All posts by Griff

My passion is studying American history leading up to & including the Civil War. I particularly enjoy reading, transcribing & researching primary sources such as letters and diaries.
100th Pennsylvania Infantry, Fort Stedman

1865: William Adams to Henry Shrader

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The following letter was written by William Adams (1837-1904), the son of Solomon Adams (1814-1896) and Anna Shrader (1817-1906) of Bedford county, Pennsylvania. In November 1864, 27 year-old William was employed as a carpenter and residing in New Paris with his first wife, the former Mary Catherine Repp (18xx-1865), and their daughter, Sarah (b. 1860). When William failed to report for duty, he was arrested, mustered into service, and assigned to Co. M, 100th Pennsylvania Regiment (sometime called the “Roundheads”). He was then sent to his regiment in Virginia to participate in the ongoing Petersburg campaign. He was mustered out of service by general order on June 25, 1865, after having spent several weeks in the hospital. He spent the next several weeks at home in poor health.

“In 1883, William applied for an invalid pension from the federal government for disability received in service due to injury and disease. According to his declaration, in the service and in the line of his duty at Petersburg, VA, on or about the 22nd day of March 1865, William received “ruptures of varicose veins from throwing sand-bags upon the breastworks. Also, while engaged in guard duty along the canal near Washington, [William] received a malarial fever (so called by the Dr.).” He was treated in the regimental hospital in the month of June 1865 and sent to the general hospital at Washington, D. C. William described himself as at least one-half disabled from earning his living as a carpenter. To support his application, he obtained written testimony from Joseph Anders, George W. Darr, and his father, Solomon. William’s claim that he contracted malarial poisoning in service was approved, but his claim that he contracted varicose veins of the leg in service was rejected. The Arrears Act of 1879 stipulated that his pension was retroactive to the date of his discharge from service (1865) and that he was entitled to receive a lump-sum payment. 

In 1894, William applied for a re-examination of his rejected claim for varicose veins in service because his cousin, Anna O. Gephart, discovered the previously discussed March 27, 1865 letter by William to her father. In support of his claim, William submitted the letter along with a deposition from Anna. A special examiner sent the claim to the Commissioner of Pensions in Washington, DC, with a note. “The letter written by the claimant in the service to his uncle Henry Shrader is valuable evidence and corroborates the claimant’s allegations as to the incurrence of varicose veins…. I took the deposition of Anna O. Gephart. She is of good reputation and testified in a perfectly straightforward manner. I am satisfied that she found the letter amongst her father’s papers, as she states… I believe the claim for varicose veins of left leg to be meritorious.” William’s claim, which had been re-submitted several times before, was eventually approved and his pension was increased.” [Source: Craig Adams]

A photocopy of this letter in William’s pension file was made available to me for transcription and publication on Spared & Shared by Craig Adams, a descendant of William’s brother, George Adams.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

[Before Petersburg, Va.]
March 27, 1865

Uncle,

I take my pen in hand to let you know that I am still among the living. We had right smart of a brush on the 25th of this month with the Johnnies. They broke in here and we had a right smart fight with them. I got off right well though I got my ear burnt and gun shot out of my hand and the stock somewhat disfigured. That was close enough, I thought. 1

And a few days ago I was throwing sand bags on the breastworks and trained my leg at the knee and ankle and [now] that leg won’t track right. There is blue spots on the leg [that] a man says is bursted veins.

The weather here is fine and warm and up there you say is cold and snow on the ground. I think the [Johnnies] can’t stand it much longer on account of being starved out right soon. Direct as before. — Wm. Adams

To Henry Shrader

1 The “right smart fight” that William refers to in this letter was the pre-dawn assault on Fort Stedman where the 100th Pennsylvania Infantry was posted with other 9th Corps regiments.

16th Illinois Infantry, 88th Illinois Infantry, Battle of Missionary Ridge

1863-64: James Wesley Cassingham to Salina (Cassingham) Wyatt

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These letters were written by James Wesley Cassingham (1840-1921), the son of English emigrant James Cassingham (1811-1882) and Virginia-native Martha Oden (1810-1844). James was born in Jackson, Muskingham county, Ohio, and was living in LaHarpe, Hancock county, Illinois when he enlisted on 24 May 1861 to serve as a private in Co. F of the 16th Illinois Infantry. He reenlisted as a veteran in the regiment on 28 December 1863, for which he received a bounty and a 30 day furlough in February 1864. He mustered out of the regiment on 8 July 1865 as a corporal.

In his letters, James mentions his cousin, Thomas Alexander (“Alex”) Cassingham (1844-1863) who served in Co. F of the 88th Illinois Infantry. Alex was killed in the Battle of Missionary Ridge in November 1863, as described in Letter 2 below. The recipient of all three of these letters was a third cousin, Salina (Cassingham) Wyatt, who lived in Dresden, Muskingum Co., Ohio at the time. Her husband, Frank Wyatt, served as a private in Co. F, 62nd Ohio Infantry.

