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.
Regrettably I have been unable to attribute this letter to a particular soldier known only as “John.” We know that he was from Peterborough, Hillsboro county, New Hampshire, and that he was in the service during the Peninsular Campaign of 1862 when he assisted a friend in Co. G, 2nd New Hampshire Infantry badly wounded in the Battle of Williamsburg. He is presumed to have been in that same regiment at the time but this is uncertain.
He wrote this letter from “camp near Richmond” (not Petersburg) so my hunch is that he was in a regiment in Butler’s Army of the James (AOJ) where they had been building redoubts north of the James River for the past several weeks. In fact, the letter was dated on 15 June 1864, the very day that the Army of the Potomac (AOP) launched its first wave of attacks on Petersburg later in the day.
The author’s location suggests to me that he was not a member of the 2nd New Hampshire, if he ever was, since the remaining members of that regiment were part of the AOP and were within a week of being discharged at the end of their term of service. Those that were still with the army were then on Provost Guard duty and not in the forward entrenchments. There were 70 original members who reenlisted but they remained in the AOP.
The New Hampshire regiments serving in the AOJ in 1864 included the 3rd, 6th, 12th and 13th but none of these regiments participated in the Battle of Williamsburg. It may have been that John served in the 2nd New Hampshire early in the war, was discharged for some cause and then reenlisted in another regiment but no such person could be identified on the roster of Co. G.
I have attempted to track down the author’s regiment by tracing the history of the 16th Massachusetts that he mentioned had recently been added to their brigade. Further, he says they had been posted at Fortress Monroe and seen no prior action. This is odd because that regiment had a long history of service and been in many battles. The only possible explanation for this is they were new recruits to that regiment but even if this were the case, the 16th Massachusetts was in the AOP, not the AOJ. It may be that John had the name of the regiment wrong as the only Joe Clark I could find serving in that regiment was killed at the 2nd Battle of Bull Run.
I have made efforts to ascertain the identity of the author by examining his familial connections, particularly his mother and sister, to whom he addressed the letter, but these attempts have proven unfruitful. The correspondence suggests that Mrs. James B. Tubbs was his mother, married to a jeweler residing in Peterborough. Her full name was Justina M. Tubbs (notably, her maiden name coincided with her husband’s) and their marriage took place in 1847 when she was 20 years old. It is possible that she had a prior marriage or gave birth to 2 children outside of wedlock; however, the genealogical records remain silent regarding this delicate matter.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Camp near Richmond June 15th 1864
Dear Mother,
It is the sacred Sabbath—a day for rest but no rest is there for us. We know no Sabbath here. This pleasant morning the rebels are firing shells at our camp. A number have passed over and some have struck in the midst of us but no one is hurt as yet in our regiment. One shell exploded and took one man’s arm off and wounded three men. Some of our boys are out at work in the redoubt today getting ready for the final strike, this being a very important position so we have to very vigilant on guard or on fatigue duty. We are getting the bitter of a soldier’s life to its fullest extent but I live in hopes that it will not last long. But we must be patient and wait for the motion of our superiors.
We have to stand picket guard 24 hours, then 48 hours off, or one day in three. We have five regiments in our Brigade [now]. The 16th Mass. Regt. has been joined to our brigade. Our regiment lays on the advance picket at a time which is a very dangerous position liable to get shot any moment. We have [to] stand, sit, or lay 24 hours in one place with an eye in front watching for Johnny Rebel, not allowed to shut an eye nor leave your position to rest or nothing.
Speaking of the 16th Regt. Mass. Volunteers, Joe Clark is in it. He belongs to Co. F. I see him every and a dozen times a day. They are but a few rods from us. Joe looks well—just as he used to. Says his health is good and has been so since he came here. Their regiment has been at Fortress Monroe so he has seen no service. You had ought to have seen how wild they looked when the shells begun to come through. I guess you would look as wild as they. I should not blame you any if you was not used to it. Does Miss Clark hear from Joe? If she wishes to send word, she can send through you for I see him very often.
We were paid off three days ago so the $16 must be somewhere nigh Old Peterboro. It was sent to James. Please to look after it, will you? The chaplain started for New Hampshire after we were paid. He took all the money for the boys. I had five dollars more than I should need so I sent $5 by him directed to Mrs. J[ames] B. Tubbs. It will be left at the bank subject to your order, the same as the money was I sent by [ ]. I thought I would send it to you for I did not know where Mr. Tubbs would be. Please to let me know when the money gets home.
Oh! how I wish I could be with it and stop in and surprise you a little. Perhaps you have seen Dan Gould if he has got home. Please go and see him for me, won’t you? Dan was one of my best friends. Ask him if he remembers what he said to me when I was cutting his knapsack off of him. He looked up to me and said, “Well John, my fighting is done for the present, isn’t it?” 1
You must write to me as often as you can. A letter is very acceptable in this region and a letter from mother or sister is worth two others. Yours truly. Sister, remember brother, — John.
1 Daniel Walton Gould (1838-1916) of Peterborough, New Hampshire. Dan was the son of Gilman and Mersilvia (Walton) Gould. He was educated in the public schools of his native town and spent three years in the law office of R. B. Hatch there. At the outbreak of the civil war he enlisted at Peterborough in Co. G of the 2nd New Hampshire Infantry, and was mustered into service at Portsmouth on June 16, 1861. He was first under fire at Bull Run. In the battle of Williamsburg, in May, 1862, he was wounded twice, once in the leg, where he carried the bullet all his life, and in the left arm, which it was necessary to amputate. After the war he returned to Peterborough, where he served as town clerk and in 1872-73 was a member of the New Hampshire legislature. In 1874 he was appointed to a clerkship in the United States Treasury Department at Washington. He moved to Chelsea in 1876, when he was appointed inspector of customs at the Boston custom house. He served as an alderman in Chelsea for several terms.
