All posts by Griff

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.
1848 Presidential Election, Antebellum Virginia

1848: Philip Schmucker to John Elder

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How Philip might have looked

The following letter was written by 35 year-old Philip Schmucker (1811-1885), the son of Rev. Johann Nicholas Schmucker (1779-1855) and Catharine Heller (1780-1846) of Shenandoah county, Va. Philip datelined his letter on 7 August 1846 from his residence in Fishersville, nestled between Waynesboro and Staunton in Augusta county, Virginia, where he dealt in real estate and served as post master of the local office. In the 1860 US Census, Philip was listed as a slave holder in Augusta county, owning five slaves ranging in age from 42 to 5.

Philip’s letter refers to the return of local soldiers from the War with Mexico. He also speaks of the Whigs nominating Zachary Taylor as their nominee in the upcoming Presidential election. It was a desperate move by the Whigs to select Taylor who did not share all of their political views but it enabled them to win the White House.

Philip wrote the letter to his friend John Elder (1785-1851), who was born in Harrisburg, Pa., the son of a Presbyterian minister of the same name. He early became involved with the planning and construction of houses, public buildings, and bridges. He worked on the Juniata division of the Pennsylvania Canal. After a brief period in Florence, Alabama, he moved to Indianapolis in the early 1830s. He married Margaret Ritchey of Harrisburg. Her mother, Margaret Ritchey, later lived with the Elders and moved West with them.

In the period 1833-1836, Elder was proprietor of the Union Inn in Indianapolis. He designed several important public buildings, including the headquarters and Indianapolis branch of the State Bank; the Palmer House in Indianapolis; Henry Ward Beecher’s Home; Indiana School for the Blind; the courthouses at Lebanon, Columbus, Connersville, and Rushville; and the First Presbyterian Church (second building, 1843) on Monument Circle in Indianapolis. He was also interested in the construction of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad, and built a lock on the Wabash Canal at Covington. Never a good financial manager, he got into difficulties on the building of the Rushville courthouse. In an effort to recoup his fortunes, he went to California in 1850, but fell sick and died there.

Transcription

Addressed to Mr. John Elder, Indianapolis, Indiana

Fishersville, Augusta county, Virginia
August 7th 1848

Dear Friend Elder,

It is some time since I heard from you and I must make some apology for not writing to you sooner, hoping that you will not think hard of my neglect. It was not for any reasons that I had not done so but mere neglect from time to time.

We are well and are doing well and hope that these lines will find you and your kind old mother-in-law and all the family enjoying the blessings. We would like to see you all very much but we must be satisfied by waiting as we are so great a distance apart—trusting to the ruler of all things.

Our soldiers returned last week, There was a great parade made and on next Friday there will be a public dinner given in Staunton. This is a strong Whig country and there is a good deal said about politics but it is here like in other places, the Whigs only take Taylor for his availability. They think better him than none. But they cannot come it in this state by a long ways. There will be a Whig meeting in this place this day.

The crops are better in this Valley than they ever were. There is more wheat made in this valley this year than there has been in any two years heretofore. Corn crops never were better.

We have a Presbyterian Church in a mile of this place where there is preaching every Sabbath, The most of our people belong to that church in the neighborhood but if I were to judge, I would say there was more pride here than religion. Each one tried to out dress the other and so it goes. I hear in that case our young western states exceeds this country. There is more religion in the western states than in here where they should set an example for the young western states but I can assure you it is to the reverse. I have heard more swearing here since I am here than I have heard in all the time I lived in the West. And drinking liquor is nothing thought of by professors for they indulge in the same.

Money is very plenty in this country. Everybody aspires to have some black and white. I have taken in nine hundred in about 10 months and will bring it to one thousand till the year is out. I have bought some property in this place and have built the finest stable in the Valley of Virginia, so I’m told. Twenty horses and mules now riding to my house. My house can be seen 8 miles [away]. There is not a handsomer place in the Valley. I intend to move to it in about a month and a half. The stage contractors talk of making my house a stopping place. If they do that, I won’t do better for there is an immense travel in the stages in the spring season. From two to a dozen pass here every day. Two mules a day the year round—Sunday not excepted.

My daughter does not live at home. She is 12 miles from here going to school and bids fair to make a very intelligent girl. She is boarding at a Mr. Brown’s house—the pastor of the Stone Church (an Old [School] Presbyterian known here by that name) in Misses Brown’s care who superintends the school. She comes home to see us sometimes. The people are generally well with the exception of the measles. They have proved very fatal here this summer. A good many people have died with them and they are still raging. I think they are more than the common measles.

As it regards the wife you was speaking about, you will have to make your bargain. I will bind myself to show you plenty but you must make your own bargains. I take your [Indiana] State Sentinel, but could not see your marriage recorded in it and take it for granted you are still without a better half. So come in and try for yourself. Nothing more but our respects to you all. — P. Schumucker

Write to me soon.

Go it cup and butter, Taylor and his second best Abolitionist can’t come it.

105th New York Infantry, Battle of Fredericksburg

1862: Frank Ball to Horatio Ball

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The following letter was written by Francis (“Frank”) Ball (1841-Aft1865), the son of Horatio Ball (1796-1873) and Adelia Cornell (1797-1878) of Albion, Orleans county, New York. He wrote the letter to his older brother Horatio Amberelius Ball (1835-1873) whom he referred to throughout the letter as “Raish.”

I could not find an image of Frank but here is one of James Newton who served with Frank in the 105th New York Infantry. Corp. Newton was wounded at Fredericksburg on 13 December 1863 (Robert May Collection)

Frank enlisted in January 1862 to served in Co. F, 105th New York Infantry—a regiment that was organized during the winter of 1861-62, and mustered mustered into the U. S. service in March for three years. It left the state on April 4, was stationed for a month at Washington; then as part of the 1st brigade, 2nd division, 3d corps, Army of Virginia, it participated in its first battle at Cedar mountain, where 8 were wounded. A week later it moved on Gen. Pope’s Virginia campaign, culminating in the second battle of Bull Run, its loss in the campaign being 89 killed, wounded and missing. In the ensuing Maryland campaign under McClellan, it fought in the same brigade and division, but the corps was now called the 1st and Hooker had succeeded McDowell in command. The regiment had slight losses at South Mountain, but suffered severely in Miller’s Cornfield at Antietam, where the 1st corps opened the battle, losing 74 killed, wounded and missing. [See “The 105th New York in Antietam’s Cornfield: The High Price of Achievement”]

The regiment was also prominently engaged at Fredericksburg, where Gen. Reynolds commanded the 1st Corps, the 105th losing 78 killed, wounded and missing. After assailing the Confederate right at the point of bayonet and overrunning the Confederates position, when they were not reinforced, they were counterattacked and grappled in hand-to-hand combat before yielding the hard-earned ground. The “gallant old 105th New York was annihilated,” according to their commander Isaac S. Tichenor. “Captain Abraham Moore [Co. F] tried to rally the surviving members of the regiment. He failed. One soldier explained, “The 105th New York Volunteers was literally killed in action.” [See “The Fredericksburg Campaign: Winter War on the Rappahannock” by Francis A. O’Reilly, page 241] A great number of the surviving members of the 105th New York were taken prisoner, including Feank Ball, as he states in the following letter.

