32nd Ohio Infantry, Camp Dennison

1861: Henry A. Jackson to Miss Tina

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This letter was written by Henry A. Jackson (1841-1862) of Co. A, 32nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI). Henry enlisted as a private on 12 July 1861 and was killed in action on Bolivar Heights near Harper’s Ferry on 15 September 1862.

I believe that Henry A. Jackson was the son of Isaac and Mary (Manful) Jackson of Augusta, Carroll county, Ohio. See also—1861: Thomas J. Hendrix to Miss Haskey.

A view of Camp Denison later in the war, showing the railroad and the Little Miami River.

Transcription

Camp Dennison
September 7th 1861

Miss Tina,

It’s with the greatest of pleasure that I take my pen in hand to let you know that we are all well at present and are getting along well. We are all enjoying [ourselves] very well. We have a very nice camp. It contains five hundred acres and a very good well water. It is hard but very little. There is three regiments and a company of cavalry. They expect 23 regiments in the course of two or three days, We expect to stay here two or three months. I can’t tell when we can get to come home. Captain has promised to give us a furlough when James Watson comes back but I don’t know whether he can get a furlough yet or not. But he will if possible.

We are not homesick yet but our folks wants me to come home. If it was not for that, would not come for a year. We have good times here. We have made our bedsteads today and I think we will get along a great deal better. We have Mr. [Henry] Chain and Sam McClellan in our mess and they keep us boys straight.

The Miami River runs through our camp and we get to go down to it every day or two. Our Colonel went to Cincinnati yesterday to get our arms but he said that it was an Independent Regiment and he would not give us arms. If he does not after we get drilled, we will go in another state. We are only twenty miles from Cincinnati and only 18 miles from Kentucky. The railroad runs through our camp ground. The cars run through perhaps a dozen times a day.

The latest news is that Jeff Davis is dead and I guess it must be so for the papers say so every day. All I hate that the State of Ohio will not get his head. We did expect to get it but if dead, we cannot.

This picture is for you. It is not a god one but I could not get any better one. Please write soon as you get these few lines of scribbling and tell all the news. This is all at present. Please excuse bad spelling and writing. From your friend, — Henry A. Jackson

Direct to Camp Dennison, Ohio 32nd Regiment, Company A, in care of Captain Lucy. Yours truly, H. J.

Battle of 2nd Bull Run, Civilian Correspondence

1862: Andrew Jefferson Sagar to Abram P. Pruyn

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This interesting letter was written by Andrew Jefferson Sagar (1830-1900), a son of William C. Sagar, Jr. (1800-1877) and Dolly Wheeler (1803-1880) of Steuben county, New York, who moved with his family to Virginia in the 1850s to farm in Fairfax county. Andrew married Hannah Atta Bentley (1843-1913) on 7 February 1861.

Sagar wrote the letter to Abram P. Pruyn (1836-1918), the son of Henry Pruyn (1812-1893) and Ann Putnam (1816-1888) of Auriesville, Montgomery county, New York.

Andrew’s letter provides us with a civilian account of the Rebel army’s occupation of Fairfax county after the Second Battle of Bull Run in late August 1862. As natives of New York, and Unionists in Virginia, the Sagars were not anxious to suffer through another rebel occupation as they had following the First Battle of Bull Run when there were no less than three rebel encampments on his property [See newspaper clipping below from the New York Tribune of 20 July 1861.] Andrew informs us of the rebel army taking several Unionist citizens as prisoners.

Andrew wrote the letter from Steuben county where he and his wife and parents took refuge for some time among relatives. In June 1863, he was still there when he registered for the draft. Land records show that he purchased the property in Fairfax county from his parents in 1865.

Transcription

Addressed to A. P. Pruyn, Auriesville, Montgomery county, New York

Cohocton [Steuben county, New York]
November 30th 1862

Friend A. P. Pruyn,

You have been anxious undoubtedly to hear of our whereabouts & prospects since our reverse last August & I feel as though I had hardly done right in not writing to you sooner.

We are all well as usual now except bad color. We have had a pretty hard time of it but not as hard as many others. At the last Bull Run battle we packed a few things in an old spring wagon left by the rebel army, hitched on our team and started leaving all else behind for Washington but not till the fight had been going on all day up to four o’clock & the rebels were then in the woods near Germantown skirmishing with the 13th Massachusetts Regiment. We got as far as Mr. Demmings that night [and] next day went on to Washington & stayed there till the next Wednesday (just a week from the day we run) in hopes our folks would drive them back so that we could go home again but the prospects grew worse all the time so that we anticipated a raid into Maryland & the probably uprising of the sesesh in Baltimore & knowing our property was all gone, we concluded the sooner we were in the Free States the better so we started bag & baggage & were twelve days getting here. We got through all safe.

