Tag: Civil war letters

Research Arsenal Spotlight 25: David Poak 30th Illinois Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman

David Watson Poak was born in 1842 in Mt. Jackson Pennsylvania to John Poak and Sarah (Duff) Poak. The twelve letters in our Research Arsenal collection were written to his sister, Sadie Poak, who was born in 1841. Their mother died in 1847 and their father remarried to Emeline McCurley and had two more children.

In the late 1850s, David Poak moved to Millersburg, Illinois, where he worked as a school teacher. On August 12, 1861 he enlisted in Company A, 30th Illinois Infantry as a sergeant.

In a letter written sometime in September, 1861, David Poak told his sister about his election to sergeant:

“We have drawn our knapsacks, haversacks, shirts, drawers, shoes, canteens and stockings. but no arms or uniform yet. I am First Sergeant after the Orderly. They ran me for Orderly and had quite an exciting election. The ones that knew the other man voted for him and everyone that knew me for me. He got 43 votes and me 41. I did not want the office for it is the hardest office in the company. I would rather have the one I have. The Captain [Warren Shedd] said it was as tight an election as he ever saw. The way we voted was the ones that were nominated stepped out and the rest at the command march stepped to the one they wanted. There was 8 to 10 candidates and we had about as many times to vote.”

David Poak Early War Years

Wharf boat at Cairo, Illinois in 1864. David Poak and the 30th Illinois Infantry were stationed at Cairo early in the war.
Wharf boat at Cairo, Illinois in 1864.

After mustering in, the 30th Illinois Infantry was assigned to duty in the District of Cairo, Illinois through February, 1862. While stationed at Cairo, David Poak wrote to his sister about the recent return of some Union soldiers taken prisoner at the Battle of Belmont, which the 30th Illinois Infantry fought at, in Missouri on November 7, 1861.

“Do you get to see any western papers or dispatches taken from western papers? If not, there are a great many things I can write to you that I supposed you would see in the papers before you would get my letters. Ten of our prisoners taken at the Battle of Belmont returned from Memphis on last Thursday evening. They say they received middling hard treatment during their imprisonment. They were kept in the houses they used for their drakes and their rations were very meagre. They report very few troops at Memphis—nearly all have gone to Columbus [Kentucky]. The rebels feel very confident of their ability to hold the latter place. They say that less than 150,000 men need not attempt it. I think we can convince them of their error. There are 13 gunboats and 35 floating batteries at this place.”

In June, 1862, David Poak and his regiment were in Lagrange, Tennessee and David Poak had received a commission as second lieutenant in Company A. One of the biggest problems facing the 30th Illinois Infantry at this time was guerrilla fighters which David Poak described in a letter dated June 30, 1862:

“The rebels, before they left the junction, burned the depot, ticket office, and large amount of commissary stores and were going to burn the town but the citizens got them persuaded not to. Two of our pickets were shot at and wounded yesterday afternoon. It is supposed that it was done by a band of guerrillas. As soon as word came into camp a body of cavalry was sent out and succeeded in arresting 4 men. Three of them were found on horseback with loaded guns on their shoulders. I don’t know what will be done with them but I hope if they can produce any proof against them they will shoot or hang them.”

In the same letter, David Poak mentioned a narrow escape made by another member of his company when the train he was on was seized by Confederate forces:

“One of our trains was captured sixteen miles on this side of Memphis a few days ago while on its way to this place. Happily, there was no goods of any account on board. They must have taken near 100 prisoners. One of our company was on the train but by doing some keen running, made his escape. Also a member of John Tait’s company was on board and made his escape. He stayed with us one night. He said John made a good Captain and was well liked by all his men. You may know this pleased me for I am always glad to hear of the prosperity of any of our Jackson boys.”

Winter Conditions for the 30th Illinois

On January 8, 1863, David Poak wrote a letter to his sister from Davis’ Mill, Mississippi. In the letter he wrote several excerpts from his diary, which included the way the 30th Illinois passed their Christmas Day in 1862:

“This morning—Christmas—we were allowed to remain abed or rather aground (for we were sleeping on the ground without any tents and but one blanket to two men) until after daylight which was rather unusual for us. On. getting up, instead of finding the Christmas breakfast we used to get at home, we found that ours consisted of a tin of coffee, some hard crackers, and some boiled beef—this latter, however, running short before our appetites were satisfied. We were compelled to roast some fat bacon (familiarly called by the soldiers sow belly) on the end of a stick and finish up on that. Shortly after breakfast our company in connection with one from the 20th and one from the 78th Ohio Regiments were ordered out foraging. This we found dry work as the country had been scoured by the troops as they went southward. We went out about 4 miles from camp, got 7 good cows, 3 calves, six hogs, 4 barrels corn meal, and other things too tedious too mention. This property we took belonged to Capt. See of the Rebel army. We arrived in camp about 4 o’clock P. M., found out they had been looking for an attack during the day, and felt some anxiety on our account lest we should be taken. Had fresh pork for supper which we relished exceedingly well as we had eaten nothing since morning.”

During this winter the 30th Illinois also suffered from reduced—and sometimes nonexistent—rations:

“Contrary to all our expectations, we remained near Abbeville until the 3rd of the present month [January]. During our stay at this place we were first only ¾ rations, and then it was reduced to 3/8th rations. The last two days we were there we drew nothing from the Government. Our Brigade did not feel the short rations near as much as the rest of the Division as they are on the north side of the river and did have a good place to forage. We sent out large forage trains every day which brought in lots of provision, and as then were ten miles close by we had lots of corn meal and flour. The first full rations we got was on the 4th of the present month.

These short rations were caused by the rebels cutting off our communication with the North.”

In a letter dated January 21, 1863, David Poak wrote about being covered with snow overnight:

“I let it snow one top of my blankets which closed up the crevices and made me quite a warm covering. Next morning when I lifted my blankets preparatory to getting up, the first thing I was introduced to was a flake of snow about six inches square and it right in my face. I thought this pretty hard, but on making an effort to turn over, I found the snow closing in on all sides and I was compelled to get up double quick or be buried in snow. This day passed off very roughly. It snowed all day. We were relieved about 5 o’clock on the evening of the 15th made our way to camp found supper waiting on me. After eating a hearty supper and getting right warm. I went to bed and was soon contemplating in dreams the scenes of the last day.”

David Poak Serves as Adjutant and the Carolinas Campaign

Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper dated April 22, 1865 via Wikimedia Commons. The 30th Illinois Infantry was part of the 3rd Division of the 17th Corps.
Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper dated April 22, 1865 via Wikimedia Commons. The 30th Illinois Infantry was part of the 3rd Division of the 17th Corps.

By October 29, 1863, David Poak had been promoted to first lieutenant in his company. The 30th Illinois Infantry were currently in Vicksburg, Mississippi. In a letter to his sister, David Poak explained why he wished to remain as acting adjutant rather than officially assuming the position:

“You wanted to know if they wanted me to do the work of adjutant. They did not give me the position. I had the offer of it but would not accept of it. The reason is this. An adjutant has the same work as the First Lieutenant; hence, it would be no promotion for me. In the next place, should I accept of the position of adjutant, it would hinder me from ever rising any higher as well as from getting any other position. An adjutant belongs to no company. Hence he cannot be promoted in any company and he can never rise to a field officer from the fact that the Captains outrank him. I talked to Col. Shedd about it several times and he told me that I was his choice for the place and that I could have it if I wished, but that he thought I had better not take it. The arrangement that he has made now is that Julius Alvord, Quartermaster Sergeant, shall be promoted to Adjutant, but shall be detailed to act as Quartermaster while I act as Adjutant. Then should anything better offer itself, I can have an opportunity to get it.”

Julius Alvord remained the official adjutant of the regiment until the end of the war.

In the final letter in the Research Arsenal collection, David Poak was writing from Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he detailed the poor condition of the men after fighting in the Carolinas Campaign under General Sherman since January of 1865:

“As you will perceive by the heading of my letter, we are now at Goldsboro where we expect to take a rest after our long and very severe campaign. How long a respite we will get here is hard to tell. They will be compelled to remain long enough to refit our army as it is now in a very destitute condition. A great many of the men are barefooted and without pants. Many of them have been forced to pick up and wear citizen or rebel clothes to cover their nakedness.

Our campaign has been in many respects one of the most severe we have ever made. The marches were long and most of the time through almost impossible swamps. Scarcely a day passed but what the men would have to wade from one to half a dozen swamps, frequently waist deep. The roads through these swamps would cut up before but a small portion of our train would pass over and part of the troops would have to remain out all night helping the wagons through. Our Brigade was out four nights all night and very often till two and three o’clock in the morning.

Whenever the enemy would make a stand, it was certain to be at one of these swamps and there our men would have to wade out in the water and stand and fight them. Anyone that was so unfortunate as to get wounded would fall in the water and perhaps nearly drown before they could get any assistance.