Being much reduced in numbers, in March, 1863 the 105th New York was consolidated into five companies, F, G, H, I and K, and transferred to the 94th N. Y. Infantry. It had lost during service 2 officers and 48 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded; 45 enlisted men who died of disease and other causes, a total of 95. Its gallant Lieut.-Col. Howard Carroll was among the mortally wounded at Antietam.

Transcription

Addressed to Mr. Horatio Ball, Esq., Albion, Orleans county, New York

December 30th [1862]

Friends,

I received your letter and was glad to hear from you. We are well down [here in ] Dixie. There is no prospects of any fighting. All quiet along the Rappahannock since the last slaughter. Now and then a thirty-two [pounder] wakes up to let the Confederates know we are still here.

Raish, you spoke in your letter of several things true. This thing is carried on under a cloak. We have many changes here. Sumner and Franklin and Burnside all left us. You wanted to know my Corps and Division at the fight of Antietam and South Mountain. My regiment was in Hooker’s Corps and [James B.] Rickett’s Division, [Abram] Duryée’s Brigade. Like everything else, we’ve been changed. We are in Reynold’s [1st] Corps, Robinson’s [2nd] Division, Root’s [1st] Brigade. We was in Gibbon’s Division, General Franklin’s Grand Left at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Va. You can guess it’s hard to keep track.

Raish, we want Little Mac back. He is the only man that can handle this army. See how quick he made the Rebs dust out of Maryland? Between me and you, the Army of the Potomac is on the point of [ ]. Raish, if a [ ] tomorrow.

Capt. [Abraham] Moore starts for Brockport on furlough. We got a small regiment—about 200 men. Many of them is detailed on extra duty. There is some talk of consolidating my regiment with others and making one of three. Raish, this is hard when a regiment has been cut up. Of course the absent commissioned officers will take command and we will have probably strange officers.

My Brigade comprises the following regiments—viz: the 104th New York, 16th Maine, 94th New York, 107th Pennsylvania. This is the Brigade that drove the Rebs at Fredericksburg in Franklin’s left on a bayonet charge. Raish, I held trumps that day but when I went in, I as leave [had] been out. But thank God, I come out all right. But many that was my comrades lies over the river filling soldiers’ graves. Raish, I seen many sights [as] I walked over the dead and dying. I’ve been to Rebeldom. I was there two weeks and exchanged. I was in the same tobacco house that Hank Hewitt was and Alf Raymond. From there to Fortress Monroe. From there to Annapolis, Maryland. I seen the Monitor and the sunken Cumberland and the Congress sunken by the Rebel Merrimack of Newport News.

Raish, a soldier sees many things. I seen enough. Now I want to see York State. I got 8 months pay coming. If I had that, I have some hopes of settlement this summer. The Rebs gets plenty fresh meat and that makes them savage. Raish, you can guess the rest. Give my love to all and a bigger share yourself. Raish, heavy artillery are in front of the enemy. Lizzy’s man is as safe as at home. Rasch, you must write often and I will do the same. Send me the news of Albin and oblige, — Frank Ball

18th Corps

1864: Solon Augustus Carter to Emily A. (Conant) Carter

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Capt. Solon Augustus Carter
(Dave Morin Collection)

The following letter was written by Solon Augustus Carter, a native of Leominster, New Hampshire. In 1859 he removed to Keene, New Hampshire; and in September, 1862, he was appointed Captain of Co. G, 14th New Hampshire Volunteers. He was in command of this company until July, 1863, when he was assigned to recruiting duty in Concord, N. H., acting as Assistant Adjutant-general on the staff of Brigadier-General Hinks; and in April 1864, he was made acting Assistant Adjutant-General of the Third Division, Eighteenth Army Corps (colored). This body of troops was organized at Fortress Monroe by General Hinks.

In July, 1864, Mr. Carter was commissioned Assistant Adjutant-general with the rank of Captain; but he continued to serve with the colored division from the time of its organization till the close of the war. He was in the campaign before Petersburg and Richmond during the summer and autumn of 1864, in both expeditions to Fort Fisher, and in the campaign from Fort Fisher to Raleigh. Receiving his discharge July 7, 1865, he returned to Keene, N.H., and was employed there as a clerk until June, 1872. In 1885, on the organization of the Union Guarantee Savings Bank of Concord, he was elected President.

The clue to identifying the author of this letter was the discovery of the following paragraph published in an article about Fort Pocahontas by Ed Besch which read: “Brigadier General Edward A. Wild’s 1st Brigade (1st, 10th, 22nd, 37th Infantry Regiments, USCT), part of Brig. Gen. Edward W. Hinks’ 3rd Division, 18th Corps, Army of the James, seized Wilson’s Wharf and Fort Powhatan, seven miles upriver, while Hinks’ 2nd Brigade of USCT landed at City Point, further upriver. Butler chose Colored Troops to seize key points along his James River line of communications since he knew they would fight more desperately than white soldiers because Confederate policy denied prisoner-of-war status to black Union soldiers and their white officers, if captured. At Fort Pillow, Tennessee on 12 April 1864, a disproportionate number of black Union soldiers were killed or badly wounded, many while trying to surrender. Captain Solon A. Carter, on Hinks’ staff, wrote his wife on 1 May: “We must succeed. Failure for us is death or worse.”

Searching Capt. Carter’s ancestral record, I was able to learn that his wife’s maiden name was Emily A. Carter and that their young daughter’s name was Edith. This combined with his biographical sketch clinched the identity.

Transcription

Weitzel’s Map of 18th Corps Line near Petersburg, dated 30 June 1864

Headquarters Third Division, 18th Army Corps
Office, A. A. A. General
July 19th 1864

My darling Em,

We have been having a delightful ran today—the first for many weeks—and everybody seems to be feeling the better for it. It was getting to be terribly dusty and everything was loaded with it. I was not very busy this afternoon so I got under my fly net and had a nice nap till supper time.

I received your letter no. 31 yesterday morning. I am always glad to get letters from home and to hear of the safety of the loved ones there.

Everybody seems to be feeling nicely after the rain and the rebs seem disposed to stop the fun on this side of the [Appomattox] river, and for the past two or three hours have kept up a continuous fire from their batteries. The 6th Corps which went from here to Washington at the time of the scare there, I hear tonight is landing at City Point. We are expecting to see the 19th Corps here too, but nobody seems to know who or what is coming, and it is best so I suppose. Gen. Smith, who has been on a short leave of absence, is expected back tonight.

Brig. Gen. Edward Winslow Hinks
(Dave Morin Collection)

I have not heard directly from Gen. [Edward Winslow] Hinks 1 since the 8th. I have written to him two or three times and yesterday the letters all came back here unopened. I hear indirectly that the General has gone home on a ten days leave of absence. I had a letter from Capt. White saying that Mrs. [Bessie] Hinks had started for Washington to see him. This letter was written the 12th. I don’t know what to think that I don’t hear a word from him.

