Tag: Civil war letters

Research Arsenal Spotlight 14: Alfred Homer Johnson of the 30th Georgia Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman

This week our spotlight is on a collection of five letters related to Alfred Homer Johnson who served as a private in Company F of the 30th Georgia Infantry. Alfred Homer Johnson was the son of Handy William Johnson and Frances Matilda (McKneeley) Johnson and was born in Griffin, Georgia. During the war, Handy William Johnson was part of the 2nd Georgia Reserves, while four of his sons, including Alfred Homer Johnson, also joined the Confederate army.

Alfred Homer Johnson first enlisted for one year in Company C of the 39th Georgia Infantry on September 25, 1861. Around May, 1862, he enlisted for the duration of the war in the 30th Georgia Infantry, this time in Company F. Two of his brothers served in the same regiment: James Archibald Johnson and William Gilben “Gip” “Dill” Johnson. A third brother, O. Sidney Johnson, served in the 3rd Georgia Reserves until also transferring to Company F of the 30th Georgia Infantry in May, 1864.

The 30th Georgia Infantry in South Carolina

View of Charleston, South Carolina.

The first letter in our collection written by Alfred Homer Johnson on April 8, 1863. By this time he had already been serving in the 30th Georgia Infantry for about a year. His brothers, James Archibald Johnson, and William Gilben “Gip” Johnson were also serving with him. His youngest brother, O. Sidney Johnson, was about 15 years old and still to young to join the regiment.

The 30th Georgia Infantry had already served duty in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina. At the present moment they were part of the defenses of Charleston, South Carolina. And in his letter, Alfred Homer Johnson wrote that he expected a fight soon:

“We are well. I hant got any news to write—only we are here waiting for a fight. We are expecting to be ordered to the battlefield every hour. The Yankees has 9 ironclads inside of the bar now and 40 standing just below the bar now and 75 transports down in the river. That is the news we get out here. I don’t know how true it may be.

We left Gip at Savannah. He is well. We will go back to Savannah just as soon as the excitement is over here at Charleston.”

Despite Alfred Homer Johnson’s fears of an imminent battle, the 30th Georgia Infantry was soon removed from Charleston and sent to Mississippi. It was there that he faced a much more trying moment at the Battle of Jackson.

Alfred Homer Johnson and the Battle of Jackson, Mississippi

Illustration of the Battle of Jackson, Mississippi by A. E. Mathews of the 31st Ohio Infantry via Wikimedia.

In May of 1863, the 30th Georgia Infantry was stationed in Mississippi and facing off against General Ulysses S. Grant’s Vicksburg Campaign. In between the Union Army and Vicksburg was the city of Jackson, Mississippi, and Confederate Forces under command of General Joseph E. Johnston.

Believing that the city could not be defended, General Johnston had his forces withdraw, and his rear guard clashed with Union forces on May 14, 1863. In a letter written on May 23, Alfred Homer Johnson detailed the battle to his parents and the whereabouts of his brothers serving with him:

“There has been a fight at Jackson. We was there in time of the fight. I can’t say that we was in it although all of the boys think we was in it. It is true we was on the battlefield. I only shot three times and if they had come in sight of me, I would have shot more but I wanted to see them. The [buns?] and balls fell very thick around us. I was not scared a bit—more than if it had a been hail. James was not there in the time of the fight, nor Gip. I sent him off in the rear. The Yankees would have taken every one of us if we’ens hadn’t got away just as we did. General Johnston did not intend to fight there. Our force commenced retreating in the night before the fight came next morning. We was left there to hold them in check so our force could get away.

We lost everything we had at Jackson—our clothes, knapsacks, and blankets. We hant got anything, only what we have got on. We lie on the ground every night by the fire. I done about as well with[out] blankets as I done with them. We will get some clothes and blankets I reckon before long. We have been marching every day since we have been here through the mud and it has been raining a great deal. The water is bad and hard to get.

The Yankees got three of our company—William Johnson and William Willis and Arch Head. It is some spoken that Head let the Yankees take him on purpose. I can’t say whether he did or not.”

Death of O. Sidney Johnson

In July, 1864 tragedy repeatedly struck the Johnson family. A short note sent to Handy Johnson at that time revealed grim news about three of his four sons in the Confederate Army:

“Mr. Johnson,

I will send you a word about your boys. I brought a letter from Lieut. J. M. Wise last night. Dilly are wounded in the foot very bad—left foot. Alfred in the face. Sidney are dead. He died on the 30th of June in Atlanta. — L. J. Foster”

Alfred Homer Johnson was wounded during the fighting at Kennesaw Mountain on or around June 27, 1864. His brother, O. Sidney Johnson, died from disease. William Gilben “Dilly” Johnson’s wound in the foot was recoverable, and he not only survived the war but lived until 1920.