I could not find an image of Kessler but here is one of Dexter Etheridge who served in Co. F, 1st Michigan Sharpshooters (Dale Niesen Collection)
The following letters were written by Thomas Jefferson Kessler (1843-1901), the son of Abram P. Kessler (1816-1864) and Mary L. Wirt (1819-1886) of Goshen, Elkhart county, Indiana. An obituary informs us that Thomas was born in Summit county, Ohio, in 1843, and came to Elkhart county, Indiana, with his parents when he was only five years old. They settled on a farm in Washington township. In the spring of 1863 “he enlisted in the First Regiment of the Michigan Sharpshooters. The regiment was assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, of the Army of the Potomac, Gen. Wilcox commanding. He was in the battle of Petersburg when his commander captured that place. When the war closed, Mr. Kessler returned to Goshen and was employed as clerk by Deferees & Company. He was married in the fall of 1867 to Miss Hattie C. Barnes and one son, Guy B. Kessler, was born to them. Mr. Kessler was in 1872 appointed to the U. S. railway mail service with a route on the Lake Shore road. He held the position about 15 years, when he resigned…”
An examination of Thomas’ military records indicates that he enlisted on 28 June 1863 and was mustered into Company G of the 1st Michigan Sharpshooters on 8 July 1863. He completed his service and mustered out on 28 July 1865 in Washington, D.C. The letter from Camp Douglas (near Chicago) was where the 1st Michigan Sharpshooters served as prison guards until 7 March 1864, at which point they were reassigned to join the Army of the Potomac for the Overland Campaign. The content of this letter serves as a primary source, offering insights into the operations and conditions of the camp and its inmates during the period overseen by Colonel DeLand, thus contributing to the existing body of knowledge documented by institutions such as the Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation.
[Note: This letter is from the private collection of Greg Herr and was transcribed and published on Spared & Shared by express consent.]
Letter 1
Addressed to Miss Elisabeth Kessler, Bristol, Elkhart county, Indiana
Camp Douglas December 9th 1863
Dear Sister,
I spend this evening in writing you a few lines. I received your letter a few days since. I think I answered it in Henry’s letter. I received his letter before he got mine. I have no news special of interest to relieve the monotony of the times and will write such news as will come before me to pass away the present night. I am feeling pretty well but the majority of our Band Boys are not able to be up. There is four of them that are pretty sick tonight. The complaint is the diarrhea and has run them down very fast. I have been somewhat down for a few days with the same complaint but have got nearly over it. I do not know what causes this sickness unless it is the pleasant weather we have. I can’t compare it to anything else. Another thing which I think causes so much sickness in camp, it is having such strong victuals to live on and not enough exercise. I am having a sore neck. It is swelled a little. I think it is cold which I have caught but I do not mind it.
I looked very earnestly for a letter from home today. I dreamt last night that I was going to get one today but I didn’t see anything of a letter. I must get one from somebody tomorrow. The Officers are going to have a dance in camp tonight if they can raise the music. I think it will come out the small end of the horn. Our men are nearly down as I mentioned before. The officers are so bad off for dancing that they get them up in some shanty in camp. The most of the officers have their wives living in camp. Also there is church in camp tonight but I think the privates are the only ones that attend if any. The officers will tear around camp all night drunk. Shoulder straps are the ones that can do it or at least are allowed to do all the mischief. I wish I had been better acquainted with the officers before I came to the regiment. The most of them are not of much account. If I chance to get out, I will have to have a guard on over me to keep me out of any more such regiments. I don’t make much calculations of coming home Christmas or New Years. You need not look very earnestly for me. There are so many calculating to go home that there will not be one in twenty that will get the permission. I would like very much to come home again but it would suit me much better if I could stay when I get there. No use of thinking of staying home yet a while. I will know in course of time how long we shall. be in service. I think we shall.
There was a soldier killed today in camp. He fell from the walk on top of the fence which was lately but up round camp. He was walking his beat and stepped off carelessly, struck his head on the side walk which was supposed to have knocked his brains out. He fell about 10 or 12 feet. There will more get the same fix if they are not on the lookout. It is a very risky undertaking to walk in a dark night. Also a very cold place up in the air about 12 feet high.
Charles Victor DeLand was the colonel of the 1st Michigan SS from its initial muster until 4 February 1865.(Dale Niesen Collection)
About a week ago the Colonel had every rebel prisoner in camp out on the parade ground to be examined. They took all their money from them and all their citizen’s clothes and give them other kind of clothing so if they should get out of camp, they should soon be found out. Their money was also taken so if they got away, they could not buy clothing or get away by railroad. There was about 8 or 9 thousand men in all—the largest squad I most ever saw together in one place before. Well I must say [they were] the dirtiest and raggediest set I ever saw before. They took several thousand dollars from them all. I don’t know the exact number. One Lieutenant said he took 16 hundred dollars from the number of men that was on his list and if all the rest done as well as he did, they done well enough. It took all the officers nearly a day to go over them. All this money goes to the government or to this post fund of Camp Douglas. They also tore up the floor in their barracks to keep them from digging out underground. The found a good many arms while they was searching their tents—revolvers, bayonets, hatchets, &c. They had made up their minds sometime to attack us when they got all ready and all their points accomplished but I think there is no danger of their doing anything to injure us now.
Camp Douglas Prisoners, 1864 (The Chicago Historical Society)
A great many of the Southern people have a sly way of sending money to their friends in camp but after all they can be found out in their secrets. There was find in some rebel goods & provisions a few days since. 50 dollars in a roasted turkey which was sent. The turkey was examined by our men and there was found in a small bottle in the turkey’s breast full of greenbacks which was expected to be smuggled through all safe. There is some more coming about the same way but the Mr. Rebs will not be able to get it. The rebels in the South send letters here giving all the secrets they send in goods and provisions. There is supposed to be a box of goods coming with money in it. There was a letter written to the effect. A Mother wrote to her son and says to him as follows, “When you get your box of goods, take the box and make kindlin’ wood of it. Cut it very fine. Count every nail. Look sharp, &c. This is enough to suspicion that there is money round. But as it happens, Mr. Colonel examines all letters before they go to the rebel post office but the letter which I speak of will not reach the prisoner nor the money which was sent him. The money is supposed to be morticed into the side of the box, &c. This seems rather bad to look at the matter and their being destitute of means to keep them from freezing. “But nevertheless it is nothing more than they deserve.” Let them behaves themselves as they ought and they would not need suffer the consequences.
A pipe bowl of the Devil and his fiddle (made in France) uncovered in excavation at site of Camp Douglas in 2015 which may or may not date to the Civil War years(Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation, 2015)
Our people in the North speak of the southern classes of people not being enlightened to any extent whatever. They are very much mistakened. These are some of the best educated men in the camp among prisoners I ever saw. There are lawyers, doctors, &c. &c. that a great deal better qualified for business than the most of our men in camp. I presume [if we were] to take a fight, they could whip us also. I do not wish you to understand these as my principles, and further not to think I have turned to be a rebel since we have been in Camp Douglas. These are not my principles.
