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.
The following letters were written by Hosea B. Williams (1841-1864) who served in Co. C, 3rd Vermont Infantry. He enlisted on 16 July 1861 and was killed in the fighting at Spotsylvania Court House on 12 May 1864. Hosea wrote the letters to his mother, Olivia, in Concord, Vermont. The first letter was found in Hosea’s Pension File in Washington D. C.; the second letter is in private hands.
Hosea’s second letter refers to “bosom pins” that he opted to send home for safekeeping. Unfortunately he was no more specific as to the nature of these pins, but promised one to each of two older brothers, Hiram (b. 1836) and William (b. 1837), if he did not return home from the war.
Letter 1
Camp near Herson [Harrison] Landing August 1, 1862
Dear Mother,
I received your letter and I was very glad to hear that you were as you were. I am well and I hope that these few lines will find you the same. Dan is well and he is a going to write a few lines to Father.
We have not had a battle since the Battle of Malvern Hill till last night the rebels drawed up some artillery and began to shell our troops but they were sorry that they ever come down there for we drawed out our siege guns and gunboats and give them hell to hteir own satisfaction so they left the ground. But it was a noisy time, I tell you.
Now I want you to write to me often as you can. You tell William to write and Hiram too. I have not much to write now. I want you to write whether John Morse has paid that money to your or not. I have got two hundred dollars in the State Treasury and I have put it so that you can draw it if I should be killed here for I stand a fair chance to be killed every day or so far it is shell and shot all the time. But Iam happy as a clam in deep water, Write to me often as you can. — Hosea B. Williams, Co. C, 3rd Vermont Volunteer Militia, Washington D. C.
I will send you a paper that [shows] where we fought the rebels at Savage Station and the battle elsewhere too on the retreat.
Letter 2
Patriotic stationery used in Hosea’s Letter
Camp at Waterloo, [Fauquier Co.] Virginia August 10, 1863
Dear Mother,
I now take this time to write you a few lines to let you know that I have got your letter and was very glad to hear that you were well. I am well and hope that these few lines will find you the same. I got your letter this morning and was glad to think that check had gone alright. I shall send a lot of money soon and you can take care of it for me better than I can for I am in a hard place to let money in the State Treasury and I am a going to draw it out and send it to you to take care of for me. And if you want any of this money to help you along, take it as I send it and I want you to get me a pair of boots made and then when I send to to send them, they will be ready. I want Patent No. 9 so you can get them alright.
There is no signs of a move for the present time. Have you seen Charles Mabury since he went home? Write when you hear from William and tell me where he is. As I wrote to Hiram a day or two ago, I shall not write so much to you this time. So goodbye for this time. This is from your son, — Hosea B. Williams
I am a going to send my Bosom Pins to you to keep for me till I get home and then I can wear them so you take care of them for me and if I am killed, give one to Hiram and the other to William. That is all I have to say now.
The following letter was written by Henry Lauren Lane of Plymouth, Connecticut, who enlisted in February 1862 as a private in Co. H, 13th Connecticut Infantry. He died of chronic diarrhea while in the service on 5 May 1863 at New Orleans.
Letterhead of patriotic stationery featuring lithograph of Maj. Gen. McClellan
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
New Haven [Connecticut] March 12th [1862]
Dear Father & Mother,
I now take my pen to let you know how I am getting along. I am not very well at this present time. We are going tomorrow night or next day. We are talking of going [to] New London to stay a while. I want you to [write] as soon as you hear from me again and let me know if you got the money I sent you. Write as soon as you hear from me. Yours, — Henry Lane
Direct your letter to Henry L. Lane, Co. H, 13th Regiment, Conn. Vols. To the care of Capt. [Homer Baxter] Sprague, Co. H.
There has been an allotment roll to send money home. I shall send you 8 dollars a month home to you or a draft. You must sign your name, name of place, and you can get the money. Yours, Henry L. Lane
These letters were written by David Wakefield Haight (1841-1906), the son of Joel Albert Haight (1810-1886) and Rebecca Anne Stewart (1821-1859). David was married in March 1864 to Judy Minerva Horton (1845-1925) and their first child—the baby mentioned in this letter—was Ethel M. G. Haight (1865-1869).
David enlisted as a private in Co. E, 57th Pennsylvania Infantry on 28 July 1864. He was later transferred to Co. K and was mustered out of the service on 29 June 1865. Prior to serving in the 57th Pennsylvania, David served in Co. D, 2nd Battalion Pennsylvania Infantry. It’s noted that his headstone in the Clarington Methodist Cemetery spells his name “Hait.”
Letter 1
Addressed to Mrs Judy M. Haight, Clarington Pt. Forest county, Pennsylvania
Camp of the 57th [Pennsylvania] Near Burke’s Station April 24, 1865
My dear wife,
It is with love and pleasure that I seat myself to write you a few lines to let you know that I am well, hoping that these few lines may find you the same.
It has been one month today since we broke camp and I never had better health in my life although we had some very hard marching and fighting. There was one day that we marched about twelve miles in line of battle and we charged about every half mile till we got them in a tight place and then they stood and tried to fight us but they run from the skirmish line before the line of battle got up. I was in the skirmish line that day and it was fun to see the rebels run. They run and fired back till we took about five hundred prisoners and two hundred wagons and five pieces of artillery and about seven hundred mules and horses. I [think] that the fighting is pretty near done now. If Sherman gets Johnston and his army, the fighting will be done and I will get back to you again in about six months.
This is the third letter that I have wrote since we have been in this camp and have received one and I got one from Ren Haight and he is well. And I got one from George this morning and he is getting along fast. He thinks that he will be back to the company in two or three weeks. Hiram is well.
Well, Judy, I wish that I could get home to see you and the baby. I think about you all the time. I wish you would send me your picture in your next letter. Give my best respects to all the friends and tell them that I would like to hear from some of them. So I guess that I must close for this time. Tell me in your next letter if Andy went to the army and here he is.
So goodbye. Write soon. From your husband, — David Haight
To his wife, Judy M. Haight
The reverse side of the envelope says, “Rebel envelope captured near Burksville in the Reb train.”
Letter 2
Washington D. C. June 22, 1865
Dearest Wife & Companion & Love,
It is with pleasure that I seat myself to write you a few [lines] to let you know that I am still alive, hoping that you are enjoying good health. I have had a pretty hard time with the diarrhea till I got very poor. But I am getting well now and feel strong again. The weather is very hot now and the sun send her scorching rays down the near way. Robert went to wash this morning and was alone and I thought that I would write to pass time as the time passes very slowly. One day seems like four when we was after Old Lee. I think that if I was at home with you that the days would pass more natural and I could content myself better.
I expect that we will have to stay till fall if not longer but I would like to get home out of the God damned thing. I would write oftener but I have no stamps. you never told me whether you got that song ballad [on] the Weldon Raid so I have but little write this time and I don’t get a letter from you more than one a month. So I must close till after drill.