Sherman’s army has, I think, seen as much campaigning as any other. Still we learned a few things this trip that we had not thought of before. The men were in excellent spirits all the time. You would never hear them grumble a bit no difference how hard a time they were having. I often wondered how they could stand it at all. We passed through some rich country where we would find an abundance of forage and through some of the most barren regions I ever saw.”

David Poak survived the war and returned to Millersburg, Illinois for a time. He then moved to Pleasonton, Kansas, where he became the first mayor in 1870. He died in 1879 of consumption (tuberculosis).

If your interested in learning more about David Poak and his letters, many have been collected in the book, “Dear Sister Sadie“: The Letters of David W. Poak, 30th Illinois Infantry During the Civil War: Also the Diary of Edward Grow and Letters of Henry M. McLain.

You can also read the 12 letters part of the Research Arsenal collection, as well as thousands of other Civil War letters and documents, with a Research Arsenal membership.

We’d like to give a special thanks to William Griffing of Spared & Shared for his work in sharing and transcribing these documents.

If you enjoyed this article, check out some of our other spotlight collections, like Silas Leach of the 52nd Pennsylvania Regimental Band and Tip Wilson of the 5th Tennessee Infantry.

 

Research Arsenal Spotlight 24: Silas Leach 52nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regimental Band

Posted on by Gloria Wickman

Silas Leach was born in Pennsylvania in 1836 to Isaiah Leach and Eliza (Kelly) Leach. Isaiah Leach worked as a school teacher and music teacher but passed away when Silas was only a year old. Silas, his siblings, and his mother then moved to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania where his mother continued to live until her death in 1878. Silas was partially raised by his older brother, George W. Leach, who many of these letters were likely addressed to.

At the start of the war, Silas was a member of the Wyoming Coronet Band, which became part of the 52nd Pennsylvania Infantry. The 52nd Pennsylvania was organized at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on November 5, 1861. Silas Leach’s first letter was written on October 29, 1861, from Camp Curtin, shortly before the regiment was formally mustered into service.

As a member of the regimental band, Silas Leach was not expected to do any fighting, but traveled with the regiment to provide music and do other duties.

Silas Leach at Camp Curtin

Illustration of Camp Curtin from September, 1862 issue of Harper’s Weekly.
Illustration of Camp Curtin from September, 1862 issue of Harper’s Weekly via Wikimedia Commons.

Camp Curtin, located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was one of the major hubs for mustering in new regiments and training soldiers throughout the Civil War. It is estimated that by the end of the war over 300,000 Union soldiers had passed through it.

In Silas Leach’s first letter home to his brother, written October 29, 1861, he spoke some of the difficulties of camp life which for the moment were confined to the chilly weather:

“The only serious inconvenience I have experienced since I have been here has been from the cold nights. We have had some very cold nights. I take off nothing but my blouse and shoes when I go to bed and then throw my overcoat on top the bed clothes. Last night I slept very comfortably.”

Silas Leach also recounted an incident about a fire taking place near Camp Curtin and the soldiers rushing to put it out:

“I suppose we will get away from here in the course of a week. Quite a little incident occurred the other day in camp. A barn just north of the camp took fire and about three thousand soldiers made a break right through the guard, went over and put it out. Quite a number of our band were prominent in putting out the fire and I attribute one invitation to dinner tomorrow to that fact. John Rohn, Bob Campbell, and myself being out on a prospecting tour after chestnuts did not have a chance to distinguish ourselves on that occasion.”

Silas Leach was very close on his prediction of when the 52nd Pennsylvania Infantry would move out. They left for Washington, D.C. on November 8, 1861.

52nd Pennsylvania Infantry in Washington, D.C.

In the winter of 1861 the 52nd Pennsylvania Infantry served as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. On December 16, 1861, Silas Leach wrote  to his brother about a rather humorous review of the troops in front of General McClellan:

“About half a mile from here is a large parade ground where most of the reviews on this side of the river take place. A few days ago I witnessed a review of Gen’l Keyes’ Division. It consisted of four brigades and was reviewed by Gen’l McClellan and staff. It was a very favorable day for the purpose and quite a large number of the beauty and fashion of Washington was there to witness the scene. I stood quite near McClellan and had a good chance to see what he looked like. He is quite robust and appears as if he gets enough to eat. Wears a mustache and quite firm expression of countenance generally. Gov. Morgan of New York was there [and] also Mrs. McClellan. Mrs. McClellan is quite young and quite good looking. She attracted great attention from its being her first appearance in public since her arrival from the West.

The only laughable incident that occurred was when the regiments were passing in review before the general, a drum major of one of the regiments was dressed up very finely and appeared as if he had a due sense of his own importance. When he got in front of McClellan, he gave his staff a pitch into the air intending to catch it when it came down. But unfortunately it fell in the mud and caused great laughter. And even McClellan relaxed his countenance enough to smile. The whole affair passed off in very good style.”

After receiving his pay, Silas Leach and a fellow member of the 52nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regimental Band, Charles Sutton, snuck off to Washington to do some sightseeing.

“While in the city, [Charley] Sutton and I went to the Capitol expecting to see Congress in session. But as usual they had adjourned until Monday. We went into the President and Vice President’s rooms. They were splendid rooms. I recognized the Vice President Mr. Hamlin having seen him in 1856. Charley and I had no pass and had to do some pretty tall dodging to keep out of the way of the patrol. We finally returned to camp. Very glad to get back. We have become so accustomed to walking on the ground that walking on pavements tires us out very quick.”

The End of Regimental Bands

Photo of an unidentified regimental band taken in Dowagiac, Michigan.
Photo of an unidentified regimental band taken in Dowagiac, Michigan.

By early 1862 it was clear that major reforms of the regimental bands were going to take place. While they had been initially seen as a powerful recruitment tool and morale booster, the sheer number of bands and band members proved costly to the war effort.

In a letter  written on February 15, 1862, Silas Leach provided the first clue that regimental bands like those of the 52nd Pennsylvania Infantry might not be around for much longer, and that the uncertainty was causing a great deal of confusion among the men:

“The idea of putting us in the ranks is perfectly ridiculous. I have no doubt that some of them would like to have the power to do it. But they can’t come it. I have no doubt that we could get our discharge at almost any time by applying to the Secretary of War. But the boys would rather await the action of Congress.

You would laugh if you was here to hear the conversation that takes place. Sometimes the boys are very much down in the mouth. Talk about going home. At other times they feel very patriotic and wouldn’t go hence under any circumstance.”

On March 18, 1862, Silas wrote again to his brother after his regiment had spent some time in the field near Manassas, Virginia:

“I suppose you read of the advance made on Manassas and of finding the enemy ‘no whar.’ Most of the men that went from this side returned. They made a pretty hard appearance, having camped out in the rain and mud without any covering. They all expect to embark in the present expedition. I suppose we must now expect to soldier in real earnest. Thus far we have had very fine times.”

The final letter in our Research Arsenal collection was written on June 24, 1862. This was about one month before the issuance of General Orders No. 91 from the War Department, which ended the practice of regimental bands except for the regular drummers, fifers and buglers for each company. In this letter, Silas Leach advises against having a friend enlist:

“I see by the Record that the Ross Rifles were anxious to go into the tented field. Also noticed Oliver’s name amongst the list. Just tell Oliver if he has any regard for my advices, he will stay at home. I don’t say this because I am particularly sick of the business myself, but because I know he would be situated entirely differently from myself. We are exempt, in fact, from about all duties of a soldier, doing absolutely nothing. And I know Oliver well enough to know that after being a month in the service, he will feel like shooting himself to get out of it. It is far different here to what it was in Washington. There we could keep ourselves tolerably clean. But here it is almost impossible for a private to do so. If Oliver was here a day, I could show him enough to banish and scatter all his patriotism to the four winds.

You say there was a circus in town. They boys here all say that “This is the biggest traveling circus they ever saw.” In regard to the disposition of the band, nothing will be known or done until after Richmond is taken and the Lord only knows how long that will be.”

Silas Leach was discharged with the rest of the band on August 16, 1862.  He died in 1902.

To learn more about regimental bands in the Civil War, read this article by the Library of Congress.

You can read more of Silas Leach’s letters, as well as view thousands of other Civil War letters, photos, and documents with a Research Arsenal membership.

We’d like to extend a special thanks to William Griffing of Spared & Shared for his work in transcribing and sharing these letters.

Check out some of our other Research Arsenal Spotlights like Tip Wilson of the 5th Tennessee Infantry and William Lewis Savage of the 10th Connecticut Infantry.

Research Arsenal Spotlight 23: Tip Wilson of the 5th Tennessee Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman

William Henry Harrison “Tip” Wilson was born in 1840 to Ann Adeline (Neblett) Wilson and Joseph Hannibal Bonaparte Wilson of Paris, Tennessee. He was named after politician William Henry Harrison whose nickname “Tippecanoe” during his presidential campaign inspired William Wilson to receive the same nickname, often shortened to “Tip.”

Tip Wilson enlisted as a private in Company C, 5th Tennessee Infantry on May 20, 1861. He was soon promoted to lieutenant an then to Captain of Company A before the regiment was finally mustered into service in August 1861. It was then consolidated with the 4th Tennessee Infantry in December, 1862.