I shall now bring my letter to a speedy close by adding a few more words. I would say by the way if you are going to have anything to come off Christmas or New Years, let me know and if I cannot come (which I don’t expect), I will write and if you have a roasted turkey, just send oner here. We can make or put it out of the way and further if you have 50 or a hundred dollars to throw away, just bottle it up and send it in the turkey as the Rebel did. And laying all jokes aside, how are you off for butter? Have you plenty on hand? If you have, just send me some. But I don’t think you have much this season of the year for this season the cow pasture is all gone and cold weather is coming and these cold mornings the cow kicks over the milk pail and no milk this morning or coffee now days. That is our talk in camp. The cow don’t come at nights to be milked so we drink our coffee without milk. We buy a sort of a mixture at the sutler which they term milk. It is water with a little milk and chalk. It will color coffee if you get enough of it. Now tell Henry to milk the cows clean and see if you can make a raise of a little butter and send by Express as you did once before.
I see I had not room enough on the last sheet to close my letter. I want you to write to me soon as you get this. Don’t wait so long and when you write, give me all the news there is going on—who goes home with the girls and who don’t, and who can’t go. Henry says he has got what he wanted for a long time and that was a drum. I expect he does nothing else but drum all the time. He had better come and join the Michigan Sharpshooters. I think if Henry goes to Hiram Rex School this winter he will be able to take charge of the Army of the Potomac next spring. I think a wooden man would answer about as well. I know it in the Weikle District. It is not fair for all the cowards to stay at home and take advantage of those who are gone to fight for their country in the manner of taking schools at one dollar per day while they ought to be soldiering for 18 dollars per month.
I hope the draft will just come and clean out 3 or 4 boys of every family in that neighborhood. They will make just as good soldiers as anybody else that is not as wealthy. I would like to see some of them put on airs with a suit of Uncle Sam’s clothes. I would stand and blow Hail Columbia for a week without anything to eat. I think if there is a draft this spring, it will cut pretty close to old Kinney’s gate. “By hell, I did not dink she would come so soon.” 1
Well, I expect the dance is going off pretty rough by this time and about half drunk.
I received a letter from Jim Dever a few days since. It was a long one and a good one. I expect another soon. I expect you are going to school this winter at Bristol. If you are, go ahead and get ready and go. Mr. Hanks is a good teacher. He can learn you much as Mrs. Babb 2 can and a little more and not charge you as much either. Write whether Ma has come home or no. See if you can write me a letter large enough to cost two postage stamps. Tell Henry to write again. He makes a very good letter writer. No more at present. Answer soon. My respects to all. — Thomas J. Kessler
Thomas J. Kessler, 1st Regiment S. S., Brass Band, Camp Douglas, Chicago, Illinois
To E. Kessler, Bristol, Elkhart, Indiana
Answer immediately. Truly yours, — T. J. K.
1 Thomas may have been referring to Frederick G. Kinney (1804-1879), a native of Union (now Snyder county), Pennsylvania, who came to a 200-acre farm four miles north of Bristol, Elkhart county, Indiana, in May 1849. He raised seven children and by his thrift and accumulated wealth, provided them all with homes of their own. His four oldest children were all boys of military age, Benjamin (b. 1835), Frederick (b. 1838), George (b. 1842), and Lewis (b. 1845). It does not appear that any of them served in the Union army.
2 This was probably Ann Eliza (Shields) Babb (1825-1916). She was daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hector Shields. After her education she was a school teacher in Peru, Ohio for several years. She married Benjamin Babb on 24 Dec 1851 after which they moved to Elkhart, IN where they lived the rest of their lives. She worked with him in their bookstore for many years and gained a reputation of being an encyclopedia of general knowledge. She was also a student of the Bible and was often called on to give Bible studies. The couple had no children.
Letter 2
Addressed to A. P. Kessler, Esq., Bristol, Elkhart county, Indiana
Warrenton Junction, Virginia May 1st 1864
Dear friends,
I suppose it has been some time since you heard from me and as it is about the last opportunity I shall have to write you, I take pleasure to drop you a few lines this Sunday eve. I am well at present and hope this will find you all the same. I received Pa’s letter yesterday morning. Was forwarded from Annapolis to me. Was glad to hear from home. I wrote one and sent it or mailed it at Fairfax. I suppose you will get it.
As I said, it would perhaps be the last time for a good while as Gen. Burnside issued an order not [to] have any more letters sent home for sixty days & upwards as there was expected to be a great fight. We are camped at the above named place & will remain a very few days, I think, to guard the railroad. We are pretty close on to the rebs now. The regiment is out on picket duty nearly every day. I would like to stay where we are as we have good quarters.
One week ago yesterday we left Annapolis on the march & was just six days on the road. It was pretty tough on me. It nearly used me up. It crippled me considerable, not being use to walking much. My feet were all blistered over. I could scarcely get along. We have had two days rest now and I am feeling much rested.
Monday, May 2, 1864. I will now finish my letter this morning. Everything is quiet about camp this morning. Last night our regiment was called out about ten o’clock expecting to be attacked as they heard some of the pickets firing. The excitement was soon over with and went back to bed again. We are living on half rations now. We get hard tack, pork & coffee. This is all we have.
I have not much more to write as I am afraid his will not get home to you. I could write a whole day and not give you all the particulars. I just merely wrote you to let you know that I am well. We had a good long march. I expect we will have another before long. I am glad of one thing—that is we are where money can’t be of any use to us. I think if I live through, I can save a little or all of my wages hereafter. I hope so at least.
We are about 70 miles from Washington City. I will close for the present hoping you will receive this letter soon. Write me soon as you get it. You have my best wishes & respects. Yours respectfully, — T. J. Kessler
The following letter was written by Samuel Augustus Duncan who began his service in the Civil War as Major of the 14th New Hampshire Infantry Regiment and was later commissioned the Colonel of the 4th U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) Infantry Regiment. He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Volunteers on October 28, 1864 for “gallant and meritorious services in the attack upon the enemy’s works at Spring Hill, Va.” On March 13, 1865 he was brevetted Major General, US Volunteers for “gallant and meritorious services during the war.” After the end of the conflict he became a patent lawyer, and served as Assistant United States Commissioner of Patents from 1870 to 1872.