On July 14, 1864, Alfred Homer Johnson had recovered enough from his own wounds to write to his family about the sad loss:

“Dear and beloved Mother and Father,

I seat myself to drop a few lines which will inform you of my troubles that is inflicted on me. The solemn and sad news that has come to my ear is this—that I have lost one of my brothers. I heard today that Sidney is passed from time to eternity. Oh! that the poor boy is better off than he was before. He departed from this life to another world. I was impressed that the poor boy could not stand a camp life. I hope the poor boy is better off. I hope he is where there is no war and trouble to be with him.

— Alfred H. Johnson”

Alfred Homer Johnson survived until the end of the Civil War, but finally succumbed to his wounds in 1866. His brother, James Archibald Johnson, also died of wounds received earlier on September 7, 1864.

You can read more of the Alfred Homer Johnson’s letters as well as letters by his brother, James Archibald Johnson, 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 documents.

If you enjoyed this spotlight, you might want to check out some of our other features, like this post on a photo album of the 25th Ohio Infantry and our collection of letters by Rufus P. Staniels of the 13th New Hampshire Infantry.

 

Research Arsenal Spotlight 12: Rufus P. Staniels 13th New Hampshire Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman
Photo of Rufus P. Staniels via findagrave.com.

Rufus Putnam Staniels was born in 1833 in Chichester, New Hampshire to Charles Herbert Staniels and Elizabeth N. (Johnson) Staniels. He enlisted in Co. C of the 13th New Hampshire Infantry as a private in August, 1862, and was mustered in as a second lieutenant in the same company. On February 20, 1863, he was appointed first lieutenant of Company H. Rufus P. Staniels wrote most of his letters to Selina Aiken Cook, whom he married after the war on November 28, 1865. The vast majority of the letters in this collection were written during 1864, though there are also a few from 1862.

Changes in the 13th New Hampshire Infantry

While Rufus P. Staniels joined the 13th New Hampshire when it was first formed in 1862, by February, 1864 it was undergoing some drastic changes in the men that made it up. In a letter  to Selina Cook dated February 5, 1864, he outlined a few of those changes. The first of the changes was the addition of substitutes into the service, some of which were very unreliable, as Rufus P. Staniels described:

“One of the men of old “H” came in to see me last night (one of the subs). Said he had lost every cent of his money ($76.00). Another sub, his tent mate, got it away from him by gambling. He did not even pay the sutler whom he owes I found today $15.00. He wanted to know if there was not some way by which he could get his money back again, but the one who won it from him went away yesterday A. M. & we have not seen him since — presume he has deserted. The introduction of these subs & new recruits into the regiment has changed it very much & not for the better.”

A second source of changing personnel was that many of the regiment’s initial soldiers and non-commissioned officers were leaving for appointments as commissioned officers in the various US Colored Troops regiments that had begun forming.

“Quite a number of non-commissioned officers & privates from this regiment have been up to Washington and been examined for positions as officers in negro regiments & the most of them have been successful, receiving appointments as captains, & 1st and 2nd lieutenants. I think as many as a dozen have already received appointments from this regiment. One of the sergeants of old “H” went up the other day & got an appointment as captain. The orderly sergeant is going up the first of the week to be examined.”

In a letter from February 18, 1864, Rufus P. Staniels related another story of substitute who was coerced into enlisting under promise of a bounty that never fully materialized and wanted to get his discharge.

“He says that when they arrived at Concord, he went to a saloon together with the man who had engaged him & also met another man there. Was invited to drink liquor several times but refused and was finally told by them that business was dull & he had better enlist & he finally yielded on condition that they should pay him $275.00. They paid him $175.00 & told him they would pay the other hundred in ten days since which he has seen neither men or money. And what they did pay him was stolen from him a few days after coming into camp. His age is 16 last May but he gave it as twenty through their influence. So you can see by this the manner in which many of the subs were obtained last fall. He is a pretty smart boy, wholly uneducated, & seems disposed to do his duty & is not very anxious to get out of the service — only on account of his mother, he says. I do not think they will succeed in getting his discharge.”

