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.
This letter was written by Edwin R. Paine (1840-1880), the son of Lewis Whipple and Jane (Nelson) Paine of Bristol county, Massachusetts. He first enlisted in the 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia in May 1861 for 90 days but the following year, in September, 1862, he enlisted in Co. H, 40th Massachusetts Infantry. Co. H was raised primarily in Essex county with several men from towns like Attleboro. He was discharged for disability on 15 July 1864 at Boston, giving Attleboro, Massachusetts as his residence. In October 1861, he was married to Margaret N. Shields (1841-1899) and had a son named Nelson born in 1862. He’s buried in Pawtucket, Providence county, Rhode Island.
The 40th Massachusetts left the state on 8 September 1862 and was comparatively inactive for some time and remained on picket and guard duty in and around Washington until the spring of 1863. On 15 April 1863, it moved to Suffolk, Va., then under siege, where it was engaged in two reconnaissances on April 24 and May 3. It then moved to West Point, Va., Yorktown, Williamsburg, White House landing in succession, and was engaged with the enemy at Baltimore cross-roads, on July 2. It then passed through Washington on the 11th, and went to Frederick, Md., where it joined the Army of the Potomac in the pursuit of Lee’s army after the battle of Gettysburg. On Aug. 6, it was ordered to Folly island, Charleston harbor, and occupied the trenches in front of Fort Wagner until the surrender of that stronghold. On account of its high repute for excellence in drill and discipline, it was equipped as mounted infantry at Hilton Head in Jan., 1864, and moved on Feb. 4, to Jacksonville, Fla., where it formed part of the Light brigade composed of the 40th, the independent battalion Mass. cavalry and Battery B, 1st U. S. Artillery, Col. Henry acting brigadier. It was engaged at Barber’s ford and Olustee, losing in the latter engagements 5 killed, 23 wounded and 4 missing.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Directed to Mr. Oscar S. Thayer, Wast Attleborough, Massachusetts; Dunham’s Box
General Hospital, Beaufort April 30th 1864
Friend Thayer,
You must excuse me for not answering your letter before but the fact is I am too lazy to do anything. I have some serious notions of getting some wench to feed me–not with oysters, but good ham & eggs, &c. Wenches are cheap. Some of the boys hire them for $3 per month & the wench finds the beer. How lofty a man must feel to find himself between a pair of Black legs. Yellow girls are scarce down here & White more so. If I had been away from home most two years, I am not hard enough to partake of the charms of a Nigger Wench. Most of the White troops of this department have gone North & our regiment is one of them. I have been sick since the last of March & am not much better & am afraid I will not be so long as I remain here in this meanest of all climates & I hope I will soon get North where it is cooler.
Please answer as soon as you get this & tell E. Bliss if he don’t answer my letter which I sent about a century ago, I will choke him when I come home.
We have had some mighty hot weather since this month came in—hot enough to roast live hogs. If you know of anyone who can tell when this war will end, I wish you would find out for I have got little more than a year to stay & am afraid that I won’t have a chance to serve my time out. So if you can let me know, I will be obliged to you. I wonder how Eb’s old Rehoboth navigates now? I would like to walk into Old Attleboro today to find Eb & you (hey what) go long. How is everybody & things?
Well, I suppose Richmond has got to fall once more, sure. A great many down here think if “Old Abe” is elected, [the] Rebellion is crushed. But I don’t console myself with any such idea as that. They will [not] give in a might till they are completely whipped out of their foolish notions.
Well, I wonder when they will get up another draft? Great thing those drafts. They don’t amount to so much as a draft on the “Sand Bank.” Poor John C. has gone up but he fell into [as] good hands as could be wished for, & in fact, all of the mounted troops who were taken were treated as well as they could be.
The Rebels saw the cavalry boys were all gentlemen & should get good care. Well, I must close. Please answer soon. Your friend, R. Paine
This letter was written by Lafayette Cornelius Cooper, a member of the Troup (Georgia) Artillery (also known as Carlton’s Battery)—an elite light artillery unit that fought extensively with the Army of Northern Virginia. Born in 1842 to Temple Franklin Cooper (1805-1864) and Unity Love Patrick (1825-1896) of Franklin county, Georgia, Lafayette Cooper joined the Athens-based Troup Artillery at the outbreak of the war. When the unit formally departed for Savannah in April 1861, he was initially mustered in as a 2nd Corporal. He rose through the non-commissioned officer ranks to Sergeant, and was later commissioned as a Lieutenant. At the Battle of Gettysburg, Cooper’s unit served as part of Colonel Henry Coalter Cabell’s Artillery Battalion, attached to Major General Lafayette McLaws’ Division of Longstreet’s First Army Corps. During the intense fighting on July 2, Cabell’s battalion actively engaged Union forces while supporting the famous assaults through the Peach Orchard and Wheatfield,
[Note: the AI-generated watercolor on the header of this post is based on Gallon’s painting of a Confederate Battery at Gettysburg.]
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Camp near Richmond, [Virginia] May 19th [1862]
Dear Mother,
As the “exempts” will start home soon, I will drop you a few lines. I wrote you a letter a few days ago but so uncertain is the mail that you never receive one out of ten.
We are near the Capitol again—the time with the whole army. I have not been in the city yet, nor do I expect to go. We are expecting orders to move—when, I can’t say. Gen. Johnston never lets every little general know when he is going. He has conducted our retreat from Yorktown as well as he does everything else—whipping the Yanks every time they come upon us. Everything is still so far as I know. I can’t even imagine what will be the plan of operations. But that Gen. Johnston will whip them, none need fear. He may give up Richmond without a fight, but if he does, it will be because it is for the best.
We were yesterday recruited with 70 additional men. We try to give them everything that will render them comfortable until they get broke. They don’t seem to relish the idea of sleeping without tents and for their accommodation we drape a few tarpaulins. The whole army are nearly without tents and it is by far the best.