Duncan’s letter is primarily focused on the treatment and care provided to Col. Alexander Gardner (1833-1864), 14th New Hampshire Infantry, following his mortal wounds sustained at the Battle of 3rd Winchester (or Opequon) on September 19, 1864. It can be inferred from the correspondence that the Gardner family harbored resentment toward the regimental surgeon, Dr. William Henry Thayer, for his inability to preserve the colonel’s life. Nevertheless, Duncan offers a robust defense of the doctor’s decisions and actions during in the aftermath of the battle.
Samuel wrote the letter to James “Graham” Gardiner who served as an adjutant to Samuel in the 4th USCT but who resigned following the death of his brother Alexander as he was the only surviving son in the family.
Referring to the Battle of New Market Heights, Samuel wrote, “that was a terrible morning. It is not often that troops are called upon to enter such a murderous fire as was that. Even now I fail to comprehend the policy of putting us into it as we did go in. The affair might have been more successfully managed with less loss of life. Did you before leaving the Brigade hear this feature of it talked over any? I cannot see how any of us came out of that fight alive. How I ever got back from the skirmish line unharmed, mounted as I was, is a mystery.”
Note: This letter is from the personal collection of Greg Herr and was offered for transcription and publication on Spared & Shared by express consent.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Meriden, New Hampshire December 9th 1864
My dear Gardiner,
I trust that you will pardon my long silence but really I have found but little to write about since I have been at home, I passed through New York on my route from Fort Monroe on the 7th of November, but as I was very anxious to reach home in season to vote—and was even running some risk i order to do it by starting so early from the hospital—I found it impossible to stop at your Mother’s in pursuance of your kind invitation. I had intended to leave Fort Monroe a day or two earlier than I did in order to have time to visit you & your friend in New York, but unpleasant weather obliged me to delay until the very last moment. This necessity I regretted exceedingly as I esteemed it a duty, as well as a sad pleasure to visit the afflicted friends of him whose acquaintance & friendship I had always prized most highly while he lived, and whose memory now that he has been called away is treasured up among the most valued recollections of the past.
Do not fail to extend to your respected Mother, to that stricken sister with whose acquaintance I am honored, & to the other members of the household, renewed assurances of my profoundest sympathy with them in the great sacrifice which the country called for in the life of Col. Alexander Gardiner.
I was pained more than words can tell by your intimation that there was a withholding of medical skill and kindly attention by the surgeon which is all the more astounding in view of the great intimacy, the apparently high respect & fixed friendship that always subsisted between your brother and Dr. [William Henry] Thayer. 1 My confidence in human kind would receive a terrible shock if called upon to believe that the Dr. willfully neglected Alexander in his days of helplessness & suffering after having been the recipient from him of many favors and of steadfast friendship for two years. I should be at a loss for a theory by which to account for such anomalous conduct. No words of detestation would be strong enough to characterize the meanness to say nothing of the inhumanity of such a course.
Is it not more probable that his friends who were present & who of course clung to him with all the fondness with which a Mother’s affection or a sister’s love can enfold their most cherished earthly friend, failed to realize until the last what the Dr. in a recent letter to me says it was apparent to himself and other skillful surgeons whom he called in council from the first, viz. that the Colonel’s wounds were necessarily of a mortal character. and , failing to realize this fact, easily and almost naturally formed wrong ideas respecting the course of treatment which was actually adopted, and which was sanctioned by the consulted surgeons of acknowledged skill.
Of course this would not excuse any inattention or lack of friendly ministration that could prolong life or assuage pain & could be given consistently with the manifold imperative duties that at such a time & in such an emergency tax a surgeon’s time and energies to their utmost capacity.
I can but hope that you and all your friends in forming your final estimates in this matter will give due prominence to the multifarious and distracting cares that fall to a surgeon’s lot after a great battle as well as to the repeated consultations which Dr. Thayer had about your brother with other prominent surgeons, and especially to the peculiarly intimate relation which had always subsisted between the surgeon and his patient, and it would be a great relief to me, I assure you, could I know that such a belief at last obtains among those who were present by your brother’s bed, as will notdo violence to thoserelations of intimacy and warmest friendship.
Dr. Thayer writes that he has sent the Colonel’s widow at her request a full account of the nature of his wounds & treatment. I am glad that he has done so. Doubtless you have seen that account ere this. If so, I presume that the letter which I have could add little of information, and yet if you would like to see it, I will forward it to you. I do really think that it sets forth the Dr.’s inner feeling in the case more explicitly than it might be proper for him to express them in a letter to Mrs. Gardiner, whom he has known for so short a time only. For that reason it may be a satisfaction to you to see it, as I assure you it has been to me, His assertion that he would have preferred dismissal from the service rather than leave the Colonel in the hands of others—that in fact he had made up his mind to remain with his friend so long as life remained, even at the sacrifice of his official position, if that need be, I believe entitled to credit. Might not such a resolve to weigh much in the forming of any judgment of the Dr.’s treatment of the case.
By this time I suppose that our Division has been incorporated into the 25th Corps under Gen. Weitzel. A recent letter from Col. [John Worthington] Ames [of the 6th USCT] represents him as well. Buckman is A.A.A.G.; Appleton of the 4th A.A.A. G.; Chamberlain of the 6th, Aide-de-Camp; and Spaulding of the 2nd Cavalry. Commissary–Wilber is still Quartermaster. The Colonel says that he recently rode over the battleground of New Market Heights [and] that everything there is so changed that he could hardly recognize the place. Troops are encamped all around, and all the trees in the vicinity have been felled and consumed. Gardiner, that was a terrible morning. It is not often that troops are called upon to enter such a murderous fire as was that. Even now I fail to comprehend the policy of putting us into it as we did go in. The affair might have been more successfully managed with less loss of life. Did you before leaving the Brigade hear this feature of it talked over any? I cannot see how any of us came out of that fight alive. How I ever got back from the skirmish line unharmed, mounted as I was, is a mystery. But believe me, my dear fellow, my thoughts that morning were not for myself half so much as for you. In the heat of the battle, I reproached myself, as my mind went out to that scene of suffering at Winchester and glanced at the probable fate hanging over your dear brother—if in fact he were then alive—for having allowed you to encounter the perils of that hour. Had harm befallen you, I know not how I could have reconciled your friends to my instrumentality in having drawn you into the service.