Well, we have got done drilling and had some dinner and a good shower of rain and I have got commenced to write again. The showers cooled the air off some. I have very good times here now. They are still mustering out some regiments but we still have to stay. I don’t see why they don’t discharge the drafted men but they are holding on to us yet and damn them, they will I guess.
If you write and let e know where Samuel is, I will go and see him if I can. I want you to give me all the news that is flying up there. So I guess I have wrote all the news. So goodbye. Write soon. — David Haight
To his sweet wife, Mrs. Judy Haight
Company E, 57th Regt. P. V. V. , Washington D. C.
I want you to tell me how Amanda is getting along and the rest of them may go to hell if they don’t think enough of me to write. I have wrote two or three times to them and got no answer.
This letter was penned by Nathan Dresher (1815-1900), the son of Phillip Dresher (1785-1828) and Anna Trexler (1791-1855). He was married to Mary Elizabeth Zeller (1819-1908) and had two children—Daniel Dresher (1843-1868) and Anna D. Dresher (1845-1927). Nathan was born in Longswamp township, Berks county. He attended school at Doylestown and the Allentown Academy. He was proficient in music and a violinist. After his father died, the family moved to Allentown where Nathan went into the lumber business with various partners through the years. He retired from the business in 1860 and lived comfortably off his real estate holdings. His wife was the daughter of Rev. Daniel Zeller. Nathan was a staunch Republican.
The letter was datelined from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where 46 year-old Nathan and his 18 year-old son Daniel were apparently sightseeing as nothing in the letter suggests that they were conducting business there and Nathan was in early retirement.
The Dresher Home in Allentown, Pennsylvania
The Martin House, or sometimes referred to as the Dresher-Martin Mansion was a home built at 902 Hamilton Street., the southwest corner of Hamilton and Ninth Street. The home was originally owned by Nathan Dresher, a prominent citizen of early Allentown and a successful lumber dealer. The Dresher family moved to Allentown from Berks Country in 1837 and shortly afterwards opened the lumber buisness. The origional home was built sometime after that on a large lot at It consisted of a three story gable roof brick home with front marble trim, arched doorway, high marble steps and stoop. It also had solid white window shutters on the first floor and green shutters with moveable slats on the upper stories. Along with the home was a wooden smokehouse at the rear of the property for preparing meat, and a washhouse with heated bathrubs and clothes washing facilities. In 1870/71, the home was expanded by Nathan Dresher for his daughter Anna Dresher and her husband Dr. Henry Martin. Dr Martin had been a surgeon for the Union Army during the Civil War. The addition consisted of a large 3-story section in the rear along South Ninth Street. This expanded the home to a a 20-room mansion. The home included a walnut staircase, eight marble fireplace mantles and a large library. The estate also had a glass greenhouse in a large yard. The block between Ninth and Tenth streets, between Hamilton and south to Walnut at the time was the home of Allentown’s lumber and building buisnesses. To the west was a large lumber yard of Edwin and Jonas Trexler, the father and uncle of later General Harry C. Trexler. The Trexlers were in buisness with the Dresher family at the time the home was expanded in 1870.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Lancaster City May 17, 1861
Dear wife and dear Annie,
I have written to you at York which I suppose you have received by this time. I stated to you how we fared along our journey and also what accommodation we received at York. We stopped at a place—a good house, so called, at York, but a poor one for Allentownians. Miserable table & beds. The beds were not clean. Daniel had homemade linen for a sheet, unbleached pillow case of the coarsest kind. I gave him the best of the two beds. I only had a corn husk mattress and bed sheet tow linen. The table common. We made out to satisfy our hunger but Daniel takes it first rate. He finds out what home is.
We had intended to leave in the morning train for this place but missed the train. We were two minutes too late so we had to return to our hotel and remain in York until 11.30 o’clock. We were on the camp ground this morning and enjoyed ourselves very much in seeing the different regiments to drill. They make a fine appearance. They drilled on the commence [common] in the upper end of the town. It was a fine sight to look at. Gives one an idea of war. We started for this place, came through a fine country, crossed the Susquehanna at Columbia which is about a mile broad. Columbia is a small town but much larger than Kutztown. Then came along the valley to this place.
We stopped at Michael’s Hotel 1 in the heart of the city—a first class hotel. Fine people, everything nice & clean. A number one table. Dan does ample justice to his stomach. We have a fine bed room heated by a kind of stove. It is quite comfortable. It pleased Dan very much. He changed clothes for the first time since we left. He looks quite clean, only sunburned almost as black as a soldier.
We hired a horse and carriage and rode through the whole city, out to Wheatland2, Camp, Cotton factories 3, Jail 4, Poor house, Reservoir, and all the fine residences. It is a fine place, splendid buildings, and the prettiest country I ever beheld. It beats Allentown & Lehigh county all hollow.
In the morning will start for Chester or Philadelphia, don’t know which. Will let you know. We are well. Hope you enjoy the same blessing. Your affectionate husband, — Nathan Dresher
We did not go in the poor house.
North Queen Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
1 Michael’s Hotel was the establishment of John Michael. It stood at 17 North Queen Street in Lancaster, Pa.The name was later changed to the American House, and then again to “The Grape.”Michael’s Hotel sign had grapes on it, hence the name.
2 Wheatland was the home of James Buchanan.
3 In 1860, Lancaster, PA, was home to the Conestoga Steam Mills, a significant industrial complex that was the county’s first steam-powered cotton mill, established in the mid-1840s. The city also had other mills, including the Baumgardner’s Mill, though the primary source of cotton in the region around 1860 was centered at the Conestoga Steam Mills, which became the city’s largest industry and employer by the 1880s.
4 The Lancaster County Prison was built in the 1850s and designed to resemble a medieval castle to instill public confidence in its security.
The following letter was written by John W. McCleary who enlisted in the fall of 1861 as First Sergeant in the 4th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant some six weeks after this letter was written and remained with the battery until early March 1863 when he resigned. At the time the letter was written on 2 February 1862, the 4th Indiana Battery occupied the heights above the Green river at Munfordville, Kentucky—an elevation which commanded the important bridge over the river. They would later join the march to Nashville and lay siege to Corinth. McCleary was presumably with the regiment in the battles of Perryville (Chaplin Hills) and Stones River before he resigned.
The battery was commanded by Capt. Asahel Kidder Bush and was sometimes referred to as “Bush’s Battery.” Bush proudly boasted that, “No Battery in the field stands higher in the estimation of those who have witnessed its part in the Battle of ‘Chaplin Hills’ and ‘Stones River’ than this.”
[Note: This letter is from the private collection of Greg Herr and was made available for transcription and publication on Spared & Shared by express consent.]