John is endeavoring to get a furlough and I think he will be likely to succeed. I want you to purchase for me a good wool hat; 6 7/8 or 7 is my number. I want it broad brim. I am very anxious to hear from Pa but don’t know where he is. You write me he is in Kirby Smith’s Brigade but Smith is a Major General and consequently commands a division. But I will write anyway to him. 1
Before going to the Peninsula, we left our baggage at the landing and a great deal was sent to Petersburg, so I guess mine will be lost as it was sent. I will have my hands full now drilling our new recruits. I drilled them awhile this morning. I wish I could get to come home on furlough but can’t do so. After we whip the Yankees here, I will try to get off but probably we may never return until the hirelings are whipped from our beloved soil.
You are wrong in saying none but the big men get the honor. True, the papers may puff them, but the world knows who does truly deserve the honor. But we are not fighting for honor. We are fighting a holier & nobler cause than any other nation ever engaged in. This country is as dear to me as to Gen. Johnston. His course is well night run, whilst young men have everything before them. For long, long years they will bear the yoke of slavery and be annoyed by the clanking of chains if we should be defeated.
I think the war is well nigh [at] its close. We are whipping them on every side and the world is looking earnestly on, seeing whether we are likely to be successful. They will give up if they see we are determined.
I will close. My love to all. Your affectionate son, — L. C. Cooper
Write soon.
1 Lafayette’s father, Temple F. Cooper was Captain of Co. K, 52nd Georgia Vol. Infantry.
This letter was written by Joseph Bloomfield Osborn (1842-1876), the son of Joseph Miller Osborn (1806-1876) and Martha Williams (1807-1871) of Bloomfield, Essex county, New Jersey. Joseph wrote the letter while an ordinary seaman serving aboard the USS Vanderbilt in 1865. Prior to his service in the US Navy, he was a member of Co. F, 26th New Jersey Infantry. The USS Vanderbilt was a heavy side-wheel steamer cruiser built by Cornelius Vanderbilt for transatlantic passage but made available to the US Government at the start of the Civil War. In January 1865, she joined in the heavy naval bombardment against Fort Fisher.
In addition to bombarding the forts from the sea, a landing party of some 1600 to 200 US sailors and 400 marines assaulted the northeast salient of Fort Fisher. “Three successive waves of sailors and marines were to attack the eastern seawall, but instead the assault went forward in a single unorganized mass. 2,000 sailors and marines crashed into the Confederate defenses. The battle was intense and furious. Although greatly outnumbered, the Rebel soldiers clung tenaciously to their defenses. Marines were meant to use rifle fire from nearby trenches to cover the assault armed only with pistols and cutlasses. Though this assault failed to carry the fort, their presence took the attention of the fort’s defenders leading to success by the infantry forces assaulting the opposite side. Its capture sealed off of one of the Confederacy’s last major ports.
Joseph’s 4-page letter describes the bombardment of Fort Fisher on January 15, 1865 and in particular the assault on the fort by the landing party of selected or volunteer sailors and marines. One of the landing party was Joseph’s close friend and shipmate Thomas Cosgrove of Bloomfield, New Jersey, who volunteered in spite of the dangerous mission, determined “to enter the fort or to die in the attempt.” Joseph gives us an account of his friend’s death, carrying the US Flag to the top of the sandhill and partly through the breach in the palisades [see US Genwebsites].
Apparently a number of Joseph’s letters are archived and on microfilm in the Library of Congress and are characterized as an “excellent but little known collection.” See Joseph Bloomfield Osborn papers, 1862-1865.
The January 15, 1865 assault on Fort Fisher by sailors and marines.
T R A N S C R I P T I ON
U. S. Steamer Vanderbilt at Sea Monday morning, January 16th 1865
Dear Cousin Sarah,
I suppose you have waited with anxiety the result of or second attack on Fort Fisher. The battle has been fought and Victory is ours. It is no doubt as great a gain to the Union cause as any one during the war. But at a great sacrifice of human life. The painful duty devolves on [me] to inform you that Thomas Cosgrove was killed while fighting bravely for his country. My pen almost fails me as I with tears break to you this sad fact. All I can say, you, with me as well as all those who was acquainted with him has lost a dear friend. Since we left together, I have thought a good deal of him as a brother, Everyone here has thought a great deal of him. As well they might. He was always of the same, mild and lively disposition. And the traits of a true Christian could always be seen in his daily walk.
I will now give you a brief account of the battle. Last Friday about 60 sailors with our marines was detailed for an assaulting party. None of them need go had they chosen to refuse. Several did and Thomas stood near me and said he was agoing to ask permission to go in their places. I wanted him at least to wait till volunteers was called for and I told him I knew the assault would be a dangerous one. He said he knew it and promptly asked permission to go. The afternoon before by a piece flying out of a lathe, my face was bruised badly or perhaps I would have volunteered too. As I came with him, I wanted to remain with him. He wished me to remain on board and as my eye was almost swollen shut, I did not volunteer.
Friday and Saturday part of this great fleet was engaged but we was not. Yesterday morning we was all up at 5 o’clock and we all [saw] an eventful day was before us, It was a beautiful Sabbath morning. And as the sun rose up over the Ocean, this grand fleet moved on slowly in position before the forts. The shore party was called off and as they sailed in small boats from the ships, it was a grand sight. I felt badly as I took the final shake of hands with Thomas. All I could say was that my wish and prayer was that an easy victory might be obtained and him arrive safely back. He told me he would never be taken a prisoner and if wounded, sell his life as dearly as possible.