I would most gladly have spared you the anguish of that battle scene—anguish not from fear occasioned by appalling terrors that encompassed us, for I do not believe that you would shrink in the presence of danger however great, but by reason of your consciousness, the necessarily kindled into unwonted life, that after Alexander you would be the sole surviving son of your Mother on whom her hopes and affections would center more and more as other supports should be withdrawn. My own wound was forgotten in my joy at your safety.
And then I felt too that had a reasonably generous spirit been manifested by one who had the power, you would have been on your way to carry aid and comfort to your brother instead of being subjected to that ordeal. What pit ’tis that so much gaul should be found in men’s composition that they cannot lend a respectful ear to a reasonable request!
I cannot blame you should your recollections of your former superior officers be other than the most pleasant.
When I left the hospital (Nov. 5th), Lt. Pratt was very low. His case seemed hopeless. His wife was with him & was very calm & resigned, but Col. Ames now writes that Pratt has “weathered the storm” and will recover. I hope so, certainly, for he is a pleasant & companionable officer. But poor Vannays [?] we shall see no more. I think the commander–his staff of the 3rd Brigade—should be satisfied with their record of exposure to danger that day.
I am getting on well. Can walk a little in the house with a cane, but it is very slow and awkward work. Shall probably leave for Annapolis soon after the 1st of January, although it will be two months before I can return to the field.
[Col.] Ames [of the 6th USCT] writes that the “Canal” is a humbug still. It will not be near completion this year. It has among other novelties an old dredging machine sunk in the middle of it. Our men are all out of it. Thanks for that. It has cost Butler a good deal to make a Brigadier out of the Superintending Genius of the [Dutch Gap] Canal.
USCTs at work in the Dutch Gap Canal (Library of Congress). In August 1864, Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, commander of the Army of the James, ordered that a ditch or canal be dug across the narrow neck of land here to enable Union gunboats to evade Confederate batteries on the James River. Under brutal conditions and occasional Confederate sniper and artillery fire, Union soldiers from the 116th and 169th New York volunteers but mostly from the 4th, 6th, 10th, 36th, 38th, and 100th regiments of the US Colored Troops regiments were given the task.
I hope that you are not suffering from the ague acquired on the James [river]. My diarrhea has troubled me much since I came home. Now, my dear Gardiner, if I can at any time be of any service to you, I am yours to command. Should you ever incline to reenter the service, I could doubtless assist you, and it would be a great pleasure to me to have you near me. My sorest regret connected with your resignation, aside from the sad circumstances that called for it. was that I should be deprived of your services and the pleasure of your society. It is but right that you should know that my regret was generally shared by those who had come to know you.
Again, please present my warmest regards to your friends. Letters from you will always be welcome. Cordially, your friend, — Sam’l A. Duncan
Dr. William H. Thayer’s Letters
1 William Henry Thayer began his military career as a medical officer in the 14th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry. He was appointed Medical Inspector in November, 1863, and served in that capacity until January, 1864. He earned the promotion to Surgeon-in-Chief in February, 1865. Thayer’s letters sold at auction in 2007 with dates from January 3, 1864 to March 10, 1865, written from various locations between Washington D.C. and Savannah, and ranging in length from one to 15 pages. They were pasted to the pages of the scrapbook in chronological order. The correspondence began in Concord, where Dr. Thayer wrote to his wife after being “…so fully occupied with my duties that I could not get through with my reports, & instructions for the medical officers…” One of the more interesting letters includes his account of meeting President and Mrs. Lincoln on a Saturday trip to the White House. Upon seeing the exhausted President, Thayer wrote that “…Mr. L was near the door, looking so haggard…” Later, Dr. Thayer related his experience after gaining a private audience with the President, and reiterates that Lincoln looked “very thin and hollow-eyed.”
The following letter was written by Lewis Cass Irwin (1828-1889), one of the three steamboat captains in the Marine Department of the Military District of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona under Magruder’s overall command. Captain Irwin was assigned to the sub-quarters at at Sabine Pass, while Capt. Henry S. Lubbock and Capt. S. K. Brown were assigned to Galveston and Matagorda Bay, respectively. All three captains reported to “Commodore” Leon Smith.
Lewis was the son of Robert Irwin, Jr. (1797-1833) and Hannah Rees (1802-1886) of Portage, Columbia county, Wisconsin. Prior to the war, Lewis was a clerk in the US Indian Agent Office and as a railroad agent in Hempstead, Texas. After the war he worked as a correspondent of the Galveston News and Dallas Commercial and eventually moved to New Mexico. He died in December 1889 after a year’s residence in the Confederate Home in Austin, Texas.
Lewis wrote the letter to Miss Mary Stiles who was probably Mary Dudley Stiles (1843-1928), the daughter of William Woodbridge Stiles (1816-1889) and Ann Marie Bryan (1821-1895) of Houston, Texas. She married Augustus Norman Edmundson (1844-1912) in 1869.
The Second Battle of Sabine Pass (September 8, 1863) On September 8, 1863, the Union forces sent two gunboats up each channel of the Sabine River. The two boats proceeding up the Louisiana channel were to make their way around Oyster Reef and up to Sabine Lake. They would then attack Fort Griffin from the north. Dowling and the Davis guards held fire until the ships were in effective range, enduring Union shelling in their bombproof shelters. When the Confederate artillerymen opened up on the Union ships, their fire was so fast and accurate that they quickly disabled the lead ship in each channel, effectively ending the attack. Source: http://beg.utexas.edu
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Confederate States Steamer “Clifton” 1 September 26th 1863
Miss Mary Stiles, esteemed friend,
I hope you will pardon the liberty I again repeat in addressing you a line or two from my present location. But the time has been so long since I had the pleasure of calling upon your family, and my being weary of looking for a reply to my note to your excellent parents, soon after the success out troops met with at this point, impels me to try again to hear something from the home of the dearest friends I believe I have the honor to have in this state.