I don’t feel a bit like writing tonight somehow or other. I am sort of blue about my present position and a little mad withal at some things that I can’t help a bit. Lieut. Verplanck who went away sick about the time the General left, came back last night and reported for duty. I sometimes wish that I could get a bump or something that would give me a few days with you and baby. When I read in your leters about Edie 2 and her short clothes and you talk about her like she was such a big girl, I can hardly realize that you are talking about the little tottie that I saw last in Mary’s arms in Mrs. Balche’s yard with her little cloak hood thrown over her head. And when I read in your letters about her, I do want to be with you so that I hardly knew what I am about. It seems too bad, doesn’t it, that I can’t be at home now—just when the little darling is so interesting.

I shiould dearly love to help you take care of her now and teach her to know her papa. I am afraid that she will be afraid of me, and if I should go home for a little while only, that she wouldn’t get acquainted with me. But I wouldn’t stay away on that account if I got the chance to go home.

I’m glad you received the money all safe. I didn’t know but the rebs had got hold of it. I will send you a sheet of five cent currency in this letter, I guess, for curiosity.

It is raining again quite hard and I have got something of a headache so I will not try to fill out the sheet this time, but will try and give you a longer one next time. Write often please. Give love to all. Believe me your own [ ] ever.

1 Edward Winslow Hincks (1830-1894) was a career Army officer who served as a Brigadier General during the American Civil War. His names was spelled “Hincks” but during the war he went by “Hinks.” He began the war as Colonel of the 19th Massachusetts Infantry. He was wounded at the Battle of Glendale and again at Antietam, after which he was promoted to Brig. General. He spent the next two years on court martial and recruiting duty. In March through May 1864 he commanded the prison camp at Point Lookout, Md. Afterwards he was assigned to command the 3rd Division of the 18th Army Corps composed entirely of Black regiments led by white officers. The corps took part on the first unsuccessful assault at Petersburg but then settled into the siege. The Division was eventually merged into the 25th Corps.

2 “Edie” was Edith Hincks Carter, the daughter of Solon and Emily Carter. She was born on 1 January 1864 and died in 1940. Apparently Solon thought so much of the General, his daughter was named after him.

Fort Lafayette, Political Prisoner

1861 List of Prisoners at Fort Lafayette

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Fort Lafayette had served as a U.S. military prison since July 15, 1861, [when] Edward D. Townsend, assistant adjutant general, ordered Major General Nathaniel P. Banks to take prisoners captured by General McClellan in West Virginia. Townsend then advised, “A permanent guard will be ordered to the fort in time to receive the prisoners.” The first POWs arrived July 22. Prior to this, the fort had served as one of the first Northern coastal fortifications to hold Federal political prisoners.

The fort was built on a small rock island lying in the Narrows between the lower end of Staten Island and Long Island, opposite Fort Hamilton. All POWs en route to Fort Lafayette arrived at Fort Hamilton first, where they were searched, had their names recorded, and were placed on a boat for the quarter-mile trip to the offshore island prison. Erected in 1822 and originally named Fort Diamond, Fort Lafayette was an octagonal structure with the four principal sides much larger than the others, making the building appear somewhat round from the outside and square from the inside.

The fort’s walls were 25 to 30 feet high, with batteries commanding a view of the channel in two of its longer and two of its shorter sides. Two tiers of heavy guns were on each of these sides, with lighter barbette guns above them under a temporary wooden roof. The two other principal sides were occupied by two stories of small casemates, ten on each story. The open area within the fort was 120 feet across with a pavement 25 feet wide running around the inside, leaving a patch of ground 70 feet square in the center.

Long before the Civil War this fortress was renamed Fort Lafayette, in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, the young French general who had aided the American cause in the Revolutionary War. By the second year of the Civil War, however, it would be hatefully referred to by many simply as “that American Bastille”. . . 

The prisoners were confined in the fort’s two principal gun batteries and in four casemates of the lower story that had all been converted into prison rooms by bricking up the open entrances. . . .

The enclosures were lighted by five embrasures measuring, about 2Y2 by 2 feet, which were covered with iron gratings. Five large doorways, 7 or 8 feet high, opened upon the enclosure from within the walls but were covered by solid folding doors. . . .

The four casemates were nothing more than vaulted cells measuring 8 feet at the highest point and 24-by-14 feet wide. Each was lighted by two small loopholes in the outer wall and one on an inner wall. Large wooden doors of the casemates were shut and locked at 9:00 Pm. and remained so until daylight. Although these rooms remained dark and damp most of the time, they did have fireplaces, which the batteries lacked. Later, stoves had to be installed in the battery rooms to combat the cold.

Neither location had furniture except for a few beds. . . .

In immediate command over the Fort Lafayette prisoners was Lieutenant Charles 0. Wood, who was described as “brutal” by many of the prisoners. He had been a baggage handler on the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad before the war and had received his commission, it was said, from President Lincoln as a reward for successfully smuggling Lincoln’s baggage through Baltimore prior to his inaugurations

When originally converted to a prison, the fort was believed capable of holding up to fifty POWs. From the very beginning, however, twenty were held in each battery while nine to ten were held in each casemate. Before long there were often thirty-five to a battery and up to thirty in a casemate. . . .

When the prisoners arrived at Fort Lafayette, they were escorted to the office of Lieutenant Wood where, again, they were searched and had their names recorded. All their money was confiscated; they were given a receipt and then shown to their quarters.

Some of the first inmates included those who had done nothing more than express sympathy for the South: members of the Maryland legislature; Baltimore’s police commissioners; James W Ball, a New Jersey Democrat who was later elected to the U.S. Senate; and Francis K. Howard, editor of a Baltimore newspaper and grandson of Francis Scott Key. In addition, all officers who had resigned commissions in the U.S. Army to accept Confederate commands were, if captured, automatically sent there.

Although the privateers transferred from the Tombs were originally kept in shackles and confined both day and night in the lower casemates of the fort, the regular prisoners of war and political prisoners were allowed to exercise in the open area of the compound two times each day-from six to seven in the morning and from five to six in the evening. The exercise usually consisted of individuals simply walking along the pavement around the inside of the fort several times. As the prison became more crowded, these walks were limited to one half hour twice a day and then, finally, eliminated altogether. At dark the prisoners were confined to their rooms and all candles were extinguished at nine. Later, candles were also eliminated and, according to one prisoner’s account, “the night to us now is nearly 15 hours, counting from lock-up time to the opening of the cell in the morning. . . .” [to read more, see: Fort LaFayette Prisoner of War Camp]

This handwritten list may have be the original document prepared by Hillary Cenas, one of the original prisoners, and given to David Reno who was recently discharged from Fort Lafayette. See the following newspaper article appearing in the Daily Constitutionalist (August, GA) and other papers on 13 September 1861:

Transcription

Prisoners in Casement No. 2, Fort Lafayette, New York Harbor (Harper’s Weekly)