We with the whole fleet was soon bombarding the Rebel works. The firing was terrible. The sailors and marines was on the beach toward us and the soldiers on opposite side. Shortly after 2 o’clock, the charge was made. We could plainly see the brave men as they charged on the forts. But it was impossible for the sailors to stand the bullets and grape and canister that was unmercifully hurled at them and they was repulsed with great loss. It was here that Thomas was killed. The soldiers was more successful. By the sailors drawing the Rebel’s attention, the soldiers rushed in the forts at the rear and then the fighting was terrible. It continued till about 10.30 o’clock. When the rebels surrendered, cheers from the fleet and hundreds of sky rockets illumined the air and joy over the victory was upon every countenance. I did not then know that Thomas had fallen. Many will rejoice over this grand victory and many will weep over friends and loved ones gone. Oh how sad is war. I cannot bear to think of how much I will miss the one gone. My year will now seem long.
It was not till early this morning that I found out that my friend was gone. The particulars of his death by those that see him fall is this. As they laid near the rebel works, he told me that he was agoing to enter the forts or die in the attempt. When the final charge was made, one carrying the colors was shot down and Thomas took the colors while the other stopped to help his friend. Thomas was ahead of all with his country’s colors in one hand and a revolver in the other to defend them. He was too brave. Most of his comrades ran while him and a Boatsman mate from our ship and also a officer advanced. The two first was shot down and instantly killed while the other fell and feigned dead and finally escaped.
Thomas was shot in the forehead and side and he died instantly. These two was the only ones from our ship who was instantly killed while several, no doubt, will [yet] die from us. There was perhaps 15 wounded.
We are now on our way to Fortress Monroe with dispatches and from there perhaps to New York City. I will take care of Thomas’ things and as soon as possible have them sent. I will pack up carefully all his letters also and send them on. I can scarcely realize that he is gone. Now I am altogether among strangers. Him and me could pass evenings pleasantly together talking over home and friends. But we must submit with our loss. He died nobly. And as future years roll around, we at least will honor his memory. Thousands have thus fallen. And in a great war like this, it must be so. And as we drop a tear over our friend that is gone, let it not hinder us in the duty we owe our country. He died nobly on the field of battle and no doubt a true Christian. For this, let us be thankful and take warning of the uncertainty of life and the need of being prepared for death.
The account of the battle you will get by the papers and in future years, if we are spared and read over the history of the capture of Fort Fisher, we will know that then we lost a near friend. I do not know what more I can write you now. This sad duty for me to write you these lines is about finished. You know his friends more than me and I hope you will let them all hear of it. We came away at daybreak this morning or I would have done my utmost to have brought his body on. Some of our men is still there at the fort and they said they would bury him and mark his grave. I now close hoping these few lines may find you all well. Love to all.
I remain your loving cousin, — J. Bloomfield Osborn
The following letter was written by G. W. Moss to his brother J. W. Moss on 1 July 1863—the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. He wrote the letter from (presumably) his home in Newtown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, mentioning the “excitement” of the populace on account of the “call of the Governor and the Rebels being in the eastern part of the State.” The call by the governor was for the home militia to turn out to defend the state.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Newtown, [Bucks county] Pennsylvania July 1, 1863
Mr. J. W. Moss, brother,
Having spare time this morning, I thought I would drop you a few lines. I arrived at home on the next Friday evening after leaving your place with about 200 head of sheep, two horses and a yoke of cattle. I have not been away since and don’t expect to be very soon. Since I come home, I have been tolerable busy practicing doing better than trading these squally times.
We have had here the greatest rains I ever saw—just come in time to make us an abundant crop.
There is a great deal of excitement manifested here at this time about the call of the Governor and the Rebels being in the eastern part of this State. They are just doing as they please and the people let them, They have pillaged everything so far as they have went (Chambersburg, Little York, Carlisle, &c.). The people here act quite easy. They allow Harrisburg and other places to take care of themselves because we know we will have to if need be. For my part, I [al]low those to go that can spare the [time] better than I can—those that had fortunes gave them. Charity begins at home. It would not put a dollar in my pocket, no difference what becomes of the aristocrats of Pittsburgh & Harrisburg.
I haven’t heard anything from John yet. Why? I can’t tell you but I would like to know something of him very bad. Yet how can I is more than I know. There is something wrong, you can rest assured. What? I can’t say. A few suggestions in the way of thought. You ought to try to sow a good patch of buckwheat. It will be ready sale and good feed and is easily raised. Also fruit is growing to be very scarce so for a healthy secure, you ought to have a big patch of turnips (sowed then). You have the very ground for them if you can get it cleared. I wouldn’t enlist until I was bound to.
We are as well as common and hope the few lines may find you all enjoying the same blessing. Write soon. Your brother, — G. W. M.
Samuel Wilkeson, Board President of the American Colonization Society
The following letter was written by Samuel Wilkeson (1781-1848), one of the most powerful and influential figures within the American Colonization Society (ACS). In 1840 when this letter was written, he was serving as the General Agent and Board President of the society. A former mayor of Buffalo and independently wealthy, Wilkeson eschewed a salary to aid the financially struggling society in recruiting and transporting free Blacks to Liberia.
Wilkeson datelined his 1840 letter from the “Colonization Rooms” of the society in Washington City. These rooms were located in downtown Washington near the US Navy Department and the White House complex. From their editorial office, the society published and distributed its monthly journal, the African Repository and Colonial Journal to keep its donors informed on the repatriation process.
Wilkeson wrote the letter to Nathaniel Chapman Crenshaw (1791-1866), a prominent Quaker minister and resident of Hanover county, Virginia. As an active member and leader of the Cedar Creek Quaker community and the Virginia Half Years Meeting, Crenshaw was a devout abolitionist. Because Virginia law strictly restricted the manumission of enslaved people and forced newly freed slaves to leave the state within a restricted timeframe, souther Quakers like Crenshaw devised a legal workaround. They would legally purchase or accept ownership of slaves through trusts and wills, but treat them as free and prevent them from being sold. They hired them out to others to pay for their subsistence until manumission and transport out of the state could be arranged—in this case, to send them to Liberia, Africa. [Source: In trust to Liberation, Nathaniel C. Crenshaw and Eliza Hopkins Crenshaw]
Pictured in header: Nathaniel Crenshaw and his wife, Eliza (Hopkins) Crenshaw, ca. 1846.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Directed to Mr. N. Crenshaw, Montpelier, Va.; envelope franked by Alex Duncan (Member of Congress—Ohio.)