Rufus P. Staniels Wounded at Cold Harbor

Stereoscopic view of Cold Harbor Battlefield.

On June 1st, 1864, Lieutenant Rufus P. Staniels was severely wounded at the Battle of Cold Harbor. While advancing with a line of skirmishers, he was struck in the right clavicle by a minié ball which shattered the bone and lodged in the lower part of his right lung. There is a long account of Rufus P. Staniels’ injury in the regimental history  of the 13th New Hampshire Infantry based on letter he wrote in 1887 to the book’s author, S. Millet Thompson.

Salina Cook received a rather alarming letter a few days after the battle, written by Quartermaster Sergeant Charlie Ames of the 13th New Hampshire Infantry.

“Miss Cook,

At the request of Lt. Staniels I write you a few lines this morning to inform you of his safe arrival here in the hospital. In a recent engagement upon the 1st of June at Cold Harbor during a charge made by the 2nd Brigade he received quite a severe wound in the right shoulder which prevents him from writing you, but do not give yourself any uneasiness concerning him — his wound is not dangerous, has been dressed and is doing nicely. He is in the best of spirits & sitting near me on the bed. He will doubtless go from here to some general hospital in a day or two and requests me to say that he will write to you again as soon as he is located. The 13th N. H. lost quite heavily. The Col. was slightly wounded by a spent ball. Two Captains & two lieutenants wounded. Number killed about 15, wounded 50, missing 15.”

On the 9th of June, 1864, Rufus P. Staniels was able to write a short note to Salina of his own:

“I arrived here last night in good condition. My wound is pretty painful but I think is doing well. We are resting good here. I shall try & start for home in a day or two. I would love to be there now. Please do not give grounds for any uneasiness. Excuse brevity.

Yours as ever, — Rufus.”

Rufus P. Staniels’ Promotion to Captain and Service as Assistant Adjutant General

On July 15, 1864 Rufus P. Staniels was promoted to captain of company H, though he remailed in the hospital. After several weeks recovering from his wound, Rufus P. Staniels paid a visit to his regiment on July 31, 1864 which he then detailed in a letter to Selina on August 3, 1864. He was met with a grizzly sight of wounded men from both armies being left on the field while commanders tried without success to arrange for a flag of truce to remove and care for them:

“On Sunday [31 July] I started out again as our regiment had not come in & found it after awhile occupying the front line of works & directly in front of the ruins of the fort. The reb lines run along about 25 to 35 rods [140-200 yards] in front & on a line with the destroyed fort. The field between the two lines was literally strewn with the dead & wounded which had been left upon the field & in some places near the fort they lay in piles. Several flags of truce went out from our line during the P. M. & were met midway between the lines by a reb truce & our officers made every effort to arrange for the burial of the dead & care of the wounded, but for some reason or other it could not be satisfactorily arranged & consequently the wounded men still left to suffer until agony from hunger & thirst & the scorching rays of the sun. When the flags were out, it was of course a signal for a cessation of hostilities & we would mount the works & look over the field & at the rebs & the rebs would look at us. The smell of the dead was very offensive & it was enough to make one sick at heart to look over that field & see the poor sufferers moving their handkerchiefs or caps & trying to drive away the flies & we could well imagine the condition of their wounds. I believe that early in the morning they had run out a flag of truce & had supplied some of them with water & our boys observed several instances where the rebs carefully raised & gave water to our wounded negro soldiers who had been left upon the field.”

After the visit, Rufus P. Staniels returned to the hospital to continue his recovery. On November 19, 1864 he was appointed as an Acting Assistant Adjutant General for the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 18th Army Corps. He mustered out on June 21, 1865 and died January, 4, 1890.

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

The full collection of Rufus P. Staniels, as well as thousands of other Civil War letters and documents can be accessed with a Research Arsenal membership.

If you enjoyed this article, check out some of our other spotlight collections like the US Cavalry Returns and the collection of letters from Edward Horatio Graves of the 10th Massachusetts Infantry.

Research Arsenal Spotlight 10: Edward Horatio Graves and the 10th Massachusetts Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman

Edward Horatio Graves was born in Easthampton, Massachusetts in 1839, the son of Horatio Nelson Graves and Martha (Arms) Graves. His father died in 1852. The Research Arsenal collection contains 24 letters pertaining to Edward Horatio Graves. 9 were written by Edward Horatio Graves to his mother, and the remaining 15 were received by Graves from his family and friends. The letters begin in 1857 and end in June 1864.