List of Prisoners at Fort Lafayette

Room No. 1

E. S. Ruggles, 1 Fredericksburg, Va., Arrested July 20, 1861
James E. Murphrey, 2 Portsmouth, Va., Arrested July 31, 1861
John H. Cusick [or Kusick], 2 Woodville, Md., Arrested July 31, 1861
Charles M. Hagland [Hagelin], Baltimore, Md., Arrested July 31, 1861
John W. Davis, 3 Baltimore, Md., Arrested July 31, 1861
George Miles, 4 Richmond, Va., Arrested August 22, 1861
James G[arnett] Guthrie, 4 Petersburg. Va., Arrested August 23, 1861
J. R. Barbour, Lake Providence, La., Arrested August 24, 1861
D. C. Lowber, New Orleans, La., Arrested August 25, 1861
R. F. Grove, New York City, Arrested September 1, 1861

Room No. 2

Charles Howard, 3 Baltimore, Md., Arrested July 31, 1861
William H. Gatchell, 3 Baltimore, Md., Arrested July 31, 1861
Samuel H. Lyon, 2 Baltimore, Md., Arrested July 31, 1861
Richard H. Alvey, 2 Hagerstown, Md., Arrested July 31, 1861
Austin E. Smith, 5 San Francisco, Cal., Arrested August 3, 1861
John Williams, 6 Norfolk, Va., Arrested August 11, 1861
James G. Berrett, Washington D. C., Arrested August 25, 1861
Samuel J. Anderson, N. York City, Arrested August 27, 1861
J. L. Reynolds, Mobile, Ala., Arrested September 1, 1861
Frank E. Williams, Choctaw, Arrested September 1, 1861

Room No. 3

Dr. Edward Johnson, 2 Baltimore, Md., Arrested July 29, 1861
Robert Mure, Charleston, S.C., Arrested August 14, 1861
Charles Kopperal, Carroll County, Miss., Arrested August 18, 1861
J. [ ] Serrill, New Orleans, La., Arrested Aug. 18; Discharged Sept. 6.
Pierce Butler, Philadelphia, Penn., Arrested August 20, 1861
Louis deBibian, Wilmington, N. C., Arrested August 20, 1861
F. H. Fisk, New Orleans, La., Arrested August 25, 1861
W. H. Ward, Norfolk, Va., Arrested August 31, 1861
Capt. J. A deSannel (CSA), Alexandria, Va., Arrested August 31, 1861
J. C. Rohming, New York City, Arrested September 3, 1861
James Chapin, Vicksburg, Miss., Arrested September 5, 1861

Room No. 4

Samuel Eakins, Richmond, Va., Arrested August 26, 1861
David Reno, Columbia, S. C., Arrested August 26; Discharged Sep. 4
Robert Tansill (Capt. U. S. M. C.) Virginia. Arrested August 28, 1861
Thomas S. Wilson, (Lieut. U. S. M. C.) Missouri, Arrested August 28, 1861
H. B. Claiborne (Midshipman USN) N. Orleans, Arrested Aug. 28, 1861
Hillary Cenas (Midshipman USN) N. Orleans, Arrested Aug. 28, 1861
William Patrick, Brooklyn, Arrested August 28, 1861
Ellis B. Schnabel, Penn., Arrested August 29, 1861
U. B. Harrold, Macon, Ga., Arrested August 30, 1861
Richard S. Freeman, Macon, Ga., Arrested August 31, 1861
H. A. Reeves, Greenport, Long Island, Arrested September 4, 1861
Robert Elliot, Freedom, Me., Arrested September 7, 1861

Crew of Privateer Schooner York of Norfolk, Va., taken from Schooner George G. Baker of Galveston, Texas, by U. S. Gunboat Union, August 9, 1861

Patrick McCarthy
James Reilly
John Williams
Archibald Wilson

Crew of Privateer Schooner Dixie taken from Schooner Mary Alice of New York, by U. S. Steam Frigate Wabash, August 3, 1861

John A. Marshall
George O. Gladden
John Joanellie
Charles Forrester
J. P. M. Carlos

1 “A boy 17 years of age, named E. S. Ruggles, son of Col. Ruggles late of the US ARmy and now commanding a body of the rebels at Fredericksburg, Va., has ben arrested in New York as an emissary of Jeff Davis.” [Daily Evening Standard (New Bedford, MA), 1 July 1861]

2 All civilians who were taken on board the steamship Joseph Whitney.

3 All civilians, some police commissioners, who were facing charges of treason.

4 George Miles of Petersburg and John Garnett Guthrie of Richmond, agents of tobacco houses, and had collected $170,000 in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, were arrested and confined in Fort Lafayette. A large number of letters were found upon them addressed to persons in the South.

5 Austin E. Smith was the “late Navy agent at San Francisco.” He was the son of Extra Billy Smith (CSA).

6 John Williams was an agent of the Merchants and Milners Transportation Company’s Steamers at Norfolk. “Known” secessionist.

Battle of 2nd Bull Run, Hammon General Hospital, Point Lookout, Maryland

1862: Melzar Wentworth Clark to his Daughter

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This letter was written by Melzar Wentworth Clark (1812-1895) of Hingham, Plymouth county, Massachusetts. Melzar was married to Sabina Hobart Lincoln (1820-1906) in 1837 and was working as a baker in Hingham when his oldest son Andrew Jackson Clark (1837-1927) enlisted to served in Co. H, 23rd Massachusetts in 1861.

I could not find any evidence that 50 year-old Melzar was serving in any official military capacity at the time he wrote this letter in September 1862. My assumption is that he was at the Hammond General Hospital as a civilian volunteer, or perhaps as a government paid work in the hospital bakery. In any event, we learn from this letter that he was at the hospital assisting the medical staff with the treatment of the wounded soldiers who were “from the late battlefields” near Washington D. C. These would have been, of course, the battles at Groveton, 2nd Bull Run, and/or Chantilly.

Transcription

Hammond General Hospital (spoke-like structure at lower left) on Point Lookout, MD. This artist’s rendering is from later in the war. Melzar was probably quartered in the two-story structure that looks more like a house at right center facing the ocean. The wharf can be clearly seen at the left or sheltered side of the peninsula.

Ward B, Hammond General Hospital
Point Lookout, Maryland
September 14, 1862

Dear Daughter

It is now 3 oclock P.M. I have just shaved me & sat down for the first time since I got up. Four hundred wounded soldiers arrived here yesterday afternoon in the J. R. Spaulding from Washington. They are from the late battlefields in that vicinity. Quite a large number are Massachusetts men.  Tell Lyman Whiten there is one man from Captain [Cephas C.] Bumpus’ Company named Hiram Nickerson 1 who lost his right middle finger by a minié ball here. He says he is the only one in the 32rd regiment harmed. There are some from the 18th Regiment, some from the 29th (Barnes’) and other regiments. They are wounded in all parts of their limbs, hips, and shoulders. It was a sad sight to see them come hobbling up from the boat—which lands close by here—with crutches, canes, &c. so exhausted as to sink down upon the floor as soon as they could get a chance.

