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 letter was written by Eliza Parmer of Pittsburgh to President Abraham Lincoln begging his mercy for the desertion of her youngest son, William Parmer of Co. C, 155th Pennsylvania. I can’t find a William Parmer in that company but I do see a William Henry Palmer (1845-1911) who enlisted on 22 August 1862 and was dishonorably discharged on 15 July 1865 from Dry Tortugas, Florida. This regiment was commanded by Capt. James Barclay Palmer (1838-1911) of Pittsburgh.
William Henry Palmer was the son of William Henry Palmer (1814-1864) and Eliza Victor Palmer (1812-1879) of Pittsburgh. In the 1860 US Census, this family was enumerated in Webster, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania under the name Parmer. Living in the household at that time were the parents, William and Eliza Parmer (both age 46), John Parmer (age 24), Alfred Parmer (age 20). Victor Parmer (age 18), William Parmer (age 15), Isaac N. Parmer (age 12), George Parmer (age 8), Alice Parmer (age 6), and Eliza Parmer (age 18).
The muster rolls indicate that William deserted on 4 May 1863 at Sharpsburg, Maryland; this letter was written some six weeks later.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Pittsburgh [Pennsylvania] June 13, 1863
Mr. Abraham Lincoln,
I take the pleasure for the Preside of these United States to infom you about my son. He is sick and was sick before this month. I am most crazy about him. He is very young and is sick now. He got out of heart and tried to get home but he was caught in Washington and taken back. I hope you will have mercy on him—my poor boy—for my sake. I would like for him to come home so I can take care of him till he gets well again. Have mercy on him. I am an old woman and have no one to take care of me now since he is gone. He belongs to the One hundred 55th Pennsylvania, Company C—James Palmer’s Company. I hope you will write to the company if you please…[illegible]. — Eliza Parmer.
His name is William Parmer
I have four sons in the army and William is the youngest of the four and I think it is nothing more than right that I should have him home to be a helper to me in my old age. Yours with respect. — Mrs. Eliza Parmer
[Annotated on back of letter]
Mrs. Eliza Parmer. In behalf of her son, Wm. Parmer of Co. C, 155th Pa. Vol. who was arrested for desertion. Asks that he may be discharged.
The following letter was written by Pvt. John A. W. Hickey (1827-1863) of Co. E, 30th Battalion Virginia Sharpshooters. According to muster rolls, John did not enlist with the Sharpshooters until 12 February 1863. They also inform us that he died at Emory & Henry College Hospital, Washington county, Virginia on 30 June 1863—just two weeks after this letter was sent to his wife. His cause of death was given as “Febris Remittens” or intermittent fever. An obituary published in the Abingdon Virginian (10 July 1863) states that John Hickey was in poor health prior to the war yet he attempted to volunteer in 1861 but was rejected as unfit. When he was conscripted early in 1863, however, he was accepted for service and ordered to report to Dublin Depot.
Hickey wrote this letter from Dublin Depot which functioned as a vital Confederate logistical and tactical point on the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad. He wrote the letter to his wife, Margaret Elizabeth (“Betty”) Minnick Hickey (1830-1933) on the farm near Abingdon. They were married in 1847 and had three children at the time that John entered the Confederate service.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Dublin Depot, Virginia June 15, 1863
Dear Betty,
I drop you a few lines to inform you of my whereabouts and health. I am not very well. I have had the diarrhea for several days though I have perfmed [my] duty all the time. The water here is so bad and we have nothing to eat but corn bread and fat meat.
We are at Dublin yet but I think we will leave here before long. Where we will go, I have no idea but it is more than likely we will go to Kentucky. But it is very uncertain. We may go somewhere else. Men are getting very tired of this war. They are deserting from the Army of the Potomac by scores.
As to my coming home this summer, it is very uncertain. But I will come home a day or two if I can. But you need not look for me till you see me. I would like to have some butter if I could get it and a cheese if you had it. You don’t know how hard the poor soldier has to live and if he buys anything, he must pay six prices and a man getting $11 per month can’t stand it.
The following letter was written by William W. Aspinall [or Aspinwall] (1845-1921) of Co. H, 47th Indiana Infantry. He was the son of Dyson Aspinwall (1804-18xx) and Sarah Ann Haines (1824-18xx) of Pleasant Mills, Adams county, Indiana. An English emigrant, Dyson made his living as a woolen manufacture. William was born in May 1845 in Mechanicsburg, Champaign Co., Ohio. He became a “woolen worker” until he enlisted in the 47th Indiana Volunteers in 1861. On May 16, 1863, he was wounded at the Battle of Champion Hill, Miss., but served until the end of the war. Afterward he became known as “Roving Bill” because he lived the vagabond life of a hobo. Reverend James McCook of Hartford, Conn., began a correspondence with Bill as he roamed the U.S. from coast to coast. The Reverend published Bill’s letters to him in a nine-part series of articles titled “Leaves from the Diary of a Tramp” from 1893 until about 1901. It’s described as follows: “Born one of 23 siblings, married 5 times, wounded fighting for the Union in one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War, kicked out of numerous jobs and soldiers’ homes for drunkenness, and having spent decades wandering as a penniless vagabond, Bill also kept up a 24-year correspondence with John James McCook, Professor of Modern Languages at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut.” Bill passed away at the Ohio Veterans Home in Sandusky on 14 Nov. 1921, and was buried in the Veterans’ Home cemetery.
The 47th Indiana Infantry Regiment moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in June 1862 and served on occupation and garrison duty there through July 1862, before moving onward to Helena, Arkansas, on July 24, 1862. William’s letter includes a description of the 17 June 1862 Battle of St. Charles on the White River in Arkansas. In that battle, a Confederate shore battery fired a 32-pounder shell into the boiler of the Union Gunboat Mound City, causing a catastrophic explosion. The blast killed 125 men. 82 men were killed instantly by scalding or trama. See—The Deadliest Shot: The Doomed White River Expedition, by Donald Barnhart, Jr. on HistoryNet.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Near Memphis [Tennessee] [Probably Sunday, June 22, 1862]
Well Luke,
You say that you get lonesome on Sundays. I think that you will pass away a good many lonesome Sundays before I get back although we may get back before I think we will.
Well Luke, it is a getting most time to go out on Dress Parade. I will finish when we come back. Well, we have come in front Dress Parade. We [had] a very good Dress Parade. We drilled the manuel of arms a little. There is a good many citizens comes to see us. We have good music and they like tto hear it. The 34th has a brass bands. I guess they never heard any music until we came.
There is a good many boats a coming and going. The gunboats is laying before the city—that is, the part of them, the Flagship Benton, the Louisville, and Mound City are here. The others have gone down the river. One of them got blowed up down there. They went up the White River [where] the Rebels had a battery of Parrott guns. They shot a ball into the boiler and blowed the whole top of the boat and scalded 150 men to death. But they took the battery and one thousand prisoners so they didn’t come out so bad after all. The 46th Regiment was done it [attacked the fortifications on land]. Their Col. [Graham N.] Fitch was commander.
Luke, you must take care of yourself and tell Gary to give John Studabaker hell for he is a damned old cheat. He would steal the coppers off of a dead nigger’s eyes.
I must close for Dave Stockham wants to write a few lines. Give my respects to all enquiring friends. — William W. Aspinall
The following letter was written by Mary L. Lewis, a student at Union High School in Rutland, Vermont, at the time she put pen to paper in mid-March 1864, just before the close of the spring term. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to learn anything more about her through census, cemetery, or newspaper records. Her letter gives us a hint of the early-day attempts to advance the cause of Temperance and Ladies’ Rights in Vermont.
Fred Alfred Field (1850-1935) as drawn in 1897, Vermonter Magazine.
Most of Mary’s four-page letter is devoted to describing her current beau named “Fred” who worked as a clerk in the Post Office in Rutland. She never reveals his last name but I believe it was Frederick Alfred Field (1850-1935) of Rutland. He was the son of William Morton Field (1813-1890) and Minerva Kimball Davenport (1816-1886). His father was sheriff of Rutland county and also served as the president of the Rutland Savings Bank. In the 1870 US Census, Fred was still enumerated in his parent’s Rutland home and his occupation was given as “clerk” in the Post Office—the same position identified by Mary in her letter. Fred was married in 1873 to Lillie Clark (1854-1942), the daughter of Henry and Henrietta Clark of Poultney, and the description of his wedding confirms that he still held a “responsible position in the Rutland Post Office” at that time. His obituary, published in the Burlington Daily News in 1935 states that he had long been affiliated with the Rutland Post Office as a clerk, inspector, and eventually as postmaster—appointed by President Harrison in 1889. He later went into the insurance and real estate business.
Mary wrote the letter to Maria Sally Lewis (1845-1914), the daughter of Jonathan Lewis (1793-1870) and Amanda Wiggin (1797-1852) of Williamstown, Vermont. We learn that Mary and Maria had become friends while attending school together in Rutland. Maria married Herbert Proctor Martin (1842-1905) on 5 November 1865. Maria’s family papers were donated in 1996 to the Vermont Historical Society, see—Martin Family Papers.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Rutland, Vermont Sunday evening, March 13th 1864
Dear Maria,
I received your affectionate letter. Was glad to hear you was enjoying good health. I was very sorry it was destined that you should not see dear Rutland this winter. I wish your parents would have let you come. It would have been splendid, I assure you. to have seen us all [together] again. We are not much changed, Maria. My heart is still a part reserved for you, unapproachable by anyone. Mr. [Davis Graham] Moore 1 did not overrate your being a good girl at school. He could not. (You are the dearest and best of any I know of.) I am well pleased that you think enough of me to kiss my letters, but I do not think that you love me better than I do you. You asked in your letter if I ever think of you. Of course I do—most every day. That young fellow that I spoke about was not Lewis Clark or Justus Southard—but it was Levi Southard. 2 But that is all played out. We did not think anything of each other, only as friennds. He is too loving and silly at first to last long. Levi likes to go with all the girls—it makes no difference who. When he is with a girl, he is happy. He has been home with me from Singing [School] twice since then but I do not give him any encouragement as I am agoing to be true to my Fred, Maria, as I think he is true to me.
Maria, I am agoing to write joyful news—for me at least—and you will also take part in the pleasure as you think so much of me, and anything towards making your friends happy will make you happy also. Well I hear, or pretend to hear you say, “I wonder what that is?” It is simply this. Fred has joined the Temperance Division. He has now taken oath that no more liquor shall touch his lips. He was taken in or initiated the same night I was and it was partly by my influence that he’s joined. I do not think he would have joined if I had not. My name was carried in one week and Charlie Channell 3 came up for us to go down and be initiated (Lorna and I) but it was so stormy that our Mothers did no tthink it best. The next Monday night, we did not go down to be initiated and that day Charlie told Fred and Fred has his name sent in and that made us both initiated the same night. Oh! I was so glad. But he is a wild boy yet but he grows better, I think, and I hope and trust he may make a trustful man. It is my earnest, sincere prayer.
He is clerk in the Post Office now. The other day I called for a letter and Fred happened to wait on me. He took out the letter and seeing it was for me, opened it, took out the letter and gave me the envelope, and then gave me the letter. But he did not read any of it or attempt to. That is the way the fellow acts. He thinks I and all my property belong to him and if it don’t, my heart does. I guess if he had read the letter, he would have thought it funny that he was “poor Fred” and the rest you wrote. I guess he would have thought that if I loved him, I would not write his faults to others. But he did not read any of the letter. He would not be guilty of such ill manners. He knows better than to do that. Maybe sometime he will have an especial privilege to read the letters written me by my friends. But write freely to me Maria for he will not have that right yet awhile. He never has read any of my letters or I do not expect he will for a number of years at least.
But Maria, I have said enough of him already, only in conclusion I think he is trying to be better and I hope he will succeed for my sake and his. I have tried to stop loving him, tried to love another, but the old love will come back stronger than the new and it seems as if I loved him better than ever. He stays in the Post Office all night generally and I think it is real dangerous too and when I speak to him about it, he says that his Molly would not live a week if he should be killed and then he gives me such a sweet kiss and tells me he is not [at] all afraid—that there is no danger, and I don’t know as there is but I love him so well that if he should die, I do believe I should too. 4
Since I wrote last, I have only been to ride with him one Sunday evening and to two or three parties. I expect to go to another next week. But I shall let him drop now (as to writing any more about him). But we always like to write about those we love, you know. One word more, do not lose a syllable, dearest Maria, and remember it. (Oh, Fred has got a moustache growing for I can feel it when he kisses me!) Don’t tell.
Now, about another one. There is another boy who thinks the world of me and that is James Mussey. 5 He goes up to the Academy. He is Ellen Mussey’s brother. You knew her. He is real pretty but I like Fred the best.
How do you and Charlie get along? If Henry is engaged, I should think if Charlie is handsome and good, you would learn to love him. I shall you riding with Charlie so late to Head Quarters or come and see about it myself. You would like that, I know. But never mind, you are safe with those who love you and I know he loves you. One night I got vexed at Fred on account of a little trifle not worth telling and I acted mad at him coming home a little way, and Maria, the tears actually came into his eyes. I felt bad and I had to kiss him a pardon before he was himself again. He calls me his Molly as if we were engaged. Between you and I , Maria, Fred and I think a great deal of each other—as much as you and Charlie do.
School is out next Wednesday. Ain’t that glorious? All the girls are well. Rest Perkins, Carrie Foote, and Nettie Verder & Alzina Foster send their love and I send mine too. Maria, I presume you will have to give all yours to Charlie. If so, you need some others or else you would not have any. We are going to have good exercises at the [school?] this time the last Wednesday afternoon. We are going to have a Ladies’ Rights Convention of which I am a member. I am Miss Gadabout. Also Emma & Louise Frink, Annie Thomson, Hattie Bailey, Cornelia Prout, Lucy Eddy, Alice Pierpoint, Julia Humphrey, Carrie Foote, Alice Merit, Emily Giebeinger, Elisa Barnes, and all the 1st year but the 1st year do not have anything to say except Eliza and Barnes.
We wish you could be here the last day very much. How glad I should be to see your form again. I hope I may some time, don’t you? Also they are going to have another dialogue by three girls and two boys and another by some boys. Those I have not heard rehearsed. Miss [Lucy] Hudson is visiting here now. She has been to school two or three times.
I do not believe I can come and see you this summer. It is agoing to be such hard times. I think I shall take music lessons this summer. I go to Singing School now. Our teacher is Mr. Sherman. I have real good times to school now-a-days.
Have I not written a long enough letter this time? Write soon and write a sheet of foolscap as I have and answer soon. Your true friend, — Mary L. Lewis of Rutland, State of Vermont. R[utland] U[nion] H[igh] School of Rutland Village.
1 Davis Graham Moore was born in Keeseville, New York, on December 15, 1834, the son of Asa Davis Moore (1800-1872) and Mindia Campbell (1801-1884). After graduating from the University of Vermont in 1858, he became principal of Rutland High School, and, in 1865, he moved to Illinois. Moore was a railroad paymaster in Springfield in 1870 and spent most of the rest of his life in Danville; in the early 1880s, he worked for the Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific Railway in Cairo. Moore married Martha Jane Hudson, a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, in 1864, and they had four children: Allen Henry (b. 1865), George D., Olie M., and Emily Lucy. Davis G. Moore died on September 13, 1919.