We have all been hard to work since the fight and have now begun to realize a little of the pleasures of quietude and order. This steamer possesses at present a pretty good crew & her engines work splendidly. We have tried her twice up into the Bay and out far enough for the enemy to get a good view of their handsome gift. Everything is in pretty fair order & tonight the Commodore and his officers enjoyed ourselves together in lively tales and songs upon the quarter deck. We have a magnificent awning stretched aft making under it a fine promenade, that is nearly as large as your front yard. These heavy guns occupy a part of the space but they are not at all in the way and very much of an ornament.
We are anchored in the stream opposite the town where we can distinctly hear Col. Lockett’s splendid band discoursing most ravishing airs that come floating merrily upon the breeze. When the sun has ceased its feverish influence, moonlight nights have also strayed along our [ ] pathway & we find ourselves happy and almost contented.
I called upon one of the young ladies of Sabine this evening before tea. She plays handsomely upon her guitar and is also very entertaining. I rather like her. She sings sweetly and talks sensibly & too she is very free of all extravagant formalities which carries with it an air of purity and amiability. I hope you are well also. Your kind and excellent mother & your father, also Laura and the little ones. Please give my regards to all and tell them not a day passes that I do not find myself desiring again to see you all.
Have you seen or heard of Miss Lottie lately? I do believe sometimes that I am more than half in love with her, particularly when I imagine I hear the sweet tones of her voice gently vibrating upon my ear. What a pity I am not wealthy or handsome, and had the faculty to win such a noble prize as she would justly make for some good fellow. But enough of this. I am in talking so becoming traitor to the sacred love of mysterious character I hold so dear and must cease such a strain that bears me for a moment from that object who has become so samelike in my estimation & whose fate decrees I can only look upon as the most desirable of creatures, without the remotest pleasure of possessing that object of such good and purity. But I must not excite your curiosity again, for you might tease Miss Sally by saying she was the angel object of my imaginations which I most solemnly assure you is not the case, however much I may be fond of her delightful society. This mysterious prize of perfection I can assure you is not a myth. How is the fair or rather brunette widow Flake now-a-days? I fear I sadly failed in her estimation. A night or two before leaving Houston. I was our riding & my horse running away with me, I was compelled to pop the carriage at headlong speed, & when I came back, I saw that it was her riding out. I disliked the event but I could not help it. If you see her and she should mention the incident of apparent recklessness on my part, please speak a kind word for me & smooth it over for I should dislike her to have an unfavorable opinion of me, particularly after having loved her for nearly two years. Will you please write me all about yourself & home, and who you are going to get married, if such a thing will happen to you. Give my kind regards to Miss Lottie & keep a larger share of my highest esteem for your excellent self. Yours truly, — L. C. Irwin
1 The CSS Clifton was a side-wheel steam ferryboat built in 1861 and launched at Brooklyn as the USS Clifton. She carried 8 guns and was assigned to the Mortar Flotilla in the West Gulf Blockading Squadron and engaged in the bombardment of Forts Jackson and St. Philip below New Orleans, the attack on Vicksburg in June 1862, the capture of Galveston in October 1862, and the July 1863 reconnaissance up the Atchafalaya and Teche Rivers. She was captured by Confederate forces on 8 September 1863 at Sabine Pass, Texas. She ran aground and was burned by Confederates on 21 March 1864 after an unsuccessful attempt to run the Union blockade. The Clifton remained a wreck, with portions of its stack and the walking beam visible landmarks for many years. The engine’s walking beam was removed in 1911 and installed in a park in Beaumont. Called a “walking beam” because of its steady rocking action, the 9-foot by 18-foot cast iron diamond-shaped beam pivoted in the center, transmitting vertical motion of the ship engine’s single large piston, which turned the shaft of the paddlewheel. In 2011, the walking beam was acquired by the THC for installation at the Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site as part of new interpretive exhibits. Prior to installation, the walking beam went through an extensive conservation process at the Texas A&M Conservation Research Laboratory. See photos from a staff visit to that lab a couple months ago: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/…. Learn more about Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site: www.visitsabinepassbattleground.com.
I could find no image of Michael but here is one of Charles P. Philpot who also served in the 31st Iowa. Charles died of disease in Andersonville Prison in 1864. (Iowa Civil War Images)
The following letter was written by Michael W. Kirby (1836-1863) of Cottonville, Jackson county, Iowa, who enlisted at the age of 27 on 6 August 1862 in Co. I, 31st Iowa Infantry. He died on 6 February 1863 at Young’s Point, Louisiana. Family tradition has it he died in battle but military records reveal that he died of disease though he likely participated in the three day battle of Chickasaw Bluffs near Vicksburg in late December 1862.
Michael wrote the letter to his wife, Juliette (Lindsey) Kirby (1843-1921). The couple were married on 30 May 1860 in Jackson County, Iowa, when she was but 16 years old. They were both natives of Pennsylvania.
Michael wrote this letter from the steamer that was transporting them down the Mississippi river to Helena, Arkansas, where they went into camp on November 20th, 1862. Another soldier in the 31st Iowa, Milton S. Wade of Co. F, wrote of the same journey in a letter to a friend, “We stopped at St. Louis on our way down and for 3 days we saw Benton [Barracks]. We were about 2 weeks coming from St. Louis. We got fast on those sand banks below the Ohio river. The farther we get down river, the smaller the river is. There is lots of troops coming down the river every day.” [Source: Milton Weed to Owen W. Nims.] Though neither Michael or Milton mention the name of the steamer they were on, I found a notice in the Daily Democrat (Davenport) of 19 November 1862 that reported them on the steamer Continental with “625 tons of government freight.” The steamer’s captain was O’Neal.
Though he did not die in battle, Michael expressed the same patriotic sentiments that motivated many young men from both the North and the South to enlist: “We must expect to see hard times before we get back. I don’t care how much we have to endure if we only secure our liberty—if not for us, for those that are left at home and for the generations that may come after us. May the blessings of God attend our army.”
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
[Steamer Continental] November 10, 1862
Dear Wife,
I take this time to let you know that I am well at the present time and hope these lies [lines] will find you all in good health. We started from St. Louis at night about 9 o’clock. We went three miles and run on a sand bar. Here we stayed trying to get off of it till the next day. And then, when we got off, went on awhile [and] struck again. We got off, then went on till 9 o’clock at night, then we struck again and have been trying to get off. We now are getting off. It is about 3 o’clock in the afternoon that I am writing. We are moving now.