To read letters written by other members of the 16th Illinois Infantry made available by Spared & Shared, see:
Noble Lovely Prentis, Co. D, 16th Illinois (1 Letter)
Francis James Russell, Co. D, 16th Illinois (6 Letters)
Matthew Davis, Co. G, 16th Illinois (3 Letters)

These Cassingham letters were kept by Salina and passed down to a descendant, Melvin Ernest Wyatt, who gifted them to Paul Jacque Cassingham. Wishing to preserve the history in them, he in turn provided me with scans for transcription and publication on Spared & Shared.

Camp of the 16th Illinois Infantry across the Cumberland River from Nashville, TN.

Letter 1

Addressed to Mrs. Salina Wyatt, Dresden, Muskingham county, Ohio

Kelly’s Ferry, Tennessee 1
November 3rd, 1863

Dear Cousin,

I received your letter in due season and I hasten to answer it. Since I last wrote to you we have moved three ties and every time it was on Sunday. Gor the last four Sunday’s we have been on the go. A week ago today last Sunday we arrived on the opposite side of the river from this and at that time there was plenty of rebs here on this ground that we are camped on and there is some yet but they are prisoners of war.

On last Wednesday night we was waked up by heavy firing and it continued for some time. The cause of it was by a movement of Hooker and the rebs made a night attack on him and they got repulsed handsomely. The rebs is in pretty close quarters now and it is hoped that they will all be captured and if we should meet with such a victory, this war will soon be to an end and I won’t be sorry for this is no pleasnt work. But I won’t grumble for I am a faring first rate to what some of the troops front of us is they they are not getting full rations and for a long time they have not got half rations. But they are getting plentier now for the river is open to this point and the boats is a running to this point and from this point to Chattanooga it is but ten miles and good roads.

Alex got through the fight safe and sound. If you see either of them uncles of [yours], you can tell them I am all right and if they want to hear from me, for them to answer the letter that I wrote to them.

Well, Salina, I [have] but little news to write this time so I will close for this time. This leaves me well and hoping it may find you the same. I bid you goodbye for the present. I remain your cousin as ever, — J. W. Cassingham

1 Kelly’s Ferry on the Tennessee River in Lookout Valley, Tennessee, was a highly strategic point during the Civil War. It served as the crucial river terminus for the “Cracker Line,” a vital supply route that saved starving Union forces during the Confederate siege of Chattanooga in late 1863. Union victories in October 1863—including the amphibious assault at Brown’s Ferry and the Battle of Wauhatchie—secured the surrounding valley roads and guaranteed that provisions, ammunition, and reinforcements flowing through Kelly’s Ferry could safely reach Chattanooga.

Letter 2

Kelly’s Ferry, Tennessee
December 7, 1863

Dear Cousin,

I received yours of the 29th ult. and I was truly glad to hear from you and to hear that you was well as this [leaves] me well. I hope these few short lines may find you the same.

The news is rather sad. On the 24th ult. Cousin Alexander Cassingham fell mortally wounded on Missionary Ridge. He fell in a charge on the rebel works. He was a brave boy and he was well liked by all of his comrades. I was not in the fight. We layed here and heard it as long as they was in our hearing and that was not long for our men was not long in putting them to flight. The victory is complete and the breaking up on Bragg’s army. We have taken a large number of prisoners and any amount of cannon and small arms. Well, it is the most complete victory that ever was achieved in this department.

Our loss is small in the last battle. All of the rebs wounded fell into our hands. Bad luck to the men that took Lisie [Alex] away.

Well, my time will be out in 5 months and 17 days and perhaps sooner for there is strong talk of us a getting our furlough time and if we get that, we will be out in February and I will be as good as my word—that is, if I get out safe. And I hope I will for one. And I may find a wife but it is hard telling.

As for my likeness, I would gladly send it to you if I had one to send or if I could [get] one taken but I can’t do that for there is no chance here. But as soon as I can get one, I will send it to you. And you said that it was a snowing there when you wrote to me and that it what it has not done here yet this winter. And I hope it won’t thought it has been pretty cold.

Well, I must close for it is about dinner time and I am cook so no more at present. I remain your cousin, — Jas. W. Cassingham

Give my love to Aunt.

Letter 3

Nashville, Tennessee
February 26th 1864

Dear Cousin,

I seat myself to write you a few lines to let you know that I am still alive and among the living. We left Illinois on last Saturday and we got to this place the night of the 23rd and here we are yet. But how long we will stay here, I cannot tell but I hope it won’t be long for this is not the kind of soldiering I like to do. It is as bad as Libby Prison for we are kept about as close anymore than we can get out.

You must excuse me for not coming to see you for at the time I wrote to you, I had the promise of sixty days furlough but when my 30 days was out, I had to come to Dixie. Well, here I am and I suppose I must stay for a short time. I had a fine time while I was at home. Well, it was a free pitch in and no questions was asked so you may bet I had my own times of it.