2 Levi B. Southard (184x-1873) and his brother Justus A. Southard (1846-1925) were the son of Lent F. Southard (1833-1900) and Susan L. Bishop (1xxx-1900) of Rutland, Vermont. Justus was married to Agnes M. Kettles (1847-1930) in 1868. Levi was married to Sarah Garr (1851-1930) in 1873 but died suddenly a few weeks later from some type of paralysis. He had been employed by the Central Vermont Railroad for three years prior to his death.
3 Charles (“Charlie”) Edward Channell (1846-1907) was the son of David Balch Channell and Calista Lucy Bowker of Rutland. He married Ida Laura Riford (1850-1914) in 1870. Charles was employed as a tinsmith for the repair department of the Rutland Railroad.
4 Mary’s concern for Fred’s safety when sleeping in the Post Office was probably well founded. Many soldiers sent their pay home in letters during the Civil War and it’s possible that at certain times the Post Office may have had hundreds or even thousands of dollars in it.
5 James B. Mussey (1848-1911) was the son of Henry Mussey (1795-1878) and Sabra A. Lawrence (1808-1900) of Rutland. His sister, Ellen A. Mussey (1844-1927) is mentioned in the letter as well. James married Frances Elizabeth Claghorn (1850-1933) in 1875. He was a farmer. We learn from the letter that he attended the Rutland Academy in 1864.
The following letter is a true copy of telegraphic correspondence that was sent from Gov. James Youngs Smith to President Abraham Lincoln, and the response by Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. It conveys the anxiety of citizens residing along the coastal regions of Narragansett Bay who felt vulnerable to attack by Rebel cruisers due to inadequate control of the West Passage into the Bay. During 1863 and 1864, temporary earthworks and an eight-gun battery were constructed on Dutch Island by the 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (Colored), alongside earthworks and a garrison at Camp James Y. Smith near South Ferry (the Bonnet) on the Narragansett mainland to block naval approaches through the West Passage.
Though the messages to and from Washington D. C. are real, the handwritten letters and signatures themselves were no doubt written by unidentified clerks or telegraphic operators.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
State of Rhode Island Executive Department Providence, [Rhode Island] June 27th 1863
To his Excellency, Abraham Lincoln President of the United States Washington D. C.
Great anxiety is felt here on account of the unprotected condition of Narragansett Bay. There is nothing to prevent a rebel incursion through the “West Passage” excposing to destruction this city, Fall River, and other towns on the bay. I respectfully request immediate authority to construct, arm and man suitable earthworks at the expense of the Federal Government and that the plans understood to be in the War Department for such works be furnished without delay. Also authority to cause all vessels to be brought to and inspected before entering the bay.
(signed) — James Y. Smith, Gov. of Rhode Island
[Response written on reverse]
By telegraph (Copy)
Washington June 27th, 1863
Providence, June 27th 1863
Gov. Smith,
I am instructed by the President to inform you that the authority asked for in your telegram of this date is granted to you. The chief of the Engineers Bureau is instructed to furnish you the plans & also an engineer officer to assist in laying out the work.
This diary was kept by Pvt. James Redlon Holt (1845-1864), a barely 16 year-old youngster when he enlisted on 15 November 1861 with Co. G, 12th Maine Infantry. James was the son of Rev. Dudley Barker Holt and Susan M. Redlon from Gorham, Maine, who grudgingly must have given their consent to let him collect a bounty and enter into the service.
In the sweltering heat of Louisiana, where the 12th Maine was stranded for most of its service, James poured his heart onto paper. But just as the light at the end of the tunnel seemed near, with mustering out on the horizon, fate had a cruel twist in store. The regiment was called back East, only to face the brutal carnage of the 3rd Battle of Winchester in September 1864, where James met a tragic end on 19 September 1864—“killed by a cannon ball”—just two months before completing his three-year enlistment. What a visceral reminder of the brutality of war and the fragility of life!
Serving with James and mentioned in some of his letters was his Uncle Darius Holt (1820-1875) who enlisted at the age of 42 and served several months until his health failed and he was discharged for disability. Darius was living in Minot with his wife, Mercy Ann (Lord) Holt (1828-1902) and six children when he enlisted.
This diary is from the private collection of a Holt family descendant and scans were sent to me for transcription and publication on Spared & Shared by express consent. A dozen of James’ letters were recently published on Spared & Shared from the same source. To read those letters, see—1862-64: James Redlon Holt to Dudley Barker Holt.
“The oddest pets we have yet seen were two bears, which the 12th Maine regiment of the 19th Corps, led through the city recently. These bears were brought all the way from Louisiana, and have been in several fights. They have become perfectly tame and tractable, and march along at the head of the band, with an air that indicates they feel themselves veteran soldiers of the bruin order, and that they have a character to sustain.”[Souce: Shenandoah1864 Mascots in the XIX Corps, Sheridan’s Army of the Shenandoah (2010).]
“….containing personal adventures, interesting facts about regiment, places, Rebs, &c.”
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
J. R. Holt — “Deo volentes Praeses ero Mens Motto” meaning, “God willing, I shall be President—that is my motto.” Army Journal by J. R. Holt, private Co. G, 12th Maine Volunteer Militia, commenced November 1, 1861, containing personal adventures, interesting facts about regiment, places, Rebs, &c.”
Friday, November 1, 1861—Arrived at Douglass’ Tavern today. Old Man little fearful about letting me go. Guess t’will be right. We probably go into camp next week. Gurney is homesick. Guess he’ll give up. Maxim come in.
Saturday, Nov. 2—Gurney went home. Guess he’s love sick. Drilled little. Sure to go.
Sunday, Nov. 3—Rainy. Staid in the barroom. It was filled with smoke from fire. After that by a lot of old smokers. One of them is killing himself by smoke.
Monday, Nov. 4—Still here and no signs of going. [William] Bearce wrote to [William Buxton] Skillin. Have extra fine grub.
Tuesday, Nov. 5—Had a boat ride today. Father & Darius came over. Bearce was gone. They waited till he got back. A little tipsy. No signs of Skillin. Guess I’ll enlist.
Wednesday, 6—No signs of Skillin. Bearce off.
Thursday, 7—Darius came here & enlisted. Tom’s enlisted in [Elisha] Winter’s Company [of] Dixfield [Co. D]. No Skillin.
Friday, 8—Nothing from Skillin. Father rather fussy. Guess all will be right. 5 here now & 5 more came tonight.
Saturday, Nov. 9, 1861—Skillin wrote Bearce to leave him & go with [Stephen Bennet] Packard. Packard however is willing to unite with Skillin.
Sunday, 10—[William A.] Bearce & Munroe have gone to see Skillin & returned at 10 p.m. all well. Go Tuesday.
Monda, 11—Bearce on his bed. All well.
Tuesday, 12—22 boys (Packard’s) came in at 9 from Dead River, jolly, hardy & rough. Came into Camp Butler. Starting for Lewistown at 10 where we took the 12 o’clock train. Slept in a barn. T’was cold though we’d ticks and blankets. Noisy times all night as there was plenty rum.
Wednesday, 13—Went to see the 11th [Maine] off.
Thursday, 14—Went into tents today. Better. Our tent crew is myself, D. N. Harlow, [William H.] Blair, [John Y.] Clough, [Benjamin B.] Blackstone, [James P.] Wight, [William W.] Loring, [Lewis] Mitchell, [Robert] Lowe, [John] Monk, [Cypriam] Whitman, & Sergt. [Enoch] Young. Got a cold.
Friday, 15—Mustered in. Two turned off. Old Gurney who took young Gurney’s place. Our company is arranged. [Moses Mason] Robinson Capt., [Stephen Bennett] Packard, 1st and [William Buxton] Skillin 2nd Lieut. [Almon Guy] Ward Orderly Sergt.—[an] ugly cuss. [Company] name “G.”
Saturday, 16—Got fatigue suit & overcoats.
Sunday, 17—On guard today. Easy though stood two hours extra over drunken men and two more till guard mounting. Wrote home as I heard we were to leave for South.
Monday, Nov. 18, 1861—Got our caps today & knapsacks. Portland ladies sent us some ditty bags filled with pins, needles, &c.
Tuesday, 19—Got haversack & canteen. Father & Mother came to see us. Go Thursday in Constitution.
Wednesday, 20—Had a Thanksgiving Dinner. Father in to see us. He feels rather bad. Paid off.
Thursday, 21—December. and I went out & had a fine dinner. We go tomorrow.
Friday, 22—Up at 3. Pack knapsacks, struck tents, and started at 10. Went into a freight house & boarded a little steamer to go on the Constitution. When we got there, we found the 9th Connecticut & 26th Massachusetts. They were fighting. Nasty & crowded. So our Colonel brought us back to the house which, being over the water, I’d have got cold if I hadn’t had some rum from [Osgood B.] Churchill.
Saturday, 23—In house all day. Father went home. If it hadn’t been for my whiskey, I’d been used up. Went on board Forrest City.
Sunday, 24—Left P. Harbor at 2 p.m. Lots of the [boys] seasick. I had some alcohol so I was well. Tom & D[arius] both were. Feel well but weak. Arrived in Boston at 11 p.m. Our company seems to be pretty good fellows. Sea quiet though t’was rather rough out at sea.
Monday, November 25, 1861—Lay in [Boston] harbor all day.
Tuesday, 26—Came to camp Chase [in] Lowell. Fine looking place—a fairground surrounded by a high fence making it warm. The 30th Massachusetts here—small but tought, mostly Irish. Feel well.
Wednesday, 27—Got guns. The number of mine is 36.
Thursday, 28—Nothing special.
Friday, 29—On police guard. Out about 3 hours. Had easy time. Feel quite well.
“Lop-eyed & quite heavy” Benjamin F. Butler—a “lucky boy.”
Sunday, December 1, 1861—Throat sore. Had bad cold. [Benjamin F. ] Butler inspected us. 1st time I ever saw him. Looks well—about medium height, well proportioned, lopeyed & quite heavy. He’s a lucky boy.
Monday, 2 to Monday, 9th—In hospital this week. My cold is well but cough some. Felt some homesick in there. Glad that I got out at last. Received a letter from home. All well.
Tuesday, Dec. 10—On company drill & parade, Feel almost sick. Took some pills. Report says we shall leave in a week.
Wednesday, 11—Our Co. drill & parade. Feel almost sick. Took some pills. Report says we shall leave in a week.
Thursday, Dec. 12, 1861—Drilled all day. Feel quite well. My pills used me right. We hear all kinds of rumores about going off, &c. Our cooks don’t give us just what they ought though I suppose they can’t help it.
Friday, 13—Had hard drill. Yet I did well.
Saturday, 14—Went into the city of Spindles [Lowell] today with D[arius]. The city looks no better than some of Maine’s fair villas. I spent all the money I had & had quite a good time. Received a letter from home. All well. Mother is worried about me.
Sunday, 15—Inspection. My gun was clean but I had to double quick it for having both my shirts on.
Monday, 16—Drilled as usual. Rumors still afloat. Guess they are of no account. However, one says Charleston is burned & in our possession.
Tuesday, 17—Usual drill. Orders for an inspection tomorrow. Took off my extra shirt. Go soon.
Wednesday, 18—On guard so got rid of inspection. Got slight cold. Man says regiment leaves Tuesday.
Thursday, 19—So icy that there was no drill. Thomson’s (1st Maine) Battery came in. They are a wild set of boys of all sizes.
Friday, 20—Usual drill.
Saturday, 21—So poor I can’t send a letter home.
CdV of Officers from the 12th Maine Infantry; Colonel George Foster Shepley (left) and Captain Charles C.G. Thornton (far right); From the MacDonald Collection.
Sunday, December 22, 1861—Col. [George Foster] Shepley inspected us. Darius is about sick.
Monday, 23—Snows like Jehu. On guard. Rained at guard mounting. On my 2nd bout it had turned to sleet which cleared up & nearly froze us. Couldn’t get more than half dry.
Tuesday, 24th. Third bout quite easy. 4th, commenced with snow, with air cold enough to freeze me. T’was on the whole the hardest time I’ve yet had, yet got no cold. Received a letter from home & wrote an answer.
Wednesday, 25—No drill as yet this week on account of ice. Old Ben called in today. Very cold. Feel well & happy. Eat double rations. Sent some printed company rolls to a few friends. Old Rain being out at 7 tonight, we all went to bed & blew out the light & fastened up the tent. He raved like a mad man & threatened us well.
Thursday, 26—Heard we were going today & some companies began to pull up pins. We didn’t go though. The 2nd Vermont Battery—a fine looking set of fellows—came in today. The Maine Division keeps up around all the time. A fellow set the guard house on fire & it did not burn down. He’s in the the City Jail now.
Friday, 27—Rained this morn & cleared off before noon. No drill & no signs of going.
Saturday, December 28, 1861—On guard today. Had very easy time. Only on about one hour. Slept in tent all night. Feel well.
Sunday, December 29—Company inspection today. The guard house No. 1 was burnt down today and 5 or 6 rods of fence. An inmate fired it. No one was hurt. Loss about 100.00
Monday, 30—Nothing at all.
Tuesday, 31—Had inspection. French was inspector. Signs of going soon.
Wednesday, January 1st 1862—Quite cold. Had our 1st battle today. The Maine Battery tried to pull the guard house (No. 2) down. We turned [out] per order with arms and sent them off. They swear vengeance. On dress parade. Ordered to strike tents & be ready to leave at 8 a.m. tomorrow to go on Constitution for Ship Island where she has left her first load. Our whole company was [ ] by their beans.
Thursday, 2—Arose at 4, very cold. At 8 we had all ready and were in line but didn’t leave till 10 for the officers had to liquor up. Got in Boston about 1:30, marched to the [Boston] Common where a splendid flag & banner was presented us. Boarded Constitution about 6. Very cold. No fire. She is next to the Great Eastern—the largest [ship] we [ever] saw afloat. [She] is 384 feet long.
Friday, January 3, 1862 to January 8th—When I awoke in the morning, I was about sick but I got well in a day or two. It was much warmer Saturday night & has got to be quite comfortable now. All kinds of rumors abroad. Guess will stay here awhile. Darius is sick but I am quite well.
Thursday, 9—Affairs the same.
Friday, 10—All is bustle & stir. Some of the Massachusetts companies are packing up. About 3 p.m., the gunboat Saxon came alongside & began to receive the Massachusetts stores. Tis said they are going to Fort Independence & we to—I know not where. There is considerable trouble about the Massachusetts [troops] between [Gen.] Butler & [Gov.] Andrews—he not being willing to let them leave the state since they are not legally got up. The flag was lowered on the State House as they passed.
Saturday, 11—After part of the men & baggage had gone to the fort, they were ordered back. So I guess will go soon.
Sunday, 12—Rainy and foggy. All ready to leave as soon as it clears up.
Monday, 13—Started at 7 a.m. Wind fair. Many were sick. I was well. It is cold. About 4 p.m., came to anchor off Chatham to await high tide at the Vineyard Pass. Started again @ 9. Chatham is a large village, low & level. Saw a wind grist mill [for] the 1st time.
One of the Chathan Village wind gristmills.