Edward Horatio Graves enlisted in the 10th Massachusetts Infantry on June 21, 1861. He served as quartermaster sergeant before being commissioned as a lieutenant in 1863. He corresponded frequently with his mother, Martha (Arms) Graves, his siblings, and with a few different women friends.

Enlisting in the 10th Massachusetts Infantry

Edward Horatio Graves’ first letter to his mother was written on June 26, 1861. In it he describes his arrival at his regiment’s camp and the less-than-stellar accommodations they were provided, though his spirits were still high:

“We arrived here Sunday noon and marched immediately to Hampden Park where we have remained ever since. As soon as we arrived we commenced making preparations to sleep and get some straw and placed in our Bunks. I am now quartered in what used to be the Barn occupied by the horses at Horse Shows.”

The enlistment ceremony also saw some excitement, with several volunteers getting cold feet and being dealt with in a harsh manner:

“When we were sworn in we being the right were sworn in first and the N. Adams Company when their turn came to be sworn in some fifteen backed out and you ought to have seen the rest of the Co. take those poor men and strip their uniform off and drum them out with scarcely no clothing at all on and one man a kind of ring leader they shaved half his hair and whiskers off and then drummed him out without any hat. I felt sorry for him but he ought not to have volunteered his services.”

In the fall of 1861, the 10th Massachusetts Infantry was stationed at Brightwood in Washington, D.C. The regiment saw many of its members suffering from fever, and two women came to them from Massachusetts to aid in the hospital as nurses.

One of the women, a widow by the name of Anne Sophia (Clapp) Merrick, seems to have been known by Edward Horatio Graves, and is mentioned by him in a letter to his mother written on October 22, 1861, but the exact nature of their relationship was never revealed. Martha (Arms) Graves does refer to a “Mr. Bigheaded Clapp” in one of her letters, which is likely some relative of Anne Sophia (Clapp) Merrick. Mrs. Merrick was held in much higher esteem than her male relative:

“Mrs. Merrick is very much liked and I believe she is pleased with her position. I have not as yet claimed any relationship and shall not until I am placed under her charge which I trust I shall never be. I have been unusually healthy but we have been quite sickly here having had the Typhoid fever and about ten have died.”

Photo of Mrs. Anna Sophia Merrick and Miss Helena Wolcott, two women who served as nurses for the 10th Massachusetts Infantry in the fall of 1861. via Archive.org

Edward Horatio Graves in 1862

In August of 1862, the 10th Massachusetts Infantry was stationed at Harrison’s Landing, where Edward Horatio Graves wrote to his mother about some recent excitement in an August 3rd letter:

“We were aroused the other night about 12:00 by a furious cannonading coming from the River and the next morning I found upon enquiring down by the wharf that the Rebels had erected several batteries across the James River for the purpose of destroying the transports in the stream but the Capts of the transports had presence of mind enough to raise their lanterns to the top of their masts and thus deranged their fire and their shots went over some of them falling into the camp and doing some damage. Killed 8 or 10 men and several horses. Our heavy siege guns soon silenced them and yesterday when our forces went over they found that the Rebs had skedaddled and left several of their artillery which proved that they were in a hurry. It created some excitement necessarily as we thought that it might be a blind to draw our attention while they attacked us in front. All our reconnaissances have failed to find the enemy in force yet and many are the conjectures as to where they have gone.”

By the end of the month, Edward Horatio Graves had fallen ill and wrote to his family from the hospital:

“My Dear Mother,

Your kind letter came duly to hand and found me flat upon my back.

I was brought here to this Hospital 4 days ago in an ambulance completely worn out with our retreat from Harrison’s Landing. We left Harrison’s L. on Friday and I was comparatively well when we started but was seized with a sudden faintness and was obliged to leave my horse and get into one of the Baggage wagons where I stayed until we got to Williamsburg.”

Battle of the Wilderness

Camp of the 10th Massachusetts Infantry near Washington, D.C.

By 1864, Edward Horatio Graves had been promoted to 1st lieutenant of company K. In May, 1864, the 10th Massachusetts Infantry fought in the Battle of the Wilderness and Edward Horatio Graves was seriously wounded.

Martha (Arms) Graves wrote to her son on May 31, 1864, after hearing that he had been wounded. Her letter reflects her strongly religious nature:

“I hope you are very thankful as we are that “that bullet” did not take life. It was sent by an unerring hand. There was no chance in the matter at all and now don’t forget that your spared life is a consecrated life from the first I have only asked your life that it might honor God. You have nobly honored him in serving your Country Suffering bleeding for Freedom the second best gift of God to man. We believe our nation will be justified by its own blood. Let us believe that the blood of Jesus Christ can purify us + that is the highest honor we can give to God.”