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Addressed to Miss Hattie Sering, Care John G. Sering, Esq., Madison, Jefferson county, Indiana
Advance Division Camp Wood [near Munfordville, Kentucky] February 2, 1862
Dear Hattie,
I suppose you have been looking for a letter from me for some time and now I am determined you shall not be disappointed and I presume Mother will want to hear from me also. I am getting along admirably, the weather to the contrary notwithstanding. It was raining here during the whole month of January. We did not have but two sunshiny days and at no time has the ground been dry since the 1st of January. It has been raining every day since this month set in. Tonight it is raining hard. Still it does not discommode us soldiers much as most of the regiments have been receiving the new Sibley tents. Of course this weather comes very hard on the infantry who have to go out on picket duty but we—that is, the artillery—do not have any of that duty save around our own park. As for myself, I do not have to do any guard duty—only to detail the guard every morning and sometimes I act officer of the day in the absence of the commissioned officers.
I am now acting 2nd Lieutenant in place of one of the lieutenants having been under arrest for drunkenness. He is to be court martialed and no doubt he will be cashiered. Consequently he will be broke of his commission. I have not seen Ruf since i wrote to you last. I did not know until today that his Regiment was camped so near to us, or I should have been over to see him. The 6th [Indiana] Regiment is within a stone’s throw of our camp. Their baker bakes the bread for our company so we have fresh bread every day. I get plenty to eat and drink and on the whole I must say I have enjoyed myself very much during my enlistment so far.
I wish you could see this camp with its thousands of tents at night when the lights are all burning in their tents. It looks like a large city—as large as Cincinnati and New York put together. The camp is situated on rolling ground and from the mound on which our company is situated you can see all over the camp. We are situated on the left of Green river bridge and our guns command the approach to it for miles around. We are situated upon a high bluff on the river bank and some 300 feet high above the river and the bank is so steep that neither man no beast could approach us from the river front.
The Chief of Artillery is building a fort for our guns. Besides the guns we have now, there is to be placed behind it a number of heavy siege guns. We are afraid that when this Division moves that our company will be left behind to protect the bridge and in case the army should have to fall back on this point, to be ready to assist them. We are anxious to move on with this Division when the advance is made for I have no idea we will ever have a chance to shoot at the rebels should we remain here. Still this point has to be protected for should the rebels get hold of this place, it would be of great importance to them for this is the grand depot for the Department of the Ohio. Large warehouses have been built here to hold the provisions, camp equipage, &c. &c. for this army. If you could but see the piles of ammunition, ordnance, and quartermaster’s stores here, you would think they could not be used up in ten years.
The flag of truce with the remains of Gen. Zollicoffer and Lt. Peyton left here a day or two ago. It was under escort of our generals and Chief of Artillery adnd 25 cavalry. As they approached Cave City, they discovered several of the rebel cavalry at a distance who, not discovering the flag, run off in double quick time. 1
There was a slight skirmish today between some of our pickets and the rebel pickets. One of our men was shot. I did not learn any other particulars.
I suppose you heard of the fight [Battle of Rowlett’s Station] a part of the Willit’s [Willich’s] men had with the rebels and that Willit [Col. August Willich] had 11 men killed. He had them buried in a beautiful spot on a mound and he has put a nice fence all around the lot and erected a monument to their memory from a rock taken from the battlefield. 2, 3
We are looking anxiously for the pay master again. I think he will be along in a few days. Tell Lillie has got a little nigger to wait on him and that he is going to bring him home to wait on her. I hope she still likes to go to school as well as she did when I last heard from her. I want her to learn to write so she can write me a letter before I come home. Tell her to go to school everyday. I expect Ruthy has got to be quite smart by this time. Tell Lillie she must look out that Ruth don’t beat her and write to Uncle John first. Tell Horace to write to me. I should be glad to receive a letter from him. Tell Mother she must not wait for me to write but write whenever she has a chance if it is but a few lines. I suppose Pa has not gone a soldiering yet. Tell him if he can raise about 40 men, I will guarantee him a lieutenancy in this company which pays 10 dollars a month more than the infantry, or even 20 men would do. I think he would like the artillery as we can stand off so far from the enemy and then again fight from behind earth works so should we see a ball a coming, we can dodge behind the fortifications.
Well, I must begin to wind up as it is too late for me to write any more. Give my love to ma, Aunt Eunice, Lillie, Ruth, and accept an armful for yourself. from your uncle, — John
1 “The bodies of Gen. Zollicoffer and Peyton reached this point, per Railroad, on the 30th, encased in splendid coffins, labeled and directed to the care of Gen. McCook, for the same to forward under an escort of flag of truce to some place. Early on the morning of the 31st two ambulances, with four horses attached to each, moved from headquarters with the mortal remains of Zollicoffer and Peyton. The procession was headed by Gens. Johnson and Negley, of this division of the army, with a host of Colonels and Orderlies of the two staffs, and one of Frank Leslie’s artists. Then followed the ambulances, and in the rear twenty-five of Graham’s Cavalry, your humble servant one of the number. We crossed Green River in safety on the pontoon bridge, took the Glasgow road as far as Horse Cave, a small village, situated on the Railroad, which has lost most of its houses by the lighted torch of the infuriated “secesh,” who have to let go and give back as our army increases or advances. This place is noted for the great cave here, from which it derives its name. We had no opportunity to examine the cave only as we passed by near its mouth-we could see far into it. From this point we turned to our left, and took the Louisville and Nashville pike-a good road-but every place where timber has stood upon its borders it has been felled across it to obstruct our march.” [Letter in the Indianapolis Daily Journal, 6 February 1862, by Pvt. Mastin Dashiell, 3rd Indiana Cavalry.]
3 “As a final tribute to the slain patriots, Private Adolph Bloettner of Company F chose a piece of local limestone and sculpted a beautiful monument in their honor. Bloettner carved an eagle with outstretched wings in relief on the top of the marker, adorning the face of the stone with cannon, American flags, an oak sprig and an olive branch. Names of the dead and their birth dates were inscribed on the tablet along with an inscription in German that translated into English reads: “Here rest the first martyrs of the Thirty-second, the first German regiment of Indiana. They were fighting nobly in defense of the free Constitution of the United States of America. They fell on the 17th day of December, 1861, in the battle at Rowlett’s Station, in which one regiment of Texas rangers, two regiments of infantry, and six pieces of artillery, in all over three thousand men, were defeated by five hundred German soldiers.” The stone survives as the oldest Civil War memorial marker.” [Source: Battle of Rowlett’s Station, KY by David T. Dixon, Emerging Civil War, 17 December 2021]
The following letter was penned by a hospital nurse, identified solely as “E. B. Butler,” likely a fellow soldier who had fallen ill or was wounded and spent considerable time at the hospitals in Murfreesboro and Chattanooga, where he formed an acquaintance with Festus G. Tylee of Co. C, 125th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI). Festus endured several months of hospitalization in Murfreesboro during the autumn of 1863 due to a severe inflammation in his leg. He subsequently rejoined his regiment in 1864; however, this letter reveals that he succumbed to dysentery, which necessitated his admission to the hospital at Chattanooga for treatment. Unfortunately, he was too gravely affected to regain his health and quickly passed away after his admittance.