Mother’s health was very poor but she has recovered, but is not as tough as before the war. It nearly used her up. Father’s health is very good at present. It is hard to leave home & property all behind & run for life but I guess it was well we did for the rebels had possession of the [Fairfax] Court House that night & the next day captured Mr. Smith (of Flint Hill) & Mr. Thorn 1 & Mr. Brice. 2 They were in prison in Richmond the last I have heard from them. Mr. Thorn was caught at Mr. Terry’s, Terry getting under the bed & they supposing Thorn to be the man of the house, took him & did not search the house & Terry in his wife’s clothes escaped a few minutes after to the woods & got to Washington.

The most of our Yankee neighbors escaped, some with their families & some leaving their families behind. We left full forty tons of as good hay as ever was put in a barn, about nine acres of corn and potatoes on the ground, 4 acres of buckwheat, pork & bacon to last a year left by the army last spring, one barrel of flour not opened, 120 lbs. candles & soap enough for our use a year or more, and other necessaries in proportion & had to leave them all. We brot away the best of our bedding & our newest clothing. In fact, we took all we could carry and left all the rest—nearly all tools, &c. &c.—so you can imagine what a condition we are in to winter.

Our house was used as a hospital the last have heard from there & our out buildings very much injured & may be destroyed before this time.

I think of nothing more of importance to write at present. Please write to me soon and direct to Cohocton, Steuben county, New York.

Our respects to your family & all enquirers except Democrats. Yours truly, — A. J. Lagar

In the letter, it is stated that Rebels were in the woods near Germantown which is located at the lower right on the map.

1 Possibly Talmadge Thorne.

2 Matthew Bryce (1807-1863) was Unionist from Oakton, Fairfax county, Virginia. He died a prisoner of war in Richmond, Virginia, on 17 March 1863 at the age of 55.

New York Tribune, 20 July 1861

USS Maratanza

1862: Andrew to his Sister

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The following letter was written by someone named “Andrew” who I believe served aboard the USS Maratanza. I was unable to identify him, however. Perhaps someone else can devote more time to discovering his identity.

Transcription

Baltimore, Maryland
August 10th [1862]

Dear Sister,

I received your kind letter last week and was much pleased to hear from you once more. Can you realize that brother Bree is dead! I cannot. It seems to me that when I go home again, I shall find him there. Still I know it cannot be and that we shall never see him again. I am glad to hear that the Boys have volunteered from our place, for we are greatly in need of men. They have saved themselves from being branded as cowards. If the men do not come forward now, all those that have died, have died in vain. This is a terrible war and things look dark at the present time. Nevertheless we are bound to conquer in the end.

I never wished to be in a place so much as I wished to be on the James River the other day when we heard that the 2nd Merrimac had come down. I am glad that she has not come down yet because I want to have a brush with her. I would willingly see the old Maratanza 1 go down as she went with us. We are taking on board some more guns and then we shall have as heavy a battery as any vessel on the river. We are going to keep the 100 pound rifles forward. Have a 19 inch gun aft in the place of the 9-inch [ ] 2 9-inch broadside guns forward and 4 brass 24-pounders aft which will make a very heavy battery. I think we shall leave here the last of this week. I suppose we shall go back to the James River I hope so at any rate so direct your next letter there.

Write me what regiment the Iwanville Boys go in and what company so if they join the Army of the Potomac I can find them out. I was very much surprised to hear that Alf and Pad were married but I think they done the wise thing. If every young man would get married before he left home it would be better for them. Tell Lor that I have won my bet and ask her if she has been to glory lately.

You wanted me to get them things that were sent to Fortress Monroe at what place would I be likely to find them, and in whose name would they be sent. Brothers, I suppose. I was ashore at the fort a good deal before we came here and went and saw Aunt Sally. She wants father to come back there. I did not see Bill Downer but am in hopes to when we go back there. Give my love to Mother and the children and write soon. From your brother, — Andrew

1 USS Maratanza, a 786-ton double-ender, wooden steamer, was built at Boston Navy Yard in 1861, then launched 26 November and commissioned on April 12, 1862. USS Marblehead was an Unadilla-class gunboat launched by G. W. Jackman, Newburyport, Massachusetts on October 16, 1861.