The Research Arsenal collection for Tip Wilson also include letters written by his future wife, Naomi Elizabeth “Lizzie” Cox and one letter written by Tip Wilson’s sister, Elizabeth Buckner, after the war.

Tip Wilson at Dalton, Georgia.

Photo of Tip Wilson in civilian clothes.
Photo of Tip Wilson in civilian clothes.

In the first letter in our collection dated May 12, 1864, Tip Wilson wrote to his fiancée to update her on the war’s progress. Though writing from Auburn, Alabama, he began with news about Dalton, Georgia, where his regiment had recently been stationed.

“This note is to inform you that I yet remember thee. I have just returned from Dalton. I have concluded to give you all the news from that place—at least all I know. I left there Sunday evening. Our entire army was then advancing. Very heavy skirmishing was then going on. Was then thought [a] general engagement would commence Monday morning but did not.

After I left Dalton, I came down to Atlanta to await the result but no general engagement as yet but thought will be soon. We have killed & captured a great many Yanks since the 1st of this week. Our loss but small compared with that of the enemy’s. Gen. Johnston is ready & feels confident of success. I have never seen soldiers in better spirits than the Army of Tennessee is at the present—all eager to go upon the enemy. confident of a great & glorious victory.”

The First Battle of Dalton was fought from February 22-27, 1864 and resulted in a Confederate victory. Though Tip Wilson didn’t know it as he was writing, General Johnson was actually withdrawing his forces from Dalton, Georgia, after being outflanked by Union forces at the Battle of Rocky Face Ridge fought from May 7-13, 1864.

Tip Wilson concluded his letter with a teasing tale of Naomi “Lizzie” Cox marrying Gen. Mitchel in one of his recent dreams:

“Well, I will now tell you the dream I had a few nights ago. I dreamed you & Gen. Mitchel was married. I thought I was at the wedding. I had quite a nice time. Is it true or not? Let me know in your reply.”

Marriage of Tip Wilson and Lizzie Cox

On June 4, 1864 Naomi “Lizzie” Cox wrote a letter to Tip Wilson who was apparently recovering from an unspecified wound. In her letter  addressed to “Capt. Wilson,” Lizzie began by saying:

“I received your most welcome and appreciated letter a day or two since. I am truly glad to hear that you are in fine spirits and enjoy yourself so well. I hope your opinion in regard to the war may be a just one. If there is anything that I earnestly wish for, it is that ‘this cruel war may soon be over.’”

Lizzie was careful not to mention their upcoming wedding explicitly, instead leaving a blank space underlined when referring to it.

“You wished to know how I have enjoyed myself since you was here. My enjoyments at present consists in thinking of _______. I hope I shall have a nice time after we get through with our silk, eating fruit. Our plums and cherries are getting ripe now and the apples eat first rate. You must come down soon and stay several days. I think I can promise you a right nice time. You ought to see our silkworms now. They are winding up very fast. I counted over a thousand that I took myself yesterday.

Captain, I hope you will not nag me to ____ but I will tell you more about that when I see you. I would write my thoughts more plainly but I am fearful that someone beside yourself might accidentally get hold of it and read it.”

The couple were married on June 30, 1864.

Tip Wilson and the 5th Tennessee Infantry near Atlanta, Georgia.

Funeral photograph for Tip Wilson dated 1921. Seated at center is Naomi Elizabeth “Lizzie” (Cox) Wilson.
Funeral photograph for Tip Wilson dated 1921. Seated at center is Naomi Elizabeth “Lizzie” (Cox) Wilson.

On August 17, 1864, Tip Wilson wrote to his new wife, “Mrs. N. E. Wilson” about developments outside of Atlanta Georgia. The situation for the Confederate forces was grim, but Tip Wilson shared along with it a darkly humorous tale from picket duty:

“We are losing a great many men but not so many as the Yanks. Our boys shoot much better than the enemy. My company was on picket & one of the boys & a Yank got to shooting at each other, then would holler & ask how close he came. This was kept up for some time. Then my man shot & asked how close he came. The Yanks standing by remarked, “Goddam it, you killed him,” which was true for all the boys saw the Yank fall. They make a bargain sometimes to quit shooting & trade some. They they will meet on half way grounds & trade. Our boys will swap tobacco for pocket knives, watches, or anything they have. The Yanks will give anything they have for tobacco.”

As the war and the seasons went on, Tip Wilson found himself writing a melancholier letter to Lizzie on Christmas Eve, 1864, which he datelined Corinth, Mississippi:

“I again try to interest you the best I can by letter but having nothing very interesting, I fear I shall fail to interest you. Well, tomorrow is Christmas day and where am I? Little did I think last Christmas that I would be in this hog pen this Christmas. No man knows what tomorrow will bring forth.

We are expecting a fight here everyday. There are reports that 25,000 Yankees are coming upon this place from Memphis. Let them come. We will give them the best we have in our shop. We have about one thousand men here able for duty. But small we are in number, we are very large in courage. It is also reported that Hood is falling back from Nashville to Tuscumbia where he will take up winter quarters.”

Later in the letter Tip Wilson explained that he was temporarily part of Company is I, 1st Regiment, Reserve Forces in Corinth, but expected that he might be sent back to the 5th Tennessee Infantry soon.

Tip Wilson survived the war and lived into his eighties, passing away in 1921. His wife, Lizzie, died in the same year.

We’d like to give a special thanks to William Griffing of Spared & Shared for transcribing and sharing these documents.

To read more of Tip Wilson’s letters and access thousands of other Civil War letters and documents, sign up for a Research Arsenal membership.

Check out some of our other collection spotlights, like William Lewis Savage of the 10th Connecticut Infantry and Richard Ransom of the Chicago Mercantile Battery.

 

 

Research Arsenal Spotlight 22: William Lewis Savage of the 10th Connecticut Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman

William Lewis Savage was born in 1842 to Selah Savage and Sarah M. (Meade) Savage of Greenwich, Connecticut. On October 2, 1861 he enlisted as a sergeant in Company “I” of the 10th Connecticut Infantry for three years service.

William Lewis Savage was a religious man and often wrote of the various church services he attended during his service. The Research Arsenal collection contains eight letters written by William Lewis Savage while he was in the 10th Connecticut Infantry, spanning from November, 1861 until February, 1864.

The New Captain of Company “I”, 10th Connecticut Infantry

Photo of Thomas R. Mead via “History and Genealogy of the Mead Family of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Eastern New York, Western Vermont, and Western Pennsylvania From A.D. 1180 to 1900” published 1901. The image incorrectly lists his company as “G” rather than “I.”
Photo of Thomas R. Mead via “History and Genealogy of the Mead Family of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Eastern New York, Western Vermont, and Western Pennsylvania From A.D. 1180 to 1900” published 1901. The image incorrectly lists his company as “G” rather than “I.”

In late 1861, Sergeant William Lewis Savage wrote his first letter in our collection. Dated November 12 and written in Annapolis, Maryland, he told his parents about a young man that had recently been discharged from the regiment due to a wound received:

“There is one man in the regiment who has got an honorable discharge, half pay as long as his life continues in him, and one hundred dollars bounty, on his from Hartford to Annapolis. He got [a] bayonet wound which will probably cripple him for life. He is to be sent home tomorrow.”

Many more shakeups occurred in the 10th Connecticut Infantry in the following months. William Lewis Savage was promoted to sergeant major of the regiment on February 18, 1862. In the summer of 1862, the original captain of Company “I,” Daniel M. Meade, was promoted to major, leaving a new vacancy for the role of captain. William Lewis Savage had an ideal candidate  in mind, though the man was not the first lieutenant of Company “I”:

“I don’t know who we shall have for our next captain but most of the company know who they want and would pretty generally unite on the same one. We all know who made Co. I what it is today—who taught us, in our first attempts, at being soldiers—could explain all the drill and make it plain to be understood—who commanded the attention of the men without reproving—could and [did] make it interesting—a [man] who today is as able and brave and well liked as the Tenth Regiment affords—who I think I may safely say understands the evolutions of the line (i.e. maneuvers of a regiment in the field, in line of battle, any other maneuvers) better than most of the Captains and all the Lieutenants. Then why shouldn’t we know who we want for our next Captain, and all be agreed. I believe he is liked by every private in the regiment. I never heard one say anything against him nor ever heard of his treating the lowest man as though he considered himself any better than him; but I have often heard men of different companies speak of him as the man they wanted to be on guard with and Lieutenant [Thomas R.] Mead’s the man for me. And what you [ask is] the reason of all this? It is because he has studied to fit himself to his duties in the position he held and afterwards for any position to where he might attain. It has also been his study to gain love and respect at the same time for the entire control of those under his command. And he has succeeded admirably—not only of those under him immediately, but of the whole regiment. And now do you wonder why the boys are all united. I think not after all the reasons I have given.”