Edward Horatio Graves replied to his mother’s letter on June 2, and gave her a few further details on his health:

“You see that I am still here and I cannot see much improvement yet although I am now able to sit up 5 minutes to a time which will tend I think to strengthen me. I have strong notion of coming home as I am how would that do. I don’t suppose you could have two invalids in the home at the same time but I have got so tired and sick of the place that I think it hinders me from getting well as fast as I might. The Dr. told me this morning that he did not think it would harm me much to go.”

Despite his serious wound, Edward Horatio Graves eventually recovered and returned home. He passed away in 1880 at the age of 41. To read the full collection of letters, sign up for a Research Arsenal membership.

Learn about other collections in our spotlight such as James Webster Carr of the 2nd New Hampshire Infantry and Asa “Frank” Chester of the 20th Illinois Infantry.

 

 

 

Research Arsenal Spotlight 9: James Webster Carr of the 2nd New Hampshire Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman
CDV of James Webster Carr.

James Webster Carr initially served as Captain of Company C, 2nd New Hampshire Infantry. By the end of his three-year term of service, he would be promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment, though his letters indicate that he was acting in that capacity far earlier than his actual promotion. James Webster Carr was born in New Hampshire, but he and his wife were living out west before the outbreak of the war and he returned to New Hampshire to serve.

In the Research Arsenal collection, we have 9 letters written by James Webster Carr and his wife, Jane Dorothy (Goodhue) Carr, all of them sent to a friend of theirs in Illinois, William Penn Canton. Through these letters, they show their opinions on the war as well as details of the battles James Webster Carr fought.

James Webster Carr and the Outbreak of the Civil War

James Webster Carr’s first letter in the Research Arsenal collection was written on March 11, 1861, a full month before the outbreak of the war, though it was clear from his letter that he expected it to begin soon.

Writing about the politics of the time and possibility of southern succession, James Webster Carr said:

“Our annual town meetings come off tomorrow all through the state. I think ‘Old Abe will win.’ As far as secession is concerned, I wish that all the slave states might be set off together so that we might have a free country if t’was not so large. In regard to fighting the South and “whipping them into the truces” as they tell about, I have not much courage for that (not but what they deserve it and I should like to shoot some of them well enough). But it would be fighting to gain just what I want to get rid of, so all I can do is to hope and pray that they will stick to secession and that the border states will join them and that finally a convention of all the states will be called and vote them out of the Union. But I fear that war is inevitable and that we shall see bloody times.”

James Webster Carr also had gloomy prospects about a Union victory should war come:

“In case of a war, I should not be surprised if the South were victorious at first if not in the end, for they will be fighting for what they call liberty and for their homes, while our soldiers will be as the English were in the [American] Revolution, fighting for pay. If war comes, we must not let the regular paid army do the fighting but must arise one and all and strike for real liberty now and forever to all mankind or there is no use in fighting at all.”

James Webster Carr’s next update came in a short and terse letter written several days after the First Battle of Bull Run, in which the 2nd New Hampshire Infantry took heavy losses. He wrote:

“Have had a very hard battle and a harder retreat. But it has pleased the Lord to keep me safe. Have lost from my company 13 men in missing and wounded. The Colonel [Gilman Marston] & one Captain was all the commissioned officers that were wounded in our regiment. About 100 wounded & missing in 2nd New Hampshire Volunteers.”

Recruiting Service for the 2nd New Hampshire Infantry

A group of men from Company G, 2nd New Hampshire Infantry in 1862.

After the First Battle of Bull Run, James Webster Carr returned to New Hampshire to work on recruiting more men for the 2nd New Hampshire Infantry. In a letter  from Bladensburg, Maryland on September 22, 1861, James Webster Carr wrote:

“I have a full company now. I succeeded in getting 215 recruits in New Hampshire and have them all here now and one regiment is in good shape and the brigade is considered one of the best now in the field. We have the best arms. One company with Sharps rifles; the rest [carry] the new Springfield rifle minié ball &c.”

He also revealed the weapon he procured for himself:

“I have bought me a Sharps breach-loading carbine. Paid 42 dollars for it as I came through New York. Mean to sling it on my shoulder the next battle we have and if a few of those rebels do not bite the dust, t’will be because they kill me first.”