The boat is loaded too heavy with freight. It is the largest one in the river. There is about 1200 soldiers on it, about 200 head of cattle and 50 horses, a very large amount of government grain, meat and hay, oats, and potatoes and other goods for the army.
I will tell you about the sick in the regiment. We left in Camp Herron four of our boys. One of our company in St. Louis—William Whitman—he had the measles. There was 31 of the regiment let at St. Louis sick with the measles. There is about 40 sick on the boat now. We are not over 40 miles from St. Louis now. I hope we will get better after this.
We [have] very poor accommodations on the boat. We live more like hogs than anything else. Our meat was poor. We now have three crackers and coffee but this is not if everything else was right but we must expect to see hard times before we get back. I don’t care how much we have to endure if we only secure our liberty—if not for us, for those that are left at home and for the generations that may come after us. May the blessings of God attend our army.
We have been very lucky with our regiment so far. There has not been one lost yet & in some of the other regiments there has been a good many killed by accidents and carelessness. Some have got into a fight with the boat hands. I have heard of about fifty that have been killed. There was 12 killed below here last week by the rebels. They shot from the shore [and] killed 12 of our men. This was a boat last week blowed up. The boiler bursted and killed some soldiers. I don’t know how many. So there is danger everywhere. I hope we will get along safe.
The sick that was left behind may be glad they did not come now for they will have a better chance to when there is not so many on the boat. I think I have wrote all that I think of now. The boat shakes no that it is hard for me to write. I am sitting on a pile of grain writing. We are going on now middling fast.
Dear friend, I think of home and friends but that is all the good it will do for the present. Most of us may not get back but it is hard to tell. God knows best. We expect to be in a battle before long, I will write as soon as we land where we are. Destined for Mrs. Juliette Kirby
The following letter was written by William Gage Besse (1843-1914), the son of Constantine D. Besse (1813-1891) and Lucy Woodcock (1809-Aft1864) of Wayne, Kennebec county, Maine. William enlisted in 1864, age 21, in Co. K of the 1st District of Columbia Cavalry and on February 14, 1865 was transferred to Co. K of the 1st Maine Cavalry. He was discharged August 1, 1865 and returned to Lewiston to live.
Readers will notice that though William served in a cavalry regiment, in 1864 they were dismounted and used as infantrymen at Yorktown and Portsmouth, and even in the trenches at Bermuda Hundred in this case.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Letterhead of William’s Stationery
Camp about 5 miles from Bermuda, Va. May 29, 1864
Dear Mother,
I take my pen in hand to let you know that we are all well and hope that these few lines will find you the same. I received a letter from you today and was glad to hear from you. I was glad to hear that they had got a new Division in Lewiston. I was glad to hear that Father and Lyman was safe. I got them stamps all right.
Fort Monroe is about 180 miles from Washington so they say. It is near the mouth of the James river, Va. If you look on the map you will see about where it is. We are now at the front of Gen. Butler’s army, probably not more than 20 miles from Richmond. Some say it is not more than 16 but I don’t know. We are getting along first rate. We left our camp at Bermuda last Thursday about dark and marched to the front. We laid on the ground that night. In the morning we moved to the breastworks and pitched our tents. We are guarding the breastworks and doing picket duty. Part of our company is on picket now. The rebel works are in plain sight of a fort a little ways to our right. Bill and I was over there Friday. The sharpshooters were firing and they fired three shells over and they went over our heads. They will make a big noise but I thought the little ones was the worst for I could not tell when they was coming.
George got a letter from you today with one dollar in it. I got a letter from Bro. Cilley today with three postage stamps in it. We have got the mail but twice since we left Washington. Mr. Cilley said he would send me a paper once in a while so you see he is very clever. We don’t have a great deal to do here. We have to sleep with our rifles loaded with 15 charges laying by our side so as to be ready for the rebs if they come over to see [us]. We have to turn out at three o’clock in the morning under arms and stand in line till daylight so you see that we are early risers out here.
I should like to know what the name of the new Division is. I must close now. Give my love to all the folks. Write soon. From your son, — William G. Besse
Burghardt after he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant.
This letter was written by Charles H. Burghardt (1844-1865) of Schenectady, New York, who enlisted on 8 September 1862 to serve three years in Co. D, 4th New York Heavy Artillery. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant of Co. B (and later Co. K) in December 1864 and was severely wounded in the left leg on 2 April 1865 at Sutherland Station, Virginia. The wound required amputation of the limb but was unsuccessful in saving his life. He died at Annapolis, Maryland in 17 April 1865.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Addressed to Miss Libbie Burghardt, Schenectady, New York
Fort Ethan Allen, Va. November 20th 1863
Dear Sister Libbie,
Having a few spare moments tonight and knowing that my sisters are always glad to hear from me, I thought I would try and write a few lines to you. Well, Libbie, I do not know what to write now that I have got commenced but I will try and make out a letter.
I am not as well as might be. I am troubled a good deal with a pain in my chest. It is on account of having to wear a knapsack—or a schoolhouse as we term it—on inspection. We were inspected yesterday by General Barry, Chief of Artillery, and a fine show we made. Our company was said to be the best drilled company in the regiment. We had to stand for two hours with our knapsacks on and it most killed me.
I suppose by the time I get home, you will have grown so that I will not know you. I suppose you are going to school and that you will beat me so far as education is concerned.
You must tell mother that she must write oftener and send me some Schenectady papers. If Mother sends me a box, I want her to send me a pillow case as I have got a feather pillow but not pillow case. But it is most bed time and I must close. Tell Mother I shall expect the box and my mouth begins to water now for the good things. With love to Mother and Mary and for yourself a good share, I close. From your brother, — Charlie
The following letter was written by John H. Moore (1840-1910) of Belmont county, Ohio, who served in Co. A, 1st W. Virginia Infantry. He wrote the letter form their camp near Alexandria, Virginia, shortly after the humiliating defeat at 2nd Bull Run in which they had fought under Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell’s 3rd Corps in Pope’s Army of Virginia.
It is with pleasure that I write you a few lines to let you know that I am well at present and hope you are all enjoying the same. We are back at Alexandria again but don’t know how long we will stay here. We have had some very big fighting out here—another Bull Run scrape. We lost eight men missing and three men wounded—namely John A. Foster in the shoulder, Frank Dietrich in the hip with a piece of shell, Hezakiah Clark in the left side and arms. The others were taken prisoners. I got off safe.