After his strong endorsement of then second lieutenant Thomas R. Mead, William Lewis Savage went on to list his reasons why he believed the current first lieutenant of the company was the wrong man for the job:

“Again you might ask, what objections to Lieutenant [Isaac Odle] Close, at present our First Lieutenant, and the commander. We have already seen enough to know that he knows little or nothing about battalion movements, and I’ll say nothing about simple company drill. I do not doubt but there [are] privates in the company who would do as well as he with one quarter the experience. I don’t think he has ever taken a great amount of pains to inform himself any more than was absolutely necessary. I might multiply. I might fill a sheet with good and strong objections to Lieutenant Close as Captain but I don’t want to say against him to his injury so I forbear. But Lieutenant [Close] is kind to his men and I know does as well as he knows how; but that don’t help the matter much. He always used me well enough.”

William Lewis Savage’s beliefs proved to be common amongst the regiment, and it was indeed Lieutenant Thomas R. Mead who was appointed as the new captain of company “I.” Sadly, Thomas Mead died shortly after taking command, passing away on October 25, 1862.

William Lewis Savage Writes on Connecticut

On March 24, 1863, William Lewis Savage’s letter home to his parents included some of his thoughts about the current political climate in his hometown of Greenwich which he believed was shameful in not lending more to the war effort. He wrote:

“I would just like to see Co. I let loose in the town of Greenwich. I’ll vouch for the company that those secesh would have just the most wide awake time they ever saw—such a one as they would not want to see again. Why the company is indignant at some of the speeches that they have made in Connecticut. Greenwich will not furnish any more of her sons for the war? O! send that rascal down here. Summary justice will be done him. We’ll learn them what we are fighting for—to crush traitors from our land. Surely the Tenth Regiment must go where there is fighting to be done. They will get so by and bye. They can’t do anything without them. We we embark again, we go on board the N. England General Ferry’s boat.”

On September 2, 1863, William Lewis Savage was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 10th Connecticut Infantry. A few weeks later, on September 23, 1863, he wrote  home advising against a family friend, Dr. Hyde, from joining the military, as soldiering in the south was much less hospitable as doing the same in Connecticut:

“As for Dr. Hyde, it seems to me (of course I don’t know) he had better let military alone. Soldiering is very nice in Connecticut, but away from there, it is much like, well I don’t know [what] to compare it to. He can not tend to both, and my advice is to stand to his profession and we will tend to the rebs, north & south. I should like to have seen them out on picket duty. Why it must have been fun but sort of boys play. No fear of rebs getting up and shooting at you. I would not mind doing military duty in Connecticut for five times three years. It’s nothing—nothing to hurt or make afraid. Please tell him for me that I have got enough of it to last me and I guess him too for several years.”

William Lewis Savage Attends Church in Florida

1914 Photograph of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine in St. Augustine, Florida, where William Lewis Savage attended a church service in 1863.
1914 Photograph of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine in St. Augustine, Florida, where William Lewis Savage attended a church service in 1863 via Wikimedia Commons.

In November, 1863, the 10th Connecticut Infantry was stationed in St. Augustine, Florida. As a religious man, William Lewis Savage, attended religious services whenever he could. On November 1, 1863, he wrote a letter home and described his first time attending a Catholic service in the area:

“This evening the Major sent me down to the wharf to look after a desk. After I had found it, I sent it to camp and, as it was about church time, I went into the church. The church is very old and is a Catholic church. The congregation was composed mostly of citizens—quite a good many of them ladies—very fine looking and nicely dressed they were too. Reminded me very much of home.

The service mostly was unintelligible. What was not in Latin was in such broken English I could not understand it. The priest was an Irishman. Most of the congregation, I should judge, were Spanish. The music was fine—an organ and two or three female voices did all the singing—and splendid singing it was too. There is a chime of bells in the church.”

The church that William Lewis Savage visited was the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, which was built between 1793 and 1797 and still stands in St. Augustine today.

Lieutenant William Lewis Savage mustered out at the end of his term on October 18, 1864. He died on October 27, 1909 in Bridgeport, Connecticut leaving behind three children.

We’d like to thank William Griffing of Spared & Shared for his work in transcribing and sharing these letters.

To read more letters by William Lewis Savage and access thousands of Civil War era letters and documents, sign up for a Research Arsenal membership.

If you enjoyed this spotlight article, check out some of our other featured collections like Richard Ransom of the Chicago Mercantile Battery and Biddle Boggs who served on John C. Frémont’s staff and in the 80th USCT Infantry.

 

 

 

Research Arsenal Spotlight 21: Richard Ransom and the Chicago Mercantile Battery Light Artillery

Posted on by Gloria Wickman

Richard “Dick” Ransom was born in 1842 to Daniel Ransom and Lucy Edson (Lake) Ransom of Woodstock, Vermont. By the 1860s, Richard Ransom was living in Chicago working as a printer. On August 7, 1862, he enlisted in the Chicago Mercantile Battery and was mustered in on August 29, 1862. The battery was organized by the Chicago Mercantile Association.

Richard Ransom’s letters begin in December, 1862 while the Chicago Mercantile Battery was in Memphis, Tennessee.

Richard Ransom and Sherman’s Yazoo Expedition

On December 14, 1862, Richard Ransom began a letter to his family telling them about his current situation in camp. At the time, Union forces were massing in large numbers in preparation for Sherman’s Yazoo Expedition, where the General would bring a large number of troops down the Yazoo River in hopes of breaking through Confederate defenses and bringing the Union closer to seizing Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Richard Ransom’s concerns were less concerned about the battle to come and more concerned with what the large number of troops meant for soldiers’ daily rations, as he explained in his letter:

“We can draw no soft bread at all here now. There is such a large army here, it cannot be baked for them. There has a large army concentrated here since we went away—some say about 30,000 and some say as many as 60,000. And this evening I heard that no boats were allowed to return up the river [and] that all boats that landed here were taken possession of by Government for the purpose of transporting us down the brook—even all the small boats. So you may not get any news from here for some time.”

In a letter written December 25, 1862, Richard Ransom detailed some of the destruction left in the wake of the expedition, by soldiers sneaking off to burn towns as the ships sailed south:

“Tuesday, 23rd, we went as far as Gaine’s Landing, Arkansas, and tied up for the night. The place was begun to be burnt before dark and kept up all night and in the morning but one or two houses were left. Gen. Smith ordered that the men that set the fires be tied hand and foot and thrown into them or if the fire was burnt out when they were caught, he would throw them tied into the river—and if one was caught before two o’clock in the morning, he should be hung and one was caught and brought in and he told him he should be shot at two o’clock next day. But before the time came, he told him he might go—that Gen. Sherman had pardoned him and gave him a good talking to but let him go.”

Richard Ransom and the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou

Sketch of Chickasaw Bayou via Wikimedia Commons.
Sketch of Chickasaw Bayou via Wikimedia Commons.

On December 27, 1862, Richard Ransom wrote home informing his family that he had likely caught the measles:

“I have a few minutes more before the mail leaves us and I must tell you how I get along. I believe I wrote you in the other letter that I felt ague-like. Well, I have got no better but am able to be around and help myself as well as ever, but I expect to have the measles. There has been a man lying on deck three or four days who has them and some of our boys knew it so we have been much exposed. If I do take them, I know what to do. Keep warm, and shall not be kept out on deck as that infantryman was. He was taken to the hospital boat this morning.”

Richard Ransom was also frustrated with the leadership of members of the regular army, which he felt were too soft on Confederate forces:

“I can but distrust the loyalty of all the old “regular army” officers. Gen. A. J. Smith now has about 20 secesh prisoners on board this boat and they are fed at the cabin table on hot rolls, beef steak, &c. &c. while we boys have to eat on hard tack or pay fifty cents a meal. Some of them are also allowed staterooms.”

Included in the same letter but written on January 3, 1863, Richard Ransom then gave an account of the disastrous Battle of Chickasaw Bayou. Richard Ransom prefaced the summary with the warning, “Where we have been and where I have been and what we have seen in the past week had made me wish to be at home.”

The troubles began with the unloading of the battery from two ships which left a mess of confusion. Ransom described it:

“I will give you a diary of the week. Saturday afternoon, December 27th, we passed a lot of gunboats &c. anchored at the mouth of the Yazoo and the transports of our Division went up the Yazoo River between ten & fifteen miles where we found the balance of the transports of our fleet having all been unloaded and the troops put out towards Vicksburg—through the swamps—and we could occasionally hear a cannon shot and sometimes a sound which I supposed was the mortar boats in the Mississippi River, shelling the city.

Our two guns were got off the “Des Arc” and the drivers brought the horses up from the “Louisiana” and we joined the rest of the battery—and the Louisiana was unloaded and we had everything mixed up on the levee in such a shape as never was known before. The battery could not have been got ready for action in less than five hours. We had orders to be ready to march in the morning at seven o’clock with two days rations of “hard tack” (nothing else to take) and only take one blanket and no baggage. Everything was to be left in camp and all the sick to guard it. Then I was a little afraid because I had not been well enough to unload the boats and hardly to carry my own baggage ashore—and was growing weaker all the time—had eat nothing for two days—had a fever and was afraid of the measles and didn’t think they would let me go. The firing was kept up in the distance and news of all sorts was flying about.”