38th North Carolina Infantry

1862: William Daniel Henry Covington to his Aunt & Uncle

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I could not find an image of William but here is one of Sgt. Samuel Hamrick of Co. I, 38th North Carolina.

The following letter was written by William Daniel Henry Covington (1842-1927), a farmer from Cleveland, Rutherford county, North Carolina, who enlisted in late December 1861 to serve in Co. I, 38th North Carolina Infantry. He and Jacob Childers of the same company (mentioned in the letter) were both admitted into Hospital No. 2 at Petersburg on 31 January 1862 suffering from illness. Though Jacob returned to his regiment before the end of March and was subsequently killed in action at the Battle of Ellison’s Mill (Mechanicsville) on 26 June 1862, William was sent home on furlough shortly after this letter (with proper authority). Muster rolls do not indicate when he returned to his company though he was certainly with them by January 1863. He was sent to a hospital again in June 1863 suffering from rheumatism and was absent without leave from 25 July 1863 to 25 October 1863 at which time he returned again to his regiment. Despite his spotty service record, he was promoted to corporal in 1864.

On 8 May 1864, when the 38th North Carolina was fighting in Scales’ Brigade in the Wilderness, he suffered a severe concussion and was admitted to Jackson Hospital in Richmond.

William was the son of William Horace Covington (1775-1861) and Mary Rincie Green (1811-1902).

Transcription

Petersburg, Virginia
March 29th 1862

Dear Uncle and Aunt,

It is with pleasure that I drop you a few lines to inform you that I am about well, hoping those lines may find you and family well. I am at Petersburg, Va., in the 2nd N. C. Hospital. There is only 12 of our company here and Jacob Childers just left. Uncle Howell is here. He is getting well. [Francis] Marion Hord is here. He has been very low but he is on the mend. I am going to the regiment in a few days if I don’t get no worse. I can’t get a drop of liquor here by no means at all. I have got use to doing without it and I don’t care now.

Tell Mother that I am about well. I am well treated here. I had rather stay here than anyplace I have been since I left home. I have no more news to write to you at this time. John Lattimore and Dick Wiggins is in the 1st North Carolina Hospital close to us. There is a Divins from the Burnt Chimney Company in the same hospital that I am in. He came here when Walker was at home.

You need not write to me until I get to the regiment for I expect to leave here in a few days. I will write you as soon as I get to the regiment. Then I will thankfully receive a letter from you at any time when you are disposed to send me one.

Your affectionate nephew, — W. D. H. Covington to his Uncle & Aunt.

Excuse this paper for it is cheap.

16th North Carolina Infantry, Battle of North Anna

1864: Lorraine Walker Griffin to his Sister

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Lorraine Walker Griffin’s Headstone.

This rare letter was written in pencil by Lorraine Walker Griffin (1834-1907), the son of William Lewis Griffin and Elizabeth Suttle of Forest City, Rutherford county, North Carolina. Lorraine enlisted on 1 Jun 1861 and was mustered into Capt. H. D. Lee’s Company, 6th NC Volunteers. This unit was later designated Co. D, 16th NC Infantry Regt. He was admitted to the Confederate Hospital in Winchester, VA on 1 October 1862 with a gunshot wound to his hand. He was transferred to Chimborazo Hospital, Richmond, VA on 3 Octpber 1862. He was furloughed for 60 days on 19 October 1862. He apparently did not return to duty when his furlough ended and was listed as awol in December 1862. He returned to duty by Feb 1863 and was present and accounted for through July 1863. He was admitted to Chimborazo Hospital again on 13 July 1863 with pneumonia. He was transferred to Camp Winder, Richmond, VA on 15 Aug 1863. He was promoted to 4th Sgt. on 1 October 1864 held the same rank when paroled at Appomattox, Virginia, on 9 April 1865.

In his letter of 26 May 1864, Lorraine describes the recent action of the fight at North Anna, 23-26, 1864.

Transcription

In Line of Battle near Hanover Junction
May 26, [1864]

Dear Sister,

I take my pen in hand to let you know I am still alive but don’t know how long I may be alive for they are [ ] our entrenchments. We are well fortified. I have been in some hard fights and came through safe. I do pray to come through safe. Dear sister, I have never saw Mr. Green yet. He passed me one day and I looked for him but did not see him. His regiment has been in fights since then I can’t hear from him nor brother. They may both be killed.