Well, if I don’t stop soon, I’ll get to bragging a little and I never do. I have but little to write and nothing of interest so I will bring my short letter to a close. Hoping this may reach you and find you all well, I bid you goodbye for the present. Yours truly, — Jas. W. Cassingham

Co. F, 16th Illinois Infantry
Nashville, Tennessee

Direct as above.

129th New York Infantry, Fort Federal Hill

1862: William Bonnett to Abel Rice

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A watercolor of Pvt. James M. Warren who also served in Co. C, 129th New York Infantry

This letter was written by 22 year-old William Bonnett, a native of England, who was residing in the household of Abel Rice in Orleans County, New York, at the time of his enlistment in Co. C of the 129th New York Infantry in August 1862. This regiment was organized at Lockport, New York, and ordered to Fort Federal Hill in Baltimore, Maryland, where they had just arrived when William wrote this letter to Abel. William’s enlistment was for three years but he barely lived three months. He died of typhoid fever in the regimental hospital at Baltimore on 2 November 1862. A month later, the 129th New York Infantry was converted into an artillery unit and was renamed the 8th New York Heavy Artillery.

The original letter was kept by Abel Rice and eventually passed down to his descendants. Scans of the letter were made available for transcription and publication on Spared & Shared by Aimee Albanese. She informed me that a Widow’s Pension record for William Bonnett’s service was filed by Mary Jane (nee loper) Bonnett. In the 22 page document, Mary Jane Loper and William Bonnett Jr were married in the Town of Barre, NY on 06/01/1861 by Reverend Mason (Methodist).  When widowed, she had no children.  In an affidavit, William Bonnett Jr’s parents, William Bonnett and Ann Mary (nee Clark) Bonnett testified to this marriage.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

[Fort Federal Hill]
August 31, 1862

A. Rice,

My friend, I now take my pen to write to you hoping to find you well as it leaves me at present. We got news that we got Stonewall Jackson and six thousand men—that is ten regiments—in here. We are in Baltimore, Maryland, on Federal Hill. It is a nice place here. I send my best respects to all the boys round there. I like it here. This is a very hilly country here.

I sent $87 home. There was 15 men went out of this regiment to Washington for prisoners. I got so that I can lay down and sleep. We fire good enough there. There’s six [Columbiads and] 40 [other] cannon here. There is one fort [Fort Marshall] east of us about four miles from us. We can see all of the City of Baltimore. There is a fire in the city most every night.

We was called up the other night and distributed ten rounds for we though that we would have to fight a little, but we hain’t had to yet. We sleep in bunks. There was about 50 of [us] boys on guard last night. We had all of our guns loaded. And we went out this morning and shot them to a mark and there was eight balls hit the mark. There was one of the boys got shot through the hip. I guess that he will get well. ‘Twas a boy out of Company K. 1

We have good arms. It is just as Milton said, a man will get used to eating grub [?]

Fort Federal Hill
Baltimore, Maryland

William Bonnett,

Co. C, [New York] Regiment [1]29

1 Typically, when guards carried loaded weapons over night, they would discharge their weapons the next morning by taking target practice.

52nd Ohio Infantry

1863: James Wallace to his Family

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The following letter was written by James Wallace (1845-Bef1898), the son of Hamilton Wallace, Sr. (b. 1807) and Kate Haney (b. 1808), of Salem township, Jefferson County, Ohio. James enlisted in Co. G, 52nd Ohio Infantry on 18 August 1862, along with his brothers, Hamilton W. Wallace, Jr. and James Wallace. He served until he was mustered out as a veteran on 30 December 1865.

In his letter, James describes the illness of his older brother, George Washington (“Wash”) Wallace who died from disease in a hospital at Nashville, Tennessee. George was not married. As mentioned in the letter, George’s remains were sent home in a zinc coffin sold to the family by the a Nashville undertaker named Cornelius who contracted with the U. S. government during the Civil War. George was buried in a private cemetery named Wallace, Potts, Keiser Cemetery, also known as Fairfield Cemetery (there is no grave marker).

At the time James wrote this letter, the 52nd Ohio Volunteers had seen at action at Richmond, Kentucky, at Perryville, Kentucky. They were encamped at Brentwood (near Nashville), Tennessee, in March 1863 and remained there until June when they returned to Murfreesboro.