Eventually the Chicago Mercantile Battery arrived near the fighting and Richard Ransom resumed his account:

“We finally stopped in the woods I should think about eight miles from the boats, and nearly north of Vicksburg—the city being in sight from a short distance from us, and we could “hear the bells.” Where our guns were planted down on the “river bottoms” in the woods, the water marks on the trees for high water was eighteen feet above the ground and was so for the whole distance back to the Yazoo. Where we lay there we were only about a mile west of the Mississippi and the fighting was between some of our big guns on the west of us and some batteries across a bayou, on the hills, which we must take to get into Vicksburg. I believe that our artillery beat them on Sunday morning and the infantry all were drove into Vicksburg, and we had the hill. Here Morgan L. Smith was wounded leading a charge across the bayou where the men hesitated to go. He got a bullet through his belt in front and it lodged between two bones in his back and he had had to give up command of the 2nd Division. Then our A. J. Smith took his place and Brig. Gen. Burbridge took this—the 1st Division.

Before noon we heard a good deal of heavy firing of infantry—volleys and single shots—and finally it all ceased, and not much more was heard till next morning, though an occasional big gun would start us a little, for we lay where they could shell us all to pieces from Vicksburg.”

At this point Richard Ransom’s health had deteriorated substantially because of the measles and he was forced to go to the hospital to recover. On January 3, he received word that they were to withdraw:

“Soon Sergt. [Pinckney S.] Cone came and I found out that the whole army was going to be drawn back and put on the boats before morning—quietly and in order. [Frank S.] Wilson’s Section was to start at 12 o’clock, [James H.] Swan’s at 2, and [David R.] Crego’s at 4 o’clock. All the caissons started together as soon as the order was received, and the boys tell me that the pickets came in and the last of all the infantry ready to step off about half past three. But orders were orders and they had to stay till 4 o’clock without any pickets beyond them, and then too, the pickets who came in reported that the rebels were building bridges across that bayou we had been fighting over and probably intended to cross and attack us in the morning. There was nothing came in behind our two guns but one regiment of infantry and they report that rebel scouts followed right behind us clear in to the edge of the woods but not out on the cornfield between the woods and the river. So you see we covered the great retreat.”

Richard Ransom in the Hospital

Steel Engraving of Mrs. Mary Livermore from 1867.
Steel Engraving of Mrs. Mary Livermore from 1867 via Wikimedia Commons.

Even as Richard Ransom recovered from the worst of the effects of the measles, he remained weak and in the hospital, though he was always quick to reassure his family that he was not as sick as they feared. He also tried to avoid the doctors and medicine as much as possible, believing that it would make him sicker, as he described in a letter dated March 22, 1863:

“My cough is all gone and I am so to speak “quite well”—though weak. I still keep away from the doctors and everybody who says anything to me about it advises me so to do—at least to take as little medicine as possible.”

On March 24, 1863, Richard Ransom received a discharge for disability due in no small part to the efforts of Mrs. Mary Ashton (Rice) Livermore, who was down visiting the hospital on behalf of the Sanitary Commission. He described her efforts in a letter dated March 20, 1863:

“Mrs. Livermore said she was bound to take me home with her. She knew she could get me discharged from the service and she should do it. I got certificates of disability and got the papers properly started and gave them to her and she will do what she can about getting them through headquarters. The disability consisted (so the certificate says) of “chronic pleurisy & chronic enlargement of the spleen.” The examination I went through to get the papers was—really—none at all, and the certificates were given as a favor to one of our boys—Charles H. Haight, who is very intimate with the Drs. and has a good deal of influence with them. So you see that really, I am not entitled to them, so you need not borrow trouble and think I am so very bad off.”

After the war, Richard Ransom lived for a time in Denver before later moving to Milwaukee where he lived at the Northwest Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. He died on April 3, 1917.

We’d like to extend a special thanks to William Griffing of Spared & Shared for his work in sharing and transcribing these letters.

If you’d like to read more of Richard Ransom’s letters, or see thousands of other Civil War letters and documents, sign up for a Research Arsenal membership.

You can also check out some of our other Spotlight collections like Biddle Boggs of the 80th USCT Infantry and associate of General Frémont and Varnum Valentine Vaughan of the 53rd Massachusetts Infantry.

 

Research Arsenal Spotlight 20: Biddle Boggs, Lt. on Gen. John C. Frémont’s Staff

Posted on by Gloria Wickman
1st Lieutenant Biddle Boggs of Company H, 80th US Colored Troops Infantry.
1st Lieutenant Biddle Boggs of Company H, 80th US Colored Troops Infantry via findagrave.com.

Biddle Boggs was a rather unique character in history, serving in both the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was born in 1822 to Andrew Boggs and Sarah Talman (Biddle) Boggs of Saltsburg, Pennsylvania.

In the 1850s, Biddle Boggs came to California and was a close friend and associate of John C. Frémont, who he frequently mentioned in his letters and much admired. At the time Biddle Boggs was in a legal battle on behalf of mineral rights on Mt. Ophir against Merced Mining Company, a fight he was making covertly on the behalf of John C. Frémont’s interests. In a letter written September 12, 1856, he informed his sister of his current employment:

“I am now working for Col. Frémont and have been since last April. I have charge of some rich quartz veins. They are not working them now so I have nothing to do. Well, there is nothing like working for a President though I have not had but twenty-five dollars since last April. They pay my board so I do not need money at present and don’t spend any. I am saving up to go home.”

Biddle Boggs and the Civil War

Illustration showing the death of General Turner Ashby at Good’s Farm.
Illustration showing the death of General Turner Ashby at Good’s Farm via Wikimedia Commons.

After attempting to obtain a commission in the winter of 1861, Biddle Boggs was finally accepted into service as Quartermaster Agent in February, 1862, in Cincinnati, Ohio. In April, 1862, General John C. Frémont had him transferred to his staff in the Mountain Department in Wheeling, Virginia.

On June 14, 1862, Biddle Boggs wrote a letter to family telling them of the recent exploits of General John C. Frémont’s forces, including the death of the Confederate General Turner Ashby at Good’s Farm. Biddle Boggs had a close call of his own, as he related in the letter:

“I received your letter some days ago and would have answered it sooner but have been busy fighting. All our boys came out safe. I had my horse killed under me with a shell. It went through his hips & into the ground on the other side, but did not explode. I was not hurt. Monroe & Tom were in the thick of the fight but none of their company were killed or wounded. Our loss in killed & wounded was about 500 or 600. I do not know the enemy’s loss—supposed 1200. We drove them across the river; they burnt the bridge so we could not follow them. So we fell back to this place to get supplies as we fought them on our last ration. We killed their famous Col. Ashby—or rather General Ashby—and many of their officers. We counted 200 of them killed in one field.”

Biddle Boggs also discovered that he had family fighting in the Confederate army.

“I have been back with a flag of truce to Harrisonburg [Virginia] (they occupy that place with their cavalry since we came down the valley to this place) and had quite a talk with some of the rebel officers. They told me they knew cousin Frank J. Boggs. He is a major in the rebel army at Richmond now. So you see, we have kin on the other side.”

Biddle Boggs closed with a grimly optimistic note that his family shouldn’t worry about him eating as “there is plenty of dead horses if nothing else” and for the moment they had “plenty of beef, have bread, coffee, & rice now and plenty on the land.”

Biddle Boggs and the 80th US Colored Troops Infantry

In May, 1863, Biddle Boggs was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was now a lieutenant what would become the 80th US Colored Troops Infantry. The regiment was under the command of Colonel Cyrus Hamlin, who was a son of Vice President Hannibal Hamlin and, like Biddle Boggs, Cyrus Hamlin had also been serving on the staff of General John C. Fremont. One of the soldiers in the regiment, Corporal Henry Demas of Company H, after the war became one of Louisiana’s longest serving African American politicians, serving as both a state house representative and later a senator from 1870 to 1892.

One May 18, 1863, Biddle Boggs wrote a letter to his sister detailing the recruitment for the regiment and the ongoing siege of Port Hudson, which he believed would soon come to an end. In actual fact, the siege lasted until July 9.

“You see I am down south and on the Mississippi River. We are about 25 miles below Fort [Port] Hudson which is yet in the hands of the Rebels. Our gunboats & mortar boats have been humming at them every day for a while & almost every night for 2 or 3 hours since the 8th of this month. We—from our camp—can hear it quite plain. Some nights they fire so heavy, it wakens me up. We can see the bombs when they burst up in the air and see the flashes of the cannon on dark nights. This is just near enough to be comfortable, but it must break the rest of the Rebels and keep them awake. I do not know how many have been killed or wounded or whether any of our side. I have not heard of any.