Festus and his wife had only one child names Lyman E. Tylee, born 7 October 1859 at Lafayette, Medina county, Ohio. Harriet was remarried in 1869 to Charles A. Goodwin, 26 years her senior.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Addressed to Mrs. Harriet N. Tylee, Poe P. O., Medina county, Ohio
Hospital No. 2 Chattanooga, Tennessee August 27, 1864
Mrs. Harriet N. Tylee Dear friend,
It has become my duty to convey to you the painful news of the death of your husband. I knew him in hospital at Murfreesboro and also at this place, and when I heard that he was brought back from the front sick, went immediately to see him. I knew him to be a faithful and devoted nurse when discharging his duties at the bedside of his fellow soldiers and felt interested to know that he was well cared for. So I got a soldier friend to stay by him and watch over him all the time after I knew of his sickness.
List of Interments clipped from newspaper
He was brought here on Sunday the 21st and died Friday morning at 4 o’clock. His disease [was] dysentery. He did not seem to suffer so very severely and at the last dropped away very easily and quietly. I do not think he realized that he would die so soon although he told the young man the night before he died that he should not get well and thanked him for his kindness to him.
I would gladly offer to you some comforting word but nobody can describe your loss and I feel that anything that I could say to you would be to you as idle talk. He now lies in a soldier’s grave in the National Cemetery. I should say that he died at No. 1 Hospital.
Yours very truly, — E. B. Butler
P. S. Sign the enclosed receipt and return to Hospital No. 1 for his effects.
Personal effects included a pocket book [with] 15 cents, knapsack, shirt, socks, Bible, Ambrotype.
The following letters were written by Festus Giddings Tylee (1834-1864), the son of Samuel Tylee (179801875) and Harriet Giddings (1805-1860) of Hubbard, Trumbull county, Ohio. Festus was married to Harriet Muriel Downing in 1858 and was farming in Poe, Medina county, Ohio, at the time of his enlistment in Co. C, 125th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI) in October 1862. He did not survive the war. He died of disease on 25 August 1864 at a Chattanooga Hospital.
Festus composed all three of these letters to his wife during his convalescence in a hospital located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where he was treated for a condition that resulted in significant swelling and severe pain in his leg. He remained there for several months in the autumn of 1863, serving as a nurse, which led to his absence from the combat at Chickamauga and the ensuing engagements around Chattanooga later that year.
Marriage Certificate of Festus G. Tylee and Harriet M. Downing, dated 19 January 1858 in Medina county, Ohio
Letter 1
Addressed to Mrs. Harriet Tylee, Poe, Medina county, Ohio
Murfreesboro, Tennessee September 14, 1863
My dear companion,
I received a letter from you and Daniel today and glad to hear from you both. I got such a good letter from brother Daniel. I shall answer it immediately. I am gaining slowly but am not well yet. My back is weak and my left leg is swelled up yet. Some say it will not get well for a long time but I am in hopes it will. It is some like Thomas Heath’s. It is very weak in the ankle joint. It had been over two months since it first swelled up but the swelling has gone down some. I was swelled clear to the thigh at first and was very painful. I don’t know whether I told you anything about it or not. I can’t remember from one week to another what I do write hardly but my dear Hat, I do not intend to deceive you in anything.
The first letter I wrote to you I could not think what I wanted to write. You spoke about me laying on my back so long and not being changed nor taken care of. But you are mistaken. I was changed twice a week and my nurse was good and kind to me but he had 16 to tend to and it kept him pretty busy. He failed to see my sore but i never asked him for anything but he would run and do whatever I wanted. He said he would rather tend a docsin like me that one like some he had to send for I would take anything he brought to me and never grumble at anything. I think I had good care to go through what I did. I know that I have had the best of care since I came to myself and what I have seen take care of others.
There was a man came here that was just like I was and he was changed every two days and was washed with a sponge so you see that I know I had good care. Because I did not write it to you, you must not think I tried to deceive you because I did not. When I am writing, I want to write so much that I can’t think of it all at once but I hope I have given you a full detail of my sickness. You need not look for me home this fall for they don’t give sick men furloughs if they think he will get well. But wounded men will get furloughs. The surgeon in charge received a letter from Governor [David] Tod but he said that I was doing so well that he thought best to keep me here. I have the best of care here and they won’t let me go to my regiment till I am well. You and Daniel wrote about a murder in Medina. I want you to write me all the particulars about it—who was murdered and where. I never heard anything about it…
I wrote you a letter this week with twenty dollars in it. You must write and let me know whether you get it or not. I shall send you as much more when I hear from that. How does your corn so and the cows? I must know all the particulars you know. How is my little heiffer looking and how do you expect to get along with her when she come in? You must be careful and not get hurt with her. Take care of yourself and Jenia and mother tell her I should like to see her but it is otherwise ordered. But I hope and pray for the best. I think of you often but I shall not worry. They tell me I am the most contented of any of them and that is the reason I get along so well. My love to all. From your husband, — Fet
Letter 2
Murfreesboro, Tennessee October 25, 1863
My dear companion,
I received your letter of 14th last Friday. I was a little disappointed to hear that my box could not come but I shall be contented as it is. You done the best you could, I am sorry to put you to so much trouble for nothing. I shall not try to have one sent now for it is too much for you to do. If we had a horse of our own it would be different and then you live so far from the station that it is too hard for a woman to go so far. you must not worry about me for I shall get along first rate. I should liked to have had that box come through for there was several things that I wanted such as the paper and envelopes and the tobacco, besides the other things that is too numerous to mention. I think you had a very nice box full for me if it had come but you must not feel bad about it for it is no account anyway. Maybe I will come home some day and then we can take comfort together and that will be better than sending me a box.
I hope this terrible war will close before long so that the soldiers can go home and see their families and take comfort. It seems that it was so ordered that we should be separated. I can lay here and think over the many happy days and years that we enjoyed together but we are separated now and it makes me think of the past, But if God wills it, we will meet again and then we can take comfort again and I hope we shall.
I have written to Sam some time ago but have not heard any answer yet. I do not know what is the reason for the last time I wrote to him he answered it right off. I have written to Nat and I hope to get a letter from her before long. I have not got an answer from brother Nichols. He had better write to me, you can tell him, or I will have a settlement to make with him. I saw Mono Bushon yesterday. His regiment left here yesterday. He said he would write to me when they halted. He is as fat and chubby as ever. It does me good to see anyone that I was acquainted with and I like to hear from those that are at home. You know I like to get letters from your own experience and good long ones too. I have several letters do me from friends and I am waiting with patience to get them. I have not heard from the regiment for a long time. Communication has been cut off and we cannot write to the regiment so I do not know how they got along in the fight [at Chickamauga]. If you can get hold of a paper that has an account of the battle with our regiment in, I wish you would send it to me for I should like tp know how they got along.