This letter is archived in the Pension file of George Washington Wallace at the National Archives and was provided to me by Brian Rhinehart for transcription and publication on Spared & Shared.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Nashville, Tennessee
March 17th 1863

Dear friends,

I once more take my pen in hand to let you know that we are well at present and hoping that these few lines may find you enjoying the same blessing. We started “Wash” home, I think it was the 12th and I had no money to telegraph and I don’t know whether the contractor Cornelius telegraphed or not, and Rothacker & Holmes and the company was out at Franklin and none of the boys that was left in camp had any money so I sent a letter as soon as I could get it started. We got him put in a zinc coffin. A metallic coffin cost about 25 or 30 dollars more than a zinc. We will send his Descriptive List as soon as possible and then you can get his money. There is an agent in Steubenville for to collect all such money. He was not discharged and you will get his 75 dollars bounty and will get about 140 or 145 dollars bounty and all [illegible]. Cornelius sent the bill to you. I guess [illegible]

About that piece of land for me and Hamilton will get four months pay if we paid now [illegible] don’t pay us till the 1st of May we will get six months pay but I think we will be paid off as soon as they get them paid off in front. Keep in good heart for Billy Ford will not push you for I talked to him the day that we left Richmond [Ohio]. The darkest time is always before day. I want you to write me a letter as soon as you get this one and tell me whether you got “Wash” and all about it. Isabelle writes me long letters.

Wash was as well taken care of as he could have been if he had been at home. Hamilton or I was with him every night and there were two good nurses with him, and there were no one in the room that was not able to take care of themselves and they all seemed that it done them good to do anything for him and he had what ever he wanted to eat or drink. If he had been at home, I don’t think that he would have lived long for he was consumptive before he came out. It was to be and we must all die sooner or later.

Charley Roberts is well and hearty. We will send two overcoats and shirts home as soon as get a chance. Tell Isaiah and Uncle [illegible] and Wm. Ellis that I will write as soon as I can, and Aunt Harriet too. We have as good officers as they are in the service. [Capt.] Rothacker can’t be beat,

Nothing more but remain your sons, — James & Hamilton Wallace,

Write as soon as you get this letter. It is pretty nice weather. Write and let us know how the wheat looks and things in general. I am in good health.

Isabella, you are learning to write fast. Keep at it. You will learn as fast as anybody. Frank Scott and Edd Wilson better look out for they will be punished.

105th Pennsylvania Infantry, Belle Island Prison, Peninsula Campaign

1862: John Hillard to Rachael (Reese) Hillard

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The following letter was written by John Hillard (1807-1862), of Glen Hope, Clearfield county, Pennsylvania, while serving as a 54 year-old private in Co. D, 105th Pennsylvania Infantry (a.k.a, the Wildcat Regiment”). He wrote the letter from Harrison’s Landing on the James River where McClellan’s Army of the Potomac had retreated following the Seven Days Battles in front of Richmond. We learn that he had been suffering from some disease and though his letter attempted to reassure his wife he was on the gain, he died of disease a little over a month later on 15 September 1862 at the Union Army Hospital at Point Lookout, Maryland.

John enlisted in 28 August 1861 and served with his regiment a little over a year until his death. He was married to Rachel Reese (1803-1895) and they had at least seven children. For those who are interested in the early record of the 105th Pennsylvania, see a diary I transcribed by Robert Increase Boyington, Co. I, 105th Pennsylvania.

This letter was provided to Spared & Shared for transcription and publication by Justin Houser who found it in Hillard’s pension file at the National Archives. John Hillard was his 4th great grandfather.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Camp near Harrison Landing, Virginia
Co. D, 105th Regt. Pennsylvania Vols.
August 8, 1862

Dear wife,

It is with pleasure that I again take advantage of this present opportunity to inform you that my health is improving very slow. I received a letter from you this morning bearing more cheering news. It brought me intelligence that you was well and also that you had received the money that I sent to you in the two letters. I was glad to hear that it had got home safe to you. I am not gaining much strength for the last two weeks and I feel very feeble. I am much reduced in flesh but I hope that these few lines will find you enjoying good health.

There is nothing of importance going on here now. We are still in camp but the weather is very warm here. Some days since some of our boys returned from Richmond that was taken prisoners on the retreat to the James river. They say that they got very hard usage. Lyman Higley says that they drove them on through Richmond and took them up the James river to Belle Island and took them on the island and put them in an old tobacco house and their rations was a half pound of bread a day and no salt and some old beef that was half rotten and maggoty. 1 Common government shoes such as we wear costs $8 per pair [in Richmond] and their common worth 1.80 cents per pair. Common Stogy boots costs fifteen dollars. I think by that that they must be hard up in Richmond for shoes and boots. They have no coffee nor sugar but our prisoners says that they have plenty of bread and meat.

Our Captain [William Kelly] returned to camp today and we was all very glad to see him coming back for now we can rely on having justice done by us. But the rebels is bent to fight. Their hearts and souls is bound together and they think that they are fighting for a just cause and to protect their homes. But we will show them what they have been fighting for.

William Smith died on Monday, the 30th day of June. He was taken prisoner on the 29th and taken to Richmond and died the next day after he landed in the Confederate Capitol.

I must close for the present. Nothing more but I remain your affectionate husband to death, — From John Hillard

To Rachael Hillard, his wife

I find there is no place like home. Farewell for a short time.

1 Since Hillard’s description of the facilities on Belle Island is based on hearsay, we should question his claim about a tobacco warehouse being there. Other detainees reported it as an “open air” camp with only tents for shelter. The prisoners might have spent a night or two in a tobacco warehouse in Richmond before arriving at Belle Island.