Increased Duties in the 2nd New Hampshire Infantry

In the Winter of early 1862, James Webster Carr’s wife, Jane, provide a couple of short updates about her husband’s condition, revealing more of the hardships he was facing than he typically mentioned in his own letters. On January 5, 1862, she wrote:

“James was not very well when he wrote. Had been threatened with a fever and I am somewhat worried about him for fear he will have the typhoid fever. He is such a fever subject and he has lost a number of his men by it within a short time. I do not believe it is a healthy place where they are now.”

In her next letter on February 23, 1862, she added:

“The mud is so deep where they are on the Potomac now, they can only exist and so much damp weather is not very wholesome, but James writes as though they were in good spirits and rejoicing at the good news they hear every day from other quarters of the army. They long for the mud to dry up so they can cross [the Rappahannock] and have one more battle where they can say they did not run. I want it to come so that it may be over but still dread it for fear he may get killed.”

Writing February 11, 1863, James Webster Carr detailed his extensive experience in the regiment up to that point.

“I have been in fourteen battles. There [has] never been any part of our regiment engaged either in skirmish or battle but what I have been one of the number. I commanded the line of advance at the 2nd Fair Oaks or Seven Pines, Va. [On the] 23rd June, I was the only captain with our regiment at Malvern Hill [on the] 1st [of July], and there was but one other at Malvern Hill [on the] 2nd when the gallant Jo. Hooker took us up and down the Rebels from the hill a few days before we left Harrison Landing. But some of those captains that took their leaves and traveled during the Seven Days before Richmond managed to get home and get promoted into some of the new regiments then forming and were bold enough to say that they had been in every battle on the Peninsula &c. &c.

I led the regiment out on a 3 day raid to destroy the Rappahannock Railroad Bridge last week. We were successful. Lost only one man. They all respect me and fear me as much as I care to have them. They know I will fight. I used a carbine (Sharps) all the time. I led the company at Fredericksburg. I shot 60 rounds from a Springfield rifle musket while skirmishing on Sunday. I have killed as many of them as I want to if they will lay down their arms. If not, some more of them must die or they must kill me. I do not deem this childs’ play by no means, nor want them handled with gloves on.”

Because of his extensive experience, James Webster Carr expected soon to receive a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel:

“Col. Marston is at Washington D. C. in Congress this winter. We have no Lt. Col. and Major Bailey is now and has been for some time put under arrest for alleged disobedience of orders so I have command [of] the regiment, being the senior captain.

I have been detailed since January 1st to act as Lt. Col. while Major Bailey acted as Colonel. Now I am at the top of the heap in command but not in rank. Col. Marston is a brigadier at any time he chooses to leave the House and take the field. Then I expect my commission as Lt. Col. unless they dismiss Major Bailey or he should resign. Then I expect to be Colonel and shall be or leave the service for I have been all the time on duty and for 8 months have done field officer duty and 6 of the time, taken care of my company too.”

James Webster Carr received his commission as Lieutenant Colonel two months later, on April 13, 1863. He went on to lead his men at the Battle of Gettysburg, where he had his drawn sword shot from out of his hand. He was discharged with his regiment on June 21, 1864 and went on to become a lumber dealer in Grand Rapids, Michigan until his death in 1875.

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

The full collection can be viewed with a Research Arsenal membership.

Check out other spotlight collections like Asa Frank Chester of the 20th Illinois Infantry and David King Perkins of the USS Seminole.

 

 

Research Arsenal Spotlight 8: Asa Frank Chester and the 20th Illinois Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman
CDV of Asa “Frank” Chester.

Asa Franklin “Frank” Chester enlisted as a private in Company G of the 20th Illinois Infantry in June, 1861. By the time he mustered out in July of 1865, he had become adjutant of the regiment. Through a generous donation from one of our subscribers, we have several diaries, letters, and photographs available in the Frank Chester Collection. Frank Chester’s diaries are an amazing resource, as they detail not only his own story, but the history of his regiment as well.