Tuesday, 14—For the 1st time in my life I’m on the briny ocean beyond the sight of land. It is fair & the wind blows fair. I like the sea far better than the land & I’d be a sailor if I had not marked out another course in life. We expect to arrive at Ft. Monroe tomorrow noon. I feel better than I have for some time & the whole regiment is doing well.
Wednesday, 15—Stood guard before the pilot house. It was foggy & rainy & cold, so we lay all day waiting for fair weather. We are near the shoals off the Chesapeake. It was very wet. I was not out after 5 p.m. We are @ anchor tonight. Feel quite well though I’ve got some cold.
Thursday, 16—Started at 7 a.m., it being clear. Arrived at Ft. Monroe at 12. Have rebels on one side & several also on the other. Quite a number of Man-of-Wars here. The fort is a no sided, ugly looking affair. Feel quite sick.
Friday, 17—Went on deck today with knapsacks & equipments & drilled while our quarters were cleaned. Got more cold.
How Fort Monroe might have looked from the ship in January 1862
Saturday, January 18, 1862—Laid still today.
Sunday, 19—Went to hospital & got some medicine. A few went on shore to look about.
Monday, 20. All went ashore & pitched tents. Feel sick.
Tuesday, 21 to Wednesday 29—Have been sick with the measles. Had them very light as they were all out before I went aboard the ship. Think this was owing to my drinking a lot of water the night before. Our quarters & rations on board were none of the best. The Doctor let me ashore today. About 200 were sick aboard of our regiment.
Thursday, 30—Slept well all [night] & got up in the morning feeling quite well. I had a bad headache till noon. Felt better after. Wrote home. I received a letter from father. All well. I wish I was at home now. There is considerable talk of leaving here in a few days & that [Col.] Shepley is General. Hope so. Our quarters are quite good though we have to sleep on the sand. I’d like to stay here. Feel weak. Being careful. I’ll do well. Darius is sick.
Friday, 31—Feel somewhat bad today. We struck tents & soon as we had got all ready to leave, an order came to pitch tents & wait awhile.
Saturday, February 1, 1863 [1862]—Rainy today so we didn’t have to strike tents but it cleared off before night & we had orders to strike tents at 7:30 tomorrow. Feel bad. If I was at home now & knew all I now do, I would never enlisted as I know I’m not fit for a soldier. Guess I’ll do [it] yet.
Sunday, 2—Our moving day. If anything important is to be done, Sunday is the day. Struck tents at 10 & staid till noon when we went to the ferryboat Express which took us aboard the Constitution. The Massachusetts regiment followed. Feel well except a little lame in my left side. It seems natural to be here once more. About 9 p.m., Orderly Fernald of Co. K fell down two hatchways, the stairs being up of which he was ignorant. He is not expected to live.
Monday, 3—Had such a pain in my side from 1 to 2 a.m. [that] I could hardly move. Felt sick till my morning’s dose of physick operated. Felt better then. Snows & blows. Guess it will clear off so we can leave tomorrow. Cough some.
Tuesday, 4—Left at 9 a.m. with fair wind & a clear sky. All went well till 5 p.m. We came in with a gunboat with distress signals up. Her rudder was off & [she] had a hole in her side. She had cosiderable water in her hold. We took her in tow & returned towards Ft. Monroe where we shall be delayed 24 hours or so. Received an Age [Augusta, Maine newspaper] from home. Little news. Very hard winter. Feel well.
Wednesday, 5—Arrived at the fort at 10. They sent a man ashore with the small pox, so it seems will have that amonst us. They are taking in coal. Feel first rate. Wellington McCorrison of our company died today. He died of fever after he was getting better of the measles. Unlike us, he was prepared to die. We all ought to learn from this how near is death & the importance of preparation to meet our God. Yet we pass these things by unheeded.
Thursday, 6—Took in coal till 4 p.m. when we again started for the Sunny South. Fair & pleasant. We ran into a schooner at 8, damaging her some, but not bad. Our rations are of the poorest kind—salt junk, hard bread, and nasty coffee. It is all I can do to eat it at all. The quarters are becoming hot & stifling & stinky. I guess when I get home, I’ll know how thankful I ought to be for so good a living as I got.
Friday, 7—Still on our course o’er the briny deep with a smooth sea & prosperous signs in the heavens. Was vaccinated today [for small pox]. Took some physick which made me sick all day. I spewed up all my breakfast & dinner & kept my supper down. It is horrid hot so we have to sleep nearly naked. What will it be on the Gulf? I don’t know.
Saturday, 8—Ordered on deck with blankets to have our quarters inspected & cleaned. Took dinner on deck. It was pea soup & was quite a rarity. The weather is very summer like. It is so mild & pleasant. I feel quite well except a cough. It is very pleasant riding on the surface of the briny deep & watching the playful gambols of porpoise &c.
Sunday, 9—We have been sailing all day in sight of the eastern coast of Florida. The land is low & covered with green & beautiful trees. The sight is pleasant so we have a merry voyage. God grant it may be so awhile. Today seems most like Sunday of any since I left the shores of old Maine. It was very still. At 2 p.m., passed the 1st sail I’ve seen since we left.
Monday, 10th—When I awoke this morn, I found myself on the blue waters of the Gulf. The water is much rougher than on the Atlantic. At noon a squall came up which set many to spewing. Blowing over, it left a heavy swell. Passed in sight of Sante Fe [Maybe means Santa Rosa] Light House & port. Feel well. Everything goes on prosperously.
Tuesday, February 11, 1862—Saw no land today but we had orders to be ready to leave at 6 tomorrow, therefore I expect to see Ship Island soon. I am on guard. My post is the hospital. Tis easy. I sat there & thought so busily that time passed ere I knew it. The Gulf has been quiet all day. Feel well though weak.
Wednesday 12—We were all ready at 9 to leave the old steamer in which we had spent 43 days—weary enough, God knows. After we’d been there an hour, the island hove in sight. We left about 7 and were brought ashore on the 1st river steamer I ever saw. It was a black looking, tall old craft two stories high. The weather is like our June. The island is low & sandy, & one end (East) is covered with trees—mostly pine. The boys who have been here 2 months are fat & fair & dark, so I guess they are healthy enough. I think I will never repent leaving the Old Constitution. We got our tents pitched about sun down. We have decent water. The weather is comfortable and healthy and the bay funishes a fine wash bowl. I have, I think, been very lucky for I couldn’t find any lice or any such thing on me & all I’ve lost has been my knife, neither of which assertions can a good many make.
Thursday, February 13, 1863 [1862]—After washing, eating, & roll call, we began to get wood & bricks to build an oven with keeping busy all the forenoon. After dinner, I washed my underclothes whereby I caught a little cold. I like the appearance of things very well. William [Totherly] Holt, my 2nd cousin—a jolly good fellow of Co. C [Co. I], 26th Massachusetts—came to see us today. He says they fare well & have fattened like hogs. Their duty is easy & all is pleasant. I was glad to see him as I had not seem him before for a year.
Friday, February 14th—Had a thunder shower tonight. The rainy season is just coming on. It is cold & rainy. We made an excursion to the middle of the island to get some wood and rushes. We lashed some logs together & some of the boys waded in the water, dragging them [logs] after them. The island is very narrow there and so low the water often makes two islands. I found shells of curious shapes & colors. As they were hauling the Lewis ashore through the surf, the hawser [nautical rope] broke from the wreck to which it was fastened, hurling ten men upon the ground, three of whom striking on the bricks of the wharf severely injuring them. Two men have died from the measles in Co. I & two in D.
[Editor’s Note: On this same day, February 14, 1862, an unidentified soldier named William who served in Co. K, 12th Maine Infantry, wrote to his father from Ship Island. His letter describing the voyage from Fortress Monroe to Ship Island and the events that occurred there since landing are consistent in every detail with the content of James’ diary. To read that letter, go to—1862: Unidentified William of 12th Maine Infantry to his Father.]
Saturday, 15—Stormy & wet. Had severe pain in my stomach. Tis better tonight. Prepared for inspection. Read Mark Hurlstone today. It is a fine, interesting, & instructive book.
Sunday, February 16, 1862—Wet & stormy. On guard. Feel well.
[Editor’s Note: On this same date, February 16th 1862, George Varnum Hildreth of Co. E, 26th Massachusetts—one of the regiments already on Ship Island when the 12th Maine arrived on 12 February—wrote to his wife that, “I take this chance to write you a few lines to inform you that the long looked for Constitution has at last arrived here with two regiments and a company of cavalry. 1 She came in on the 12th and landed the troops on 13th and 14th making our force here 4,000 strong. The first duty that the Maine 12th done was to form a funeral procession to bury two of their comrades on the evening of the 14th about half past 7, and the moon was shining brightly on the scene as the procession slowly took its way up the beach. It was hard to think of these poor men dying on that boat with no kind friends to attend to them. They have used this last lot of troops shamefully on the passage out. They did not have proper treatment when they were sick. They brought out some men for our artillery and one of them was so sick when he came on shore that he died the next day and was buried on the 15th and one died on the 15th and will be buried today at 3 o’clock. He belongs to the Mounted Rangers.” To read the letter, see—1862: George Varnum Hildreth to Mary (Wentworth) Hildreth.]
Monday, 17—Rainy. Our tent leaks bad. We are wet & I guess we’ll be stiff enough. Feel well. Received ScenesOn the Border—an Abolition work. Get through.
Tuesday, 18—[ ] Not raining. On fatigue duty. Had but little to do. The Constitution left today.
Wednesday, 19—Fair except two light showers. No news. The New London brought in some small prizes. Secession has to take it when she’s about. We commence drill tomorrow.
Thursday, 20th—Drilled 1 hour. Fair. Lugged brick for our log cook house—the 1st built on the island. In afternoon lugged boards for a commissary building so I kept busy. Report says 10,000 rebels taken at Bowling Green, Kentucky. Feel well & not a bit homesick.
Friday, 21st—Fair, usual drill. Lugged commissary stores. The New London brought in 1 steamer and 11 oyster boats [suspected of being pilot boats for blockade runners]. Saxon arrived with stores & mail. Got paper & song book from home. Wrote home.
Saturday, 22—Anniversary of Washington’s Birthday. Formed on parade & 34 guns fired by the Niagra & Fort Massachusetts at noon. A lovely day. Feel well.
Fort Massachusetts on Ship Island in 1862.
Sunday 23—Fair & lovely. Inspection by Gen. [John Wolcott] Phelps. He is a very pleasant, rough, grey-haired man. He has lived in single life on the frontier as an officer. His voice is squeaking. Fire in direction of Mississippi City. Feel well except a little diarrhea. Could not help thinking on inspection of the difference between Gen. Phelps & our Colonel compared with the company officers.
Monday, 24—Fair. Got slight touch of diarrhea.
Tuesday, 25—Fair. Heavy thunder shower at night. Feel well. New London brought in a good prize. Guess secesh will have to give up by & by. Good news from North by a gunboat that Richmond & Norfolk are taken. Fear it is not so. The health of the regiment improves daily. Only twenty sick except those who have diarrhea. The Idaho is here with 5 horses out of 125.
Gen. John Wolcott Phelps, commanded the troops being assembled on Ship Island early in 1862. He was an ardent abolitionist.
Wednesday, 26—Cloudy. Feel well. On guard. Got our dress uniforms. Dark blue frock, sky blue pants, and a sky blue hat with a fore piece to it.
Thursday, 27—Fired at the target as we came off guard. My gun misfired. The lock is weak. I hit a mile from the mark. Seven out of 35 hit. Fair. Feel well. It is said that our troops are 100 miles off Mississippi.
Friday, 28—Quite hot & fair. Feel well. Passed in review before [Gen.] Phelps in forenoon. Being hot & sandy, I got very tired. Inspected & mustered in by Col. Shepley.
Saturday, March 1, 1862—On fatigue. Went aboard the Undaunted to clean out horse stalls. Fair & feel well. Idaho and Pensacola came in. Like here best of any place I’ve yet seen.
Sunday, March 2, 1862—Inspection day. Fair all day. Rainy at night. Feel well. Heard the 1st sermon I’ve heard since I left Auburn. It sounded good. New London came in from Biloxi with a schooner & a secesh paper confirming the late news.
Monday, 3rd—Windy. Feel well. Good news from the North. There is a prospect of going home in 6 months.
Tuesday, 4th—Cold, windy. Feel nice. Had our 1st Battalion Drill. Reckon we made fine work. Our officers act at though they knew nothing. The 9th Connecticut was paid off today. Guess we’ll be [paid] soon.
Wednesday, 5th—Cold & windy. Health good. Like better & better every day. It is comfortable & healthy. If I always get along as well as I now do, I shall be quite well.
Thursday, 6th—Cold as November. Ice formed. Feel well. Hear that Beauregard is prisoner and Missouri in our possession.
Friday, 7th—More moderate. Got cold. On Battalion. Practiced with blank cartridges. Did well and were steady.
Saturday, 8th—Fair & decently well. The 13th & 14th Maine, & 12th Connecticut came in today. Look well. Saw W. Millet of the 13th. He says all is well in Maine. Two companies of 26th Massachusetts went over to Biloxi & Mississippi City at 2 p.m.
Sunday, 9th—Fair, Feel well. Massachusetts boys came in last night at 10 & report that they were attacked by rebels with cannon. They went ashore with unloaded guns though they had 40 rounds with them. Therefore they scampered back. Only one was hurt, being shot lightly in the stern. It looks like a silly piece of business. 8th New Hampshire & two batteries came in today. Have about 10,000 here now. Guess we’d better apply to the Miss. Govt.
Monday, 10—Stormy. Feel well. On guard. Did well.
[Editor’s Note: James’ diary entry for March 8th, 1862, indicates that the 13th & 14th Maine, as well as the 12th Connecticutt, landed at Ship Island. On March 10, Capt. Charles Barnard of Co. A, 14th Maine wrote his wife Maggie of their landing on Ship Island and of their setting up camp. To read his letter, go to—1862: Charles Barnard to his wife Margaret.]
Tuesday, 11—Pleasant. Feel well. 12 mortar boats of Porter’s Fleet came in today. Guess something is up. I’m firing at target. I came nearer hitting the officer than the target. We had a brigade drill under Phelps. It lasted 3 hours. It was fun to hear the Old Gen. talk to the officers. I would drill all day just to hear him.
Wednesday, 12—Stormy. Feel well. On fatigue. The Constitution came in today. with the 6th Michigan, 4th Wisconsin, and 21st Indiana. As she came in, there was a great deal of talk & betting about her. I knew her at 1st sight. Paid off today. Received 48.50 & sent 40 home. It was a happy day to all the 12th [Maine] who had done without tobacco &c. for two months. At any rate, I was not sorry for it.
Thursday, 13th—The Western troops came ashore today. They have served 10 months & are rough, tough, & ready. Had a long drill, got in about 6. It was then dark.
Friday, 14—A south wind blowing drives the water upon the land, covering two-thirds of the island, We are on high land & safe. Quite a number of tents blow down but ours stood it well. Rained all night. It was the greatest storm I’ve seen for six months. A little lame.
Saturday, 15th—It has cleared off & is very fair. Feel tip top. Went to the 14th Maine & saw some Norway friends. All were well & like [it] well. 15 gun & mortar boats left today. Some said for Mobile & some to Lake Ponchartrain. Will know soon.
Sunday, 16—Fair & lovely. Feel first rate. Constitution left.