We have had a hard time of it ever since they arrived getting their beds up and the linens ready for them and for themselves, to say nothing about providing it for all the other patients. This morning Dr. Stearns and  Lombard, with me for an assistant, as soon as breakfast was over, went through with what there was in Ward B. It took them till noon removing the bandages, probing and otherwise examining their wounds and redressing them. They bore all with great fortitude. We suffer none from the heat although it is quite hot in the sun. I never saw so much difference anywhere at the North as there is here between being in the shade and in the sun. The suns rays penetrate just like the heat of an  oven, while at the same time it is delightfully cool and balmy in the shade.

The Philadelphia Enquirer, 25 November 1862

I found it so in Baltimore in a peculiar manner and, also, on my way down the Chesapeake on board the Major Belger. This is owing to the sea breeze that is constantly blowing from all quarters here. As the ward I am in is in upper story of what was a spacious hotel which embraces three large houses attached to one another, we feel the full force of it through the long corridors which extend north and south, east and west, between the rooms, with windows opening at the top and clear down  to the floor.

As we look across the mouth of the Potomac, the sacred soil of Virginia is in full view 8 or 10 miles distant. We can see it some ways up the river, and down to the light at the mouth of the  Rapahannock.

This is the third letter that I have written home. I have received nothing as yet but  hope to before long. Mary Hobart said she would see that the Boston Journal was sent me. I have not got one yet. If you have found that large map Andrew had at Fortress Monroe that came out of that big book, I wish it put in an envelope newspaper fashion and forwarded to me by mail. His is Papa’s little humming bird and the baby? From your father, — M. W. Clark

1 The only Nickerson I can find in the 32nd Massachusetts Infantry was listed on the roster as William T. Nickerson (1838-1867) of Plymouth in Co. E.

1st New Hampshire Cavalry, Camp Stoneman

1863-64: John William Warner to his Family

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The following letters were written by Pvt. John William Warner (1843-1919) of Troop M, 1st New Hampshire Cavalry. This regiment was organized at Concord, New Hampshire, as a Battalion of four companies in the fall of 1861 and then was attached to the 1st New England Cavalry (afterward designated the 1st Rhode Island Cavalry as companies I, K, L, and M.)

John W. Warner, Co. M, 1st New Hampshire Cavalry

John did not join the regiment until October 1862. When he enlisted, he was described as standing over 5′ 8″ tall, with blue eyes, and black hair. He was taken prisoner on 18 June 1863 at Middleburg, Virginia, and held captive on Belle Isle in Richmond until he was finally exchanged in the fall of 1863 and returned to a hospital in Washington D. C.

In January 1864, the regiment was detached from the 1st Rhode Island Cavalry to form the 1st New Hampshire Cavalry and returned to New Hampshire to reorganize and reenlist as veterans but John did not join them. He mustered out of the regiment on 7 January 1864, just days after the last of these letters were written.

John was the son of Andrew S. Warner (1814-1876) and Olivia Tow Leavitt (1818-1877) of North Hampton, Rockingham county, New Hampshire. After the war he married (1869) Estella Warner (1845-1919) and in the 1870 US Census he was identified as a 27 year-old “carriage maker” in North Hampton. He was still there in 1880 working at the same trade and in 1900 he was identified as a “wheelwright.” He was still living there in 1910 employed as a “wagon manufacturer.”

Letter 1

New York
October 11th 1862

Dear Parents,

As we have a few spare moments, I will write a few lines to let you know where we are. We left Providence last week at 8:30 o’clock and went to Stonington in the cars and took the boat for here at 10:30. Arrived here at 7 this morning. We shall probably leave here this afternoon for Washington.

We got $325 bounty in Rhode Island. I have sent $290 to you by N. P. Gage. He will take out $10 for his trouble and some for our board &c. If he had not come on with us we should not have had time to sent it. If you want any of the money, use it. I thought that I had better wear my vest. Mt boots were not large enough and father had better wear them. Shall buy another pair.

We shall get #13 more today. I will write again soon and let you know where to direct your letters. Give my respects to all. From your soldier boy. — J. W. Warner

Letter 2

Camp Stoneman near Washington
October 30th 1863

Dear Parents,

As I have nothing else to do today, I will write you a few lines as I suppose you will be looking for a letter from me. It is about time for me to hear from you as I wrote last week. About all the news that I know of is that the Shapley’s arrived here yesterday. I had ben expecting them for some time and was very glad to see them again. Joshua Smith started for the front yesterday morning and I had just begun to feel lonesome when they came along. I don’t know as I am much better than when I wrote last, but am full as well. I hope the bottle of medicine which you sent will do me some good. I wish you would send another bottle by mail.

We can get anything of the kind except by going to Washington and it is about five miles to the city and it is difficult to get a pass to go there.

The weather is very pleasant most of the time but the nights are cold. I think every morning that I should like to be at home which I should get up and find a good, warm breakfast already cooked. I get more than I can eat but have to cook it.

If you can do a shirt up in a small roll so it will not cost too much, I wish you would send one by mail as soon as you can. Send a dark blue flannel one unless you have one of a different color all ready to send. Send a pair of stockings with it.

I believe that I have written out for today and will close. The Shapley’s send their respects. Give my respects to all and write soon to your affectionate son, — J. W. Warner

Letter 3

Camp Stoneman near Washington
November 23rd 1863

Dear Sister,

As I had such good luck as to get my box yesterday. I will write a few lines to you hoping that you will get them about Thursday forenoon. Everything in the box was in as good order as when packed. It came in good season for Thanksgiving but it is just as acceptable now as anytime. I hope that Joshua Smith will have as good luck in getting his. I expected that I should have to send to Washington after it but it was brought to the Provost Marshal’s office about a mile from here and one of my company who is driving team here brought it up for me.

The shirts and stockings are just what I wanted and fit well. The apples taste a great deal better than those which we buy here (two for 5 cents). I suppose it is because they came from home. I believe that I have tried a little of all the things except the loaf of cake which I have not cut yet. Last night I had a variety for supper and this morning I made a hash for breakfast which was quite a rarity for the army.

I shall have to write again in a few days after trying the rest of the contents and tell you how they agree with me. I have not got the letter with the receipt yet, and am in no particular hurry for it now.

We are having remarkably fine weather now. The nights are cool but the day is very mild and pleasant.

Another lot of cavalry is just starting for the front. They take about all but the sick ones this time. I am all the one now left of troop M. There are about twenty of the regiment here. I am as well as when I wrote last and I think a little better. There is no more news to write so I will close by bidding you good bye for the present.

From your brother, — J. W. Warner

Letter 4

Addressed to Mrs. Olivia R. Warner, North Hampton, New Hampshire

St. Elizabeth Hospital
Washington
January 4, 1864

Dear Mother,

Thinking that you may think it strange that father remains so long here, I will write a few lines and explain matters a little.

