Research Arsenal Spotlight 19: Varnum Valentine Vaughan 53rd Massachusetts Infantry
Varnum Valentine Vaughan was born in 1826 to Doctor Hubbard Vaughan and Azubah (Shaw) Vaughan of Prescott, Massachusetts. He married Lavonia King in 1847 and was working as a farmer in Salem, Massachusetts when he enlisted as a second lieutenant of Company E, 53rd Massachusetts Infantry on September 13, 1862 for a period of nine months service.
The seven letters written by Varnum Valentine Vaughan in the Research Arsenal collection were composed between February and April, 1863, while he was on detached duty in Carrollton, Louisiana.
Varnum Valentine Vaughan and Carrollton, Louisiana
After being organized in the fall of 1862, the 53rd Massachusetts Infantry moved first to New York before taking a ship down to New Orleans, Louisiana in January, 1863. The regiment arrived in Carrollton on January 30, 1863 and did service there until March 6, 1863.
The first letter in our collection was written by Varnum Valentine Vaughan on February 7, 1863, with additions made on the 8th and 9th as well. In the letter he mentions that he has been separated from his regiment without any idea of how long it will be:
“I find it rather lonesome here away from the regiment and wish myself back with them again sometimes. I rather expect to go back to it soon but do not know certain what my duty will be. However, I will make the best of it wherever I am placed.”
In the same letter, Varnum Valentine Vaughan also described the fortifications of Camp Parapet, upriver from New Orleans, which had been built and then abandoned by Confederate forces and were now occupied by Union troops:
“Well I must tell you about the Parapet. It was thrown up by the rebels under the direction of Beauregard. The dug a ditch about twenty feet wide and the dirt they piled up on one side nearly square. It is made zigzag like Virginia fence and is seven miles long. Runs from the river to Lake Pontchartrain and the rebels thought Burnside was coming to New Orleans from this way and was prepared to give him a cool reception. But when they saw him coming up the river, they were much amazed and those that saw it say the rebels were frantic with fear and the way they left things here goes to show how much they were disappointed.”
Varnum Valentine Vaughan’s Carrollton Quarters
By March 17, 1863 the rest of the 53rd Massachusetts Infantry had moved on to conduct operation in the area around Port Hudson. Varnum Valentine Vaughan remained on detached service at Camp Parapet in Carrollton, Louisiana. In a letter to his wife he gave an account of the quarters in which he found himself staying which were quite pleasant:
“You say you would like to look in and see how I am situated. You may. I live in a very pretty house in the southwest corner. It is about six rods from the river, and the highway runs between. There is a piazza in front which is to the south & towards the river. It is very pleasant to sit here and see the steamboats pass up and down the river. For furniture we have one bedstead (and bed) which is old style and at least ten feet high, posts six inches square, and is covered over the top with a sort of meeting house or something. I don’t know what to call it. The bedstead is made of black walnut and cost $100 dollars at least. We have a camp bedstead also on which I sleep, two writing desks, table, stand, five large armed chairs, & a looking glass.”
He had similar praise for the food they received:
“For food we get about what we have a mind to buy. We have tea, coffee, bread, beans, rice, potatoes, ham, eggs, fish—salt & fresh, oysters, & most anything but fresh beef, pies & cakes. Pies & cakes we can get but they are not my kind. I have not tasted of pie more than three times since I left New York & shall not again until I get back & if I could get hold of some of your pies, well the thoughts make my mouth water so I will drop the subject.”
The 53rd Massachusetts Infantry and General Banks
While Varnum Valentine Vaughan was serving on detached duty, he kept informed on the movements of Major General Nathaniel P. Banks’ forces and the engagements of his own regiment, the 53rd Massachusetts Infantry.
In a letter dated April 19, 1863, Varnum Valentine Vaughan wrote his family an update about General Banks’ recent successes as well as his frustration at being stuck on detached service with very little to do:
“General Banks is doing pretty good business this last week & if he keeps on, will redeem the good opinion which some of his friends had nigh lost. In the expedition they have captured 15,000 rebels, several gunboats, and a large amount of horses, cattle, and mules, beside sugar, cotton, and other things too numerous to mention. I am thinking I should like to be with them for a while at least and no doubt I shall go somewhere before long as I do not have anything scarcely to do here. I have been very anxious the last week. I get tired doing nothing.”
On April 26, 1863 Varnum Valentine Vaughan wrote another letter to his family giving them more information about the 53rd Massachusetts Infantry:
“I expect to be released from this place soon and suppose I shall go to the regiment sometime but they are some two hundred miles from here now & they will not furnish transportation to them so I shall not expect to be with them yet for awhile. They have had a hard time. Our regiment had lost up to the 18th, 4 men killed and 8 wounded. Many were sick & no doubt will suffer much. I suppose the expedition is doing a pretty good business and is driving the rebels at every point on their route. And should they cut off the supplies from Port Hudson and Vicksburg, those places will soon be in our possession. The restoration of our country and establishment of the government—also the destruction of slavery—would be great achievements. But O what a cost. Is there any who sympathize with rebellion that realize these things?”
Port Hudson was finally captured by Union forces on July 9, 1863 after a lengthy siege that had at last exhausted the Confederate’s supplies. The 53rd Massachusetts Infantry soon after returned to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to serve out the rest of their nine months term before mustering out in early September, 1863.
Varnum Valentine Vaughan mustered out with the rest of the 53rd Massachusetts Infantry. He passed away on July 15, 1885 and was buried at Mountain View Cemetery, New Salem, Massachusetts.
We’d like to thank William Griffing of Spared & Shared for his work in sharing and transcribing these letters.
To read all of Varnum Valentine Vaughan’s letters, as well as access thousands of other Civil War letters and documents, sign up for a Research Arsenal membership.
If you enjoyed this article, check out some of our other spotlight collections like George P. Jarvis of the 3rd Ohio Infantry and Robert Alexander Garner of the 21st South Carolina Infantry.