The Chaplain of the 124th Regiment preached here last Sabbath. He preached a good sermon. I asked him if he knew anything about the regiment and he said that they was in the fight and lost two captains and a good many men. The Colonel of the 124th was wounded and several of the officers. I do not know who is going to preach today but we expect to have preaching at two o’clock. We have a first rate Chaplain here. He went out as a private in the 49th Pennsylvania Regiment and was promoted to Corporal and after that they sent him a Chaplain’s commission. He is a good preacher and tends to his business.
There is not much news to write about. I want you to write me a good long letter and give all the particulars. How is all those newcomers getting along? When did you hear from Morgan’s folks last? When you see them again, give my love to them. How I should like to get home and visit my old friends. I could take comfort this winter if I was at home but here I lie some six hundred miles from home and no telling when I shall get home. You must do the best you can and if I ever get home and have any health, I will take better care of you. It seems hard to me to think how you have to do but I can’t help it now. I don’t see how you can take care of three cows this winter and do all the rest that has to be done. Be careful of yourself and health and take good care of my boy for I think a great deal of him. I have been showing his picture to the boys and they say he is a pretty smart looking boy. You must kiss him for me and have him kiss you for me.
Tell Mother I have been bragging up her cheese and was going to let them see for themselves but I was disappointed in the cheese and cake. But it is all for the best and I shall be contented with my lot. Give my love to all inquiring friends and write soon and give good long letters. From your husband, – F. G. Tylee
Letter 3
Murfreesboro, Tenn. November 13th 1863
My dear companion,
I received your welcome letter yesterday and was glad to hear from you. I am pretty well now, My leg is getting a great deal better and I am gaining strength pretty fast. I am nursing yet. It is not very hard. There is two of us to a room and only eight to take care of and most of them can wait upon themselves so you see that it is not very hard for us. I have to carry the victuals around in this ward. That is the hardest work I have to do.
I received a letter from Ira and a paper from you. It had an account of my regiment in the Battle of Chickamauga. They done well for a new regiment but how could they help it with such a man as Col. Opdycke for their leader. I have heard him say many a time that if the boys would stick to him, he would lead them to a glorious victory or an honorable grave and I guess that the boys stuck to him pretty well for they were in the hottest of the fight. There was but one boy killed in my company. He was a good little boy. There [were] several wounded in my company—some of the best boys we had. I am glad I was not in the fight for it was terrible to see the wounded come in the hospital. It is enough to make a man sick to think about it. To think how much they have to suffer on the field before they are taken care of, I should think more would die than does. They have to lay sometimes two or three days before they are taken up off the damp ground.
There is some talk of another big fight down here soon. I hope they will drive them this time into the Gulf below. I should like to see this rebellion crushed so that I could come home to my family. How I should like to get home. But we must have patience and hope for the best. There is one year of my time in and I am in a good place so I must be contented.
If I could only get a box from you it would seem so good. I was down to the Express office yesterday and they told me boxes come through now. Several of the boys got boxes here since you tried to send mine. But it will be too much trouble for you and maybe they would not let it come. You need not worry about me. I do not want my drawers anyway for I have two pairs and when I am in the hospital, they furnish drawers and shirts and socks too so you see that I do not want much. Your socks I would not wear as long as I am in the hospital, I have got my woolen shirts on and wear a white shirt over and then they have woolen gowns to wear in place of a blouse. They almost furnish a man here. All I wear that don’t belong to the hospital is my shoes, shirts and pants [and] hat—that is woolen shorts. They will last me all winter. The owe me almost 16 dollars this year for clothing and they will owe me more next year if I stay here for I have clothes enough to last me six months yet for I do not wear out clothes very fast here. I have had but two pairs of pants and these that I have now will last me a good while and my blouse is very good and I have had that over a year. It was a first rate one. I have a very good hat—almost new. It did not cost me anything. I got it over to the field hospital, They had a lot that they did not know what to do with.
If you take a notion to send me a box, you need not send my drawers and you may make three or four mince pies—good ones—and whatever you think best. Some paper and envelopes—we get such poor paper down here and it costs 50 cents a quire, envelopes 25 cents a package. I would think more of some good paper and envelopes than anything else. I will send you some money before long. How much have you got all together now? I want you to tell me. I don’t want you to be afraid to spend it for you. Get what ever you want while you have the money for maybe you won’t have the opportunity after a while. I spend a good deal more than I had orta but if I have enough for you to live on it is all I care for.
What is the reason I do not hear from my folks? It is over two months since I heard from Mat and I wrote her two letters and Sam one and father one. I want you to write to them and let me know if you hear from them. I did not get that letter that you spoke about in this letter about the Medina murder. I have never heard anything about it. Who was murdered? and what did they do with the man that they had in jail? Write soon. My love to all. Kiss Jemy for me and have him kiss you for me. Tell him to be a good boy and mind his manners. From your husband, — F. G. Tylee
This letter was written by Capt. Edward Payson Bates (1838-1916) of Co. C, 125th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI). Earlier in the war he had served in Co. D, 19th OVI. The 125th OVI was stationed around Murfreesboro and Hillsboro throughout the summer of 1863 before starting the march for Chattanooga in August. They arrived there by September and saw their first major battle at Chickamauga, as part of the 3rd Brigade (Harker’s), First Division, XXI Corps, Army of the Cumberland. The regiment was engaged on both days of the battle, literally earning a good name for themselves.
A little over a year later they also distinguished themselves in the Battle of Franklin. Infuriated by the sight of the Federal troops flying to the rear, Capt. Edward P. Bates reportedly shouted, “Come on boys, we have always whipped them and always will.” The 125th was to the west of the pike and met head-on with the advancing Confederates at the Carter House. After a quick but vicious melee, the Rebs fell back to the ditch outside the main line of works. The 125th took position around the Carter buildings, both sides just yards apart and keeping up the fire until after dark, neither able to advance across the Carter garden that lay between. Despite being in the thick of the action, acting commander Capt. Bates listed the losses as 2 killed, 21 wounded, and 8 missing. He reported that the regiment saved two artillery pieces and captured two flags and 85 prisoners.
Bates was the son of Daniel Bates and Harriet Newell Hungerford (1805-1875) of Trumbull county, Ohio. He was a graduate of Hillsdale College (Michigan).
The letter was addressed to Harriet M. (Downing) Tylee, the wife of Festus G. Tylee who enlisted in Co. C, 125th OVI on 23 October 1862. Festus did not survive the war. He died of disease on 25 August 1864.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Camp near Hillsboro, Tennessee July 29th 1863
Mrs. Harriett Tylee
Your note of inquiry dates July 21st was received in due time to which I gladly return immediate reply.