I should have got a furlough from the hospital that I have been in but the Governor of Rhode Island sent an order for all soldiers belonging to that State to be transferred to Portsmouth Grove Hospital in Rhode Island and I think that I can get a longer furlough from there. We were accordingly sent to this hospital to get transportation to Rhode Island. Father is here with me. He has been to see the Rhode Island State Agent today to find out when we were going. The Agent said that he would get us off as soon as he could have the requisite papers made out. It might take one day and it might take longer. So you see I am likely to get to Rhode Island if no near home. Father will remain and go with us.

I was agreeably surprised last Tuesday by seeing him coming into the hospital yard. At first I could hardly make up my mind that it was him, but I was soon satisfied. He could not have come in a better time for we shall get to Rhode Island a great deal sooner by his hurrying the thing up.

I am getting along well, onlyt I am in a hurry to start towards the North Pole.

We are having a snow storm today which is the first there has been here, although there has been some pretty cold weather. Father sometimes is afraid that the engine will get frozen up before he gets home. I will write no more now and close by bidding you goodbye till another day. Give my respects to all. From your affectionate son, — Jno. W. Warner

Don’t write for we shall not stay here long.

2nd Georgia Infantry Battalion, Battle of Shiloh, CSS Virginia

1862: Howard McCutchan to James Buchanan McCutchan

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Howard’s brother, James B. McCutchan of the 5th Virginia Infantry (Find-A-Grave)

The following letter was written by Howard McCutchan (1837-1864), the son of Addison, McCutchan (1805-1880) and Ann Kirkpatrick Buchanan (1811-1880) of Augusta county, Virginia, who enlisted as a private in mid-April 1861 in Co. D (the “Spalding Greys”), 2nd Georgia Infantry Battalion. He was soon elected 2nd Lieutenant of his company and was eventually promoted to 1st Lieutenant. He was apparently made an offer to reenlist that he couldn’t refuse for he was still with the regiment at Gettysburg where he was wounded in the second day’s action near the Codori House. A year later, at Staunton, he died of disease. His gravestone in Shemariah Church Cemetery in Middlebrook, Augusta County, Virginia, bears the inscription, “Died in defence of Southern rights, July 29, 1864, 28 years, 9 months, 22 days.”

Howard wrote the letter to his brother but does not identify him by name. It was most likely addressed to James Buchanan McCutchan (1839-1920) who was closest in age to Howard among the McCutchan children. James served as a sergeant in Co. D, 5th Virginia Infantry during the war.

Transcription

Camp Mason, Goldsboro, N. C.
April 12th, 1862

Dear Brother,

I suppose this will be the last letter I will write home before I get back to  Georgia. We expect to deliver up our muskets & cartridge boxes &c. tomorrow morning. We will start for Georgia on Monday evening at three o’clock if nothing happens to prevent and I don’t suppose they will be able to fix up a fight before that time. There is nothing at all said about an engagement at this place now. Three new regiments from Georgia have come in this week. Major Hardeman is colonel of one of them—the 45th, and Capt. [Robert A.] Smith (one  of our captains) is colonel of the 44th. Colonel Hardeman’s regiment arrived on Wednesday evening. He took us to town yesterday evening to drill us once more before we were disbanded.  The Major General [Theophilus] Holmes tried again to get us to re-enlist but our boys would not listen to  him. He is trying to get some of us to stay and drill his new regiments. Five or six of us sent up our names and asked him what pay he would give and what chance there was for promotion. If he makes a good offer, I will stay here & not, so to Georgia.

I suppose you have heard all about the great fight at Corinth.1 The last reports say General Buell of the Feds is killed and about 5,000 of them captured. We have not heard the particulars yet but will perhaps hear by this evening’s mail. It is said the Virginia 2 went out a few days since & captured 3 boats and schooners without firing a gun.

We have had bad weather this week and it has made a good many of our boys sick. I have been taking salts all week in broken doses to clean my blood. I have had boils coming out on my face and they have been very painful. They are well now but they have left very ugly scars. I am very sorry of it for I expected to court a Georgia lassie while at home. I intend either to marry or make acquaintance & marry before the war is over. I will try to write later a few lines in case there is any news this evening.

Sunday morning. Nothing new this morning. I was looking for a letter by yesterday evening’s mail but did not get any. There  was a report in camp last night stating that the Yankees were advancing on Kinston with 30,000 men and that the general had telegraphed to this place not to let a single man leave. It was only started I suppose to tease some of the boys who are very anxious to get home. Write soon. Direct to Griffin, Georgia. Remember me. Your affectionate brother — H. M.

1 Howard is referring to the Battle of Shiloh that took place on April 6-7, 1862.

2 The “Virginia” was the refurbished USS Merrimack turned into the ironclad CSS Virginia by the Confederates. Howard is referring to the following event: On April 11, the Confederate Navy sent Lieutenant Joseph Nicholson Barney, in command of the paddle side-wheeler CSS Jamestown, along with Virginia and five other ships in full view of the Union squadron, enticing them to fight. When it became clear that Union Navy ships were unwilling to fight, the CS Navy squadron moved in and captured three merchant ships, the brigs Marcus and Sabout and the schooner Catherine T. Dix. Their ensigns were then hoisted “Union-side down” to further taunt the Union Navy into a fight, as they were towed back to Norfolk, with the help of CSS Raleigh.

Mosby's Partisan Rangers

Youthful Daredevils

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The sixth-place ambrotype (reversed) of John Henry Thomas taken in 1862 while serving as 2nd Lieutenant in Co. C of the “Irish Battalion,” or the 1st Battalion Virginia Infantry (Regulars). Lt. Thomas wears his double breasted officer’s frock coat with gilded buttons and he holds his slouch hat adorned with an acorn braid hat cord on his lap. The tip of his leather revolver holster can be seen peeking out from underneath.
(W. Griffing Collection)

“Youthful daredevils who rode side-by-side,” is how noted author Jeffry Wirt referred to the young men who joined John S. Mosby’s partisan rangers from Fairfax, Fauquier, and Louden counties in Virginia. Nicknamed the “Gray Ghost” for his lightning quick raids and his ability to elude Union pursuit, Mosby came to operate with impunity in the aforementioned counties, harassing the rear of the Federal army in an area that came to be called “Mosby’s Confederacy.” His command—the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry—was not officially organized until the spring of 1863, but recruiting was never a problem. Young men from the counties whose family farms were being destroyed and ravished by Union forces, their homes occupied by Union officers, or their family members abused or disrespected were more than anxious to “join up” with Mosby who reported to no one but J. E. B. Stuart.

John’s father, Hon. Henry W. Thomas of Fairfax Court House, Va. (Library of Virginia)

One such volunteer was John Henry Thomas (1843-1888)—the son of Judge Henry Wirtz Thomas who represented Fairfax county in the State Legislature before the war and served the Confederacy as the Auditor of the State. His mother was Julia M. Jackson, the older sister of James William Jackson, the proprietor of the Marshall House in nearby Alexandria, who became instantly famous for killing Col. Elmer Ellsworth when the colonel removed the Confederate flag from the hotel’s rooftop flagpole in May 1861. Jackson was in turn immediately gunned down by Ellsworth’s men, his body bayonetted and trampled—the “first martyr to the cause of Southern Independence.”