We are getting some recruits for our regiment (200 now). We will take Port Hudson this week. Then we will be able to get recruits faster as they can get in from up the river. I hear the cannon at Port Hudson 8 o’clock a.m. They have just commenced. Let them bomb away.”

Biddle Boggs and John C. Frémont

Photo of General John C. Frémont.
Photo of General John C. Frémont.

On March 10, 1864, Biddle Boggs was still serving as a 2nd Lieutenant in Company H, of the 80th US Colored Troop Infantry, which at that time was known as the 8th Regiment Corps d’Afrique. He wrote a letter to his brother-in-law, Joseph Wheldon, which revealed his continued close connection with John C. Frémont:

“I had a letter from Mrs. Frémont wishing me to go to New Orleans to see the General’s niece, Miss Nina Frémont, who was there to see her mother. Mrs. General Banks called and took her to a ball on the 4th. I went also. It was a big affair—too large for me, but I held my hand with the best of them and went them some better.”

In the same letter  Biddle Boggs also expressed his hopes that John C. Frémont would receive a presidential nomination in the upcoming election:

“I have nothing to write about. I hope the Republicans will nominate Frémont for next President and elect him. I find he has many friends in the Army who think he is the man for the times, and think also that he ought to have a command and would be glad to serve under him. We want men of energy and he has.”

The final letter by Biddle Boggs in our collection was written July 11, 1865. The letter opens with a full circle moment for Biddle Boggs, once again at place in his military service where he had been 20 years previously during the Mexican-American War and at a new milestone in his career:

“Here we are “Lou” and I on “Red River” at the place I swam it in 1846 on my way to Mexico. Our regiment is stationed here doing post duty. I am A. R. Quarter Master & Ordnance Officer of the post. Received my commission as First Lieutenant in 80th Colored Troops from Washington City today.”

The “Lou” referred to in the passage was Biddle Boggs’ wife, Mary Louise (Hayward) Boggs, whom he married in 1864 in Louisiana.

Biddle Boggs concluded his letter with a short note about the recent execution of the conspirators in the Lincoln assassination:

“Hurrah for Andy Johnston for hanging Mrs. Surratt and all other assassins. It saves trouble and sends witches where they belong—to Old Nick. Who would want to be in Heaven with assassins.”

Biddle Boggs died in 1886 and was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery.

We’d like to give a special thanks to William Griffing of Spared & Shared for sharing and transcribing these letters.

To read all of Biddle Boggs’ letters and 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 recent collection spotlights, like Varnum Valentine Vaughn of the 53rd Massachusetts Infantry  and George P. Jarvis of the 3rd Ohio Infantry.

 

 

 

 

Research Arsenal Spotlight 19: Varnum Valentine Vaughan 53rd Massachusetts Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman

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

1863 map of Camp Parapet, Louisiana where Varnum Valentine Vaughan spent time on detached service.
1863 map of Camp Parapet, Louisiana where Varnum Valentine Vaughan spent time on detached service. via Wikimedia Commons.

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

CDV of General Nathaniel Banks with Officers at Fort Williams, Louisiana
CDV of General Nathaniel Banks with Officers at Fort Williams, Louisiana.

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.

Research Arsenal Spotlight 18: George P. Jarvis of the 3rd Ohio Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman

George P. Jarvis was born in 1842 to Leonard R. Jarvis and Susan (Thomas) Jarvis of New England, Athens County, Ohio. He also had a sister, Leonora Jarvis, born in 1850. George P. Jarvis served as a corporal in Company C of the 3rd Ohio Infantry, first in enlisting in the 3 months version of the regiment and then afterward enlisting for three years.

In our collection, we have eight letters written by George P. Jarvis during his service with the 3rd Ohio Infantry during 1862 and 1863. The first letter was written May 13, 1862, from Huntsville, Alabama, where George P. Jarvis was already suffering for the effects of the warm, southern climate, which he described to his family:

“The weather is very hot here now although it is only May and the Devil only knows how hot it will be next month. I think, however, that six or eight months will close this thing up.

Everything looks beautiful here as the season is quite forward. Corn is in some places waist high while in Ohio they can’t be more than just planting. Cotton is coming up finely and planters say looks well. I would not know anything about it if not told. The planters are generally very rich here — some of them own as many as six hundred slaves.”

In the same letter, he also described a letter written by a Confederate soldier serving in Hindman’s Legion, which he found and forwarded to his parents:

“The enclosed letter is one that I picked up. The writer, it seems, was a member of Hindman’s Legion — the same we shelled at Bowling Green. It seems from his letter that they were not whipped, they only ran to prevent such a catastrophe. He is wrong as regards the number killed as there was not a person killed during the whole cannonade. It will give you a pretty good idea of Southern intellect.”

George P. Jarvis in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Letter written by George P. Jarvis from Murfreesboro showing writing both horizontally and vertically across the page.
Letter written by George P. Jarvis from Murfreesboro showing writing both horizontally and vertically across the page.

In February of 1863, the 3rd Ohio Infantry was doing duty at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. George P. Jarvis had been away from the regiment for quite some time after being wounded at the Battle of Perryville in October, 1862. Upon his arrival he was very satisfied with the fortifications around Murfreesboro, writing:

“I wish I could give you an adequate idea of the strength of the fortifications here but I cannot. In the first place, I could not if I dared, and in the second place, I dare not if I could. Suffice it to say that should the enemy attack us here with the recent acquisition of forces we have received, they would most certainly be defeated.”

He also went on to describe the current state of the area around Murfreesboro and Nashville after prolonged fighting, and how much it had been ravaged by the war since he had last seen it:

“Last night Dan and I went over to the 18th Ohio and stayed all night. Had a very pleasant time. Got back this morn at ten o’clock. I was surprised to find the appearance of the country so materially changed from what it was one year ago or even since last Autumn when we passed over the country last. Then the fences were all up and everything betokened a thriving and industrious people. Now the whole aspect is changed. There is not a fence to be seen between Murfreesboro and Nashville and everything shows plainly the devastation and ruin that has been visited upon it.  Yet such is the fortune of war while the people of our own neighborhood — which by the way is not the most wealthy position of creation — are living in comparative opulence and ease, the people of this country — a county which in civil times ranked among the highest for wealth, opulence, and industry — are many of them wanting the most common necessities of life, and many are living on what in former times their own slaves would have denounced as unfit to eat. Would you like to have the war brought to your own door? I know well what your answer is. For my part, I would rather serve in this army for the term of my natural existence than have you suffer for one short six months the privations and trials of having a hostile force in your midst.”

The 3rd Ohio Infantry Captured by Confederate Forces.

The 3rd Ohio Infantry participated in Streight’s Raid in late April and early May, 1863 and were nearly all captured outside of Rome, Georgia on May 3, 1863. At the time, George P. Jarvis was serving as a clerk in the hospital, and consequently was one of the few not captured. In a letter written May 18, from Corinth, Mississippi, he expressed his belief that his regiment would soon be exchanged and reunite. Humorously, he believed that this would likely lead to him being sent home temporarily to save the government money while the regiment reorganized:

“Suppose I should be at home soon. Would it not surprise you? It would not me since I know that our entire regiment is captured with the exceptions of the twenty-two that are here now. They will of course be paroled and go to Columbus and of course there being so few of us will be ordered to join them, and the Gov. — not wishing to pay our board bill while we are doing nothing — will send us home. Now do not make up your minds to see me for this is only my opinion, but just consider me as absent till my time is out and then if I get home before, why! you will be disappointed, that’s all.”

George P. Jarvis in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Headquarters of Provost Marshal, Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Headquarters of Provost Marshal, Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The final letter written by George P. Jarvis in the Research Arsenal collection is datelined from Chattanooga, Tennessee and was written on October 10, 1863. By this time the 3rd Ohio Infantry had been exchanged and reorganized before being sent back out to duty.

In his letter, George P. Jarvis described some of the situation outside of Chattanooga as he awaited another clash with the Confederate Army:

“Matters at the front seem unchanged. They still appear to occupy the same ground they have occupied all along since the battle, and for the past two or three days they have shown no disposition to shell us. A part of their force is nearly in plain sight. I saw them today. They seem to be throwing up new works in the position they now hold. And they are so very near us that with some heavy guns they might do us considerable damage. Several times their sharpshooters have thrown minnie balls whizzing about our ears but no one hurt yet from them. One contraband was killed and one soldier wounded the other day by shells, but I don’t know but that I spoke of this in a previous letter. You ought to be here and see them sometimes. They look quite well at a distance, but in this case “distance” surely “lends enchantment to the view.” I had much rather behold them at that distance than have them any closer. They have a peculiar way of making themselves very unpleasant visitors.”

George P. Jarvis also boasted about the high opinion some of the Confederate Forces of Longstreet’s Corps held of the 3rd Ohio Infantry saying:

“The men of Longstreet’s Corps were very greatly surprised when they came here and found that we did not run at the first fire and those of them that I have seen say there is a vast difference between fighting us and the eastern army. They don’t call us Yankees at all. We are the “western men” and those of the eastern army are the ‘yankees.’”