Monday, 17th—Hot and fair. Feel smart. Drilled 6 hours today. We did well on Battalion Drill till the Major got us into a fix he couldn’t get out of. On Brigade we did very bad. The 12th [Maine] is the poorest drilled regiment here though tis the officer’s fault. Two ironclad gunboats made from old ferry & came in.
Tuesday, 18—Fair till 6 p.m. Then stormy. Feel well. A bark & gunboat came in today. 7 hours of useless drill.
Wednesday, 19—Rain, thunder & wind. Feel well. 8th New Hampshire arrived. Gunboat with mail came in. Rain beat through our tent so as to wet us considerable. My health never was better. Ship Island is very healthy. No wonder the rebels made it a summer bathing place.
Thursday, 20—Fair. Feel well. On guard. Windy. Got cold. Mississippi came in with Gen. Butler. There is a great deal of gambling here. Many have spent all their pay.
Friday [21st]—Cold and windy as November. Never expected to see such weather in the Sunny South. [Col. Neal] Dow and four companies [A, B, E, & I] 13th Maine came ashore today from the Mississippi in which they came. Feel well.
Wm. W. Deane, Lieut. Co. C, 12th Regt. Maine Vols.
Saturday, March 22, 1862—Cold & windy. Got a touch of diarrhea. Col. [Nathan A. M.] Dudley & the Lt. Colonel & Major of the 30th Massachusetts arrived today. [Capt. J. H.] French is Inspector General. On fatigue. Unloaded the Lewis though I did little towards it. Made some sugar for myself.
Sunday, 23rd—November weather. Have diarrhea. Col. Shepley is Brigadier General over the 12th, 13th, 14th, & 15th Maine. The others are under Phelps & Williams. Adjutant Teesley is Adjutant General. This fulfils the Fort Monroe stories. Find quite a number of friends in the various regiments.
Monday, 24—Pleasant. Feel better. On Battalion drill. We formed a hollow square, faced inwards & listed to a letter from Gov. [Israel] Washburn congratulating us as the best regiment yet out of Maine & wishing us success. Lieut. [William W.] Deane, Co. C, is Adjutant. We have to rise with the sun, turn out for roll call, breakfast, and be ready for drill from 7 to 8, 9:30 to 10:30, & 3 to dark. So we have to keep busy. Three contrabands came in. The Rhode Island just in. Brought me 1 paper—The Age.
The USS New London off Ship Island in early 1862.
Tuesday, 25—Pleasant. Well as usual. New London and two or three other gunboats went over to Mississippi City. Heavy and rapid firing was heard soon after. Sounding like heavy guns. No news yet. Williams’ Brigade drills under heavy marching order & have to be ready to leave at any time. We have to furnish picket now. Three Whites came in in a skiff today from Biloxi. Being questioned by Gen. Butler, they said the rebels were getting desperate & were pressing all into service. They run off to escape conscription. The New London which was the only boat engaged came in about 4 p.m. uninjured & reports that she was engaged with some small rebel boats which escaped by running into shallow water.
Wednesday, 26—John Chase of our compay having died, we did not drill but attended his services. It is fair & I feel well. Four women & 5 men with a flag of truce came in today from Rebeldom—purpose unknown. Ship Western Empire is in with horses. Men are detailed to act as seamen on the transports. Cos. B & A are ordered to be ready to start in the morning with 3 days rations. Preparations are being made to attack some place—I know not what. Only eleven have died in the regiment.
Thursday, 27—Pleasant. Healthy. Co. B went off somewhere today. The 31st Massachusetts came in today.
Friday, 28—Lovely. Health good. Gunboat Hatteras came in today. We had a fine drill, you better believe, as French inspected us. We made a perfect failure.
Saturday, 29—Weather fairt & health good. Went up to the upper end of the island after rushes. It is 7 miles long. When I got back, I was tired enough. It is marshy in places & covered with palms, live oak, & pine. Ship & gunboat came in.
Sunday, 30—Hot & feel a little lame. Passed in review. It being hot, we had a hard time. But as inspection passed off in a hurry, we were out only two hours. It is said Ft. Jackson has been taken with the loss of 13 gunboats & 100 men. Guess so.
Monday, 31—Warm & sultry. Feel buncombe. The Connecticut came in with mail for every regiment but ours. The 12th Connecticut & a western regiment went aboard some of the ships. A track has been laid from the wharf to the site of the fort about to be built on which a small car is used. Tonight we went on fatigue on the wharf, lugging plank, rolling water casks & commissary stores aboard the Lewis. We got done at 4. We were tired 7 stiff. We have no duty tomorrow. Such duty gives me an appetite.
Tuesday, April 1st 1862—Lovely [day]. A little stiff. Nothing to do today. The work we did last night amounts to nothing for it was just as much work to load to the Lafayette as from the wharf. I went to see a little alligator. He is lizzard shaped, scaly, & muddy brown color, homely head, kind of an animals, 8 feet long.
Wednesday, April 2, 1862—Mild. Lame & stiff. In the afternoon. I was detailed for fatigue. We piled & rolled boxes & cable, wire, batteries, sinkers &c. for a telegrapg to New Orleans by way of Biloxi. From appearances & the amount of buildings & amount of artillery, tooks, bricks, &c, I should think Ship Island was to be a great naval place. 9th Connecticut went over to Biloxi because a few of our men who went with a flag of truce were taken. The New London & Lewis have gone over to learn them to behave. I guess they will have to learn anyway.
Thursday, 3—August days. Feel bully! Tis said the [9th] Connecticut has had a fight, driving them off with 30 loss, taking 200 prisoners & driving them 9 miles. It may be so and it may not. the 21st Indiana has come ashore without doing anything.
Friday, 4th—Lovely. Feel first rate. On guard tonight four hours for being absent for drill unintensionally as I didn’t expect one. New London brought in the river boat P. C. Wallis & about 22 prisoners. Our rations are becoming mighty short for we have only a few biscuits, very small. The fault is with our cooks who are too lazy to cook it. The largest sailing vessel in the world—Great Republic—with four masts, came in with the 15th Maine.
Saturday, 5—Fair. Healthy. The 9th Connecticut from Biloxi is in today. They went to Mississippi City & were fired upon by the Rebels, 1 shot taking effect on the smoke stack of the Lewis & one passed through the cabin but hurt no one. When they landed, the Rebels left, leaving all behind except their artillery which was drawn by horses. They burned everything & followed the 7 or 8 miles which was to Pass Christian where they burned everything too. The boys brought back guns, glasses, flags, &c. They had a pretty flag of white, with a purple border & a magnolia blossom in the center [the flag of the 3rd Mississippi Infantry] & a little carronade worn out with rust. There was two regiments and one battery of them. No prisoners were taken. The [9th] Connecticut boys [the “Irish regiment”] are ready for a brush or a row at any time. [For the story behind the raid on Biloxi and Pass Christian by the 9th Connecticut, see “Battle of Pass Christian—Bedsheet Surrender” by Marty Brazil]
An AI-generated watercolor of the 3rd Mississippi Infantry flag collected by the 9th Connecticut from the abandoned rebel camp at Pass Christian although James’ description of it does not mention the blue field with the white star.
[Editor’s Note: A member of Co. B, 13th Connecticut Infantry named Frank Twitchell wrote his sister on 7 May 1862 from the steamboat that carried his regiment from Ship Island to the Mississippi River delta: “I found a slave and his family on board that the 9th Regiment Connecticut Vols. brought from Mississippi with them. I asked him what the Rebels thought of the Yankees. He said they thought they—the Rebels—would get whipped. He said his master had two sons in the Rebel army when the 9th landed. He said that the Rebels had 1,000 men to oppose them but as soon as they got in sight, they took to their heels with the cry, “Gen. Butler’s Division is coming!” See—1862: Franklin S. Twitchell to his Sister.]
Three men of Co. B were drowned while bathing, being caught by the undertow. It is said that Butler with 20th Mass. is ordered to report at Washington by May 1st & that Fremont is to take his place. Guess it ain’t so. Yet can’t help it.
Sunday, 6th—Pleasant & feeling very well. On guard. 7th & 8th Vermont are in harbor. 2nd Vermont Battery with them. Many rumors afloat.
Monday, 7th—Fair and well. The troops came ashore. Cough some.
[Editor’s Note: A member of Co. H, 8th Vermont, named Romanzo A. Harris was among those who came ashore on 7 April 1862. Nine days later he wrote a friend of his impressions of Ship Island and of their activities since landing. See—1862: Romanzo A. Harris to “Friend Mira.”]
Tuesday, 8th—Wind blows the water on the island badly. No drill except company drill.
Wednesday 9—Cold. Feel kinder sick. Reviewed by Gen. Butler. We formed a line of nearly two miles. It made me very tired.
Thursday, 10—Moderate. Got bad cold. Four or five barks and ships came in today and one or two went out. Practiced street firing with blank cartridges. Saw a gal today in the 7th Vermont. It was a rare sight.
Friday 11—Had bad cold & cough. Wet, windy & rainy with thunder at night. On fatigue. Tore a rebel schooner to pieces. The Great Republic & Idaho were driven ashore, severely injuring the Idaho, but not hurting the Great Republic.
Saturday, 12—Clear. Health no better. Tore up another schooner and used it to make tent floors. We’ve got a fine one & the best in the company. D[arius] got a letter from home. All well. Feel stiff & tired. News from the North gives a prospect of a speedy close of the war.
Sunday, 13—Feel better. J. W. Dana, Sergt. Major, acts 2nd Lieutenant Co. B. [and] N. W. Jorda [?] takes his place. Wiggin is 1st [Lieutenant] of Co. B, Little being discharged. The 13th Connecticut came ashore today, coming in last night. New London took a schooner of sugar & molasses. Company inspection today. There is considerable talk (& preparation) of the removal of all the troops from the island except those from Maine. We have been loading the Great Republic & other vessels with provisions & arms. Many reports of Union victories at all points, even to the taking of North Carolina are circulated. But I can’t credit them though I hope [for] the best.
Monday, 14—Feel better though had bad headache this forenoon. Warm. On guard. The [9th] Connecticut and some other regiments had orders to go on some vessels in the harbor—destination unknown. Got asleep on my post tonight but as we had a good corporal, I was not reported.
Tuesday, 15—Fair. Health quite poor. Received two papers [dated] March 20 today. Rumor says Charleston is taken. Don’t believe it. Also that the Merrimac was taken while up for repairs. It seems that rebels must soon give up. The 30th Mass., 26th Mass., 21st Indiana, and 9th Connecticut went aboard boats today.
Wednesday, 16—Fair. Feel stiff & have considerable pain in stomach. Cough some. The 31st Mass, 12th Connecticut, 4th Wisconsin, & 6th Michigan went on the boats and they started in direction of New Orleans. Heavy firing in direction of Fort Jackson—so heavy that the ground fairly shook. Had hard time at drill as my stomach pained me severely.
Thursday. 17—Went to hospital as I did not feel well & tried to get excused from duty but I didn’t make out. Weather is fair. A low, small, rakish looking craft came in this afternoon said to be loaded with guns &c. taken in trying to run the blockade. She is an English bark.
Friday, 18—Health same. Heavy firing in direction of Fort Jackson. Rumor says it has fallen but I don’t believe it. A Michigan doctor has got into a fix. When he came here, he brought three boxes of hospital clothing &c. Thinking the absence of his regiment afforded a good chance, he sent them to the Express for conveyance home. When questioned as to the contents, he said he brought his surgical instruments with him thinking he might per chance be stationed here as surgeon, but finding he was not, he concluded to send them home. Suspicions were excited & the boxes opened & the fraud discovered. He is under arrest. So it seems officers are not more perfect than privates. I guess our doctor would fare little better if he had his dues. At any rate, they know little about his business.
[Editor’s Note: I could not find any evidence that a Michigan doctor on Ship Island was arrested for such an offense. However, I did learn that Ezra Read, Jr. (1811-1877) , a surgeon of the 21st Indiana Vols., was arrested for taking “certain boxes containing hospital goods, the property of said regiment, and send the same to the express office of Messers. Adams & Co., at Ship Island, and order the same to be expressed to Indianapolis withthe intent to embezzle and convert to his own use…” This was said to have occurred on or about 14 April 1862.]
Saturday, 19—On guard at Cols. quarters where I had a good seat & an easy time. Reuben Bean of Co. A struck another of the same company who was plagueing him in the jaw and broke it. He is a half fool who never did any duty. He is in the guard house now. I think this will learn the boys to let him alone & stop plagueing him.
Sunday, April 20th [1862]—Health worse. Weather cold.
Monday, 21—Went to hospital and got some physick which did me a little good. Weather moderate. Passed in review before Shepley, Lieut. Phillips, Capt. Co. B acting.
Tuesday, 22—Feel about used up so that I could hardly walk towards the last of the afternoon drill. Pleasant weather. No news.
Wednesday, 23—Went to the hospital and got some quinine. Felt well all day. Fair. My gun fell from the rack about three feet on my great toe making it painful. Heavy firing both in direction of New Orleans & Fort Jackson, 8 to 11 a.m.
Thursday, 24—Feel much better. Fair. Had brigade drill afternoon. Very short. It is said that Fort Jackson’s guns are all silenced but two & the magazine blown up. Our loss being 57, the enemy 2,000. D[arius] had a letter from home. All well.
Friday, 25—Feel well. Fair in forenoon. Thunder shower in afternoon. No afternoon drill—t’was so wet. Vessels are passing in and out from the passes & signals hoisted on the light house all the time though I do not understand them.
Saturday, 26—Feel tip top. Cold in forenoon & hot in afternoon. Good news from the North has come of our victories said to have been gained.
Sunday, 27—Felt well when I got up but when I came off inspection, I began to feel weak & to have pain in my limbs & by night I was in pain all over. Had severe headache & was quite feverish. It is said the boats have passed the forts with a loss of 50 men, two gunboats, and the [P. C.] Wallis. The troops are to be conveyed by another pass to the rear of the fort to make a land attack.
Monday, 28—Weather fair & health about the same.
Tuesday, 29—Little better. By Saxon from Fort Jackson we learn that 4 or 5,000 troops have landed in rear of the forts and that Butler has gone to New Orleans and given them 24 hours to surrender or be burned out by his mortar fleet which has passed the forts safely. This was yesterday and probably the fate of the city is decided ere this. The Rebels burned all their steamers which have not gone upriver. No sure news as to the surrender yet. Great battle at Corinth, Mississippi, between Grant & Buell and Beauregard—the latter being wounded in his left lung. The rebels were driven after three days hard fighting. Rebel loss said to be 3,500. Ours 2,000. Probably an exageration. Lettrs to 2nd says all is well & my money safe.
“The Rebels burned all their steamers [at the wharf in New Orleans] which have not gone upriver.”
Wednesday, 30—Feel just same. Fair in forenoon & rainy in afternoon. Reviewed in forenoon & mustered after dinner. Received 7 papers from home.
Thursday, May 1, 1862—Lame in back. Fair. In afternoon, signals of distress were hoisted on the light house for the purpose of attracting the New London‘s attention (as she lay to the south a few miles) to the fact that some Rebel vessels were trying to escape by the upper end off the isle.