On June 24, the 125th Regiment was ordered to march at the same time with the whole of Rosecrans Army. We had orders to leave all who were unable to endure the fatigues of marching. Mr. Tylee was some unwell and I feared would give out on a march where it would be impossible to leave him in good care if I could leave him at all so he was left with 5 others from my company at the Convalescent Camp, Murfreesboro. His letter have all come to me safe and have been preserved and sent to him at my expense. I did not hear from him for over three weeks after we left him when I received a letter from a comrade of his in hospital stating that Mr. Tylee had been quite sick with typhoid fever but was now recovering fast and that he wanted his Descriptive List, which is a statement such as all inmates of a hospital require in order to raw pay or clothing while in hospital and absent from the company.
I sent him his Descriptive List and his letters soon after I received your letter. If you would address him unless he has moved very lately, you will direct Festus G. Tylee, General Field Hospital, Ward F, Murfreesboro, Tenn. Do not put on the name, letter or number of his company or regiment. I think it very fortunate for him that he was left as it would have been impossible to have given him any care at all.
I congratulate you for the honor you may proudly feel and justly appreciate in having in having such a kind-hearted, faithful and patriotic soldier for a husband. We miss him in the company and hope that he will soon return to us and then too we hope the war will soon end when we can all return to our friends. Do not despair but write encouragingly to your husband and feel assured that all shall be done for him that is in our power to do. Yours respectfully, — E. P. Bales, Capt., Co. C, 125th OVI
These letters were written by Lyman Tylee (1838-1863) who enlisted at age 23 as a private in Co. B, 19th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI) on 13 September 1861 and rose in rank to Sergeant Major and transferred to Field & Staff on 1 July 1862. He was killed in action at Stones River, Tennessee, with other brave officers and men on 2 January 1863, “while gallantly performing their duties.” He was erroneously carried on the roster under the name Lyman Tyler at times.
Lyman was the son of Samuel Tylee (1798-1875) and Harriet Giddings (1805-1860) of Hubbard, Trumbull county, Ohio. He wrote these letters to his brother, Festus Giddings Tylee (1834-1864), who married Harriett Muriel Downing (1835-1921) in 1858 and was farming in Medina county, Ohio, at the time these letters were written in 1862.
Letter 1
Near Corinth, Mississippi May 27, 1862
Dear Brother,
Though I have written you twice since I received any news from you, I will today drop you a few lines. We are now much closer to the enemy’s lines than when I last wrote. Are daily skirmishing a little. We (the 19th) go on picket every four days. Came in this morning from picket. Last Thursday we were on the outposts and the Rebels shelled us wounding five men seriously. Yesterday all passed off quietly. Our pickets and theirs talked together some and there was but little firing done.
A few days since I received a letter from Amelia Tylee stating that Augustus (who was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh) was improving slowly. He was of Co. H, 45th Illinois Colunteers. Was wounded in the knee about 4 p.m. Sunday (6th) and was sent home in about a week after the battle. 1
Gus is not very well but is improving and the rest of the boys are well except Cal[vin] Clingan who has been sick for several months most of the time and was discharged and started on his way home on Sunday. Charles Hume was detached from our company and was Clerk for Gen. Boyle. His health was quite poor and he disappeared a week after the battle and since then we have not heard from him. He called to see us in the morning and left us saying he would go back to Boyle’s Headquarters (where he stayed) and would call again in the evening. He did not go back to the General’s quarters and all efforts to find him have been without success.
I saw Lt. P. W. Chase of Medina. He was taking care of Dr. Spillman who was very sick. I called again to see them and was told Chase had gone to Cincinnati, Ohio, with Dr. Spillman. Have they got to Medina?
If you see Chase, tell him I am well and would like to hear from him. Write soon. Write long and oblige your brother, — Lyme
1 Augustus Adams Tylee (1837-1909) was the son of William Tylee (1807-1884) and Juliet Hulbert (b. 1807) of Trumbull county, Ohio. Gus served as a corporal in Co. H, 45th Illinois Infantry. Military records show him under the name of Augustus A. Tyler.
Letter 2
Some scenes of Florence, Alabama, and the Tennessee River drawn by Adolph Metzner on 22, June 1862
Camp Florence, Alabama June 23, 1862
Dear brother,
We are now camped in sight of the village of Florence where we have been for five days. Be assured that we enjoy ourselves here for the situation is delightful after our tiresome march. We worked hard during the advance on Corinth and after the evacuation we left our camp (June 3rd) and marched southward in the direction of Booneville. Six miles south of Rienzi we halted for two days and then faced about and back to Rienzi. From there we turned east and by way of Jacinto to Iuka where we lay over one day and were paid off for two months.
We left Iuka and our regiment was rear guard for the first day. The days was excessively warm and sultry and the dust filled the air in clouds. Our train was several miles long and on account of the frequent stoppages in crossing streams &c., we only accomplished 12 miles by sunset. Then the train moved slowly on and through swamps and up hills we trudged along until ten p.m. when the rear of the train halted and the men wrestled allowed to lay down. But ‘ere they were fairly comfortable, the bugle sounded and we were once more on the road. A mile brought us to Bear Creek which is a fine stream. We pulled on our shoes and forded the creek in our usual style, then we marched on and found the country improving and when the moon rose, the sight was grand. The cornfields by the roadside stretched away on either side to the timber and the plantation buildings appeared like villages in the distance.
After 4 a.m. we reached camp. The rest of the division were all in before sunset and just as we got arms stacked to rest, the bugle sounded for the other Brigade to fall in for the march. From the heat, dust, and want of food, we felt greatly fatigued as we had been on the road nearly 24 hours and marched 19 miles and it was so warm during the day that several men were sun struck though all recovered. We lay down for about an hour and then, after taking a hearty breakfast, we started again. We marched to suit our own convenience, reaching camp at 5 p.m. making 15 miles.
We camped near a beautiful stream where we all enjoyed the luxury of a good bath—the most refreshing thing we had known for many a day. The next morning we started and three miles brought us to Tuscumbia [Alabama]—a neat but deserted village and only about one quarter inhabited by citizens. Uncle Sam’s boys have possession and take good care of the place. The distance from Tuscumbia to the Tennessee River was about three miles and by noon we had camped on the south bank of the river and our boys were all sporting in its waters. After a rest of two days, we were ferried across the river and marched to this point and are camped in the edge of a shady wood while to the east we have a fine open space for a parade ground. 80 rods from us the village of Florence is situated and to the south at the distance of half a mile, the noble river is distinctly seen.
We have now two hours drill every day and have regular guard mounting and dress parade. The regiment has raised a handsome sum by subscription for the purchase of new instruments for our brass band and we will then feel as big as “anybody.” The citizens of Florence are very quiet and several of them come out to see dress parade, &c. A rebel regiment was raised almost entirely in this town and vicinity and yet the county gave a majority of several hundred against secession. After the Ordinance of Secession was forced upon the people, self interest made a great many rebels. Touch a man’s pocket and you reach his heart. I saw one cuss that is about as good a Union man as John Crainer and heartily wish that all such men would go into the Rebel army as that is where they properly belong.