In June, 1864, George P. Jarvis mustered out of the 3rd Ohio Infantry with the rest of the regiment. He went on to enlist as a quartermaster sergeant in the 18th Ohio Infantry in November, 1864 and served until the end of the war, finally mustering out for good on September 4, 1865 with the rank of 2nd lieutenant.

In 1873 George P. Jarvis married Roxavilla Beebe. He passed away in Parkersburg, West Virginia, on July 30, 1920.

We’d like to extend a special thanks to William Griffing of Spared & Shared for transcribing and sharing these letters.

To read the rest of George P. Jarvis’ letters and access thousands of other Civil War documents, sign up for a Research Arsenal membership.

Check out some of our other spotlight collections like Robert Alexander Garner of the 21st South Carolina Infantry and Andrew Jackson Clark of the 23rd Massachusetts Infantry.

 

Research Arsenal Spotlight 17: Robert Alexander Garner of the 21st South Carolina Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman

Our focus this week is on a collection of 14 documents related to Robert Alexander Garner of the 21st South Carolina Infantry. Robert Alexander Garner was born in 1843 to Charles Wesley Garner and Winifred (Parrott) Garner of Darlington, South Carolina.  The collection begins with one letter written before the start of the Civil War, in December, 1860, and another from September, 1861, shortly before he enlisted in the 21st South Carolina Infantry.

Writing on December 19, 1860, Robert Alexander Garner told his sister about some of the home news from Philadelphia, South Carolina. His letter paints a picture of a life untroubled by the war which was soon to come and change everyone’s lives forever:

“As I have neglected answering your letter so long, I will answer it today as it is raining and I have nothing else to do. It has been raining all day and looks very much like snow. We have had snow aplenty ever since last Friday night, but it is about all melted this morning.

Joe and myself have Just got through washing out our guns to take a hunt tomorrow. We went out the other evening and killed seven squirrels and one partridge, and could have more if we had time. Julia Sue and Jane is stuffing sausages today for Christmas.

Mr. Warren is learning Mr. Jordan how to take types [daguerreotypes or ambrotypes]. I expect Pa will sell his chemicals to him. He went over today to get them from him.”

Robert Alexander Garner and the 21st South Carolina Infantry

In November, 1861, the 21st South Carolina Infantry was organized. Robert Alexander Garner enlisted in Company B of the regiment, under command of Samuel Hugh Wilds. The company was also known as “Wild’s Rifles.” Throughout his letters written in 1862, Robert Alexander Garner is mostly concerned with small updates about camp life and the men serving alongside him.

In a letter written on February 14, 1862, Robert Alexander Garner shared some rumors he heard about Union troops landing at the mouth of the Santee River in South Carolina, as well as his opinion on one of the other captains in the 21st South Carolina Infantry:

“Captain [J. W.] Owen’s and seventy-five of his men [from Co. K] are gone to guard Pee Dee Bridge. We heard that the Yankees had landed at the mouth of Santee. Miller is quite sick with the measles. He has just sent for me to go over and see him so I will close for tonight.

Saturday morning. Miller is some better this morning than he was last night. Stockton made him go out yesterday and sweep the street. Said he was lying up pretending that he was sick when he was not and he commenced getting worse right off. All or the most of Stockton’s men says he is the meanest captain on the field.”

In a short letter written on April 19, 1862, Robert Alexander Garner told his father about a flag that had been presented to the 21st South Carolina Infantry, saying, “ The ladies presented our regiment a flag the other day—think a quite pretty [one]. On one side is a hornets nest and cannon. On the opposite side is the rising sun.”

The 21st South Carolina Infantry at Petersburg

Petersburg fortifications like the ones shown here were once manned by soldiers of the 21st South Carolina Infantry including Robert Alexander Garner.
Outer line of Confederate fortifications, in front of Petersburg, Va. captured by 18th Army Corps, June 15, 1864.

In the Spring of 1864, the 21st South Carolina Infantry was moved to Petersburg, Virginia after having been stationed near Charleston, South Carolina for quite some time. For Robert Alexander Garner, this meant a shift to very hard fighting. Unlike his earlier letters focused more on camp life, in 1864 Robert Alexander Garner’s correspondence was focused on the battlefield.

On May 8, 1864, Robert Alexander Garner wrote to his father about some of the recent fighting in front of Petersburg, Virginia:

“We landed here Friday evening about three o’clock and ordered in line of battle. Met the enemy about half past four. Fought them about an hour. I think we gave them a decent thrashing. They retired with much confusion. We lost three killed and about twenty wounded from our regiment the twenty-fifth, which numbered (600) six hundred together. The Yankees carried off their dead and wounded except five dead and wounded. We went after dark and found them. Colonel [Robert F.] Graham was in command of our forces. The Yankees force was very heavy. Looked like there was about seven regiments. Yesterday they pitched again about eleven o’clock [and] continued until about three o’clock.

Our company and Capt. Owens’ was not in it yesterday. We were thrown out as skirmishers but the regiment was in it all and suffered a good deal. [Lt.] Col. [Alonzo T.] Dargan was killed. Col. [Robert F.] Graham got two wounds. Capt. [Hannibal] Legette got two or three wounds. Capt. [J. A. W.] Thomas was wounded. [1st Sgt.] Evander White was killed. This is about all the names I have learned yet the loss on both sides is heavy. They [have] taken the railroad from us once but we charged them and taken it back again. We hold the battle ground.”

Ten days later, Robert Alexander Garner wrote to his father again with a grim update about the recent Battle of Drewry’s Bluff which saw the 21st South Carolina Infantry take heavy casualties:

“Since I wrote to you last I have seen hard times and I’m afraid will see worse soon. We left Petersburg last Thursday [12 May], went about 6 or 7 miles on the Richmond road to our fortifications and made a stand there. The enemy came up that night. Had some fighting Saturday and Sunday between the pickets. Monday morning [16 May] by ten we charged on their fortifications, drove them out of them, killing, wounding and capturing numbers of them. I never saw the like of dead and wounded before. I don’t know their loss—only what I have heard. Have not seen any account of it in the papers yet. We will get it today or tomorrow, I guess.

The general opinion is that their loss is not less than five thousand killed, wounded, and prisoners. Our loss is not more than five hundred. We have followed them [with]in three miles of their gunboats in the James River. Very heavy firing going on now between the pickets now. I think General Beauregard intends on advancing on them again today. I hope if he does, we will give them another decent beating as we did Monday.

Our Brigade was cut up badly although we captured five pieces of artillery from them (our Brigade). Jeff Davis was there during the fight. Our company had 5 killed—Lt. [John L.] Hart, Mr. Coats, Caleb Beck, Robert Haguewood, Joe Rhodes; and eleven wounded—Jesse Parrott (thigh broke—think it will have to be taken off), Harrison Kelly in leg (since amputated), James Kelly in arm, Joel Harrell in arm, W[illiam] Stewart [in] hand, E[mory] Galloway [in] foot, W. [Blackman] in thigh, Ed[ward] DuBose [in] foot, [Augusta E.] Guss Law [in] face, W[illiam] Beck [in] thigh [unreadable] and heart [or breast?]. A. J. [Rhodes].”

The letter was written on a torn piece of paper printed for making monthly returns, illustrating the shortage of paper that was common in Confederate regiments.

Robert Alexander Garner and the Battle of Cold Harbor

Confederate lines at Cold Harbor, Virginia. Robert Alexander was killed during the Battle of Cold Harbor on June 6, 1864.
Confederate lines at Cold Harbor, Virginia.

Robert Alexander Garner’s final letter in the collection was written on June 4, 1864, in the midst of the Battle of Cold Harbor. He datelined it from the “Lines of Gen. Lee’s Army” which was then engaged in defending the city of Richmond, Virginia, from the Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant. In his letter, Robert Alexander first gives a summary of the fighting so far and the losses the 21st South Carolina Infantry suffered. He concluded with a description of the recent fighting and his hope for the future:

“The Yankees made a charge all along our lines yesterday. Tis reported that they were defeated all along the lines but I don’t know how true it is. I can speak for the lines in front of us; they were driven back with a big loss. I think we will keep Old Grant out of Richmond yet. I went by home as we came here. Stayed five days as we have to go to work on entrenchments. I will have to close. Let me hear from you soon.”

Tragically, Robert Alexander Garner was killed in battle on June 6, 1864, just two days after this letter was written.

We’d like to give a special thanks to William Griffing of Spared & Shared for his work in transcribing and sharing these letters.

To read the full collection of these letters, as well as access thousands more letters and Civil War documents, sign up for a Research Arsenal membership.

If you enjoyed this spotlight, check out some of our other features on Andrew Jackson Clark of the 23rd Massachusetts Infantry and David Walker Beatty of the 63rd Pennsylvania Infantry.