Friday, 2—Back lame & painful. Pleasant. Had the pleasure of witnessing a lively race between the boats of the New London & several others. For some distance, two black boats took the lead by several rods when suddenly the New London‘s boat shot along over the smooth surface of the bay amid cheers of the boat’s crews & all others around, came in far ahead. Next came a small white boat belonging to a neat ship, which one I had guessed would beat. Three companies of our regiment (F, H & D) started at 9 with four days [rations], went to the wharf & then back, the order they received being countermanded. At same time, a large steamer came nearly onto the land close to us.
Sunday, 3rd—When I awoke this fine morning feeling well as I have all day, heard orders had been for us to go to New Orleans which with Forts Jackson & St. Philip are in our possession. Eleven of our company are to be left on acount of sickness. At dress parade, received orders to be ready with four days rations at 5:30. We had 60 men and corporals ready to go.
Sunday, 4th—Arouse at 4:30 and in an hour were in line. We marched down on the drill ground between the fort and bakery & remained there till 5 p.m. when all being ready, we went aboard the Tennessee—an old mail steamer, a recaptured prize—which was the one that run so near us last night. Flag on the roof of the officer’s cabin while the regiment was all over her.
Monday, 5th—Started at 12 midnight. But as the ship’s officers were all drunk, we went more than 20 miles out of our course delaying us 6 hours. We came off the Southwest Pass at 10 a.m. There I saw for the 1st time how the muddy Mississippi colors the sea for miles around, with its own peculiar color which is not inaptly likened to a sea of coffee all milked & ready to use. The banks are low & covered with reed & shrubs. The forenoon was pleasant but a shower came on at 2 p.m. By going below, I escaped a wetting. Passed several mortar & gunboats on their way to Mobile. Anchored off Fort St. Philip at dark.
Tuesday, 6th—Pleasant [weather] & feel well. Ft. St. Philip is on the right side (going up) & is a large, strong looking brick fort about 20 rods long in front & 15 or 20 feet high. As it is covered with sod on the side & top, it presents a pretty appearance. It mounts 50 parapet guns. On the other side, a little lower down half a mile from Fort St. Philip is Fort Jackson, also of brick though smaller & much stronger. It mounts 30 parapet guns. I cannot see beyond the outer wall of either. Jackson has the advantage of [St.] Philip in being on the highest side though both are on low, marshy wet land. These forts look little like Monroe or Warren though they are quite strong. At any rate, the Union flag floats over both so that the mouth of the Mississippi is now open to the commerce of the world.
Having unloaded some baggage belonging to the 26th Massachusetts here stationed, we started about noon for New Orleans. Going up I saw quite a number of rafts made of square timber & boards & filled with all kinds of combustibles.They all drifted ashore doing no harm to our fleet. Some are entirely consued [in] some parts, and some not at all. Like all other Rebel schemes, they proved a failure. As we steamed along up the river, I saw on both sides all kinds of dwellings, mostly small, one story wooden buildings scattered thickly on either side. On account of the water being high and the right side, many on that side are uninhabited. This side is nearly covered with water for twenty miles from the forts; only an occasional lot protected by a levee on all sides, being bare. The other side, though low, being higher, is not much overflowed. The houses are better & thicker & beautiful groves of trees & shrubs greet the eye. On both sides, large buildings & little settlements are seen.
After we got 30 miles from the forts, the buildings began to improve as the land is higher & pretty groves of tropical trees laid out in rows with shady walks between, tempt the soldier sweltering under the heat of a southern sun. Men are seen plowing in the fields & many wave hats & handkerchiefs as we pass. For the 1st time in my life I see sugar plantations which begin to be scattered along on either side & for the last 20 miles nearly monopolize the land. Each plantation has its mansion, mill, and stables and huts while all around many acres of cane a foot or two in height are laid out in regular squares. Slaves of all sizes and both sexes are doing the 1st hoeing. All together it is a pretty sight & reminds one of a village in old Maine. The plantations are protected by levees. I must say for the natives, that [even] if they are thinly settled, I saw several pretty little churches.
These southern plantations have an air of neatness & comfort which more northern farms might well imitate. As yet though, I’ve seen nary a dirty house. I’ve not yet seen one on a plantation—not even a slave hut. All are painted or whitewashed & all rubbish removed & everything neat & green. This is more than I can say of many a farm in Maine. These plantations with their neat buildings & pretty groves with the forest in the rear make the prettiest scenery I ever saw.
The river which is half mile wide flows smoothly along and adds a finishing touch to the scene. Words feeble as mine cannot express my admiration of this elegant combination of art & nature. Flat boats which look like a great box four times as long as wide or high with one end sloping in, sailboats, wherries are moored beside these pretty villas or skim the surface of the muddy Mississippi. The Abolitionists who can look on these splendid results of slave labor & still wish to take from the happy planter his only dependence must be a mad man or a fool. The river is so crooked that in going 180 miles we’ve only come sixty in a straight line. Arrived at New Orleans at 9 p.m. It is so dark I leave the city till another day.
Wednesday, 7—Except that it is in form of a crescent & on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, New Orleans looks very like any other large city. The building along the river are nearly all brick. It is very low & level. On the other side [of the river] is Algiers—a pretty little city hid by ornamental trees & looks like a feeble bride astern & mail clad groom. We are anchored off long wharf exchange. There are a few river boats here but it presents a desolate appearance to what it did two years ago when the river was crowded with shipping & trade flowed prosperously on in uninterrupted channels. At 1 p.m. went aboard the Ceres & came ashore. We marched about half a mile to a place, I should think to be a storehouse for cotton [Freret’s Cotton Press]. It is about 200 feet square with a brick wall ten feet high with roof on both sides and one end, thus covering about half of it. Quite comfortable.
I have seen several of the New Orleans papers. They are small & printed on coarse, yellow paper. The Picayune is only one-fouth of its former size & not one-quarter as good. Secession has told fearfully upon it. Their tone is not very hostile nor very friendly. They submit to Butler as a matter of obligation & not of friendship. The better class of the citizens appear to look more friendly upon us & I doubt not the eyes of 50,000 citizens behold with enrapt emotion the fleet, the troops, & the stars & stripes floating over the Custom House & all the fleet. There are several regiments in the city. Butler has established martial law with a provost marshal & judge, yet promises not to interfere with civil authorities in the proper exercise of their functions. Gunboats are I know not how far upriver.
Thursday, 8th—Pleasant. Feel well. Three companies have left & gone to guard a railroad (Jackson) & two to Lake Pontchartrain. On guard. Had quite a fine time at the gate. At night I was stationed outside with loaded musket but nothing occurred except the the regular tramp & rapping of the police & a concert by dog, cat, frog & co. which was quite amusing.
Friday, 9th—Rainy. Feel foot sore & lame from walking on the brick sidewalk. I see by the papers that troops are being enlisted for the regiments here & also that new ones are to be got up, thus giving Louisiana a chance to do something for the Union. We get nothing but hard bread & coffee which makes mighty poor living. I hope we shall go somewhere soon where we can get something to eat that’s fit.
Saturday, 10th—Feel pain in back. Fair. A roll call tonight. We had orders to be ready to move at 8 tomorrow to the [U. S.] Mint which a fatigue party has prepared for us. There is a great deal of suffering in this city among the poor. There is no flour in the city. Corn meal is 0.80, beef 0.40, bacon 0.75, coffee 0.80, tea 2.00, butter 0.75 & other things except molases at 40 & sugar at 1.07, according. Maine boys who come in with papers are glad to get the hard bread which we would otherwise throw away. Let Southerners prate as they will about the injury the war is giving to the North; there are thousands in this city who will never forget the hard times of 1861-62. The papers say the North is so overburdened with debt she will have to give up soon. I suppose they have not noticed how many bushels of shinplasters they have issued & don’t consider it a debt as they never expect to pay.
Sunday, 11—Feel about same. Fair. Having got ready, we marched to the US Mint about 1.5 miles from here. It is a large brick, imitation of stone, building about 300 feet long by 40 feet wide with three extensions 30 by 80 feet & 40 feet high. It is very strong and has heavy machines in it. It covers about three-fouths of an acre. Its yard of 1.5 acrs is filled with trees and flowers with a high iron fence around. We have two of the best rooms in the building, in the 3rd story. Though small, they are neat & airy.
AI-generated watercolor of the back of the US Mint in New Orleans showing the three 80 foot long extensions in the back and the yard filled with trees and flowers.
This afternoon I was on patrol & went to the Custom House between which & here is a pretty enclosure or square containing an equestrian statue of Gen. Jackson, made in bronze in military dress. I should think it would make the rebels tremble as they look on Old Hickory & think of 1832 & his proclamation [that “armed disunion was treason”].
Went to Algiers which is not half so pretty as it looks from here for it is muddy & the houses are cheap and low. It is like many other things in this world—fair & lovely at a distance, but hideous & deformed at nearer view. There were 18 detailed for guard so it seems our whole business is guard & patrol. It is said Butler found $2,000,000 in possession of the Belgium minister by whom it was kept for the Rebels. D[arius] went to hospital.
Monday, 12th—Feel well. Warm. On guard. Before I had stood, our company was ordered to be off to the Reading Press to guard some hay there. The whole company was on guard in three reliefs. The 13th Connecticut and 8th Vermont came in today. A lot of arms were found near the cemetery & four companies were ordered out in anticipation of a row but all went on well. If the city should be searched as it ought to be, much would be found. Business is improving & the city assumes a livelier aspect.
Tuesday, 13—Feel tired. Fine weather. As Co. E came & relieved us at 8 a.m., we marched back to the Mint. I was detailed again tonight for guard at the building just opposite the mint at the end of the Ponchartrain railway where a lot of shell was found. Saw plenty of rats at night. Twenty men on guard today from our company. Two-thirds of those fit for duty.
Wednesday, 14—Feel tip top. Hot & pleasant. 3,000 barrels of flour came in from Mobile today which will gladden the heart of many a citizen who have been without for a long time. A lot of tents, duck cord, chests, &c. were brought in from several parts of the city. Butler is ferreting out a great deal of stuff & there is a chance for a great deal more. Two ships came in with soldiers today. We were not relieved till 11 at night on account of the relieving sergeant’s slowness. Moved from old quarters to the Main building into a large & airy room.
Thursday, 15th—Feel bully. Hot & sultry. Did nothing.
Friday, 16th—Feel tip top. Still hot. On guard. Had easy post. A lot of guns were found at the arsenal by our boys who were there on guard. We have one of the old ft. boys in our company. He’s a fine looking fellow. Over 800 have been enlisted. New discoveries of Rebel stores are made every day.
Saturday, 17th—Feel well. Thunder shower at night. New Orleans Crescent suppressed for treason.
Sunday, 18th—Inspection today. On guard. Well.
Monday, 19th—Got bad cold on guard last night & felt miserable all day. Showers today.
Tuesday, 20th—Went to hospital & got excused from duty. Felt weak & restless all day & at night. Four more men have enlisted in our company so that we now have 85 officers & privates.
Wednesday, 21st—Feel same though the doctor put me on duty. I went on guard mounting, but before it was over, I was so weak I had to sit down. The Lieut. excused me. We had orders to pack all our clothes except blankets & knapsack in boxes & be ready to leave at 5. But after we were all ready, the orders were countermanded. Went on Battalion drill this afternoon & as I had vegetable soup for dinner. I stood it very well. If I could always get as good grub, I’d do well.
[Editor’s Note: Next single entry out of chronological sequence in journal]
Sunday, 25th—Feel well. On police. Post about two miles from the Mint at a little market in the suburbs. Quite a pretty place. A market here is a building with nothing but posts for walls, filled with meat block counters with drawers underneath. Had good time & stood all day. From talking with the people, I’ve become satisfied that many of the people still love the Union & that the rebellion was gotten up by politicians aided by unprincipled men. These have stole the property & forced the people into arms. No wonder unwilling soldiers should meet with reverses. Received a letter from Chaffin.
Thursday, 22—Feel same. Fair. Excused from duty. The boys we left at Ship Island have arrived except Rufus Hayford who is dead. Twenty-one men were detailed as police—the old police having refused to take the oath, being disbanded. The Mayor has been sent to Fort Jackson & College. Shepley acts in his stead. Getting tired of the city.
Friday, 23rd—Went to hospital. On duty. Feel no better. On guard. Had hard time of it standing at guard mounting but after that, got along well. Only 8 on a relief instead of 23 as formerly. Two showers which I escaped.
Saturday, 24th—Felt quite slim when I got off guard. Pleasant. Received a letter & paper of April 11th. All well.
Monday, 26th—Feel well. Pleasant. No duty for me so I had time for washing self & clothes. The 14th & 15th Maine are in the city. The 13th Maine still at Ship Island. It is said that Richmond is evacuated by the Rebels & that the Mississippi is now open. Secession seems to contract its limits every day & will hane to give up soon. [Jeff] Davis has invested 200,000 in France so to have a living when he has to flee—so says the True Delta.
Tuesday, 27th—Feel tip top. Warm & pleasant. On guard. Had weary time.
Wednesday, 28—Have slight cough. Fair. Wrote home.
Thursday, 29—Feel well. Hot & fair. Charles McLoon of our company died today. Tis said that a large mail & the paymaster have come & that we’ll be paid off soon. On police tonight & as I was at the station, I was on only four hours. They have organized a police in the 1st & 4th Districts & will ours soon. Hope t’will be soon as the duty is wearing out the men though I do well.
Saturday, 31st—Feel bully. Warm. This post is to be open to commerce from tomorrow under certain restrictions. Business improving. Tis said Fort Morgan is taken. Wrote to Chaffin.
Sunday, June 1st 1862—Feel well except a slight cough. Fair. Inspection today. My post being at the guard which was empty, I stood only two hours. Quartermaster Sergeant Goddard is 2nd Lieutenant, Co. A. Capt. Washburn, Co. K & Lieut. Coombs Co. I are going home.
Monday, 2—Feel quite well. Fair. Drew cap, shoes, and pants today. The report of Merchant’s death has proved false as he is here though sick. John Libby is dead. City assumes a livelier appearance every day. Vessels are beginning to make use of the opening of the port though slowly as yet. New Orleans will need sometime to recruit up.
Tuesday, 3rd—Health same. Fair. The [True] Delta says that North Carolina has refused to give any more soldiers to Jeff & calls those back who are now in the field, refusing protection to the rebel troops on their passage through the State. Richmond was not taken May 20th though McClellan was within 15 miles of it. Ere this, the star spangled banner probably waves o’er the Confederate Capitol. On guard tonight at the officer’s stable. Easy time. I must send home more of my money so as to pay what I may owe at end of service. Like first rate though I should not be sorry to have the war ended & all of the soldiers sent to their friends & native state.
Wednesday, 4th—Feel nice. Warm. Battalion drill today. City quiet. Co. E went out today to shoot six men who after being paroled, tried to get recruits for the rebels. After they were brought out & seated on their coffins, they were sentenced to Ship Island for life. One of them was very indignant at this. I sell my extra hard bread getting about 15 cents in two days. Sell four for a Picayune in Railroad & Omnibus tickets. Find it hard to continue to pass away time when not on duty.
Thursday, 5th—Feel well though I have a little cough. Fair [weather]. Signed payrolls today.
Friday, 6th—Feel same. Warm. On guard at the Pontchartrain Railroad Depot.