A handsome young man standing 6 foot tall, with blue eyes and dark hair, John Henry was working as a clerk when the war began and did not initially enlist until 18 April 1862 as a private in Co. G (the “Hanover Light Dragoons”) of the famous “Black Horse” 4th Virginia Cavalry. Like most other young men with connections, however, he used his father’s influence to obtain a commission from the Governor as a 2nd Lt. in Co. C of the “Irish Battalion,” or the 1st Battalion Virginia Infantry (Regulars), and so he was not long in transferring into the infantry, his commission arriving in May 1862 while he was hospitalized at Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond suffering from diarrhea.

By the fall of 1862, with the Union’s demoralizing loss at the Battle of Second Bull Run and Chantilly, the Army of the Potomac took up permanent quarters around Fairfax Court House, making it the headquarters of Maj. General Franz Sigel’s XII Corps, and even establishing a military hospital in the Seminary. The occupation of his home town and the “house guests” in blue who frequented his father’s home looking for room and board no doubt wore on John like an itchy wool sweater. 

Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth’s frock coat showing the hole that John’s uncle—James Wm. Jackson—put in it at close range with his 12 Gauge double barrel shotgun on 24 May 1861. The New York State Military Museum.

Early in 1863, when Mosby began operating with squads of limited numbers, John’s muster records indicate that he was with his regiment still hunkered down south of the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg. In March and April, however, records shows him on detached service as the Provost Marshall at Beaver Dam, Virginia—his daytime job. At night, he began to hook up with Mosby’s rangers on raids behind enemy lines. Though Mosby had as many as 800 men who rode with him by the end of April, most of the time they operated only in small squads to escape detection. One such midnight raid in which John was known to have participated was the “Fairfax Court House Raid of March 9, 1863” resulting in the capture of Gen. Edwin H. Stoughton who was quartered in the Dr. William P. Gunnell House and other officers quartered in the residence of John’s father. The raid was summed up by William Alexander McCoy of Co. B, 1st West Virginia Cavalry in a letter dated on 13 March 1863 (published on Spared & Shared 22) which read:

“The rebels made quite a daring raid on Fairfax Court House a few nights ago. They took General Stoughton and a few other officers and 40 or 50 condemned horses. I suppose they thought that they were getting a fine lot of horses but I guess that they found out their mistake as soon it became daylight for they turned several of them loose and they came back. The horses on an average were worth about $2½ a piece. There was about 40 of the rebels. All of them had our uniforms on and by some way mysterious obtained the countersign and came almost through our camp, went to Fairfax, done all they wanted to, and then returned unmolested…They are called “Partisan Rangers.” They don’t receive any pay from the Confederacy. All the horses that they capture they sell at Richmond and this is the way that they get their pay. They will not fight anything like their own number. All they want to do is to capture horses and other articles from us that they can sell.”

From April 30 to August 31, 1863, whether John was present with his regiment was “not stated” in the muster rolls. It seems evident that he was not and on 5 October 1863, he “resigned his commission and joined Mosby’s command.” A letter addressed to Secretary of War James Sedden dated 28 August 1863 may be found in his military file requesting authority to raise a company of cavalry “to act within the lines of the enemy in conjunction with Major Mosby & under his command.” He went on to add that he was “well acquainted with the region of country in which he is acting & am confident that, with authority from you, I can raise a Company in a short time, having had assurances given me to that effect.” Such authority may have been necessary for Mosby to accept John officially into the Rangers as he was known to insist upon no deserters joining his outfit.

As a member of Mosby’s Partison Rangers, it understandably proves more difficult to track John’s movements and activities going forward but a book by Keen & Mewborn published in 1993 entitled “43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry” informs us that John was a 4th Sergeant in Co. A and that he officially joined the Rangers in the fall of 1863. He was known to be on the 14 November 1863 raid on a sutler’s wagon near Fairfax Court House and he was taken prisoner two days later and charged with plundering. The date of his exchange isn’t known. In July 1864 he participated in a raid on Point of Rocks, Maryland (see “Great Calico Raid”), and two days later at Mt. Zion Church. On October 9, 1864, he led a skirmish and captured dispatches at Ashby’s Gap. He officially surrendered on 9 May 1865 and “swallowed the yellow dog” (took oath) at Alexandria.

A letter embossed with the State of Virginia seal addressed to John H. Thomas, Mosby’s Command, Louden county, Va. hand carried during the war. [William J. Stier Collection]

John’s post-war activities are sketchy. He married Fannie Gwynn (1847-1907) and settled down in Fairfax county where he attempted to rebuild his life. The 1870 US Census identifies him as a farmer but what was left of the family farm is uncertain as a Freedman’s village and school was reportedly built on a portion of his father’s lands. By 1880 he had taken a job as a “mail agent on the Manassas branch of the Virginia Maryland railroad,” and had fathered three children—Alma M. Thomas, age 7, and twin girls Ruth and Ruby, age 3. He died eight years later in 1888 at the age of 45, his cause of death described curiously “as an illness of but three days” while visiting at his father’s home in Fairfax Court House. The one and only obituary notice I could find for him summed up his life with the phrase, “during the war he was a member of Mosby’s battalion.”

The back of the cased image with Alma’s note identifying the image as that of her father, John H. Thomas. The note is attached with brittle and yellowed tape.

The 6th-plate ambrotype image of John Henry Thomas is identified by a piece of paper taped to the outside of the case which reads, “John H. Thomas, son of Judge H. Thomas, Confederate 1st Lieut. under Stone Wall Jackson by his daughter Alma, Fairfax, Va.” The image was sold at auction in 1997 and has been in the personal collection of my friend Jean MacCallum until recently when she sold it to me. Jean gathered most of the background material on the Thomas family and together we confirmed that Alma was actually John’s daughter, had married Henry Cox Saffell in 1896, and that she lived in the District of Columbia until her death in 1966 at the age of 93. Her advanced age when she labeled this image may account for her confusion of Jeb Stuart with Stonewall Jackson but the other identifiers are unmistakable. 

Black & White Sailors, USS Release

1863: James A. Gifford to Elihu H. Gifford

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Black and White Sailors often served together working and living in tight quarters aboard US Navy vessels. This letter reveals it was not always in complete harmony.

The following letter was written by James A. Gifford (1843-1903), the son of Elihu H. Gifford (1809-1871) and Ann Tripp (1812-1877) of New Bedford, Bristol county, Massachusetts.

James wrote the letter to his parents while serving aboard the USS Release—a bark-rigged sailing vessel. During the period of time James was aboard the Release, she served as an ordnance storeship based at Beaufort, North Carolina, for ships blockading the southern coast from Wilmington, NC, to Norfolk, Va. According to the Veteran’s Records, James entered the US Navy in August 1863 and was discharged in November 1865. There are 38 of Gifford’s letters that have been archived in the Wilson Special Collections Library at the University of North Carolina. They have been digitized and are available on the web at James Gifford Papers, 1863-1865. The collection has been summarized as follows:

This collection consists of 38 letters that James Gifford, who apparently joined the United States Navy in September 1863, wrote to his parents in New Bedford, Mass., while he was aboard the United States Bark Release anchored off Beaufort, N.C. All of the letters are addressed to his father Elihu H. Gifford 39 Smith Street and begin “Dear Parents.”