We have lost 8 or 10 men out of our company taken prisoner—some killed. [In] the fight the other day we lost two men, one Crampton taken prisoner. Eli Gross was killed or taken one, I don’t know which. We charged the Yanks and got them to running and General [Edward L.] Thomas’ Brigade run, then our Brigade [Alfred M. Scales’ Brigade] was left alone. Then the 13th, 34th, 38th all run and left the 16th and 22nd by theirself. We fought two hours and go so near broke down we like never to got out. A heap did never get out for they was so tired to go.

The Yankees is [with]in about 1,000 yards of us. Our lines is about 35 or 40 miles long. They reach to Richmond, I expect. We will go to Richmond [illegible].

Sister, I received a letter from you the day before we started and was glad to hear from you and could not answer it but I wrote to you a few days before that. You spoke [illegible]… I have never wrote to her since I got back. Did she say for me to write to her and put it in your letter or not? I did not understand. Please tell me if she said so or not. I will never write to her till she makes her acknowledgements for not writing to me when I write to her. Miss Salley Gross has quit writing to me. We have quit forever.

Sister, this is no place to talk about the gals. I ought to be praying though I am praying every minute and hope my friends thinks of me in their prayers at home. Sister, I will close for this time—maybe the last letter ever I have the chance of writing to my beloved sister. I remain your brother till death. L. W. Griffin

Lorraine Walker Griffin (ca. 1900)
38th Indiana Infantry

1862: Joseph William Alcorn to Rachel (Mann) Alcorn

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I could not find an image of John but this is either Edward Cromwell or his brother, John Madison Cromwell, both of whom served in Co. G, 38th Indiana Infantry during the Civil War.

The following letter was written by Joseph William Alcorn (1836-1918), the son of John Gaylor Alcorn (1811-1877) and Rachel Mann (1807-1890) of Scott county, Indiana. His obituary informs us that “he was born in Hamilton, Ohio, December 15, 1836, and spent the early days of his childhood along the Ohio river. At the time of the Civil war he was a resident of New Albany, Ind., from which place he enlisted soon after the outbreak of the war. For three years he served in Co. C, 38th Indiana volunteers, stationed in Kentucky for the greater part of the time. After receiving his discharge he went to Indianapolis, and after came to Homer, Champaign county, Illinois where he had since resided.”

Mr. Alcorn came to Homer as a farmer, but soon afterward concluded to retire. He had since made his home with his brother, John Alcorn, who survives him, as does a sister residing in Indiana. The deceased was never married.

Muster records that he mustered into the regiment on 18 September 1861 adn that he was discharged for disability on 3 May 1863.

Transcription

Hospital No. 1
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
May 7, 1862

Dear Mother,

It is with the greatest pleasure that I take my pen in hand to answer your kind letter that came to hand day before yesterday. I was glad to hear from you and to learn that all of the family is as well as they are. It found me very unwell. I am now in Hospital No. 1 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. I came here the 14th day of April. I am tryin’ for a discharge but new orders came in this morning that there is to be no more discharges nor furloughs given here but all that is able to be moved is to be sent North as soon as possible—everyone to their own state—and every state is to discharge their own policies. If they do that, I will be apt to be sent to New Albany and maybe in a few days.

I hope so for we have very poor boarding here. Plenty of bread and coffee, tea, some potatoes, [ ] for dinner some of the time. Salt enough to bear up an iron wedge. Some pickles, some can tomatoes, a taste of can peaches about every third day. You need not answer this letter till you hear from me again in a few days again. I may be moved in a few days. If so, I shall let you know where I am.

Tell Old Mr. Bishop the last I heard of Thaddeus Bishop, 1 he was in Nashville but I can’t tell whether he is dead or alive for it has been some time since I heard from him.

Mother, I wish you has as good market for your butter and eggs, chickens, as there is here. Butter [is] seventy-five cents per pound & eggs sixty cents per dozen. Chickens I think would sell from seventy-five cents to one dollar and a half apiece. Garden truck will sell for most any price that one is a might to ask for it.