Saturday, 7th—Feel same. Warm. [William Bruce] Mumford was hung here today for tearing down the flag placed here by the fleet. Didn’t see him as I did not get off guard till 11. Our whole regiment acted as guard. There is a report that we are going to Vicksburg but I don’t know about it. Cos. F & H came in today. This looks a little like moving.
[Editor’s Note: “Union occupation commander Major General Benjamin Butler had William Bruce Mumford arrested and tried for treason for an incident in which he had torn down an American flag flying over the U.S. Mint during the tumultuous naval capture of the city. Even though it was unclear that New Orleans was legally in Union hands at the time of the crime, Mumford was found guilty of treason and hanged at noon from the Mint building. Dying with eloquence and dignity, Mumford quickly became a Confederate martyr and Butler a Confederate bête noir.” (By John Osborne) Source: Robert Justin Goldstein, ed., Desecrating the American Flag: Key Documents of the Controversy from the Civil War to 1995 (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1996), 1-2.]
Sunday, 8th—Feel same. Warm. Inspection this morn. The chaplain took leave of us on account of sickness. [On] May 24th, McClellan was within 5 miles of Richmond & a great battle expected. Mortar fleet going up.
Tuesday, 10th—Got [a] cold. Warm [weather]. No great change.
Wednesday, 11th—Feel no better. Weather same. D[arius] came in from hospital today. On guard at stable. Gen. Shepley inspected us at the City Hall today.
Thursday, 12th—Feel same. Pleasant. Bought [Alexander H.] Montieth’s “German without a Master” [a self instruction language guide]. Tis said Beauregard has retreated 76 miles from Corinth which our troops occupy. Memphis was taken after the destruction of the Rebel fleet & Richmond taken. The Rebels will have to give up soon since Richmond taken & Banks & fremont have driven them over the border so that Virginia—the home of Washington & birthplace of Lincoln is again under the mild sway of Uncle Sam. England is terrified at our ironclads & army.
Friday, 13th—Feel well, though I cough some. Warm. After we had comfortably turned in for the night at 10, the long roll was beat & in minutes were in line. Nothing but a trick of Butler’s to try us.
Saturday, 14—Feel well though I cough & have sore throat. Weather fair & warm. Three men obtaining suits of soldiers’ uniforms, forged an order from Butler giving them leave to search for arms in a house where they knew the proprietor made no resistance till he saw they were after his money. Then he called thr police who arrested them & took them to Butler & tried before Judge Bell & sentenced—two to be hung tomorrow, one to Fort Jackson 5 years.
[Monday, 15th—] Feel same. Very warm. On guard. Had orders to be ready with two days rations cooked & eight uncooked, to go somewhere on Lake Pontchartrain. At 6 p.m. we started in the cars for the lake which we reached i nhalf an hour. Slept on the floor of the wharf, out over the water. Those men I spoke of yesterday were quartermaster of a steamer, a 13th Connrecticut chap, & a citizen. We have five companies made up from all under command of the officers of Co. G, H, B, D & E. Seventy-five men in each company making 375 in all.
Monday, 16—Slept well. Feel same. Warm. Had to wait all day in the freight house where I got all the sugar I could eat. A river boat ran over a fisher man in a skiff, stoving it all to pieces. The man tried to swim a few minutes & then sunk. I think he must have been injured. No one went to his assistance though there were plenty of boats at the wharf. About dark we went aboard the Grey Cloud to go no one knows where. Co. E is with us & the J. M. Brown took the rest.
Tuesday, 17—Started at 4 a.m. in a northeasterly course up the lake. The Brown & New London going with us. When we got to the mouth of Manchac Pass river, we stopped & gave up Co. E to the Brown & the things we’d taken from the New London to lighten her over the bar. We had one 32-pounder and one 12-pounder. Brown had four 12 s. & the New London her usual number. Our company was then stationed with loaded muskets all over the boat to keep a look out for rebels with orders not to fire till fired upon. We then proceeded up the river, our boat taking the lead & sounding [taking depth measurements] all the time. The New London [came] next, and the Brown last. We proceeded in this way without molestation 10 or 15 miles when, by getting close to the shore, we were delayed till the New London passed by us. Soon after, we came in sight of the New Orleans & Jackson Railroad & an earthwork with two guns with two or three tents and a shed. They fired two shots & loaded again, but as the New London gave them two or three good ones, they fled leaving a dinner all ready, guns and baggage. Part went towards Camp Moore & part to Manchac. We went ashore and took everything of value & destroyed the rest, setting fire to the track & buildings & breaking the trunnions & wheels of the guns. We broke the telegraph wire & tore up the rails. We then went on board & started downstream with the New London leaving the crew of the Brown to go by railroad while we went by another branch to Pass Manchac.
Before we got there, we found a schooner with a pass for another Bayou near Manchac. Took charge of it. When we got to Manchac we found our boys already in possession. The Rebels (being warned by those who escaped from above) escaped by means of boats out of our reach. We served the place as before. We found quite a lot of commissary stores probably brought by the schooner we had passed. Our boat then went through the draw to a bayou beyond, cruising around to see what we could find. We saw a litle sloop scudding along near the shore. Our shots failing to bring her to, we sent 7 men & a boat after her. While they were gone, we brought to, a skiff with four men, two being Fort Jackson officers. But as they had a parole from Butler, we let them go. After our boys came in with the sloop, then we went back to Manchac.
Wednesday, 18 [June 1862]—Diarrhea so bad, I’m very weak. Somewhat cloudy. After we had destroyed & taken everything & burning the bridge & taken up a cable telegraph, we left at noon. The New London got stuck upon the bar & it took us an hour to get her off. We then went up to Jeffersonville on another creek & a little above where we took in a lot of wood, heard heavy firing in the direction the New London had gone.
Thursday, 19th—Feel better though I cough a little. Hot & sultry. Started this morning & went to Madisonville—a bathing place on th lake. It has about 1,000 inhabitants. It is a city whose mayor with a Colonel & Quartermaster we took at Manchac we brought with us. We landed & deplyed in various ways. Our squad under Capt. Robinson went to a guerrilla camp whither we were guided by a boy & old man. The guerrillas had left & so we took their tents & a lot of guns, pistols, &c. After cruising about all over the place, we went aboard our boats & the Brown went back to the wharf while we cruised along the lake. The inhabitants all cleared off at our approach except women, boys, niggers, & old men. After cruising about a while, we make Lake Town, when we took the cars & at 8 p.m. were at the Mint. Thus has our expedition happily ended, but not however without something to show that the 12th Maine can face cannon as well as others & that Butler’s idea that the 12th were only good for guards is not right. No one showed the least cowardice. Received a letter of 1st instant.
Friday, 20th—Cough little. Weather same. Nothing to do.
Saturday, 21st—Feel same. Weather same. On guard at stable.
Sunday, 22nd—Hot & sultry. Gen. Shepley reviewed us at the St. Charles [Hotel] today. It is said we are going away again soon. Hope so.
Monday, 23rd [June 1862]—Have cold & sore throat. June weather. Hear & read all sorts of rumors about fighting in Richmond, but nothing reliable & important.
Tuesday, 24th—Health & weather same. Gen. Shepley is military governor of Louisiana. Wrote home.
Wednesday, 25th—Health & weather same. On guard here.
Thursday, 26th—Health & weather same. Paid off yesterday. Sent $25 by letter home.
Friday, 27th—Feel better. Pleasnt. There is a dearth of news which must be distressing to news mongers & newspapers.
Saturday, 28—Feel same. Weather same. Showers.
Sunday 29th—Health & weather same.
Monday, 30th—Health better. Hot & sultry. On guard aboard a schooner today. Easy. Bimonthly muster today.
Tuesday, July 1, 1862—Feel well though have slight cough. Hot & sultry.
Wednesday, 2nd—Health same. Cloudy & hot. Received two papers from home. Bread sells at 25 to 40 cents.
Thursday, 3rd—Health same. Showery & hot.
Friday, 4th [of July]—Another anniversary of the birth of our nation has come & gone. It has found us in a sad plight for a nation but yet the day star of peace has already arisen & soon I trust the day in full glory will dawn. The day was not very celebrated throughout the city. We formed & saluted the Old Flag as it was raised on the Mint. Health same. Rainy.
Saturday, 5th—Health same. Hot & Sultry. On guard at the schooner.
Sunday, 6th—Health & weather the same. Twelve [men] detailed for Jackson Railroad today.
Monday, 7th—Health good. Fair & hot. On guard here. Easy time. Rumors of an expected attack being afloat. Two or three companies scouted all night. No trouble though.
Tuesday, 8th—Health & weather same. Received a package of letters, papers, &c. Wrote to Leroy.
Wednesday, 9th—well. Rainy. Rumors of the taking of Richmond. Come by way of Memphis.
Thursday, 10th—Health good. Hot. On guard. Think by reports [that] we will be home October 10th.
Friday, 11th—Health & weather same. The officers appear to be mighty scared in anticipation of an insurrection in the city. Guards are doubled and armed. Men patrol the streets at night.
Saturday, 12th—Health & weather same. Received two letters from home July 1st tomorrow. All well. Papers at same time. News favorable prospects of fighting. On guard.
Sunday, 13th—Health & weather same.
Monday, 14th—Cough a little. Showers & cooler. Wrote home.
Tuesday, 15th—Health same. Rainy. On guard but didn’t get wet. It is said that Vicksburg & Mobile are ours.
Wednesday, 16th—Health same. Showers. Our grub is soft bread, salt beef, pork, bacon, rice two times a week, beans once, & coffee. I sell my bread often & buy other kinds of food so we do decently well.
Thursday, 17th—Health same. Fair. Six [boys] of our company went home today.
Friday, 18th—Feel well. Fair. We had a drunken guard round last night. They rode on to the guard in spite of him. Our captain was Officer of the Day. News from the North to 8th [of July] puts all former reports to naught. McClellan after Seven Days fighting is on the James [river] & Richmond not taken.
Saturday, 19th—Have slight cold. Hot & fair. Mobile is not yet taken nor has Vicksburg fallen though the city is entirely consumed. So much for former reports. It is said the [Confederate] Ram Arkansas has destroyed Foote’s fleet & put to flight Farragut & Porter. Of course it is false.
Sunday, 20th—Health & weather same. They say we will leave the Mint in a few days.
Monday, 21—Feel same. Hot with showers. On post guard. They say now that we are not going away. Corporal [Eben F.] Vose of our company died today. Cause? Eating too much stuff.
Tuesday, 22nd—Feel tip top. Fair. On Vose’s [funeral] escort. Wagoner Robinson, Co. B, & Corp. Guptyl of Co. I died tonight from drinking too much bad liquor. We have to be careful here now not to eat green things, overload our stomaches, or drink New Orleans liquor except occasionally a little Brandy which I find I can do without.
Wednesday, 23—Feel well. Hot & showery. On guard at night on the Mexican Gulf Railroad Depot—the road to Lake Borgne. Had the severest thundershower tonight I ever saw. The lightning blazed all the rime & all around it thundered very sharp.
Thursday, 24—Feel tired. Pleasant. Still at Mexican Gulf Railroad. Ex-Captain Fessenden died suddenly. Cause? Bad rum.
Friday, 25—Health & weather more comfortable. We will have to stay here some time. Well, I’m not sorry for it is not hard to stand three hours at night & go where you please during the day.
Saturday, 26th—Feel sleepy. Hot & fair. Still at Mexican Gulf Railroad.
Twelve of James’ letter home to his family have survived and can be found published on Spared & Shared. See 1862-64: James Redlon Holt to Dudley Barker Holt. This letter with a lithographic image of New Orleans is the first of the 12 letters and it was dated July 27, 1862. In it, James mentions that his regiment was quartered in the US Mint but they expected to be moved to new quarters soon.
Sunday, 27th—Feel bully. Like it well. Fair. One shower. Our sergeant with three men and a corporal with 12 went down 15 miles where they got two and a half barrels powder. There is considerable talk of leaving the Mint & going to the Confederate Hotel & orders to pack up have been given. When I get tired of sitting here, I go across the street to see them play billiards.
John (“Jack”) Coffee Hays
Monday, 28th—Feel stiff. Fair till 4 p.m. when we had a fine thunder shower. News from the North gives no encouragement. There is near here a genuine Union spy—Jack Hayes, alias Cast Iron Jack, &c. He was born in Ohio, was a Texas Ranger in Mexican War. Afterwards, coming here, he was hunter, cotton screwer &c. till the time of Walker’s filibustering [in Nicaragua] when he joined them. He returned to New Orleans after that where he has since stayed. He resisted all attempts of the [Rebels] to get him in their service, much as they desired it (for many of them well knew his ability). After Ship Island was taken, he acted as spy, giving a great deal of information as to the strength &c. of the Rebels. I myself have seen him on Ship Island. He sometimes passed the Rebel lines by pass & partly by running guard for which is knowledge of the lakes 7 bayous prepared him. He is now one of Butler’s Specials. Five feet 8 inches high, 50 years old, tough & wiry, and completely bronzed. Like all of his kind, he has a mighty good opinion of himself.
[Editor’s Note: It is highly likely that James’ biographical account of “Cast Iron Jack” reflects the oral traditions that surround figures like Davy Crockett, where the legend significantly surpasses the truth. The individual he references is almost certainly John Coffee Hays, known as “Jack” Hays (1817-1883), who was born in Tennessee. Hayes indeed joined the Texas Rangers at a young age and played a crucial role in the Mexican War. After the conflict, he ventured to the gold fields of California, where he was elected sheriff of San Francisco in 1850. He remained in California, and there is no evidence to suggest he joined Walker in Nicaragua or acted as a spy for Butler. His brother, Confederate General Harry T. Hays, resided in New Orleans and was a significant figure in leading the Louisiana Brigade during the Civil War. It is difficult to comprehend the notion that the brother of Harry Hays would serve as a Union spy.]
Tuesday, 29th—Feel first rate. Showers. Dull.
Wednesday, 30th—Feel good. Showery. Our regiment moved to the Confederate States Hotel except companies B & H who went to the Unitarian Hall. Sergt. & two men went down to Lake Borgne today. They had no trouble.
Thursday, 31st—Feel well except slight cold. Hot [weather]. Went with one man down to Davis’ plantation. Passed by the famous battle ground of 1812. There is an angular breastwork of one mile or so ten feet high with a deep moat outside. A white square monument about 40 feet high marks the spot where Jackson whipped the British. I wondered as I passed by how the Rebels could dare to carry on their [ ] on the scene of a battle fought to defend the Union they are trying to destroy. There is nothing but plantations on the road. Got off at Gen. Davis’ & after walking three miles up river in the heat of noonday with the thermometer at 130 degrees above zero, we reached the halfway house. I was nearly exhausted. A rebel officer came up with us having three heavy trunks which he said were filled with boys clothes he was to take to the Colonel.
[Editor’s Note: It’s not clear who the “Gen. Davis or Col. Davis” is who had a plantation downriver from New Orleans. Jeff Davis’s plantation was upriver closer to Vicksburg.]
Friday, August 1, 1862—Health good. Showers in afternoon. Guerrillas are marauding in Tennessee & Kentucky. Recruiting going on fast in the North. All quiet on the Potomac.
Saturday, 2nd—Health fine. Hot. Went down road to show how slow we go. The gunboat Jackson came up the river with us, arriving as soon as we. Though she had farthest to go & up stream at that.
