the Guard & they let us through all right. We were in more danger than we were at the time aware of, but we enjoyed ourselves just as well & I would not mind taking another such adventure if we were in that neighborhood.

My Canadian friend, Mr. Durislan, is in Philadelphia , clerk in the same hospital with Charles H. Thomas. Edd received a letter from home last eve saying his Father was better.

I spilled some Ink on this letter but paper is so scarce just now that I cannot spare another sheet & I guess it is as plain as the rest of my letter. Write soon. Your brother, — A. Benton, 11th N.Y. Battery

U. S. Christian Commission

1864: Richard Draper Douglass to Mary Abby (Lawrence) Douglass

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Richard Draper Douglass was born in Westport, Essex County, New York, October 23, 1836, the youngest child of William Stewart Douglass (1798-1860) and Jane G. (Arthur) Douglass (1803-1842). Richard studied at Phillips Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire; and Williston Seminary. He was a graduate of Amherst College (Class of 1860), and Bangor Theological Seminary (1863).

“As an agent of the U.S. Christian Commission, he served in Alabama, Tennessee, and Virginia before taking a position in the Commissary Department of the United States Army at City Point, Virginia, in early 1865, which position ended soon after the war was over. After a brief stint in business in Boston, Douglass became a special relief agent for the Brooklyn Children’s Aid Society (1867-1873) and general superintendent of the society (1873-1885). On September 13, 1864, Douglass married Mary Abbie Lawrence (1839-1931), daughter of Ephraim Appleton Lawrence. Richard Douglass died in Brooklyn, New York, April 2, 1885.” [See New York State Library: Richard Draper Douglass Papers, 1853-1875]

The News-Herald, 7 March 1931

In the March 6, 1931 issue of the New York Times, an article about the life of Mrs. Douglass, told of her Red Cross work with the Christian Commission at Lookout Mountain and later in Nashville, Tenn. during the Civil War. It also spoke of how she managed the Seaside Home for over 40 years at Coney Island in New York. Children from the city were cared for here over the summer. Presumably these kids had ties to the Childrens Aid Society which her husband had headed before his death. She attended Mount Holyoke Seminary (now a college) for several years and used that training to teach Sunday school for many years at the Plymouth church where she had been a member for over 60 years. 

It should be noted that there are some newspaper articles claiming Rev. Douglass to be a physician, an officer, on Gen. Grant’s staff, etc., but I could not find evidence of any such claims. Neither could I find any evidence that Mary Douglass was commissioned a Major.

Transcription

Addressed to Mrs. R. D. Douglass, U. S. Christian Commission, Nashville, Tenn., Hospital No. 3, Lookout Mountain

City Point, Virginia
October 5th 1864

My Dear Darling,

Would give so much comfort to her own if she were here tonight—for I am mangy—not in mind but in body, and I would like to put my head into your hands for a thorough cleaning, as you alone know how to do that for me in the way which I like best. It has been an extremely warm day and the labor of loading & unloading boxes and barrels into and out of wagons, of storing them in our warehouse, or overseeing a gang of hands & running about considerable, has kept me active and so quite happy most of the day.

This evening we have service but I shall not go in. I do want to see you so much but I must content myself by looking for letters from you tomorrow. If I don’t get some word from you, I shall be afraid that your arm is too lame to write, so I will be patient still. I am expecting to have help tomorrow in my work and to be more at leisure to spend the evening with you.

There is a Negro Meeting going on just behind our quarters and they are singing now. They do make a strangely sweet melody in their fashion. I wish that you could be near & hear them. You would be amused at least. Though when one of their preachers gets into his wild style of preaching, working upon his own emotional notion, and that of his hearers, it is sad. You will hear some of it in Nashville, I suppose, for they have them there.

My darling must come near me now—how near would you have me, dear? and say Good Night. I dreamed of you, dear, last night. I hope I shall see you again tonight or else sleep dreamless. I prefer the former if I can see you quite happy. Good night. Your own, — Richard

Johnson's Island Prison

1864: Hugh Lawson White to Isabella McNutt White

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The following letter was written by Hugh Lawson White (1839-1871), the son of Judge George M. White (1800-1884) and Isabella McNutt (1780-1842) of Knoxville, Tennessee. When the Civil War began, “like all the young men of Knoxville,” Hugh volunteered his services “in the defense of Southern rights and territory under the conviction that it was the demand of patriotism, right and duty.” He was elected by his comrades as a Lieutenant in Capt. W. C. Kain’s Light Artillery Company. In the fall of 1863, he was captured at Cumberland Gap and sent a prisoner to Johnson’s Island where he was held until after the surrender in 1865. While in prison, he contracted a disease which impaired him and no doubt prematurely ended his life in 1871. After the war he studied and practiced law for a time but his health failed him.

Transcription

Johnson’s Island, Ohio
October 9th 1864

My dear sister Bell,

Your letter was received sometime ago. I am surprised that so much time has elapsed without my having answered it. I hope you understand my situation and will not feel slighted if I do not answer as promptly as is my custom. When I write home, my letters are intended for the entire family, so a letter directed to you is an answer to Mag’s, Andrew’s and yours. The restrictions are such that I cannot write to each of you each week though I will gladly read a letter from each of you every week or even oftener. Mag’s letter of September 18th was read with great interest. It gave me some very good news. I am very glad to have the photographs. Think Andy’s the best thing I ever saw. Mag’s is not so good. All are better than Moodie’s and Amanda’s. Mother’s and yours are very good. I hope you will soon send me father’s. I prize these representations of my mother, sisters, and brothers very highly. I have ordered a photograph album and will take good care of the pictures. I am very sorry to know that you have so much trouble at night. Hope arrangements will soon be made for the protection of private rights and property. Jno. House received a letter from his sister Ellen at Eatonton, Ga., in which she says [brother] Moses [White] 1 is commanding there and well. R. M. McPherson lives there. Lt. Danner received a letter from his sister Gus, written in Augusta on the 14th of September, in which she said Miss Sue Wallace died at that place on the 10th of same month. I had a letter from Rufe Beardon who is at Ft. Delaware a few days ago. Charlie, Inslee and all friends are well. Jim King is there. Rufe desires to be remembered kindly to you and all friends. Boys at Camp Douglas are well. Knoxville boys here are well. About fifty sick and convalescent officers left here for exchange a few days ago. Hoping to hear from you soon & often. I am very affectionately your brother, — Hugh White

What has become of Jim Coffin!

1 Moses P. White (1829-1907) of Knoxville was the Colonel of the 37th Tennessee Infantry.