I must close for this time hoping that this will find you in good health. — Joseph W. Alcorn

to Rachel M[ann] Alcorn, John G[aylor] Alcorn, John M[ann] Alcorn, Almeda A. Alcorn

1 Charles Thaddeus Bishop 9b. 1843) was the son of Thomas Wesley Bishop and Caroline Harback of New Frankfort, Scott county, Indiana. Thaddeus also served in Co. C, 38th Indiana Infantry with Joseph. He was transferred out of the regiment on 1 January 1864.

39th Illinois Infantry, Bermuda Hundred, Rebel Deserters

1864: John R. Heafer to Sarah E. (Heafer) Steele

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The following letter was written by John R. Heafer (1845-1864), the 19 year-old son of John Heafer (b. 1820) and Nancy (b. 1826) who moved with his family from Charleston, Jefferson county, Virginia, to a farm in Bloomington, McLean county, Illinois in the 1850s. John was serving as a private in Co. B, 39th Illinois Infantry when he wrote this letter from Bermuda Hundred in July 1864.

He was carried on the muster rolls as “Hafter” which may explain why he can’t be found under his given name. Unfortunately he did not survive the war. He was killed along with many other comrades in his regiment on 13 October 1864 in the Battle of Darbytown Road. The Union advance was repulsed with heavy casualties and John’s body was left on the field.

John wrote the letter to his sister, Sarah (“Sallie”) Heafer (b. 1844), the wife of William M. Steele, a former soldier in Co. A, 94th Illinois Infantry and a teamster working in Bloomington. He later became a minister.

I could not find an image of Robert, but here is a cdv of James S. Akehurst (1843-1864) of Pontiac, Illinois, not previously published to my knowledge. James served as a private in Co. C, 39th Illinois Infantry. He enlisted in October 1861 and was wounded on 20 May 1864 at Drewry’s Bluff, Virginia. The wound to his left arm was so severe it required amputation but the procedure did not save him—he died on 28 May 1864 at Hampton, Virginia. The news must have come as quite a shock to his wife, Elizabeth, who had promised to love and respect James “till death do us part” only three months earlier. James’ image was taken in front of a backdrop that features tropical type vegetation suggesting the cdv was probably taken in 1863 while the regiment was on the South Carolina coast. (Courtesy of Claudia & Al Niemiec Collection)

Transcription

Bermuda Hundred [Virginia]
July 4th 1864

Dear Sister,

You letter came to hand in due time. I was very glad to hear from you. It was a good while since I heard from home. I am not very well at present. I have got a touch of the lung fever. I got over heated and caught cold a laying on the ground. I hope these few lines will find you all well. I am sorry to hear of Annie Pancake’s death. 1 She must have died very sudden.

This is the Fourth of July and a dry 4th it is for me. They are talking about opening on the Rebels this afternoon. There is not any fighting going on here at present. We have pretty good times to what we have had. I will have to stop writing for a while because I don’t feel well.

July 7th, Thursday. Dear sister, I will commence and finish this letter and I am better. I was very sick for a few days in my quarters and was getting worse until the doctor came to see me and saw me to the Convalescent Hospital. I am better now. The doctor says I have not got the lung fever. I guess I have got the pleurisy. I think I will soon get over it.

The weather is very warm here but it is cool enough in the hospital tent. You will have to excuse this writing as I have to lay on my side to write. I commenced this letter a few days ago but could not finish it. I told Ed[win] Wolcott to write me a letter because I thought I would not be able to write for some time but I guess I can a little yet. But you need not expect many.

There is good news here now. They are fighting at Petersburg. But we can’t hear anything from Grant. The rebels are deserting by hundreds. I have seen a good many go by here today. I will have to come to a close. My love to all. — John R. Hafer

P. S. Be sure and send the photograph.

Mr. John R. Heafer, Co. B, 39th Regt. Illinois Vols., 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 10th A. C.

1 Ann Marie Pancake (1847-1864) died on 20 June 1864 when she was 17 years old. She is buried in Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Bloomington.

Gold Mining in California

1863: John L. Koons to his Father

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The following letter was written by John L. Koons who we learn had just arrived in Marysville, Yuba county, California, after passage from the east coast to San Francisco by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He apparently had friends of relatives in Marysville that he stayed with before securing a job. He wrote the letter to his father and though I cannot say with certainty where his father lived, my hunch is that he was from Pennsylvania.

In his letter, John informs his father that there are many Chinese emigrants working in Marysville. It is reported that by 1860, 30 percent of the miners in California were Chinese. By 1870, this number had risen to half the miners. [Source: Introduction to Marysville’s Chinatown.]