2nd Kentucky Cavalry (US), Emancipation Proclamation, Slavery

1862: Sam Lyon to Sallie (Harper) Lyon

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Capt. Sam Lyon, Co. H, 2nd Kentucky Cavalry (USA)

The following letter was written by Sam Lyon (1836-1899), Captain of Co. H, 2nd Kentucky Cavalry, USA. He wrote the letter from Tyree Springs, Tennessee, in the fall of 1862. At the time that he wrote this letter, he was a sergeant in Co. L; he did not receive his commission in Co. H until the fall of 1864. Sam was the son of Hamilton Shaw Lyon (1805-1887) and Frances Royse (1800-1843) of Newport KY, just across the river from Cincinnati OH. He wrote the letter to his sister-in-law, Sarah (“Sallie”) Harper Lyon (1833-1919) who was married to Sam’s older brother, Hamilton Shaw Lyon, II (1832-1883), a pattern-maker living in Cincinnati.

A photocopy of the original letter was shared with me by Douglas Lyon, a family descendant. He says the original letter passed down to a now-deceased cousin and is likely in the hands of one of her children. Doug has previously shared this letter on a public blog but since I found some errors in transcription and also because the blogs posts were not being archived (like those on Spared & Shared), I’ve made an exception to my general rule of not duplicating other people’s work.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Headquarters Second Kentucky Cavalry
In Camp at “Tyree Springs” Robinson Co., Tennessee
November 21st 1862

Dear Sister Sallie,

A few days ago I had the pleasure of receiving two letters from you—one bearing date of October 22nd enclosing a letter from [sister] Missouri, the other under date of November 1st. And did you know with what peculiar satisfaction such favors are received by us “Soger boys” in the field, isolated as we are from home, friends and all that we hold near and dear, and how grateful we feel toward our friends at home for these epistolary favors, it would be unnecessary for me to say I thank you for them.

You speak of my getting a furlough and coming home as though one could be had for the asking. But such is not the case. It is almost an impossibility now in our Department to get a furlough. In the first place it would have to be a matter of life & death for our Colonel to approve one for one of his men for he is one of the most rigid and exacting disciplinarians in the army. He is a “regular” from “West Point”—a classmate of Buell, Bragg, Barry, McDowell, Beauregard, &c., &c., and one of a class of soldiers that indulge neither themselves nor their men in furloughs or pleasures while in the field on an active campaign. So in the language of the old song, “until the wars are all over,” I never expect to see home of friends unless someone should lose their senses and be guilty of that inconceivable folly of coming to see me.

You ask when will this cruel war be over and peace be again restored. In my opinion then, when the sphere of action that the Almighty designed the negro to figure in shall be more generally understood. When a certain party in the North prompted by mistaken premises shall cease their endeavors to drag him from the sphere that wise Providence designed him to act in—as a laborer in the fields. And place him in positions of honor & trust, to the exclusion of the white man, whose superior intellect God gave him to fit him for such posts—wherein the feeble intellect of the negro would expose him to ridicule & contempt. When the North shall cease this and unite with one accord to establish the “Union as it was,” not as their sectional proclivities would have it for there is the rock upon which the hopes of this fair nation has been dashed [but] not, however let us trust, without hope of eventual reclamation. Then and not till then will it be done. 

Should we by one tremendous convulsion, such as the [Emancipation] Proclamation, perhaps eradicate slavery, then though we might have a union of lakes and of lands, that more desirable union of the happiness & well being of a people, “a union of hearts and union of hands” would be forever wanting. For so far as the influence of our arms extends, or wherever the slaves outnumbered their masters’ safety, such acts of rapine & lawlessness would be perpetrated as sickens the heart to contemplate. Such scenes of brutal excess of riot, of arson, of pillage, and of murder would be enacted as to cause the authors of it such remorse of conscience as no heart could endure and would impose such a barrier to a happy union as no time could surmount.

This view of the affair will give Hamp [Hamilton, his brother & husband of Sallie] great offense, I suppose, if he reads it. My views always used to, and when I used to vent them, he invariably made an inroad upon my loyalty. But as I now have shown my “faith by my works,” there is no farther room [for criticism].

I suppose Amelia & Alec [Amelia was his wife’s sister] have been married. To sum all manner of good up in one short word—I wish them well. For old acquaintance sake, give Miss Ely my regards. Tell her that in her next “affair de coeur,” I wish her better success. 

Tell Hamilton that I am much obliged to him for his half sheet, and will be further obliged when I receive his promised letter, and which obligation I will cancel by an answer. 

Since I have been here I have had quite a pleasant visit to Gallatin where I lived some time ago for about a year & a half. Gallatin is distant from here 16 miles. I was glad to find that all of my most particular friends were union. Well as it is getting late and I am growing quite chilly for as yet we have got no stoves here. I will close. Your affectionate brother,  —S. Lyon

Please write soon again. Let me hear from Missouri as soon as you hear from her, for I feel quite anxious about them.