Colonization Rooms Washington [City, D. C.] March 25, 1840
Mr. N. Crenshaw
Dear sir, yours of the 20th is at hand. I am sorry you have hired out your people beyond the first of August as I hope to be able to send an expedition by that time, and as I propose to send the ship from Norfolk, it will be convenient for your people to go at that time. I trust, however, that you may arrange to have them released.
Let me request you to furnish your people with such articles of kitchen furniture and farming utensils as they will need in the Colony, beside the money which will be provided for their passage and subsistence in Africa until they can raise a small crop. I will give you due notice of the time the vessel will be ready to receive them on board.
Will you my friend, take a little interest in extending the circulation of the Repository and commending our good cause to your benevolent neighbors! We are in great want of money. Respectfully yours, [Samuel] Wilkeson, Chairman Ex. Committee, A. C. S.
This letter was written by William H. Banner and was directed to “Miss Barbrah Dellinger” whom he called, “my dear love” and even declared himself her “intended husband” but I have not been able to link the two in any Pennsylvania marriage records. I think it likely they never married.
The author directs Barbara to send her letters to him at the US General Hospital in York but he does not give us any indication that he was sick or wounded. It seems clear that he was working there, however, and given that he had to have a pass to leave the hospital, he must have been in military service. I found a William Henry Banner (1846-1917) that seems to fit the profile of such a soldier. William was born in York county, the son of William & Anna Mary (Baughman) Banner. In 1860, he was learning the blacksmith trade. In July 1862, at the overstated age of 18, he mustered into Co. F, 107th Pennsylvania Infantry but was ordered discharged for reasons unknown effective June 11, 1864. Under circumstances like these, it was often the case that a soldier who became ill and could not stand the rigors of camp life, would be kept on as a nurse at whatever hospital they were sent. He would have been on “detached duty.” Finally, he may have been discharged when a surgeon determined he was no longer needed but not capable of returning to his regiment. William married Pauline Keller about 1865 after completed a second brief tour with the 200th Pennsylvania Infantry.
But who was Barbara Dellinger? My best guess is she was the same young woman by that name born to John S. Dellinger and Elizabeth Smith in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1847. If so, she must have declined William’s invitation to become his “beloved” for she later married Benjamin F. Neff (1848-1882) in the early 1870s. After Ben died, she married Orville C. Kidder (1840-1897). She died in 1923.
The distance from York to Mountville where the Dellingers lived was approximately 17 miles.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
U. S. General Hospital at York, Pennsylvania July 18, 1863
My Dear Love,
I now enjoy the present opportunity to address a few lines to you hoping that when these few lines come to hand, that they may find you in good health. I am very well. My dear intended wife, I will inform you that I received your kind and welcome letter on the 17th and I was very glad to hear from you indeed.
My dear love, I will inform you that we received about 80 wounded men in this hospital.
The folks around here are pretty well scared about the draft. I think they will draft here next week.
We have a great deal of rain here for the few last days.
Miss Barbrah Dellinger, I think a great deal of you and I love you from my soul and if you love me as I love you, no knife can cut our love in two. Now my dear love, I will inquire several questions from you and I hope you will answer me those especially. I intend to marry you and make you my beloved and I think we will make a good pair. And if I can’t get you, why I don’t want to marry any person in my life. It is my whole trust to get you, my dear.
My dear, did that girl come that day when I was out last—you know, that other fellow’s girl? Do you think I could have stayed with you that night if it had not rained? Please let me know in return. My dear love, I would much rather speak to you personally than through corresponding but it can’t be helped.
I expect to get paid off the next week. Then I will get a pass and come and see you and stay with you several days and nights and the first chance that I get, I will get my picture taken and send it to you. And I would very much like to have your picture. My dear, you must not think hard of my boldness in this respect. Here is a kiss for you. I hope you will answer this as soon as you receive this. And one thing [more], I hope you will not keep any other person’s company or let no one touch you in one way. Remain true to me and I will to you.
If ever I return to thee a happy bride you shall be.
My dear love, please answer this as soon as you receive this. I can’t write much more now for I am busy so I show my best respects to your parents. So I must close for the present. Believe me to remain your very respectfully intended husband, — Wm. H. Banner
The following letter was written by Franklin Monroe Hollister (1824-1893) to his wife, Lucy Dutton (Williams) Hollister (1823-1908). The couple were married in Muskingum county, Ohio, on 30 December 1852. Frank was born at Groton, New York, the oldest child of Asa Hollister and Lucretia Page. In June 1861, Frank worked as a civilian blacksmith/carriage smith in Zanesville. A Veterans Schedule reveals that Frank later served as a private in Co. C, 159th Ohio Infantry for three months (100 day Ohio National Guard) during the summer of 1864. Their duty assignment at that time was to guard railroad bridges along the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad.
Frank’s letter gives us a glimpse of the war excitement in Zanesville, Ohio, in mid-June 1861, two months after the firing on Fort Sumter.
T R A N S CR I P T I O N
Addressed to Mrs. L. D. Hollister, Royalston, Worcester county, Mass.
Zanesville [Ohio] June 16th 1861
Dear Lucy,
Three months have passed since I bid you goodbye and long and lonely have they been to me—the longest three months I ever passed, partly on account of your account, and partly on account of the startling events that have transpired. It is the universal expression here that the time never dragged so heavily as it has since the 15th of April. 1
Our friends here are all well. Mr. & Mrs. [Howard] Aston send their love. Others ditto. But I can’t name the all.
We had two collisions on the [raid]road last Monday. Three men were killed in one and others hurt. Among them William Thompson—not dangerous however. 2 The cause was a new time table changing the time and numbering it the same as the last, the conductors mistaking the old card for the new one.