Transcription

Marysville, [California]
April 12, 1863

Dear Father,

I take the pleasure to write you a few lines. I am well at present and hope you are the same. I wrote to you from the Isthmus [of Panama]. I suppose you got the letter. We had a very nice trip all the way. We only had a few days that it was rough. I stood the trip very well. I did not miss one meal on the steamer. I was always ready for my grub. We got into San Francisco on the 6th of April about 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

We stayed there two days and then started up the river and got to Sacramento on the morning of the 9th of April and I started the same day for Marysville and got there the same day. I went to Mr. Myers. He did not know who I was till I told him. Then you ought to have seen him jump around. They are all well and send their best respects to you all. I seen old Mr. Hunter. He is well and doing well, I suppose.

George left me at Sacramento as we came up the river. He was going to Placerville. He did not know what to do—whether he would stay there or not. I have no job yet. The season for work has not begun yet. It will begin next month. I think I can get work then. If I don’t get work here in a few days, I will go to the mining country but I think I can get a job down here. It would be better for me to stay down here a while and to learn the ways of the country. I like the country as far as I have seen very well. The trees and grass is very green and nice. At the market there is potatoes, cabbage, and all kind of garden stuff of this year’s growth. The weather is so nice, I know you would like it here Father. The weather is not so changeable as it is in the states.

We can look from Marysville to the mountains and the tops are covered with snow but it is very nice in the valley. I am getting along very well. The country seems to agree with me. I weigh about ten lbs. more than I did when I started from home. I see a good many different kinds of people here but the chiney [Chinese] men is the funniest looking things I ever seen. They have great long hair braided and hanging down their backs. Some of them touch the ground.

Well, I guess I must close my letter for this time. The next time I can give you more of the particulars as I will be better posted. Give my love to all enquiring friends, if there be any. Nothing more at present but remain your affectionate son, — John L. Koons

When you write to me, direct your letter in care of C. Myers, Marysville, California

Write as soon as you get my letter as I am very anxious to hear from you. — J. L. Koons

1st South Carolina Infantry, Mine Run Campaign

1863: Robert Reid Hemphill to his Brother

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The following letter was written by Robert Reid Hemphill (1840-1908), the son of Rev. William Ramsey Hemphill (1806-1876) and Hannah Smith Lind (1808-1895) of Abbeville, South Carolina. He first entered the service in June 1861 as a private in the 7th South Carolina Infantry. He was made the orderly for Gen. M. L. Bohnam and was present at 1st Manassas. In June 1862 he transferred to Co. G (“the Marshall Riflemen”), 1st South Carolina (Orr’s Rifles) where he eventually rose in rank to Sergeant Major (May 1864) in William McNeill Whistler’s unit, Orr’s Rifles, McGowan’s Brigade, Wilcox’s Division, Hill’s Corps, under General Robert E. Lee. He was wounded at Chancellorsville and at Gettysburg on 3 July 1863, taken a POW at Falling Waters on 14 July 1863 but exchanged soon afterwards, and surrendered at Appomatox.

Robert’s letter gives us a good Confederate account of the Mine Run Campaign conducted in late November—early December 1862 in which Meade attempted to cross the Rapidan river and surprise Lee’s army but delays in river crossings and bad weather confounded his plans and he wisely withdrew before fully engaging with the Confederates who were well-fortified in breastworks.

Robert graduated from Erskine College in 1859 and married Eugenia Cornelia Brewton of Spartanburg county in 1870. He later served in the state legislature and became a judge.

Union troops at Germanna Ford during the Mine Run Campaign

[Note: This letter is from the personal collection of Greg Herr and was offered for transcription and publication on Spared & Shared by express consent.]

Transcription

Camp near Orange Court House, Va.
December 5th 1863

Dear Brother,

I received a letter from you by Neal Johnson but I was then away down the River in line of battle and consequently could not answer it with my usual promptitude. We had a hard time when on our tramp. It was very cold and we suffered most tremendously. In fact, I never had such a hard time. The weather was so cold that water would freeze in our canteens and on a man’s whiskers almost as soon as it touched. On Sabbath evening we were formed immediately beside a battery which would make us jump every time they fired. The Yankee skirmishers advanced till they could easily have picked us off in our breastworks but they didn’t fire but a round or two. We worked very hard building breastworks & if the Yankees had come on us, they would have met with a great defeat. We pursued them about six miles but they succeeded in getting across the [Rapidan] River. When we were fortifying, I found a white-handled knife—not much account but I will try to send it home & have a new blade put in it.