Letters from 1863 provide little information about Gifford’s naval responsibilities and say little about what he did in civilian life. At the time these letters were written, Gifford was apparently working as an assistant to the ship’s doctor, who was, according to Gifford, a very unpopular character among the ship’s crew. In early 1864, Gifford became paymaster steward, a position that gave him access to information about the prices and availability of goods both on board ship and on land. Many of the letters describe how far Gifford’s salary could be stretched relative to prices that fluctuated considerably. In the same vein, there is much talk about Gifford’s sending lengths of fabric to his parents and their returning finished articles of clothing to him. There is also considerable traffic in local newspapers and other reading matter requested by Gifford, who, until late 1864, seems to have had a great deal of time on his hands.

While the letters contain a good deal of personal griping, in almost every letter, Gifford also reported on events of larger significance that were taking shape all around him. In many of his letters, he wrote of troop and ship movements and the pursuit and capture of blockade runners. He also reported rumors of Union victories in Kinston, N.C., and Goldsboro, N.C. (12 March 1864); the burning of the Cape Lookout Light (3 April 1864) and of Washington, N.C. (2 May 1864); the outbreak of yellow fever in Beaufort and New Bern (September-October 1864); and the assembling in Beaufort of a large fleet in preparation for an attack on Wilmington, N.C.

During the period in which these letters were written, Gifford appears to have had few occasions to leave the Release. Aside from infrequent shore leaves, he made one journey home in September 1864 (21 September 1864) and two training missions with the paymaster of the steamship Lillian.

Coverage of Gifford’s activities and the news he reports may appear to be spotty. One of the reasons for this is that mail delivery was not reliable, a fact bemoaned frequently by Gifford in these letters, especially when a long awaited item never arrives because the request was never received in New Bedford.

Transcription

Addressed to Mr. Elihu H. Gifford, New Bedford, Mass.

U. S. Bark Release
December 13th 1863

Dear Parents,

Not having a chance to write all I wanted to yesterday when the doctor started, I will finish today. Day before yesterday I received six or seven papers from you and yesterday one letter from you and one from Sue. Also three more papers (two daily papers and one weekly). I am now chief cook and bottle washer since the doctor has gone. I say it is good riddance to bad rubbish and the longer he stays away, the better I will like it.

Since my last letter there has been one prize taken. When chased she was loaded with cotton but it got a fire some way and when she came in here, all the wood work was burnt off of her. She was a new steamer and built about two months (Iron). They have run her aground and will take out her engine.

Night before last we had quite an exciting time on board of the vessel. Some of the crew got drunk and made some disturbance. We had a regular nigger riot. My darkey got rapped over the head once or twice with a belaying pin and he came on deck yelling. Another nigger got kicked about some and had his clothes hove overboard. They (our officers) proceeded to put some of the men in irons which some resisted in having on and they had quite a scrape with them for a few minutes. The officers armed themselves with revolvers and drove the men into the forecastle by pointing the pistols at the mens heads which they put the irons on. We have had three men in double irons ever since and feed them on bread and water. The most laughable part of it was that the doctor was pretty scared and bucked on his sword to defend himself with.

A belaying pin from 19th Century Sailing Vessel used to secure lines of running rigging

It has been quite warm for the last two days. We had quite a blow last night with considerable rain. This morning the breakers on the beach are making a loud noise.

I have had one letter from Charlie Price since I went up to Newbern. What do you think of my drawing some flannel. It is best or not at 72 cents a yard? Is there any prospect of its rising? Please see what it is in New Bedford.

I see Wilcox has some trouble in launching his new vessel by what I see in the papers. I can’t think of any more to write about at present and I will close. If you see Josiah, tell him to write when he gets settled anywhere.

All for the present, from Jim

27th Connecticut Infantry

1863: George S. Hill to Lucy Maria Hill

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I could not find an image of George but here is one of Frank Alling of Co. H, 27th Connecticut Infantry
(Al & Claudia Niemiec Collection)

The following letter was written by George S. Hill (1841-1863), the son of Abram G. Hill and Roxanna Field (1800-1875) of Madison, New Haven county, Connecticut. He wrote the letter to his sister, Lucy Maria Hill (1860-1865).

George S. Hill was mustered into Co. I, 27th Connecticut Infantry in October 1862. The were attached to the Second Corps of the Army of the Potomac at Fredericksburg Chancellorsville. George was wounded on 13 December 1862 at the Battle of Fredericksburg. And he was taken prisoner on 3 May 1863 during the Battle of Chancellorsville when 8 of ten companies were captured in a desperate rear guard action. George was paroled less than two weeks later, apparently suffering from illness however. He died of disease at Annapolis, Maryland, on 14 June 1863.

Transcription

Camp near Falmouth
April 7, 1863

Dear Sister,

I now sit down to write to you to let you know that instead of  being sick, I am well and hope these few lines will find you the same. I wrote a letter to Roxanna—if she has got it—and I wrote that I had been sick with the jaundice. I was sick about a week and was excused by the doctor from duty but I have got over them now and I feel as well now, if not better, than I have anytime since I left home. My appetite is good. I eat potatoes and onions and we draw good, nice bread, and we live very good now.

I will now write to you something of a soldier’s life. The hardest [thing] we have to do now is going out on picket. I went out on picket last Saturday morning and came in on Sunday. It was a tough time. It began  to snow and rain just about sundown and continued to storm till the next day noon. Now, George D. Bailey, [during] the next cold snow and rain storm you have—if you have any in Old Connecticut for I do believe it is colder here than it is up there—you just go out in the lot and sit down on the ground or on a stone. We have to sit down on the ground if we sit down at all, for there is not many stones to be found out here, so we have to seat ourselves right down on the ground or else stand up. You just try it and you will know something what a soldier’s life is. It is all very fine though it is all to save the glorious Union.

Now, if it was for the Union, I would not say any words. But it is not. It is for the cursed niggers. A white man is a slave now and the niggers play gentlemen. Our Captain has got a nigger to wait on his ass and he [the Negro] gets mad at the boys sometimes and calls them sons of bitches. If he should ever call me a son of a bitch, there would be one the less nigger to fight for. I don’t think I would quite kill him, but I would hurt him so he would not live long.

You wrote to have me get a furlough for 60 days. My time will be up by that time or very close and I could not get a sick furlough if I should try for I am well and do duty everyday. I wish I could  get a furlough for 60 days. It would please me very much. But when I come home, it will be a furlough for more than 60 days. If I live till the 15th of June or 3rd of July, I shall see Old Madison once more. That won’t be long to wait. I want to give you to understand that I am well and can write my own letters and I will write to you oftener. I do not think of any more to write now and it is getting late and I must close my letter so good night. Give the children each a kiss for me. I send my love to all you.

This from your affectionate brother, — George S. Hill,  Falmouth, Virginia