Gus [Dilley] was sick for several days before the evacuation of Corinth and was sent to the General Hospital near Corinth. I learn that he is on the way home and hope he will stay if he don’t get perfectly sound. I am well and perfectly contented. I am now Acting Sergt. Major for a brief period and have been so busy since our arrival here that I have not yet visited town. I went over the river yesterday to Headquarters (as our regiment is the only part of our division on this side) and coming back found Poly Brisbine’s Regt. (15th) just going to go aboard to cross. We spent several hours together pleasantly and then he went with his brigade through Florence to camp.
Is Dr. Spillman dead? Poly said that he heard so. Dr. Spillman was well liked in the regiment and by all the rest of the surgeons under him. I must close and hope you will write soon as I have written you several letters since I heard from you. Direct to Florence, Alabama via Cairo, Illinois.
Truly yours, — Lyme
Letter 3
Camp Battle Creek, Tennessee Headquarters 19th Regiment O. V. August 15, 1862
Dear Brother,
Though I am not indebted to you in the way of correspondence, I will write you a few lines hoping you may be prompted to reply. It is a long time since I heard from you though I have written to you always promptly.
The Old 19th made the march from Corinth without anything worthy of note occurring. We arrived here the 14th of last month and camped where we now lay. The spt we close is in a shady woods and very pleasant but during the middle of the day when no air is stirring, it is hot enough for comfort. This month is perhaps hottest of all the year and I tell you, the sun comes down fairly scorching things. It has been dry for some time and I think we will have rain soon which will make the air purer. There is no particular news to tell you. Gus [Dilley] is at Camp Dennison where he reported at the expiration of his furlough home. His health is poor and I think he will get a discharge—at least I hope so for I do not think he will be fit for duty for a long time, if ever. My health has generally been good since I entered the army but on the march here I got overheated and was quite sick for a time. I got better and went on duty but was taken down again. Am now getting better and the Doctor says I will be fity for duty in a few days.
I believe I told you before that Cal[vin] Clingan had been discharged. He is at home now. Charlie Hume disappeared suddenly and mysteriously one eek after the Battle of Shiloh and all efforts to find him have been in vain. Poor Charlie was a true-hearted boy and conscientiously endeavored to do his duty. At the time of his disappeareance, he was on detached duty as clerk for Gen. [Jeremiah T.] Boyle, at that time commanding our brigade. Col. [Samuel] Beatty since the Battle of Shiloh has commanded our brigade in a manner creditable to himself and satisfactory to all.
Lt. Col. [Elliott Woodbridge] Hollingsworth is absent but we expect him back soon. His place is well filled by Major [Charles F.] Manderson who is now commanding the regiment. We are camped on one side of the Tennessee River and the Rebels on the other. We are only a short distance from the Alabama and Tennessee line. This is East Tennessee and the north side of the river is watched by Union soldiers and south side by traitors. Our position is considered a good one. We have expected an attack several times and may be called to fight at any moment, but many think that the Rebels will not attack us here. Chattanooga is about 25 miles from here and there is said to be a heavy force of Rebels there.
You have heard ‘ere this of the murder of Gen. Robert McCook (Brig. Gen.) by the Rebel guerrillas while sick and compelled to ride in ambulance apart from his command. It causes intense feeling here as elsewhere. Maj. Gen. McCook (brother of the murdered man) is in command of the forces here.
I hope soon to hear of a vigorous policy which with the great number of men being raised will speedily close this horrid war. Write soon. Direct to Lyme Tylee, Sergeant Major, 19th Ohio Regt., [Thomas L.] Crittenden’s Division, Louisville, Ky.
The following letters were written by Dr. Morris Joseph Asch, before and after the Battle of Bull Run in July 1861. Morris was born on July 4, 1833, and was the second son of Joseph Morris Asch (1802-1866) and Clarissa Ulman (1812-1869) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His early education was mainly under private tutors and in the autumn of 1848 he entered the University of Pennsylvania where he was graduated on July 2, 1852, with the baccalaureate degree. His Master’s degree was received in course July 3, 1855. He was a member of the Alpha Chapter (University of Pennsylvania) of the P. K. E. fraternity. In the fall of 1852 he entered the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia from which he received the doctorate in 1855. Soon after graduation Dr. Asch was appointed clinical assistant to Dr. Samuel D. Gross, with whom he remained for several years.
Surgeon Morris Joseph Asch(World Biographical Encyclopedia)
When war was declared and his country called, it was but natural that he should enter the Army where three brothers had already volunteered. He passed the examination for assistant surgeon of the United States Army, which he entered on August 5, 1861. He was on duty at the surgeon-general’s office from August, 1861, to August, 1862. He subsequently became surgeon-in-chief to the Artillery Reserve of the Army of the Potomac, medical inspector Army of the Potomac, medical director of the 24th Army Corps, medical inspector of the Army of the James, staff surgeon of General P. H. Sheridan from 1865 to 1873. Some of the battles of the Civil War in which Dr. Asch participated were Chancellorsville, Mine Run, Gettysburg, The Wilderness and Appomattox Court House. On March 13, 1865, he was brevetted major for faithful and meritorious services during the war. He resigned from the Army of the Potomac on March 3, 1873, and entered into the practice of medicine in New York City, devoting himself largely though not exclusively to the study and treatment of diseases of the nose and throat and holding the position of surgeon to the throat departments of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary and the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital. When the American Laryngological Association was formed he was one of its founders, and he was president in the work of the section of laryngology. [Source: American Medical Biographies]
Morris wrote the letters to his brother-in-law, George King—husband of Rachel Rosalie Asch (b. 1835). They were married in New York City in February 1853.
Letter 1
Washington [D. C.] July 10, 1861
Dear George,
I promised to write you and take the first opportunity to fulfill my engagement although I have nothing to write that you don’t see in the papers before I do. Nobody here is allowed to know anything. It is too near the enemy and if any information was afforded, the secessionists would know it before our own. I had expected to be sent into the field but instead I have been retained here to assist in establishing a military hospital. There are several here but a larger one is needed and to that duty I am assigned. It is abominable there is so much red tape to go through. If we want an ambulance or any important article, I go to the Surgeon General. He send me to the Medical Director. He approves and I go to General Mansfield. He approves and I go to the quartermaster. He says that he can’t give it without an order from Gen. Meigs. I go to him and he says that the President’s orders are not to issue anything except on Gen. Scott’s order. I go to Gen. Scott and he says that he can’t be troubled with such details. I go back to the quartermaster to ask what the devil he means by sending me on such a round and he says that there is no use coming for he hasn’t got what I want. That is the way that everything has to be done here so you can imagine what a pleasant time one has to establish a hospital with furniture for 400 men. But we are pretty nearly through and I hope that when the thing is in operation they will send me off with McDowell.
Provost Marshal’s Office in Alexandria, Virginia (LOC)
I went to Alexandria the other day and rode out to the outposts and round the pickets to Arlington. It is a real secession country. I asked in Alexandria where the Colonel lived and a fellow said that he didn’t know any such crowd. Shepard 1 the Provost Marshal said that they were tired of kicking the fellows but that it was the only thing that they could do with them. Alexandria looks deserted. You hardly see a soul in the streets. All the houses and stores are shut and the horses feet sounded as if we were in a deserted city.