[to] Hamilton Lyon

1st Minnesota Infantry, Battle of Gettysburg

1863: Anthony W. Ernst to his Mother

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The following letter was penned by an unidentified hospital steward on behalf of Pvt. Anthony W. Ernst (1839-1863) of Co. G, 1st Minnesota Infantry, while he lay seriously wounded in a hospital at Fort Schuyler. Anthony was inducted into the regiment on 22 May 1861 and served until his death on 31 July 1863, four weeks after he was wounded at Gettysburg. In his letter, Anthony attempts to reassure his mother that he is on the mend, but in reality he was only days away from death.

Anthony was the son of German emigrants, George Jacob Ernst (1801-1856) and Eva Elizabeth Zimmerman (1803-1883) of Amherst, Lorain county, Ohio. Just prior to his enlistment, Anthony was residing in Minnesota where he was employed as a carpenter/joiner.

This letter was found in the pension records at the National Archives in Washington D. C., sent there by Anthony’s mother as evidence of his service with the hope that she might draw a mother’s pension for her son’s service. It was sent to me for transcription and publication on Spared & Shared by Kelly Boyer Sagert

David Geister’s artistic interpretation of the 1st Minnesota making its heroic and desperate charge on Wilcox’s Alabama Brigade on 2 July 1863 at Gettysburg.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Fort Schuyler [New York]
July 25th, 1863

Dear Mother,

It is with great pleasure that I take my pen in hand to answer your welcome letter which I received yesterday and you may be assured that I was very glad to hear from you and to hear that you was well as usual. You was saying that you was sorry to hear that I was wounded but as you say, it is no more than what is to be expected in the army. But we should be thankful that it is no worse. My wound I think is getting along very well under the circumstances. Still I am very weak yet, not being able to sit up but a very few moments at the time. But I manage by being bolstered up to sit up a few moments at the time and so relieve myself in that manner. I have to lie entirely on my back and it is very tiresome work where a person has to lie so long. But I am in hopes that I will not be confined to my [bed] any great length of time.

You will see that I am not able to do my own writing and so I have to get someone else to do it for me. So you will have to excuse them if they do seem rather short sometimes.

There is several of my regiment here besides me. There is three of my company here so you see that I am not entirely alone, but after all, it is not like home. But we can’t always expect to be surrounded by home comforts. But I think when I do get home, I will be able to appreciate it more than though I had not been in the army. One hardly knows the value of a home until he has left one.

We are having some very warm weather here at present and it makes it rather bad for the wounds, but they are doing very well considering. We have about two thousand wounded at the present time.

You was saying that you did not know how you was agoing to get your haying done. Well I know that it is bad, as you say, to have two sons in the army and then to have the third one taken, but you must try and get along the best that you can until my time is out and that will not be long now—only about nine months now, and that will soon pass away.

Well, I don’t know as I can think of anything more to write at this time. Give my respects to all of the folks. Write as soon as convenient. No more this time. From your affectionate son, — A. W. Ernst

2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery, Fort Williams, Virginia

1864: John Stevenson to Robert Stevenson

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This letter was written by John Stevenson (b. 1847) while serving in the Co. I, 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery. At the time he wrote the letter in late March 1864, the 2nd Connecticut “Heavies” were still garrisoning Forts Worth, Williams, and Ellsworth, part of the defenses of Washington D. C., where they had been since the previous November. A little over a month later, they were ordered to join Grant’s Overland Campaign in Virginia as infantrymen. In battle, they had 242 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded. By disease, they lost 171 enlisted men.

John did not enlist until 27 January 1864. He signed up at De Peyster, St. Lawrence county, New York, thinking no doubt, that he would be able to serve out his time in garrison at Washington D. C. His parents were Robert Stevenson (1817-1893) and Mary McClintock (1822-1888).

This letter was sent to me for transcription and publication on Spared & Shared by Matthew Ruhlig who found it in the Pension File of his ancestor’s brother, John P. Simmons, who served in the same company as Stevenson. 

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Fort Williams
March 27, 1864

Father and Mother,

I now take my pen in hand to let you know that I am well and I hope this will find you the same. David Bachus is well. John Simmons has not come back yet but Abner Bennett was at Alexandria yesterday and seen him and he said he would be back tomorrow.

You wanted to know if I had been in the hospital. I was in it six days. I suppose you will think it strange that David sent some money home and I did not. I will tell you how it was. I was sent to the general hospital on Saturday and on Monday they was paid so that I did not get paid when the company did and I left the hospital before they was paid there so I will not get paid till the next pay day. That will be the 15th of May.

You wanted to know if we drilled much. We only drill 8 hours in the day and once every four days we have to go on fatigue. They are building a fort and we have to dig eight hours every day. We was on Battalion Drill and one of the first e boys was drummed out of his regiment and was brande[ed] with [the] letter C on his hip.