Sunday, 3rd—Health good. Showery & hot. Went down to Lake Borgne where I had a fish chowder which tastes good to a soldier who’s lived on hard bread.
Clipped from the The Daily Delta, August 5, 1862 (New Orleans)
Monday, 4th—Health & weather same. 100 negroes from Morgan’s & others plantations came up the river last night armed with clubs & cane knives. When they arrived at the lower part of the city, the police ordered them to halt. Instead of this they attacked them & soon the whole force of the District was engaged but they would have fared hard had not some soldiers come to their assistance & shot two or three & wounded 9. They were soon driven off or taken. There is great fear among the planters of an insurrection.
Tuesday, 5th—Feel bully. Warm & sultry. Received one letter & paper from home—all well. Some poor fools in Maine are almost scared to death for fear of a draft but there is no need of that.
Wednesday, 6th—Feel well. Showery 7 hot. There was a fight at Baton Rouge yesterday. Gen. [Thomas R.] Williams was killed, probably by his own men on account of his hardness in drill, &c. He had knapsack drills at Vicksburg in mud up to their ankles. Rebels routed. Received a paper of July 23d—no news. Secessionists are boisterous, telling us we will have to leave soon. But if we do, we’ll leave a city in ashes.
Thursday, 7th—Am well. Hot & sultry. About 200 wounded brought in from Baton Rouge. In come down, the [transport steamer Lewis] Whiteman (on which they were) ran into a gunboat [USS Oneida near Donaldsville], drowning five & injuring many. The [Confederate Ram] Arkansas has been burned.
[Editor’s Note: USS Oneida commander, Commander George H. Preble, suspected the collision was intentional rather than accidental, noting clear moonlight, ample clearance, and high steam buildup on the Whiteman. Survivors and crew reported that the captain of the Whiteman had multiple sons serving in the Confederate army and expressed open Southern sympathies, fueling beliefs that the crash was deliberate. The steamer quickly sank, resulting in the loss of several lives.]
Monday, 11th—Health & weather same. [Joseph] Tufts, [Guy] Ward, [Mel] Chadbourne, & [Edward] Kenniston have gone home from our company. Searched some houses today but found nothing.
Tuesday, 12th—Health & weather same. Butler has ordered all the arms in the city to be brought in this week. Rumors of an attack are in circulation.
Wednesday, 13th—Health & weather same. Went to Halfway house today. Got back at 9 p.m. Received one letter from home & one from gran.—all well. Minot gives $100 to her share of the 200,000 Old Abe has called out.
Thursday, 14th—Got a cold & ache all over. Hot & sultry.
Friday, 15—Feel well. Hot. As the sergeant was about to come up tonight, they saw a boat full of men coming in so he stayed there to render assistance to the squad stationed there in case they were rebels. Sending up one man to report. He brought up a lot of arms which had been down there a long time.
Saturday, 16th—Feel well but I have about one dozen boils on my back though they are not painful. Hot. The men in the boat proved to be 26th Massachusetts boys who are cruising in a launch so the boys have come up again. There are 12 men stationed there.
Sunday, 17th—Health & boils same. Hot. Went down to lake. Saw nothing. Last night we had orders to be ready to go to the regiment at any moment as the Rebels were said to be within six miles from Phelps at Carrollton. Of course all in bosh.
Monday, 18th—Health & weather same. Received one paper from home. No great news.
Tuesday, 19th—Have headache & boils. Hot & sultry.
Wednesday, 20th—Health and weather same. At 4 a.m. I was waked up by the reports of a pistol & a musket (fired in this building) & heard the groans of a policeman who was shot. We roused up, got our guns and found two or three policemen supporting the wounded. He was shot in the arm. About twenty policemen collected here but instead of hunting to find out who did it, they began to lay it to us. We called out the patrol who searched in vain for the man. If the police had done their duty, they could have got him but they were afraid of being shot. Went down to the lake today. Took salts hoping to be better.
Thursday, 21st—Boils still troublesome. Hot.
Friday, 22nd—Boils same. Hot. Man not found yet.
Saturday, 23rd—Health & weather same.
Sunday, 24th—Feel same. Rainy. Went to lake.
On 25 August 1862, James wrote the 2nd of 12 letters home to his family. In this letter he writes of Uncle Darius’ discharge, of his swollen face and particularly his left eye—“a fine looking object,” and begs his mother not to worry about him. To read the letter, go to Letter 2.
Monday, 25th—My left eye is badly swelled & the boils are beginning again. Rainy all day. Darius, Monk Whitman, [William H.] Blair & [Aaron] Grose received their discharges today & were paid off. Reports of fighting at Richmond. Flour sells at 9 to 12. Other things accordingly. Business would be much better here if the army was sufficient to ensure the safety of the city. Few sailing vessels dare come in. All the change here is 5 cent blue tickets on the New Orleans City Railroad, 100,000 being in circulation.
Tuesday, 26th—Health good except boils. Hot.
Wednesday, 27th—Health & weather same. Darius left today. Said goodbye to him at 8:30 a.m. He has been to me all that a man could. When I was sick at Fort Monroe, he gave up his bed to me though he got cold thereby. He was always willing to help me. When I was down-hearted, he cheered me up & joined in my joy. When I looked upon him sick & pale, I pitied but could not help him. The doctors gave him [papers] over a month ago but he was kept till today. The doctors think that the cool breezes of a Northern clime will soon give him strength & health to his feeble frame.
Thursday, 28th—My left eye is swelled so that I can’t see out of it but is not painful. Feel well. Hot. Received two months pay. Some of the new recruits are already showing the effects. Quite a number in the guard house.
Friday, 29th—Little better. Hot & sultry.
Saturday, 30th—About same. Rainy. Went to Custom House & bought some books. The city is fast increasing in trade & as soon as the war is over she will make quick lengthy strides towards her former prosperity which she will soon reach.
Monday, September 1, 1862—Poulticed my boil so it is better. Rainy. Money about gone.
Tuesday, 2nd—Feel well. Rainy. Quiet & dull.
Wednesday, 3rd—Feel well. Boil nearly well. Troubled with humor sores all over. Rainy. Commenced the study of Ollendorff’s German Teacher. Our regiment is preparing to move to the New Orleans Cotton Press. Two thousand troops came in today & many more are expected so we shall soon take up the offensive. Home guard are being organized here.
Thursday, 4th—Health same. Hot as fire. Nigger companies are being paraded through the streets which suits not me nor any of the soldiers. Guess they’ll not be armed. Northern papers bring discouraging news. All’s got to be done over again.
Friday, 5th—Feel well but prickly plagues me. Hot. Times dull.
Saturday, 6th—Health same. Hot. Just finished reading [Sir Walter] Scott’s Fall of Waverley which is the first of his novels I ever read & the first in which I could not discover how it would end by reading two chapters. Quite interesting.
Sunday, 7th—Health & weather same. Went to Lake Borgne. Mosquitoes intolerable. Ate some shrimps for the first time in my life. They tasted like lobster & were good.
Monday, 8th—Health & weather same. Received three papers & letter.
On 8 September 1862, James wrote another letter to his family. He apologizes for not writing more often, says they’ve moved quarters to the Cotton Press which is better than the Confederate Hotel, and says no one honors the Sabbath in New Orleans. To read the letter, see Letter 3.
Tuesday, 9th—Feel slight cold. Showery & warm. Wrote home. Went up town without a cent of money yet came back [and] feel as well as if I’d spent a million.
Wednesday, 10th—Heath & weather same. Dull.
Thursday, 11th—Health & weather same. About 4 o’clock Jack—one of our boys—came here and ordered me to go to supper. I told him I wouldn’t. Then he tried to make me go. Says I, “Jack, stop your damned fooling.” He did so & I went up town. When I got back, they said Jack had been crazy & acted like the devil but they’d got him to his quarters & he was asleep. He is a good fellow & has probably been drugged by some fancy woman where he has been. If we can find them out, it will go hard with them.
Friday, 12th—Feel better. Rainy. Went down to Lake. Mosquitoes kept me running from car to car all the time.
Saturday, 13th—Feel well. When I got back from breakfast this morning, I learned that part of our regiment was going to Lake Pontchartrain. I wanted to go but it was too late. Our sergeant has gone 7 left us.
Sunday, 14th—Health & weather same. Dull.
Monday, 15th—Have some cold. Rainy & chilly. Went to Lake. Mosquitoes not bad. Got back late.
Capt. Charles C. G. Thornton, 12th Maine
Tuesday, 16th—Health same. Hot & cloudy. Our regiment has returned. Our company stayed at the lake. Cos. F, D, & C with some Massachusetts boys under Major Strong went to Mandeville, when finding all quiet, they went to Ponchatoula which they soon took but were attacked again & driven back with a loss of 30 men, all of F & C (including Capt. [Charles C. G.] Thornton) wounded & missing.
Wednesday, 17th—Feel better. Rainy Legs sore.
Thursday, 18th—Legs, health & weather same. An order has been given by Brig. Gen. Birge directing policemen to arrest all soldiers out of the lines without passes. Think police will soon be sick of it for we cooled down a better set at Lowell. Such orders do more hurt than good. If I was an officer, I wouldn’t give a cent for a soldier I couldn’t trust. I would rather have ten I could than 100 I couldn’t trust.
Friday, 19th—Feel well. Legs better. Rainy.
Saturday, 20th—Have slight cold. Legs sore. Fair [weather]. Went to lake today. Mosquitoes quite human, Ran off the track 14 miles from here & had to come up on another train. A bad joint was the cause.
Sunday, 21st—Health and weather same though I’ve nothing to do. I long for some kind of business & hope the war will soon end of which there is but little prospect. I never liked & never expected to like a soldier’s life & hate it more every day. Yet I don’t wish to go home till war is over.
Monday, 22nd—Feel well though my legs are sore. Rainy. Poor men are beginning to get a living. Flour is $10. The wharves & levees present a lively appearance compared to what it was a few months ago. Prosperity again begins to smile on it.
Tuesday, 23rd—Have slight cold. Legs better. Rainy. News to the 10th. Rebels in Maryland & McClellan after him. Had a letter & paper from home. All well. Darius has got home. This is the last day for traitors to take the oath & save their property. The Office of Provost Marshal is crowded & has been for a week, but many will not take it.
Wednesday, 24th—Legs not well yet. Feel well. Rainy. Five men of Co. F have returned. They were not taken [prisoners] but were engaged in carrying wounded into the hospital when the enemy appeared between them and their company. They took to the swamp where [they] wandered about several days & narrowly escaped capture several times. All of the others have been exchanged.
Thursday, 25th—Health, legs, and weather same. I would give half my bounty to be in McClellan’s army for I enlisted to fight—great coward as I am—and not to lay still & do nothing as now.
Friday, 26th—Feel much better. Went to Lake but as it rained all day, the mosquitoes did not trouble much. News from the North says McClellan has driven the Rebels panic stricken out of Maryland. New troops did well.
Saturday, 27th—Feel well. Fair. It is my 17th birthday. Seventeen years have passed over my head & I am almost a man, Five feet, 9 inches high, plain looking, large head, hazel eyes, dark hair and thin though broad in build, in fact I look like most of the boys of my age. But what a change since I was 16. Then I was at Hebron Academy trying to understand the mysteries of Greek & to master Cicero; brilliant harangues. Now I am here in the City of New Orleans doing but little, goig on guard only two and a half hours every other night & to the lake once in 6 days, & go where I please. I may be said to have an easy, yet dull life. Easy as to work; hard, because dull. Since I’ve been in the army I’ve behaved pretty well though not as well as I ought. I’ve swore a mighty sight. Swearing comes easy. Drank but little, hardly touched a [playing] card. Read the New Testament through once and a half & done my duty without a word of complaint. Bad as I am, I might be worse. Today closes another year & tomorrow will usher in a new for me.
Sunday, 28th—Health & weather same. Good news.
Monday, 29th—Got slight cod. Fair. Stood five hours last night as all but I and another fellow were off on a spree. Well, soldiers must spree it once in a while.
Tuesday, 30th—Health & weather same. Received two papers from home.
Wednesday, October 1st, 1862—Health & weather same. Dull times for soldiers.
Thursday, 2nd—Feel well. Showery. There are quite a number of vessels in port & drays are going around quite lively. Time will again make New Orleans the metropolis of the Sunny South. Till then, the honest laborer must keep his soul in patience & do whatever he can, ever hoping for the good time coming & never despair because he’s nothing to do.
Friday, 3rd—Feel well. Fair & hot. The weather after 4 p.m. this time of the year, you feel chilly & yet you sweat if you have much clothing on so I don’t know how to manage. I can’t get on enough to keep from being chilly & I sweat in my shirt & pants. This gives me a slight cold. Went to Lake today. Mosquitoes thick but not troublesome. They have a Provost Marshal at the half way house now.
Saturday, 4th—Health & weather same. It is pleasing & at the same time unpleasing to see & hear the little folks of this city. They are nearly all tainted with treason & are not afraid to let us know it.
Sunday, 5th—Health & weather same. Cruised around the city today. There was a row on Barracks Street between soldiers & policemen. I think police will get tired of meddling with soldiers by and by.
Business middling. I saw quite an amusing sight tonight. It was a pow-wow by Gascons [French emigrants from Gascony]. Very like an Indian performance. They sang in barbarous French, danced, capered, & cut up all sorts of tricks, drinking plenteously. They tied a paper tail to one of their number & he got down on all fours & run about while they tried to set it on fire. They kept it up all day and nearly all night. Not an angry word was spoken.
[Editor’s Note: James probably witnessed a Charivari—a folk custom brought to the US by French emigrants. I have seen it in other 19th Century letters typically when an old man married a young woman and the couple are subjected to loud noises throughout their wedding night.]
Monday, 6th—Health & weather same. As to our grub, we have our bread & coffee as usual, but for with it we have nothing but salt horse spoiled with salt peter & occasionally a bit of meat, pork or a few potatoes. We have no butter, no apple sauce, no sweet potatoes, no nothing. Whether we ought to blame the cook, commissary, or quartermaster, I know not. 1st, glaub das ein ist haub [German to English translation: “I think that’s a big deal”], 2nd has little spunk, and 3rd don’t care.
Tuesday 7th—Health & wealth still unchanged. Received two papers from home & wrote home. The President has issued a proclamation declaring the slaves of all states & parts of states which shall be in rebellion January 1, 1863, free forever, & urges a more vigorous prosecution of the war. That sounds well. It is no more that after fighting two years for peace, we should try the last and to all appearances most forcible alternative. Finding it impossible to restore the Union as it was, let us restore it the best we can. This may give the Rebels a few more troops, but it will also take from them their best arm of service—the slaves who till the soil & feed their army. But I hope that before the appointed time, all parts of every state will again be under the starry folds of the Stars & Stripes & the mild rule of Uncle Sam.
Tonight I heard what forcibly reminded me of home. Two little girls about ten years old came & sat upon a seat before the door & sang almost angelically with their tremulous little voices, “Good News from Home, ” which seemed very appropriate as we’d received such cheering news from our far off Northern home. They sang other & pretty songs, yet none seemed so dear to me. Alas that I have to say it, they sang rebel songs with all the pathos & earnest simplicity of an ardent Rebel. It is sorrowful to see how indelibly treason is stamped on their little minds. It will take years, yea centuries, to effectually blot treason out of the Southern mind. Nought but the greatest wisdom of legislation & mildness of law can ever do it. A few harsh laws or a bad ruler will renew the old flame & set the old thought to work.