Research Arsenal Spotlight 16: Andrew Jackson Clark of the 23rd Massachusetts Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman

Andrew Jackson Clark was born in 1837 to Melzar Wentworth Clark and Sabina Hobart (Lincoln) Clark of Hingham, Massachusetts. Before the Civil War, Andrew Jackson Clark worked as a painter and was a volunteer fireman. He first served in the Lincoln Light Infantry (also known as Company I of the 14th Massachusetts) at the outbreak of the war for three months. He then served in Company H of the 23rd Massachusetts Infantry and during that service composed the twenty-eight letters in our Research Arsenal collection.

Andrew Jackson Clark first enrolled in the 23rd Massachusetts Infantry on October 9, 1861. His letters in this collection begin on December 13, 1861 while in Annapolis, Maryland and mostly pertain to matters at home as he waits for his regiment to be sent out. In a letter from December 14, 1861, he gave a brief account of his camp and the vicinity:

“On our extreme is the camp of the D’Epineuil Zouaves. Nearly opposite is the 51st Pennsylvania which is trimmed up with arches and festoons of evergreens & flags, & looks like a vast amphitheater arranged for some great holiday. On the left are the camps of the 25th & 27th Mass., & the 8th & 16th Conn., all trimmed in truly [royal] style. Then while guard mounting or on dress parade on their numerous parade grounds with the bands a playing, the scene is truly beautiful—especially in the eyes of a soldier.”

The 23rd Massachusetts Infantry and New Bern, North Carolina

Scenes of New Bern, North Carolina where the 23rd Massachusetts Infantry was stationed.
Illustration of the Burnside Expedition including scenes of New Bern, North Carolina from Harper’s Weekly April 19, 1862 via University of North Carolina.

By June, 1862, the 23rd Massachusetts had been assigned to provost duty in the city of New Bern, North Carolina. On July 27, 1862, Andrew Jackson Clark wrote  home to his sister Ada about an incident of their regiment being fired on while acting as guards in the city and their manner of revenge:

“The monotony of the past few weeks has been somewhat disturbed within the past few days. Some fiends in human flesh have under cover of dark & stormy nights taken the advantage & fired upon several of our sentries which are stationed on the corners of the streets in different parts of the city. Double guards were posted & every attempt was made to ferret out the villains who perpetrated these diabolical acts. On Thursday night the guard on post [ ] of the 3rd District was fired upon & an arrest was made in the following manner. The guard was posted as usual while a second sentry [hid] himself and his arms in the vicinity. In this way he surprised & arrested a person who was prowling around there. A pistol & a large dirk knife was found upon his person. On Friday night the guard [Michael A. Galvin] on Post 5, 3rd District, was fired upon and shot through the fleshy part of his thigh (he belongs to Co. C of Glocester). Col. Kurtz instantly turned out the whole guard and went up there & arrested seven persons that night. A negro who was secreted nearby saw the flash of the gun which proceeded from the door of a large two-story house opposite.

The next morning without giving them any previous warning, the whole regiment armed with arms, axes, ropes, &c. marched up there & surrounded the house, placed everything in it out in the street, turned out the women & children & then commenced the work of destruction of all the property on the place. They leveled the house with several others which were connected with it, tore down the fences and out buildings, cut down the fruit trees, destroyed the products of a nice kitchen garden, leveled a splendid field of corn, and in fact, destroyed everything of value belonging to the estate. It was some fun for the boys maddened by the numerous attempts at their lives. The regiment went in with a will and worked like tigers until everything lay in ruins. A large crowd of citizens & soldiers were present & saw the just chastisement administered. It was not severe enough for the men—or fiends, for they do not deserve the name of men who will thus attempt to murder & assassinate the guards who are stationed about this city for the sole protection of the citizens & their property. They deserve to be hung at the nearest lamp post & should they be caught in the act, they will not meet with a much better fall to further their infernal designs. The street gas lights have several times been extinguished. A small field piece now sits half loaded in front of the guard house & should they attempt it again, they will get blowed to where they belong with little warning.”

In the same letter, Andrew Jackson Clark provided an update of the incident written on July 29:

“Since writing the above, I learn that the fiend who fired upon & shot the sentry was arrested Sunday morning & thrown into jail. He will have a trial & probably he may be hung. A thorough search has been made & arms of all description have been found secreted in different parts of the town consisting mostly of rifles, double & single barreled muskets, &c., besides powder & balls. Most of them were loaded. A splendid rifle & a double-barreled gun was found in the house from where the shot was fired Friday night. Both were loaded. There has been no more firing since then.”

Andrew Jackson Clark reflects on recruitment and the treatment of soldiers

In a letter from September 14, 1862, Andrew Jackson Clark wrote to his brother, George Clark, some of his thoughts about the government’s various bounties and incentives to get more men to enlist in the army. While he understood the need for more soldiers quite clearly, the poor treatment of soldiers whenever they returned home during furloughs, and the government’s methods to prevent desertion during that time, left a sour taste in his mouth:

“I don’t know what to make of this government & the people at this time. They offer every inducement to men to enlist, paying them exorbitant prices as bounty money & getting a better class (as the paper says) for their money. Yet they treat the men who have stood the brunt of a year & a half’s campaign like criminals or worse. Should a soldier from the hardships he has had to endure get sick, broken down and perhaps discouraged, get a furlough from his surgeon and goes home to recruit his exhausted strength, the minute he steps his foot in Northern soil a price is set upon his head, hunt him down [and is told] he has no business here—send him back to face the rebel bullets without one word of consolation from his friends. Should they live in a neighboring town & he should attempt to visit them, the police will be put upon his back & he will be arrested like a common felon. Some sneaking coward will give them the wink & get five dollars for his trouble should he be taken prisoner & let off on his parole. He must be confined—yes, held a prisoner by our own government far from the friends he has earned a right to see, whose benignant smiles & tender care he needs to refit him for active service. Oh, consistency, thou art a jewel. I have long wished to speak of these things & call them to the mind of the people in their true light but I find I am inadequate to the task.

It would break the patriotism of a man whose love of country was as strong & unbending as steel itself to see the harm of all the things heaped upon the poor soldiers of the army of the Union. Did I not know I was doing my duty, not to individuals but to my country so far as lies in m power, humble though it may be. Did I not believe that we are right & through the mercy of God will triumph over our enemies who seek to tear down as fair a government as ever existed (& if it is right conducted can do a great deal of good to suffering humanity), I should grow sick at heart & despair of any good coming out of this sinful world. I should wish myself dead before I had enlisted in the U. S. service. But I will say no more. I do not dare to write the truth as it exists. Suffice it that as long as I retain my health & strength, I shall struggle against the enemies of my country wherever they exist until this rebellion is ended. Should I be called upon to sacrifice my life in her defense, I shall die knowing that I have done my whole duty.”

Return of Andrew Jackson Clark and the 23rd Massachusetts Infantry

Image of Fortress Monroe. Andrew Jackson Clark was quarantined on ship outside of the Fort while awaiting their mustering out.
Image of Fortress Monroe. The 23rd Massachusetts was quarantined on ship outside of the Fort while awaiting their mustering out.

Though he battled some sickness throughout his service and toward the end of his term was working at a nurse at the US General Hospital in Hampton, Virginia, Andrew Jackson Clark remained healthy enough to serve out his original three year term and be discharged with the rest of the members of the 23rd Massachusetts Infantry that did not reenlist. On their way home, they faced a delay due to an outbreak of yellow fever in New Bern which forced their ship to be quarantined off of Fortress Monroe. In a letter dated September 30, 1864, Andrew Jackson Clark wrote to his brother about the delay:

“I expected to answer your letter in person but am prevented from doing so by an unforeseen delay. Here we are on our way home after an absence of three years delayed for ten days why what, you will ask. Why we are in quarantine. Have we got the yellow fever on board? Not a bit of it but it is in Newbern, therefore every vessel hailing from the woebegone place is ordered in quarantine.

The regiment has not been in Newbern and most of it not within ten miles of there. Had we come five days sooner (which but for the want of a little spunk in our officers we might have done) or had we come by the way of Beaufort, North Carolina, or had not taken any citizens aboard, we might have passed all right. But as it is, I don’t see but we have got to stop here on a crowded transport with constant exposure of the men to bad air, wet dampness, &c. which is enough to bring on the fever if nothing more. Here we have to get to lie for 8 days longer. Possibly we may get off before that time as every exertion is being made to that effect. At any rate to be put ashore somewhere where we will be alright. To make the matter worse, a man belonging to Co. F died last night of consumption and his body still lays in the long boat alongside because no one can go ashore until someone comes out to us.”

When the quarantine ended, Andrew Jackson Clark mustered out of the 23rd Massachusetts Infantry on October 13, 1864. He returned to civilian life in Massachusetts and in 1869 married Evelina M. Caine. He passed away in 1927.

We’d like to give a special thanks to William Griffing of Spared & Shared for his work in sharing and transcribing these letters.

If you’d like to read more of Andrew Jackson Clark’s letters, as well as thousands of other Civil War letters, sign up for a Research Arsenal membership.

You can also check out some of our other recently featured collections, like David Walker Beatty of the 63rd Pennsylvania Infantry and Alfred Homer Johnson of the 30th Georgia Infantry.

 

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