We got the box you sent us. Was glad to get it. I can’t think of any more at present. From John Stevenson

To his father, Robert Stevenson

Antebellum Illinois

1857: William Cessford to his Uncle

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The following letter was written by William Cessford (1822-1908) a native of Scotland, who was employed as the Master Mechanic for the St. Louis & Chicago Railroad in 1857. His parents were James Cessford and Cecelia Beattie. In the 1870 US Census, he was still enumerated in Bloomington, Illinois—where this letter was penned in 1857. His occupation in that census was “Car Carpenter.” At age 78, he was still enumerated in Bloomington as a “carpenter.”

Despite his prospects for success herein stated, William outlived his money. He died on the McLean County poor farm. He’s buried in Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Bloomington. His obituary claims he worked for more than 50 years as a pattern maker for the Chicago and Alton shops.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Bloomington, Illinois
May 21st 1857

Dear Uncle,

I received a letter from Uncle George the other day stating that grandmother is died. Please write me of she had her senses until the last, &c.

I have removed my residence from Laporte and am now engaged with the St. Louis & Chicago Railroad as their Master Mechanic. I like the place well so far. The road is nearly 300 miles long. There is three shops on it. The main shops are at Bloomington, one at Alton, the other at Joliet. we keep in all in our departments about 500 men. I have the full charge of all the Locomotive & Car departments on the road. I am engaged for the first year at $2000 with the understanding to have $2500 next which is a great advance over what I had been getting although they offered me $1500 to stay in Laporte.

My father is still in Laporte but expect him here soon. I am coming East soon & will give you a call if possible. The Schenectady Loco-works are making two engines for us and will have to make some arrangements about them before they leave the shop.

This is a fine farming country although new. In the City ofBloomington there has been over 300 houses built within the last two years and every 12 or 15 miles on the line of the road, villages of from 200 to 3,000 inhabitants have spring up during that time. Land varies in price according to improvements. Unimproved land averages about $15 per acre. Over improved about $25. The greater part of the winter wheat in middle & Northern Illinois & the Northern part of Indiana is winter killed. The farmers have mostly sowed spring wheat in place of it which is doing well although late. Farmers are now busy planting corn which is unusually late although I presume earlier than with you. I have tonight for supper lettuce and radishes and have pie plant [rhubarb] pies some time ago.

John is still on my place in Iowa. He is getting along pretty well although I have not received anything from the place yet, but expect to this fall. He has now got two span of horses and a hired man. So far I have made about $2500 improvements counting stock and implements which soon had ought to bring me some return.

Give my love to Margret & all the folks. I remain your affectionate nephew, — Wm. Cessford

2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, Fort Saratoga

1863: Hamilton Campbell Rankin to Margaret Ann (Ritenour) Rankin

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The following letters were written by Hamilton Campbell Rankin (1839-1863) of Farmington, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, who enlisted as a recruit in Co. K, 112th Pennsylvania Infantry (2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery). He mustered into the Battery in early August 1862 and died while in garrison at Fort Saratoga near Washington D. C. on 23 May 1863. His cause of death was recorded as Typhoid Pneumonia.

These letters were found in the Pension Records at the National Archives as evidence that Hamilton’s mother, Margaret Ann (Ritenour) Rankin depended on the money her son sent home to her during the nine months he was in the service. Hamilton’s parents were John Rankin (1803-1880) and Margaret Ann (“Betsy”) Ridenour (1805-1892) who had a small farm on the Alleghany Plateau within the Laurel Highlands region of Pennsylvania, some 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

Fort Saratoga was one of the temporary earthen forts constructed in the northeast quadrant of Washington City to protect the Nation’s Capital. It was begun in August 1861 and worked on considerably by the 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery during the time they were in garrison there.

Images of these letters were provided to me for transcription and publication on Spared & Shared by Brian Rhinehart, a descendant of the Rankin family.

Letter 1

Fort Saratoga
February 17th 1863

My dear beloved mother,

U take this present opportunity of writing you a few lines to inform you that I am well and doing well and I hope that these few lines may find you well and in good health and enjoying the same God’s blessing. My dear mother, I received your kind and welcome letter today and oh how glad I was to hear from you [and] to hear that they was all well [at home] but I was sorry to hear that you was not well. My dear mother, these few lines is in answer to your kind and welcome letter.

Today, my dear mother, I will send you five dollars in this letter. My dear mother, I will send you another likeness after payday. I will go to the city and get it taken.

My dear mother, I don’t think that there is no danger of this regiment a leaving here any[time] soon. I think that this war will end in four or five months more and then I think that we will all get home once more. My dear mother, I han’t been uneasy yet since I have been in the army but what I would get home. My dear mother, you needn’t to send me no handkerchief. I have one. You needn’t to get that likeness cased for I will send you a better one.