Col. Noah Farnham led the 11th New York (Fire Zouaves) after the death of Elmer Ellsworth. Farnham was mortally wounded at 1st Bull Run. The Fire Zouaves were notorious for their lack of discipline.
From there we rode out to the [New York Fire] Zouave camp and saw [Col. Noah L.] Farnham and his men. They are good soldiers but need discipline. Farnham gave a captain some order about his men’s muskets and he said that he’d be damned if he would. There are some strong earth works around the town and whole round to Washington is one line of pickets and camps.
We took dinner at the Minnesota camp 2 (the best shots I ever saw hitting the target as big as your hat every shot at 230 yards) and from there passed through the camp to the earthworks of the 69th and from there to Arlington, Gen. McDowell’s headquarters, and from there to Washington. The entrenchments are very strong and extend over the whole round. We passed through the Garibaldi Guard on the march and they stoned us for going through their lines on a run. We had a couple of secession horses that were captured at Mathias Point by Capt. [James H.] Ward and the red shirts scared them. We went out as far as the pickets would let us towards Fairfax. We wanted to see the “seceshers” but didn’t get a chance. We were on horseback all day and was pretty well used up when we got home.
Give my love to Rachel and Judah and the children & let me hear from you. Regards to May. 3 Tell him his hats looked fine on the Garibaldi’s. Direct to Dr. Asch, USA, Washington D. C.
Yours, — Morris
A postwar image of Lt. Charles H. Shepard, Co. B, 5th Massachusetts Infantry. He served as Provost Marshal in Alexandria in July 1861. (Dave Morin Collection)
1 Lieutenant Charles H. Shephard of Co. B, 5th Massachusetts Infantry was serving as the Provost Marshal at the time of Morris’ visit to Alexandria in July 1861.
2The 1st Minnesota saw heavy fighting on Henry House Hill at 1st Bull Run. They were one of the last regiments to leave the field and suffered one of the highest number of casualties of the Union regiments engaged—49 killed, 107 wounded, and 34 missing. Just prior to advancing on Manassas, the regiment was encamped at Camp Forman at the reservoir on the Little River Turnpike near Alexandria.
3 Morris was probably referring to Lewis May, a hat maker at 43 Broadway in New York City. The letter suggests that the hats supplied to the Garibaldi Guards (39th New York) came from May. The regiment was famous for their distinctive Bersaglieri hats, red shirts, and black gaiters when they first took the field in 1861. Lewis was active in politics and was one of the featured speakers at Union Square War Meeting in April 1861 in which he encouraged the Germans to organize themselves into a regiment and march to Washington in its defense. German’s comprised the greatest percentage of the foreign born members of the 39th New York, Garibaldi Guard. [Source: New York Herald, 24 April 1861]
Letter 2
Columbian Hospital 1 July 29, 1861
Dear George
Now that things look a little better, I hope that you have got out of the desponding mood that you were in when you last wrote. In fact, there is no reason why you should not be. The thrashing that we got will only make us more alive to our deficiencies and our next army will be worth a dozen of the last. Anyhow, we hurt them as bad as they did us, and if it were not for the number of our prisoners that they have, I think that we would be the best off. But one government liberates every rebel that it catches and when they catch ours we have nothing to exchange.
As to the battle itself from all that I can hear from regulars who were not scared and from volunteers who were, our men had the best of it in every way until forced to give up by hunger & exhaustion. They had nothing to eat since the night before and our fine politician officers took them for miles into action on the double quick and then gave them no rest. The regulars found that their men couldn’t stand that game so they rested them for an hour or two before they went in again and then did good service. If it had not been for that cowardly panic, I believe that we would have remained masters of the field.
By the way, some of your New York Regiments behaved very well—the 69th and 71st and 14th [Brooklyn], but others lost the battle through their cowardice. The Fire Zouaves behaved in the most cowardly manner and could not be brought up for a charge—squatting and firing till they ran away and some have not turned up yet they ran so far. The enemy ran too. An officer told me that we charged and they ran. Then they charged and we ran. Then we charged and they ran. Then they charged and we ran farther and faster than they did. There is no doubt but that they must have been used up and scared or they would have advanced on Washington—for they could have taken it up to Wednesday for there was no discipline of any kind. Troops were straggling all over the country and there were not a half dozen regiments together. People were scared and if Beauregard had any chance of fighting he would have been here.
They say today that Johnston is about to attack Banks but I presume that he is prepared for him. The enemy’s lodd must have been severe. Our artillery worked well but we had not enough of it. An officer of Sherman’s Battery 2 told me that after silencing a battery, he went out to reconnoiter and saw a regiment of Louisiana Zouaves coming up a ravine to outflank them. They turned their guns—six pieces—on them and as they came in range, they let drive with grape and canister into them and made lanes right through them and routed them in short order.
[Capt. Romeyn] Ayres’ Battery got their range on a railroad crossing an open space between the woods where reinforcements were being brought up, and as the head of the train came in sight, let fly and smashed five cars with troops in all to pieces. A man who escaped from them and was employed by them in the hospital says that they have 2800 wounded. We have some of our wounded here but not many. Most of them are in town.
I have to thank you and May for that beautiful hat that you sent me. I mean to write to May soon but till I do, consider this as a joint letter to you both. The hat has been very much admired. It is the handsomest that has been seen here. You may imagine that I have to steal some time to write when I tell you that I have been four hours writing this letter. I am officer of the day and have to receive and discharge patients, attend to the business of the house, and even bury the dead—and consequently am hopping up and down every five minutes which accounts for the gaps in my letter. We have about 225 patients in the house and more coming in every hour.
Have you hot weather in New York? Here is is delightful. It is always cool and a pleasant breeze always blowing so that it scarcely seems to me that I am south of Philadelphia. I don’t know who your friend, the recruiting captain in Broadway, may be but I do know that he is a damned impertinent fellow and I will tell him so if I see him.
Give my love to Rachel and the children and Judah. Tell Ally 3 that I will bring him a secession sword of the first battlefield that I get to. My respects to the family. Ask May to write. Yours affectionately, — Morris
Direct to Columbian Hospital, Box 266, P.O., Washington
1 Built in 1820, the Columbian College was appropriated by the government on 13 July 1861 to be used as a hospital. It was located on Meridian Hill, west of 14th Street Road. The hospital was initially operated in the Washington Infirmary at the college until it burned in November 1861 at which time the hospital was relocated to the main College building.
2Co. E, 3rd U. S. Artillery, or more commonly called “Sherman’s Battery,” was commanded by Thomas W. Sherman.
3 “Ally” was Albert G. King, b. 1854, the son of George & Rachel (Asch) King.
Sherman’s Battery on the way to the Bull Run Battlefield (Harper’s Weekly)
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