Wednesday, 8 [October 1862]—Felt well till night. Then I found I had a bad cold. Had a mighty hard night of it. Rolling & tumbling about till two. Rebel prisoner went up river today.
Thursday, 9th—Have a bad cold in my head which is anything but agreeable. No news.
Friday, 10th. Have bad cold. Cold & rainy. Went to Lake. Got back about 9 p.m. Had a bad night. I was chilly & my tooth ached some. Stand no guard now.
Saturday, 11th—Have cold & cough. So cold I have to wear an overcoat. The people here seem to think (so I think from what I hear & see) that we Yankees are about used up with the cold because some of us wear overcoats. But they do not stop to think that our overcoat is no more addition to our clothing than their thick shirts, pants, vests, & coats are to their usual thin suit. If I was well, my vest would be all the extra I would want. There has been a 2nd heavy battle at Corinth.
Sunday, 12th—Health and weather same. Dull times.
Monday, 13th—Cold little better. Still quite cold.
Tuesday, 14th—My cold little better. Warmer. Brightened my gun according to Packard’s order. Nearly all of our officers are sick or on detached service so that sergeants act as everything. All quiet on the M. G. R. R.
Wednesday, 15th—Feel about the same. Had toothache so that I didn’t sleep till after two. Went to the Lake. All went fair till we got about one mile from here when, as we were going over a part of the track where the sleepers were rotted off, the track spread letting the car we were in slip between the wheels, tearing off the fore truck & jarring us well but hurting no one. If we had been going at the Northern rate of speed, we might not got off so easy. The rest of the train did not get off.
Thursday, 16th—Feel better. Tooth aches some. Received one paper.
Friday, 17th—Feel better. Tooth aches some. Went to lake.
Saturday, 18th—Health, tooth and weather the same. Received a letter from home. Business is good in the North, while here there is nothing done. It is said we are going to Carrollton.
Sunday, 19th—Health, tooth & weather same. Some squads of men were ordered in today & came in, but went back again. Colonel says we’ll not be relieved even if the regiment goes. Wrote home. Birge’s order has proved a failure.
Monday, 20th—Feel well. Pleasant but chilly night & morn. News from North says [President’s] Proclamation goes well.
Tuesday, 21st—Health & weather same. Seems like October in Maine. 26th Massachusetts relieved the boys at the lake. Regiment goes in the morning.
Wednesday, 22nd—Health & weather same. Went to lake. 26th [Mass.] boys like it well. Regiment left at 8 a.m. & went to Carrollton at Camp Parapet. We are to remain here.
Thursday, 23rd—Feel well. Quite cold. Had to borrow money to buy something to eat as the regiment went off leaving us only 1 days rations. We shall begin to draw rations in a day or two. Guess we won’t be relieved at all. Don’t care.
Friday, 24—Health & weather same. Went to lake. Live on borrowed money yet.
Saturday, October 25—Feel well. Very pleasant till 2 p.m. when the sky began to darken & the air filled with dust & was windy but warm, till 4 when the “Norther” reached us & then it was so cold an overcoat came into play. Went to Carrollton today. It is a dismal looking place. Few houses, covered half with woods and half with low & (when wet) muddy land. Got our rations from chief quartermaster. Received letters & papers.
Sunday, 26th—Feel chilly. Very cold.
Monday, 27th—Feel well. Moderate [weather]. Sergt. [Frank A.] Garnsey has become Captain Co. H, 2nd Louisiana. Wrote to Darius.
Tuesday, 28th—Have diarrhea. Heavy frost & chilly in morning. Pleasant midday & cool at night. Went to lake.
Wednesday, 29th—Well. Weather same. Sergt. Evarts of the 9th Connecticut has charge of us now. Guess he’ll pass.
Thursday, 30th—Health & weather same. Our sergeant treated me to oysters &c. so I was fairly overloaded.
The following letter was written by Henry Dawson Wheatly (1831-1897) who enlisted in September 1862 as a private in Co. D, 50th Tennessee Infantry. He was taken prisoner in the surrender of Fort Donelson and “released as a doctor from Johnson Island” according to his muster rolls. He was elected 2nd Lieutenant of his company in June 1863 and three months later he was wounded in the Battle of Chickamauga and sent evenually to a hospital in Cassville, Georgia. The amputation of his right leg ended his military service in 1864.
Henry wrote the letter to his cousin, Major Samuel Hollingsworth Stout (1822-1903), a farmer with slaves in Giles county, Tennessee, before the Civil War, who volunteered his services as a surgeon to the Confederate Army of Tennessee. He had an M. D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
Sam was a surgeon to the Third Tennessee Infantry from May to November 1861, and to Gordon Hospital in Nashville from November 1861 to February 1862.[4] He subsequently moved to Chattanooga, where he was in charge of hospitals for the Army of Tennessee. By the summer of 1864, his responsibilities had expanded to sixty Confederate hospitals in the Southern states of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. By the end of the war, he had lost his Giles County farm.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Cassville, Georgia May 5th 1864
Dr. S. H. Stout, my dear cousin,
I have intended writing to you ever since I have been able to go about, but it has ben almost impossible for me to confine myself long enough. Shortly after you left me, my wound ceased to heal altogether. We soon discovered that the Tibia had necrosis & of course would have to be removed. Dr. Wright performed the operation about six weeks ago since which time I have improved very fast. I am now able to go about everywhere I choose on my crutches. I hope that it will not be long before I am able to go to Atlanta & spend a few days with you. I feel that a short trip would be of great benefit to me now.
I received a letter from my sister, Mrs. Bradshaw, about four weeks since. Her family & my own were all well. She says that the Federals have broken Brother Will completely up. Poor fellow! he has ha a hard time of it. If I am not able to go to Atlanta before long, I do not know what is to become of me for I am pretty near out of clthing. Since you were here I have removed my Headquarters from Dr. Fry’s to Dr. Nichols’ ward, No. 4. It is much more convenient for me. I have a nice little room on the lower floor with the door openings on the street so that I can get in and out without any difficulty. I never can [ ] to thank you, cousin Sam, for sending me to this hospital for if I were an [ ] child, I could not be more kindly treated than I have been by Drs Hunter and Fry. And though I may live an hundred years, I can never remember them but with feelings of the deepest gratitude. If you have any spare time, please write to me. No news from the front.
I could not find an image of George but here is one of his 1st Sergeant, William D. Phillips, Co. E, 27th OVI (Photo Sleuth)
The following letter was written by Corp. George W. Miller (1840-1862) of Co. E, 27th Ohio Infantry. At the time of the 1860 US Census, 19 year-old George and his brother Harvey V. Miller (1839-1862) were enumerated in the household of an older brother (James W.) on his farm near Dawkin’s Mill, Jackson county, Ohio. His father, Adam Miller (1806-1881) was living with his 2nd wife, Patsy Ward (1816-1874) in Lawrence county, Ohio, with at least eight of George’s half-siblings. George’s mother, Elizabeth Hulett (1810-1840) died in Fayette county, Virginia, before the family moved to Ohio. George wrote the letter to his older sister, Nancy Jane (Miller) Ward (1832-1931), the wife of George Ward (1825-1872) of Waterloo, Lawrence county, Ohio.
George wrote his letter in August 1862 from the regiment’s camp near Corinth, Mississippi. By this time the regiment had seen action in Missouri and participated in the capture of New Madrid and Island No. 10. They then participated in the Battle of Iuka and would soon see action in the Second Battle of Corinth where George was killed in action on 4 October 1862 [another source says he died two days later]. His brother Harvey also served in the same company and died in St. Louis on 15 June 1862, presumably by disease.
George’s letter dwells heavily on Negro Emancipation or the “Negro Question” as it was often referred to. His views are consistent with the majority of the Union soldiers, particularly from southern Ohio where the 27th Ohio Regiment was raised.
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
Camp of the 27th Near Corinth, Mississippi August 6th 1862
Mrs. Nancy Ward,
Dear sister—I seat myself to write you a few lines to inform you that I am enjoying a very reasonable portion of health and trust this will find you enjoying good health. I am in camp today and thought that I would write you a few lines for your perusal when you have a leisure time.
I have been in the Army near 13 months and have been in several states since I came out from Ohio. I have been in several fights. I have marched several hundred miles and have seen a great portion of the country. I have seen some as fine farms as could be found in America. I have seen more in the last 13 months than in all my past life before.
I can’t say that I am very tired of soldiering. You only [know] the condition that this war has come to. I know that it is a speculation to some there. I do not like to fight and expose myself for the plagued Negro to be free as I am plaugue on the Negro question. I wish some of the men that is agitating this Emanicipation and Negro Equality had to be in front of the battle.
I think that it will be a long time before this war will close from the present circumstances. I wish it was in some form that we could whip the Secesh and let the Negro stay where he is. I think the Negro has been living for some time with the Southern people and why not let them alone where they are, for I know that I don’t want to stay in the Southern climate any longer than I will have to stay. The country is very rough and not worth anything to anybody. I am tired of this warm state and want to go to a Northern climate where it is not so warm and sultry that a man cannot get his breath hardly. This is a hard place for white men.
I will not write a very long letter this time as it is so warm in my tent. Nancy, I have forgot whether I have ever written to you before or not. I will say that I mean no harm by just writing to you this time as I never have written before. I am well and trust this will find you enjoying the blessing of God who rules on high. I trust you are trying to live for heaven when done with Earth. I want to live right in the sight of my Maker. May God save us in His Kingdom when done with Earth and its cares. Pray for me. Give my best respects to all my friends and relations. I will close by saying oblige me by writing soon. Yours in love. From G. W. Miller
To Nancy Ward
Tell [your husband] George and the children that I will write to them soon. I want to hear from you soon. Tell Cintha Miller I am well.
Francis Stebbins Bartow (1816-1861), killed at Bull Run on 21 July 1861.
The following letter was written by Francis Stebbins Bartow (1816-1861) who had it all before the Civil War—a law career, a senator for a father-in-law, wealth in plantations and slaves, political rank and military ambitions. But he risked it all on the battlefield and became the first high-ranking Georgian to be killed in the Civil War. Bartow was born in 1816 in Savannah. His marriage to the daughter of U.S. Senator and former Attorney General John Macpherson Berrien’s daughter helped launch his political career in the state legislature. In 1856, he was elected captain of Savannah’s Oglethorpe Light Infantry and led the daring capture of Fort Pulaski in early 1861.
“Shortly thereafter, Bartow was elected a delegate to the state secession convention in Milledgeville, where as a member of the so-called immediate secessionist faction he used his great oratorical skills to influence the convention to pass an ordinance of secession. Following the withdrawal of Georgia from the Union in January 1861, Bartow was elected to the Provisional Confederate Congress in Montgomery, Alabama. There he unsuccessfully schemed with his friends Thomas R. R. Cobb and Howell Cobb to get the latter elected as the new Confederacy’s first president. He also chaired the state house military affairs committee and in this role reputedly selected gray as the color for the Confederate uniforms.
Having campaigned vigorously to create a new nation ruled by slaveholders, Bartow then decided to fight for it. After the Civil War began in April 1861, he rushed home to take the “Oglethorpes” to the front in Virginia. He became embroiled in a confrontation with Governor Brown when he armed his unit with muskets that Brown claimed belonged to Georgia and were intended strictly for state defense, not for troops going into Confederate national service. A heated exchange of letters followed, in which Brown demanded the return of the muskets and Bartow not so politely told him he had no time for such foolishness. At the close of one letter to the governor, Bartow declared, “I go to illustrate, if I can, my native State,” a bombastic yet wonderfully turned phrase that would later adorn his tombstone.
After arriving in Virginia, Bartow was elected colonel of the Eighth Georgia Infantry Regiment. By July 1861 he was in command of a brigade, which he clumsily led into combat at the First Battle of Manassas. On July 21, during a critical moment, he seized the regimental colors and attempted to lead a charge on a Union battery, but he was shot through the heart. He died moments later, supposedly uttering the oft-quoted last words, “They have killed me boys, but never give up the field,” which, along with his earlier quip to Governor Brown, are inscribed on his tombstone.” [New Georgia Encylopedia]
Note: The image in the header of this web page is Don Troiani’s Painting entitled, “Never Give up the Field.” Bartow (wearing a blue uniform) is depicted at center, sitting on the ground clutching his wound, surrounded by his men in gray.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Montgomery [Alabama] March 9, 1861
My dear Henry,
I received your letter yesterday. I am about to set out for Savannah this evening to attend the [Georgia Secession] Convention. I assure you that attention of this government has been directed to the condition of Fort Pulaski and the defenses of Savannah. I have not been [indifferent?] of these important interests, and [emissaries?] were sent there for the very purpose of reporting to the President [Jefferson Davis] the exact condition of things there. I have read to the Secretary of War, several portions of your letter as I thought important to communicate. [ ] has been ordered to the post & to assume charge of its defenses. The President has sent to Gov. [Joseph E.] Brown for 200 volunteers — also for Savannah. I will see when I get home if we cannot furnish you a regiment from that place.
Permit me to say that two governments cannot better have control of military operations. You are mistaken in your estimate of the power and resources of this government. We have plenty of money & our state ought to be relieved of the cost of supporting an army & providing munitions, as soon as this can be done consistent with our safety. All the apparent conflicts can be easily [furnished?] by a clear understanding of the true position of affairs. I should exceedingly regret in the very commencement of our independence, any misunderstanding between the State of Georgia and the Confederate Government.
I am so sure of the intelligence of our state to harbor any doubt. I hope I may see you in Savannah. Give my regards to Gov. Brown.
The following brief letter was written by Oliver Paul Gooding (1835-1909) of Greenfield, Hancock county, Indiana. At 18, he entered West Point and graduated in 1858. After various assignments to military posts, he entered the Civil War as an officer in the 31st Massachusetts (converted to 6th Massachusetts Cavalry), and then was promoted to command the 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Division, 19th Army Corps. On the Red River Campaign, in 1864, he commanded the Fifth Brigade, Cavalry Division, Department of the Gulf, and at the end of that campaign was assigned to the command of the division. In command of the Union Troops at Campti, on the north bank of Red River, the 4th day of April, 1864, General Gooding, in a hotly contested cavalry action, defeated the enemy under General Siddell. At the Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, in command of his brigade, the 9th day of April, 1864, General Gooding gallantly fought and held the enemy in check till the Union Army came into position, his hat being shot off his head, the bullet grazing his scalp.
Note: This letter and image is from the personal collection of Kyle A. Williams 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
Headquarters 5th Brigade, Cavalry Division [Dept. of the Gulf] Morganza, Louisiana May 26th, 1864
Officers & Soldiers of the 2nd N. Y. Veteran Cavalry,
It is with extreme regret that I part with you. Though not of a personal nature, still there are few associations in life more dear than that between a commander and his command, formed during a campaign in a common cause. Such has been our association. For the gallant fighting you have done under my command, accept the grateful thanks of a soldier. And wherever the fortunes of war may lead you, rest assured that my heart will follow you, my comrades of the 2nd New York—farewell.
Spared & Shared 23 