I was very glad to hear that the cattle was getting along as well as they was. I was very [sorry] to hear that one of the hogs was dead. My dear mother, I don’t think that won’t be long till old father will be drowned since he has got in the den of wolves. My dear mother, I sent you four dollars in the other letter and you did not tell me whether you got it or not. And I want you to let me know whether you got it or not. Nothing more but I still remain your affectionate son until death. Goodbye, — H. C. Rankin

To Margaret Rankin

My dear brother,

I take this present opportunity of writing you a few lines to inform you that I am well and I hope that these lines may find you well and in good health. I was very glad to hear that you got home. My dear brother, I want to know how much you made while you was gone. I want you to travel over to town so that mother needn’t to go to travel through the snow. My dear brother, I want you to send me your likeness that you got taken at Uniontown if you hain’t give it to your girl [already]. Nothing more at this time but I still remain your affectionate brother until death. — H. C. Rankin

to William H. Rankin

Letter 2

Fort Saratoga
February 28th 1863

My dear beloved mother,

I take this present opportunity of writing you a few lines to inform you that I am well and doing well and I hope that these few lines may find you in good health and enjoying the same God’s blessing. My dear mother, I received your kind and welcome letter today and I was very glad to hear that you was well and doing well. My dear mother I was very sorry that you wasn’t very well nor none of you weren’t very well. But i hope that when these few lines may find you all in good health. My dear mother, you needn’t to save that money for wintering the cattle for I will get paid off the 15th of the month. You can use it when you need anything. You can do just as you please about selling the cattle but you had better not sell them till next summer and then maybe you can get a bigger price for them. But you can do what you think is best for yourself.

My dear mother, I would like to see you and cousin Adeline a coming down where I would like to see you a coming down here if I can’t get off. I will come up some evening and then we will have a big conflab—a big conversation. My dear mother, I want you to do the best you can till I get home and keep in good heart and put your trust in God, our dear Savior, for He is a father to all. My dear mother, I would like to see you and be at home with you tonight. My dear mother, I want you to let me know where the cattle are. Where are you grazing them around at? And I want you to let me know what colt that you are wintering.

My dear moter, you needn’t to save my money for me when I get home for if I get home, I can do without it and if I don’t get home, I won’t want it and you can use it if you need anything. I want you to let me know whether William is a going to Pittsburgh or not. My dear mother, I hain’t got much to write at this time but I will remain your affectionate son until death. My dear mother, I am going to try and do better that I have been doing for I think that it is full time to turn to the Lord and serve Him. My dear mother, give my love and best respects to all my dear friends and to all the pretty girls. I hain’t got much to write, so nothing more. Goodbye. Write soon. — H. C. Rankin

To Margaret Ann Rankin

Letter 3

Fort Saratoga
May 5th 1863

My dear beloved mother,

I take this present opportunity of writing you a few lines to inform you that I am well and in good health and I hope that these few lines may find you well and enjoying the same God’s blessing. My dear mother, I received your kind and welcome letter today and oh how glad I was to hear from you to hear that you was all well and in good health and enjoying the good blessing of God.

My dear mother, I would like to see you and be at home with you tonight. Well, mother, I was very sorry to hear that the rebels was there in that part of the country. I wish that we was there to drive them out of the neighborhood. We heard that they was in Fayette county but I guess that they hain’t got there. We heard that they was in Pennsylvania but I guess that they hain’t yet in Pennsylvania and we heard that they had taken Warrington and that the rebel flag [was] on the Court House. We heard that they hadn’t crossed the river. We heard that they went back again and I hope to God that it may be so. But if they got there, I would like to be there if I have to fight. I would like ot fight close at home when there is some of it to do.

My dear mother, I was very sorry to hear that Elic and Hester Ann had such bad luck. Elic’s loss will be pretty hard for him. He will have a hard way to get along and it will be pretty hard on Hester Ann. Her losing her [son?]. He was a good deal of help to her. My dear mother, we got paid last Sunday week ago, It came very unexpected to us. My dear mother, I will send you ten dollars in this letter. I thought it best not to send my money too soon after pay day. You must not think hard of me not sending it any sooner. If you received this money, let me know in the next letter and write soon as this comes to hand.

My dear mother, I am very tired tonight. I have been at work all day hard and have to work every day. We are working at a fort. We are a building a fort that is ot contain one hundred guns. My dear mother, I have plenty of stamps. I will send you some back home. I don’t think this war will last much longer for the rebs is getting much tired of it as well as we are. I think that this summer will close this war. It is much trouble to all people.

My dear mother, I can’t write a very big letter this time. I will send you some more money in the next letter. Don’t let your letters lay in the post office [where someone] might open them. My dear mother, I guess I must close for this time. I send my love to you and all my enquiring friends. Nothing more. Write soon. Goodbye. — Hamilton C. Rankin

To Margaret A. Rankin

My dear friend, I drop a few lines to let you know that I am most well and I hope that these few lines may find you well and in good health. I received a few lines from you some time ago but having no opportunity of answering them, I have got back to camp again. I hain’t much to tell you at this time. Write soon. Nothing more.