Battle of Fredericktown

The 20th Illinois was stationed in Missouri in the fall of 1861. On October 21, 1861, they participated in the Battle of Fredericktown, which Frank Chester related in great detail in his diary:

“About 11 hundred of the rebels were concealed in the ravine behind a fence and cornfield to the left of the road. The 17th and 11th [Illinois] filed to the left and the two pieces of Taylors opened firing twice before an answer was returned. The 20th filed to the right and getting most to far countermarched on the top of the rise presenting a fair mark for the enemy’s cannon. They fired 4 shots, 3 went over our heads and one fell short. We marched behind the rise and again come into line near the road. Our two six pounders were answered by 3 sixes and one 12 pounder. The 17th and 11th had opened and kept up a steady discharge of musketry in the cornfield on our left. When we had advanced about ½ way down the hill and were within about 400 yards of the enemy on the hill we were ordered to deploy as skirmishes and commence firing and continued to advance. As we started we gave a yell and the enemy behind the cornfield seeing that they would be exposed to a flanking fire as well as front in a few minutes gave the order to retreat and we turned our whole fire upon them. The enemy’s guns in the meantime had opened upon our reg. with grape and canister. One of our men had his gun cut into with a grape shot while putting on a cap. It knocked him down but did not hurt him. This open field which the enemy had retreated across was covered with the dead and wounded and 40 men were taken prisoners who lay down to avoid the heavy fire. About 80 were found dead upon this open space among whom was Col Lowe who commanded the forces in the ravine. One man was found with his head hanging one side of a fence and his heels the other with 8 musket balls through his body. The whole force of Jeff [Thompson] now made a stampede and the 17th traversed their field from left to right taking one piece of artillery (the 12 pounder) while the 20th moved straight forward and followed up the enemy.”

This engagement was followed by even more confusion later when the 20th Illinois encountered some cavalry forces under Major M. Jeff Thompson:

“About a mile from their first position we overtook some cavalry who were riding from us on a walk. I supposed it to be ours as our cavalry had come out in advance of us but had dropped back while we were marching through the woods. Cos G and B were deployed to the left of the road and K and F on the right and the rest were in the road. A man from the cavalry rode into the field with a white plume in his hat and whom we afterwards learned was Thompson and asked us who we were. The Major answered; ‘The 20th ILL, who are you?’ They answered ‘Missourians’ and fired 3 shots. Let them have it shouted the Major bringing a rifle that he had taken from a prisoner to his shoulder and setting the example. About 20 shots were fired when the Col rode up and shouted stop that firing you are firing on your own men and before it could be explained the cavalry were out of reach. One of them was thrown from his horse and two killed.

Frank Chester and the Battle of Atlanta

Image of Frank Chester’s first diary showing a hole from a musket ball received at the battle of Shiloh.

On July 21 and 22, 1864, the 20th Illinois fought in the Battle of Atlanta where they took heavy casualties, including Frank Chester himself who was wounded in the thigh on July 21:

“About 8 o’clock the lines were advanced. The enemy pickets driven in and their works charged. The battle was fierce and the works holy [wholly] captured, but they were captured. I was wounded through the thigh just after passing an old house. The regt. at the time was not by the left flank. Our regt. afterward charged the works of the rebs and though support on both flanks were driven back by the enemy and they had a fire from their direction to contend against. This little band of 138 men held their own, never giving an inch, after an hour support was brought up but not until one half of their number lay dead and wounded by their sides. The loss in the division was severe, but the 20th lost the most in comparison of numbers. The 20th had 6 killed and 54 wounded.”

Despite being wounded and off the field, Frank Chester recorded the results of the battle on July 22, as well:

“The rebs charged the works of the 17th corps and tried to retake the position. they got a whole corps in the rear and charged from the other side but to no purpose. The boys obstinately held their own. The 20th was charged about 5 o’clock from the front flank and when they fought with their old desperation but were overcome and nearly all captured in their trenches. The Col. Adjt. and about 15 men got away and that is all that remains of the duty list of the proud little 20th. The rebs gained the works only to have to leave them again and they left more dead men in the trenches 2 to one, than there were in the 20th when they started their charge.

General McPherson was killed this afternoon. The hospital was moved twice today on account of the rebs attacking in the rear.”

Frank Chester’s Medical Treatment

Confined to the hospital after the Battle of Atlanta, Frank Chester began a fascinating and detailed account of his medical treatment and his great displeasure with hospital food. On August 4, he wrote:

“I was moved to a room by myself where I can have a full view of old Kennesaw and the town. It is a splendid view and in time of peace and prosperity this must have been a fine country to live in. The room in which I am is about 18 feet square with two large windows. I can hobble about with the use of a bannister post for support which I picked up today. This evening some more of the boys from the hospital in the rear were brought up and six of them put in the room with me.”