The 20th [Ohio] Regiment left here Thursday for the sacred soil of Old Virginia. 3 The 17th came down from Lancaster the same day and took their place in camp yesterday. 4 They got marching orders to gather with the 8 companies of the 19th stationed here (two companies [A & B] of the 19th are already in Virginia). They were to leave this morning at 6 o’clock. I went down to see them off. Twenty-six passenger cars contained the 17th and two companies of the 19th. Another train of stock cars was ready to take the remaining 6 companies but they refused to ride in them. The people think they will be glad to ride in almost any [type of] car before the war is over. I heard the Colonel [Samuel Beatty, 19th Ohio Infantry] severely censured. 5
I suppose other troops will be sent here to take their place as this is to be a permanent camp (I am afraid too permanent, for some of the girls they seem perfectly bewitched after the sojer boys and if some of them don’t leave their card, I shall be disappointed. Every day they go to the camp in droves carrying cakes and other goodies and every evening they are promenading the streets with both officers and high privates. 6
By the way, Company I, 19th [OVI] has some of the highest kind of privates. Two of them are 6 feet 7 inches [tall] and nearly all 6 feet. As I told you in one of my letters, there would be no fight at Harpers Ferry so it has turned out. The rebels have run from there just in time to escape the coils of Scott’s boa constructor.
Three deserters from there arrived at a relatives—a Mr. Swank, who lives in the country two or three miles east of here yesterday. They say their whole company deserted, captain and all. They left just before the bridge was blown up. Also say there are five thousand more in the Harpers Ferry rebel army who will desert as soon as they can get away. “So mote it be.”
Tell Gertie [that] Cappie Hiliard wants to know when she is coming home. Floy. Cole says she want to see Gertie Hollister or her great grandmother, she don’t care which. She is in a great way about her great grandmother. She went out to the cemetery a while ago and was shown her great grandmother’s grave. [She] came home crying because her great grandmother was dead. Her mother thinks it was a good joke.
My sheet is full and I must bid you goodbye. — Frank Hollister
Ben Blandie’s company of three year’s men start for camp tomorrow morning. 7 This makes five companies from Zanesville and one from Dresden, six from Old Muskingum.
1 On April 15th, President Lincoln issued a proclamation asserting that the states which enacted ordinances of secession were in a state of insurrection, subsequently calling for 75,000 troops to quell this upheaval.
2 Possibly the same William Thompsonenumerated at Zanesville in the 1860 US Census who was born about 1835 in Maine and working in Zanesville in the Carriage business.
3 The 20th Ohio Infantry (3 months) finished their organizing and drilling in Zanesville, ohio, before receiving orders to West Virginia. They were organized at Columbus.
4 The 17th Ohio Infantry (3 Months) were mustered into service at Camp Anderson in Lancaster under the command of Colonel John. M. Connell on 5 June 1861, to date from 27 April 1861. They saw service briefly in West Virginia.
5 A drummer boy in Co. H of the 19th Ohio Infantry (3 months) wrote in his diary that eight of the companies were sent to Camp Goddard, one mile from Zanesville. It was located on the grounds of the Agricultural Society of Muskingum county (Fairgrounds)—situated in a valley surrounded by beautiful wood-covered hills. The camp was “25-30 acres in size and surrounded by a fence with substantial buildings for quarters,” he wrote. [See Diary of an Ohio Volunteer]
6 “The ladies of Zanesville, God bless their kind hearts and pretty faces, have shown themselves to be true, genuine daughters of freedom. We have received from them substantial evidences in the form of various little luxuries, such as we have not had since we left our own loved homes, of the goodness of their hearts, and the interest that they take in the welfare of those who have undertaken to vindicate the rights of our government and sustain the honor of our common country. Long may they live to greet the gallant boys of the old’ Buckeye State with their kindest and most bewitching smiles; and may they live to see the enemies of our country annihilated, and freedom established from the far East to the far West, and from the chilly North to the farthest part of the sunny South; and then long may they live to enjoy that freedom which their fair hands has so much contributed to establish.” [Diary of an Ohio Volunteer, page 22]
7 Benjamin A. Blandy (or Blandie) served as the 1st Lieutenant of Co. D, 78th Ohio Infantry (3 years men) recruited out of Zanesville. Their Colonel was Mortimer D. Leggett.
The following letter was written in two parts—the first part by Emma Maria (Cruger) Irving (1805-1867), and the second part by her husband, Dr. John Beaufain Irving (1800-1881). The letter was addressed to John’s mother, Hannah Margaret (Corbett) Irving (1775-1865), the relict of Jacob Aemilius (1767-1816). Hannah was residing in Drummondsville [Niagara Falls] Ontario, Canada, when this letter was written in February 1864. Dr. John B. and Emma (Cruger) Irving are depicted in the header based on family portraits.
In March 1846, Dr. John B. Irving—a prominent physician, author, and rice planter—purchased the 670-acre Kensington Plantation located along the eastern branch of the Cooper River in Huger (Berkeley County), just outside of Charleston, South Carolina. Dr. Irving famously documented regional antebellum life in his 1842 book, A Day on Cooper River. The main house on this plantation burned down in 1924. Major portions of the original plantation are under conservation easements today to protect the historic site. It had been previously owned by Elias Octavus Ball (see Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball, 1998).