I am sorry that you lost the cow. Jack will go down to Richmond after the boxes in a few days & I know I will be glad when it does come as I am anxious to get something to eat that I can relish. I am tired of beef and unshortened bread. George Chiles has returned & is now messing with us. He brought a cook with him and at present we are doing very well—not having quite so much drudgery. A cook will pay very well sometimes.

Tell Sis Grier that I have been expecting a letter from her for some days. I have an interesting incident to relate to her. It will be very gratifying to her. She also promised to write as soon as I got here. Rather slow I think. I hate to make so many calls on you but I think John Simpson will be along at Christmas & would bring a supply of provisions. It would do well enough to put in a little meal or flour by way of variety. Also get a few goobers from Thom. Fair. I will leave the other articles to the judgement of the family, feeling assured that you will satisfy me. I came near starving last winter & I intend to try to guard against such suffering. You will have to excuse me.

What became of “this is the kind of corn we raise at ‘our house’?”

What about Brothers? Tell the folks at home to not interfere with things that don’t concern them. Next time they must refer to the English Grammar & Dictionary before they start another petition up to Gen’l Lee. The Gen’l received it and sent it down to Capt. Prato for his decision. I notice some names to it that were complaining when I was at home. I don’t see why Mother and Bella ever signed it knowing that Brothers in an unaccommodating speculation. He was not reported for extortion as the petition says, but so many complaints were sent on to members of Co. G in letters from home that Prato ordered him to report. If any more petitions are sent here about Brothers “asidulously laboring” “incalculating” services “volunteerly” rendered, we will indict the crowd for “murdering the King’s English.”

Old Andy ought to put two n’s in cannot. The President of the D. W. F. C. says that he (Brother) supplied “shoes too of a better quality than is furnished, &c.” He ought to take out the is and substitute are.

Love to all. Write soon & a long letter. Affectionately, — Robt. R. Hemphill

I want a pair of gloves as soon as I can get them.

5th New Jersey Infantry

1862: John K. Simon to Phebe (Birdsall) Simon

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The following letter was written by Sgt. John K. Simon (1829-Aft1880) to his wife, Phebe (Birdsall) Simon (1830-1897). John served in the 5th New Jersey Infantry (Part of the Jersey Brigade). He enlisted on August 19, 1861, and mustered in as a sergeant in Co. D on August 22. He was promoted to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant on May 26, 1862 and later promoted to 1st Lieutenant on May 19, 1863. He was promoted to the rank of Captain in May 1864 and mustered out of the service on September 7, 1864.

The 5th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry Regiment was organized at Camp Olden, Trenton, New Jersey, in July 1861, and was mustered in on August 22, 1861. It participated in a number of important engagements, including the Battle of Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, Malvern Hill, Second Battle of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, and the Siege of Petersburg.

See also—1863-64: William H. Van Iderstine to Phebe (Birdsall) Simon.

[Note: This letter is from the personal collection of Greg Herr and was offered for transcription and publication on Spared & Shared by express consent.]

Transcription

Camp Baker, Lower Potomac
February 5, 1862

Dear Wife,

I take this time and opportunity to write a few lines to you to inform you that I am well and hope that you and the children are all well at home. I have not had a letter from home this week. The last one that I got was last Saturday and that was the one that William wrote and I have been looking for one all this week. I hope that you all will continue in good health at home. Kiss the children for me and tell them to be good children till Pa comes home.

I have been out making roads this last two days and I find it pretty hard work and we have to go about two miles to our place of work. We are all at it. I suppose there is about 35 hundred men at it so we will soon be done with it. I have not got my boots yet but I expect them every day now as the sutler has gone up to Washington on Sunday and he has not come back yet but as soon as he comes back, why I will get them.

Give my love to all the folks on there and tell them I am well and hope they are all the same. The rebels across the river keep firing at every boat that they see but they don’t do any damage to them as yet. The health of our regiment keeps very good owing to the weather.

That money I sent home I wish you would get gold for it and you can keep it better as there is no discount on gold but there may be on these treasury notes and if you can get gold without any trouble, why do so, I will write soon again and a longer letter as there is no fire in the Captain’s tent where I am writing this and it is cold here so good night and may God bless you and the children and me and all the rest of us is the prayer of your affectionate husband, — Sergt. J. K. Simon