We have not got any mail for three weeks nor couldn’t send any letters away. I heard that Thomas had enlisted. I want you to let me know if he has or not. We are laying here at Alexandria now. The day we came here we only had 160 men in the regiment. I don’t [know if] we will go into any more battles very soon. I have not go time to write any more at present as I send this with Major [Isaac Hardin] Duval who is going home to be Colonel of the 13th [9th] Virginia Regiment. Write as soon as you can.
No more at present. From your son, — John H. Moore
To James & Catharine Moore, Bridgeport, Ohio
Direct to John H. Moore, Care of Capt. Meddle, Co. A, 1st Reg. Va. Vols. Infantry
The following letter was written by Adin V. Cole (1844-1862), the son of Kimball Cole (1810-1902) and Mary Stockwell (1819-1909) of Whitefield, Coos county, New Hampshire. He mentions a younger brother, Martin Marshall Cole (1849-1925) in the letter.
Anxious to fight for the Union, Adin enlisted when he was 18 in Co. C, 5th New Hampshire Infantry on 26 September 1861, but did not live long enough to see his first battle. He died on 8 March 1862—just two month after this letter was penned. He lies buried in the US Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery in Washington D. C. (Site B 2031)
The author has placed a black arrow in the general area where Camp California was located. The map is an 1861 map of the Defenses of Washington reprinted in the “Atlas to Accompany The Official Records of the Union and confederate Armies.” Camp California was under the shelter of nearby Fort Worth (misspelled as Ft Wohth on this map). Referring to Fort Worth, one Irish Brigade soldier wrote home that “in our front there is a very strong fort that would send very destructive messengers to any approaching enemy if they were to come within range of its long and heavy guns.” General Sumner reportedly camped in a Sibley tent near Mr. Watkins’ home.[Source: Civil War Washington D. C.]
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Camp California January 5th 1862
Dear Parents,
I now answer your letter which I received last Thursday and was very glad to hear from you for it had been three weeks almost since I had heard from you. There is about an inch of snow on the ground this morning but it won’t stay long for it is coming off warm. I went out to drill this morning and I felt a little sick so I went to the Captain and asked him if he would excuse me and he said yes. It is the first time I have been excused from duty since my ankle got well. It has got so well that I can’t tell where it was hurt. It is as sound as the other now.
I will now answer some of your questions. First, about Oscar, tell Mr. Huntoon’s folks that he is doing first rate and is faithful to his duty. He has to be or else he must look out for himself. The best way is to be faithful and do your duty in good earnest and you will get along well enough. I have not had one bit of trouble with an officer nor anyone else since I enlisted, nor I don’t mean to have.
Ezra is getting along nicely. He does not have any trouble at all. His Captain like him first rate and as long as he keeps on the right side of his Captain, he will get along well enough. Those boots—I lost one of them when we moved from Concord to Washington and the other is most worn out. I shall have to get me a new pair of pants. Lately they are made of good cloth and I guess they will wear well. The rest of our clothing is good yet.
We sleep warm nights for it is not very cold here yet. You wrote that if three was anything I wanted you would send it to me. I don’t want anything now but shall by and by. Tell Martin I shall write to him before long.
One of our men got three of his four fingers on his right hand shot off the other night while on guard. I guess you have heard it was two but it was three fingers. His name you have heard before this I presume. If you hain’t, you will before long. Write as soon as you get this and put on the time you wrote the letter before and then I can tell if I get them all.
I must close so goodbye. From your son, — Adin V. Cole
The following letter was written by 19 year-old Owen Jones (1842-1921), the son of Isaiah Jones (1812-1888) and Matilda Darrah (1812-1888) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Owen enlisted in Co. K, 3rd Pennsylvania Reserves (32nd Volunteers). This regiment was organized at Philadelphia and moved to Easton, Pennsylvania, on 20 May 1861. They remained in “Camp Washington” at Easton until 22 July when they moved to Harrisburg where they were mustered into the US Service on 28 July. Owen was promoted to corporal on 1 March 1862 and then discharged on a surgeon’s certificate on 2 December 1862. After the war, Owen was employed as a police officer in Philadelphia.
Owen’s letter was written on 1 May 1863 from Falmouth during Gen. Irvin McDowell’s advance on Fredericksburg with 30,000 men. Their objective was to gain control of the town and potentially cross the Rappahannock River to continue their march on Richmond. Stonewall Jackson’s maneuvers in the Shenandoah Valley, however, disrupted this advance and forced McDowell to withdraw.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Camp near Falmouth May 1, 1862
Dear Mother,
I received thy kind and welcome letter on the first and was glad to hear from thee and to hear that thee got the money and my [ ]. Thee said thee thought I would get tired of reading thy letters. The more thee writes, the better I like to read them. The more the merrier.
We have made another move. We are only 60 miles from Richmond. We are only 3 miles from Fredericksburg. We are along side of the Rappahannock river. It is a nice place. We expect to cross the river as soon as the bridge gets done. They are making a bridge. We can see the rebels on the other side of the river. We have had a hard march these two weeks.
Thee wanted to know if I dressed any different to the rest. Not a bit of it. Just the same. I have to go on picket but don’t stand post. We have to do the same as the rest of the men—only we have two [corporal] stripes on our arm; that’s all big thing. Can’t see it.
It looks like rain today. Things is very dear here. We have to pay 15 cents for a three-cent loaf of bread. That is awful. We have to pay three prices for anything we want big thing and we see it. I was very sorry when I heard such bad news about Bill Rook. I hope Pap will try and do the best he can. I think I will have to stop for I don’t know what to say. It is one thing all the time. We are under General McDowell. He is over McColl. We expect to cross the river very soon.
Give my love to grandmother and all the rest of the folks. Write soon. I think thee will see something in the papers about us soon. I hope so for we have done nothing yet but tain’t our fault. The men was always ready to go in. You will bet they was just so. Give my love to all, Pap, Em and thyself the most.
Direct thy letters to me, 3rd Regiment, Company K, Capt. [William] Brian, Col. Sykes commanding, Washington D. C., McCall’s Division. and then they will come all right. Write soon. This is from thy dear son, — Owen Jones
Spared & Shared 23 