The Irving family strongly supported the Confederacy. Because of their allegiance, Dr. Irving and his family lost their entire fortune, land, and properties by the end of the war. Following the collapse of the plantation system, the family was forced to leave South Carolina. He relocated to New York at the age of 65 to rebuild his life. His son, Aemilius Irving (1824-1873), lived in Cordesville, South Carolina, where he passed away unmarried in 1873. Another son, John Beaufain Irving II (1826-1877), went on to become a well-known portrait artist. Both sons are mentioned in this letter.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Kensington February 6th 1864
My dear Mother,
Your letters of 9th & 10th November have been gratefully received & as by an especial interposition of Providence in our favor, the mail bag of the vessel which brought them had just been yielded up when she got aground off Sullivan’s Island, after successfully running the blockade, & was burnt to the water’s edge by the enemy’s shells. She brought also a valuable cargo for our government which was almost entirely saved for which Heaven be praised, for our poor soldiery in Virginia & Tennessee are sadly in want of the blankets, shoes, bacon, &c. of which the cargo consisted. This accident occurred last week. Your letters have, indeed, had a narrow escape & we do not hold them the less valuable for the rish we ran of losing them. 1
The kind & affectionate interest you express in us & our affairs is deeply & warmly appreciated. Heaven grant the prayers you put up for us. We stand much in need of His powerful arm to avert the crushing blow which threatened to place us under the iron rule of an unrelenting & vengeful foe. Our city is being shelled day 7 night, but even though it be laid in ashes, the soil will still be ours to fight upon. We are suffering for want of most of the necessaries of life—principally clothing & shoes. We have been compelled to cut up our carpeting to clothe our negroes. No shoes to be had for them at any price—the workmen being all engaged supplying the soldiery. Shoes for gentlemen & ladies cost $100, flour at $200 per barrel, brown sugar at $4 per lb., and everything in like.
My dear John [Beaufain Irving, II), who has just gone to housekeeping in Columbia, writes that everything is so enormously dear that he can scarcely scrape along even with his father’s assistance. He makes by his brush between $800 and $1.000 per month and all is expended on the bare necessaries. His office of C. S. Marshall yields nothing in these times. He has to pay $5 per pound for hams, $3 for beef, &c. It costs him more to dress his children now in homespun than it did formerly in the finest and handsomest materials. Shoes for their baby feet cost $20. Thus, you see, my dear Mother, how awfully we are suffering from the blockade. We are groaning also under the heaviest taxes ever imposed upon a people and which strip us of almost all. But we must make great sacrifices for our country. Our soldiers must be fed and clothed. God bless the brave fellows!
It made us very sad to think your words to the effect that you might die alone without an affectionate hand to close your eyes may be realized. Oh, why can you not be induced to live with or near Aemilius—that he and his wife may administer to your declining years by their devoted care and love. It is a constant source of unhappiness to us to know you alone.
Have you made a mistake in your age when you say 98 1/2? we cannot make it more than 92.
Our dear Aemilius writes from camp on James Island that he is in perfect health in spite of the severe hardships he undergoes—sleeping, or waking rather, two nights in three in the open fields, on picket duty, lying in a ditch, or endeavoring to rise in the morning he finds himself frozen to the ground. But God’s will be done!
Please remember us kindly to Aemilius & his wife & also to Dr. With many prayers for your health and comfort, your sincerely attached daughter, — E[mma] Irving
Your kind messages to Mrs. Robertson & the Hugers shall be transmitted & those to the Harleston’s also. By the way, one of your young relatives, Capt. Frank [Huger] Harleston, gloriously lost his life at Fort Sumter the other day by the explosion of a shell. He was a grandson of your uncle Ned and of Col. Frank Huger of Olm___ memory. God bless you.
[In a different hand]
My dear old Mother. I cannot express how happy we were made by the recognition of your handwriting once more. The last vessel that ran the blockade successfully from Nassau brought us your dear welcome letter of the 9th November. To find you are still, by the good Providence of God, in the land of the living & in health was a great relief & joy to my mind, and the delight was greatly augmented to find you & those about you sympathizing as warmly as you do in our sad and trying situation.
Dark and perilous times are indeed upon us, my dear old mother, and we are passing through more—much more, of suffering & privation that the outside world imagines. But relying on the justness of our cause, the purity of our motives, we will continue to endure manfully to the end of our probation, confident that in His own good appointed time our unequal conflict will interpose to save & deliver us from our malicious & vindictive foe, and ultimately secure for our Confederacy the blessings of peace, and a name among the nations of the Earth.
Sad & dispiriting as the signs of the times are, however, there is not the slightest despondency among our people. We must expect some reverses in a struggle like ours. But up to this time, these reverses have served only to stimulate us to greater exertions in the future—to nerve us for severer trials and prepare us for sterner sacrifices. I feel sure that the spirit of our army & the devotion of our people will rise as difficulties & dangers gather & deepen around us.
We have not yet been driven from our plantations, do not feel the effects of the war as severely as those who have to buy everything they require for their daily sustenance. The markets are so high many families no longer purchase meat. We planters have enough to eat and we share to others some of God’s bounties to us. But we find great difficulty for ourselves & negroes. I had to give a few weeks since $1,850 for a bale of [ ]. I have often purchased before for $60. What a consumption of Brotish goods will take place as soon as the blockade ceases.
I have many things to say to you, my dear old mother, but I cannot write them now. God grant we may meet again in this world. I am delighted to hear such good accounts of Robert Towbridge. You have reason to be proud of him. Do you think his mother is permitted to look down from Heaven & see him in his elevated position? I think so.
Remember me to Mrs. Murray with my best regards. & now, may the blessings of Heaven rest upon you forever & ever, my dear old mother, prays earnestly your affectionate son.
1 The blockade runner was the side-wheeled Presto. “At daylight on February 2, 1864, Union blockaders discovered that the blockade runner Presto had run ashore just to the east of Fort Moultrie while attempting to enter the harbor. Admiral Dahlgren noticed the stranded vessel and ordered the advance monitor to open fire at a range of 2,500 yards on the steamer. The other monitors advanced and began a general fire on the steamer. Union land batteries also opened fire and by morning large holes in the hull and wheel boxes appeared. Confederate batteries answered in return. By 1 PM the mainmast was cut away and the vessel was in flames. Several shells passed through below the waterline and most likely damaged machinery and cargo. The wreck was bombarded for a couple of more days causing it to burn to the waterline. The Passaic had picket duty the night of the 3rd and stationed a picket boat near the stricken vessel to detect any enemy movement on her. From February 2-4 Union land batteries fired 769 projectiles from 30-pounders to 300-pounder Parrotts at the wreck. During this time Confederate batteries on Sullivan’s and James Islands returned a steady barrage at the Union batteries. By the end of the Union cannonade the hull was shattered and had the appearance of breaking apart. A Boston Herald article reported a shell from a 200-pounder Parrott from Fort Wagner nearly cut the vessel in two. Union forces later gathered intelligence that the steamer was the Presto from Nassau.” [Source: Shipwrecks off Sullivan’s Island During the Civil War.] Reports are that the Presto carried a cargo of lead, bacon and spirits when it was driven ashore. But when Confederate soldiers rushed out to salvage the ruined cargo, instead of bring back vital military goods, they recovered the massive stash of liquor which led to the “Grand Drunk.” [See The Grand Drunk]
I could not find an image of James but here is one of Pvt Dennis Crowley who also served in the 96th Illinois Infantry (Ancestry)
This letter was written by James A. Beck (1843-1931) to his father, Irish emigrant James Beck of Gages Lake, Lake county, Illinois. James enlisted when he was 18 years old as a private in Co. B, 96th Illinois Infantry and served three years. He mustered out of the service on 10 June 1865. After he returned home from the war, James married Abigail E. Smith (1847-1939) and took up farming in Gurnee, Lake county, Illinois.
Beck’s letters describes the early engagements of the 96th Illinois Infantry on the Atlanta Campaign, including the harrowing, chaotic engagement and narrow escape at the Battle of Resaca on 14 May 1864 which he called “a damd hard fight.” As Joe Johnston’s forces mounted a strong counterattack under the command of Gen. John Bell Hood, the 96th Illinois and 115th Illinois Regiments (in the 4th Army Corps) found themselves outflanked by Confederate troops that led to a disorganized hasty retreat. According to the History of the Ninety-Sixth Regiment, nearly half of the men who survived emerged with bullet holes through their clothing. As stated in his letter, the Union flank was bolstered by the timely arrival of Joe Hooker’s 20th Army Corps.
A Soldier’s depiction of the Battle of Resaca
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Directed to Mr. James Beck, Gages Lake, Lake county, Illinois
Camp at Cassville, Georgia May the 21st 1864
Dear father,
It is with much pleasure that I take my pen in hand to let you know that I am all right yet and I hope these few lines will find you all the same. We have had some damned hard times this month. I wrote a few lines to you when we was at Tunnel Hill and I sent 20 dollars and I have not had a letter from you since I have been in the company—that is, since I left the battery.
I told you about our skirmish at Rocky Face Mountain in front of Dalton. I told you that we had one killed in our company and two slightly wounded in our company. We had 2 killed in the regiment and 30 wounded that day. That was the 9th and the 12th the rebs had to evacuate for if they had a stayed one day longer, we would had them cut off. But they got out and on the 13th followed them right on. We came through Dalton on the 13th and on the 14th, we had a damned hard fight. We was about in the center of the line and they fell back to their breastworks and they thought to make a stand in the forenoon.
We heard a pretty heavy firing on our right and it kept working around till we got it before night for they massed their force on us and thought to break our lines. Our company was sent out on the skirmish line. We had one man killed in our company and pretty soon we was ordered to join the regiment and we did and we had another company go out and they got drove in and the rebs made a desperate charge on us and they had our regiment surrounded on three sides and they poured a volley into us from three ways and we give them our loads that we had in our guns and we had to get out. And we only had the one way to get out. We lost in all since we started on this campaign 11 killed, 35 wounded, and there is 3 missing.
I had one damned close call. I got a bullet hole through both pants legs but it did not happen to touch the hide. It tore a hole that I could stick my hand in but I thought it was close enough and I was damned glad to get out as well as that. We never could a got out if we had not been good on foot and I tell you, our battery just more than sent shells and canister in them. But Old Joe Hooker just came up with reinforcements then and saved us. I think if he had not come just as he did, that the biggest part of our brigade would have been captured.
And the next day was Sunday and it was about noon when Hooker got his corps there and they had a desperate fight. We had to support them. I tell you, it was a hard old thing. The bullets flew pretty thick around us. There was one struck Ney [Nate] Lamb [of Co. G] on the finger and he had to have it taken off. I believe our men got four pieces of artillery that day and I don’t know how many prisoners out of there and the next morning we followed them up. The first town we came to…[unfinished & unsigned letter]
The following letter was written by Addison “Lee” Ewing (1837-1914) of Haubstatd, Indiana. He enlisted and mustered into Co. C, 63rd Indiana Infantry og May 1, 1862, and was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on 2 October 1862, which rank he held throughout the Atlanta Campaign which he describes in this letter. Later, in October 1864, he was promoted to Captain of Co. I. and then resigned due to disability in April 1865.
Capt. Addison Lee Ewing, 63rd Indiana Infantry (AI generated painting from tintype on Find-A-Grave)
As he mentions in the letter, the regiment saw its first real battle at Second Bull Run on 27 May 1862. They were not seriously tested again until the Atlanta Campaign where they fought at Rocky Face Ridge and Resaca. At the latter place the brigade, with the 63d in the front line, charged across an open field, more than half a mile in extent, under terrific fire and took a portion of the enemy’s works, its loss being 18 killed and 94 wounded. It overtook the enemy at Cassville and drove him all the following day.
It took position at Dallas, where it lay in entrenchments until June 1, under the fire of three batteries, and was in line of battle from June 3 to 6. It was then in reserve until the 15th when it again took the front line near Lost Mountain. It was under fire at the Kennesaw line, crossed Nose’s Creek under a heavy fire, and was then in entrenchments until July 1. It reached Atlanta July 20 and was in the engagement of the 22nd. It was in various movements about Atlanta until Sept. 5 and then moved to Decatur, where it remained until Oct. 4, when it joined the force sent to intercept Hood.
From Dalton it marched to Nashville and Pulaski and then fell back before Hood’s advance, being engaged daily. It participated in the battle of Franklin, repulsing repeated assaults, was also at the battle of Nashville; joined in the pursuit of Hood as far as the Tennessee River; moved on Jan. 16, 1865, for Alexandria, Va., and sailed from there on Feb. 3, for Fort Fisher, N. C.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Sunday, September 4th 1864 4 miles south of Jonesboro, Georgia
Dear Wife,
I sent you a letter from this place yesterday—the first chance I had for several days. And I sent it by the 36th Indiana Volunteers whose time had expired and are going home.
We broke camp at our position on the right the 28th of August and moved about two miles south. Our regiment being on picket was the last to leave, and bring up the rear. We got our arms stacked in the brush just at dark & threw up temporary works. Beef was then issued and was about all we had for supper owing to some disarrangement of our trains.
29th. We was woke up before day some time & was ready to move at daylight but didn’t start till 9 o’clock. That is pretty hard on me to get up so early. Today we marched about 4 miles under a burning sun, but halted in time to draw rations & put up our works before night. Some time during the night some thief stole my hat & next morning I was somewhat out of humor.
30th. Again gorgeous up very early so my aforesaid humor had a very early start. We didn’t move till nine though and as we was getting in a country where forage was plenty, my ill humor soon subsided. At noon we took dinner at the railroad running from East Point to Alabama. It was all tore up and destroyed by troops who had passed ahead of us. At night we take [ ] throw up works fronting north, quite contrary to our former fronts. But we are now in rear of Atlanta. We could hear some fighting away on our right but none near us.
August 31st. Yesterday was two years ago since we stood under the fierce fire of the victorious army of Longstreet at Bull Run, Virginia. Circumstances are quite different now. Six months pay due today. We hear that Mobile is ours. We get an early start this time and at 10 o’clock we hear the locomotive whistle on the Macon Railroad ahead of us. At 4 p.m. we hear it again still clearer than before. No stopping for dinner. That car has passed for the last time in Rebel hands. Our skirmishers go at the rebs with a yell, a few vollies of musketry, and then we hear the huzzah’s of our victorious lads as they commence tearing up a few rails of the last communications with theenemy at Atlanta. We know now that Atlanta is ours for half of the rebs have left there & are south of us fighting our other Corps. This has been a hard days work. We go in camp, put up a slight work & sleep.
September 1st. This morning we hear pretty brisk cannonading on our right. We move out in light marching order at sun up & commence tearing up & burning the [Macon & Western] railroad as far up as a little place called Rough & Ready, every foot of which is destroyed down to this point. We got back to camp just at noon, stopped half hour &then moved south again, at first slow & tedious, then for three miles just before halting we almost went on double quick. We camp on a “big plantation,” have plenty of green corn, peas, &c. I was very tired & eat my late supper about half asleep. Fighting going on not more than a mile ahead. Wounded pass us going to rear. Tonight we hear the Rebs blowing up their magazines at Atlanta & burning 80 carloads of ammunition.
September 2nd. Saw about 60 prisoners passing to the rear. Move out at 8. We hear by some officer that the “Gate City” is ours. The boys have a general throw up of hats & feel good generally. Then comes another report that we have taken 12 cannon and 2,000 prisoners south of us. We march all day till late at night. Pass rebel hospitals where I see a large number of the enemy’s wounded which they leave in their hurried retreat. At night we camp in a corn field & I am pretty near fagged out. However, some fresh mutton & coffee helps the case & I stretch out on the sod glad to get even that favor.
The cannonading is close ahead but we are in the rear and for the last two nights rest without using the spade.
September 3rd. Last night I didn’t put up any tent so I was roused up very early in the morning by a storm just bursting over my head & such lightning I never saw before. I put everything on and go to a cotton gin nearby and crouch down among horses and men in the darkness. As daylight approached, the rain ceased & I “emerged.” Some of my men who had been guarding cattle the night before came in with a lot of honey so with mutton, sweet potatoes, &c. I manage to get a pretty good breakfast down me. At 8 we move half a mile into [ ] in rear of the 4th Army Corps. Get official notice from Sherman of our having Atlanta. He also orders us to quit destroying railroads. There are various rumors of our returning to Atlanta resting, getting pay, &c., all of which I hope will be done. We have worked day 7 night for four months faithfully, have accomplished the great effort which we intended. Now we want rest. We want money, and we want mail.
August [September] 4, Sunday at [ ] o’clock. The chaplain’s of our Brigade hold a Union meeting with the song of praise is mingled the rattle pf picket fighting on the front & the sound of exhortation is accompanied by the occasional boom of gun & screech of shell. At 4 p.m. we move half mile to the rear. I think the intention was for us to go somewhere else but we are ordered into camp is a grassy field. Still in hearing of the picket firing in front.
August [September] 5th. Some talk of our remaining in camp a few days. In enquiring for the mustering officer at Division Headquarters, I was told I could not get to see him till we went back as he was at Atlanta so I supposae we are going back at no distant period.
August [September] 8th Decatur, Georgia
Dear Mary, I am rejoiced today that I am here with the victorious army safe, sound & well & among other good things I enjoyed, today was the reception of your letter of the 25th of August containing three white stamped envelopes. We suppose the campaign to be ended. We arrived here this morning and on counting, there is 25 of Co, C who have gone all through this campaign without going to the hospital, myself among the number. I will give you my diary in my next up to the present date of all the particulars. I am sorry to hear of Mrs. Harrison’s destitution. You will meet my approbation in relieving her all you can. She has seen better days. Her brother John has made a fortune off of this war & her father is a slave owner in East Tennessee living under the benefits of the Oath of Allegiance. Lieut. Blythe received a captain’s commission today.
My sheet is full but this will serve to let you all know that I am (thanks to a kind Providence) still among the living “heroes” of the great campaign in Georgia.
My love to all. I will write soon. Yours affectionately, — Lee