On the 7th Frank Chester was moved to a hospital in Rome, Georgia:

“Got a cold breakfast and our wounds dressed early this morning preparatory to moving. We are bound for Imperial Rome, Ga. where I expect we will stay several days. Got aboard cars about three o’clock AM. Had beds to lay down on. Started about 10 o’clock. Got dinner on the car about 3 o’clock PM. Had cranberries, beef, tea and soda crackers. Arrived at Rome about 6 o’clock PM. We were taken about 1 ½ miles from town and taken into tents. These tents are very much crowded with the wounded and it will not be a wonder if there is considerable sickness. The ball in my leg has formed a cavity and worked loose within the last 2 days and every time I move the rolling of the ball causes extreme pain.”

August 8-9 saw Frank Chester in more pain:

“8 The Dr. came around today & looked at my leg and proped [probed] it a little and told me that he would be around in the afternoon and take the ball out, but he didn’t come and the pain brought on fever which last till about dark.

9 Woke up sick to my stomach and the bad taste of the fever in my mouth. Didn’t eat any breakfast as they brought around nothing but coffee and bread at dinner. I eat a little beef soup, but didn’t feel like eating much. The Dr. came around about 3 o’clock and aid he would try and see that the ball was taken from my hip soon. Took some [rhubarb?] quinine etc feel quite easy tonight.”

After Frank Chester developed a fever on August 11, the surgery to remove the ball in his thigh was finally set for the next day:

“11 A fever came on about nine o’clock and remained all day. The surgeon came around tonight and prescribed quinine. He gave me the largest dose I ever saw. I divided it into two making very large ones and took them about 3 hours apart. I wrote a line to the surgeon in charge telling him how the thing had been managed. He sent back word that he would take it out himself the next day. I took my quinine and a dose of morphine but got not a moments sleep all night—although I was in no pain whatever.

12 The Dr. came around about 3 o’clock in the afternoon and after probing a little gave me cloriform [chloroform] and when I came to myself again they handed me the ball, an enfield rifle ball not very much bruised. The Dr. told me that I would have a very sore leg as the muscle was badly bruised in getting it out. He said he has to work a long while after had found it. About 7 o’clock in the evening it commenced paining me and it pained me without ceasing all night. Twas the most miserable night I ever passed in my life.”

On the 13th, Frank Chester used a flaxseed poultice to help relieve some of his considerable pain:

“The pain continued. I sent for the wound dresser and got him to go to the dispersers and get some flaxseed. He done so and I made a poultice and put it on and it relieved the pain in twenty minutes but I have to be very careful about moving. In fact this forenoon it was impossible to move at all without causing pain which sometimes lasted several minutes. Afterward along towards night I got so I could move a little and commenced a letter to my wife.”

As Frank Chester’s leg healed, he turned his attention to the food, writing on August 16, “We get every day for dinner beef soup, bean soup and tomato soup, either of which would make a hog give up trying to live in disgust.”

The next day, he had more to say about the soup, “Dinner came with the same course of soups and I could eat nothing but a small piece of bread. I wish the soups were all in the Atlantic Ocean or that the Drs. were compelled to live on such fare, just one week.”

And the day after, “Soup as usual for dinner, the smell of them is enough to sicken one. The Dr. sent me some soda water for a sour stomach.”

On August 31, Frank Chester finally had some relief for both his leg and his taste buds:

“We’ve mustered today and the rest of the ward were moved. Had a dinner of toasted bread, ham, pickles mush potato soup, bread pudding & tea. Filled up and took a smoke to top off with. My leg has quit running and the wound is healing over. It is not very sore if I don’t stir too much. I will soon be able to be pegging around on sticks & can take my furlough.”

Frank Chester survived the war and went on to live to the age of 74, passing away in 1914. His diaries kept during the war offer amazing insight into the 20th Illinois Infantry and his experience with Civil War era medicine, with incidents too numerous to be included in a single article.

The full diaries can be read with a Research Arsenal membership.

Check out some of our other collection spotlights like David King Perkins, a Master’s Mate on the USS Seminole or James A. Durrett of the 18th Alabama Infantry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research Arsenal Spotlight 7: David King Perkins of the USS Seminole

Posted on by Gloria Wickman

David King Perkins was born in 1843 to Clement T. Perkins and Lucinda (Fairfield) Perkins of Kennebunkport, Maine. On January 30, 1863, he enlisted in the US Navy as a Master’s Mate onboard the USS Seminole. In this collection of eight letters at the Research Arsenal, he writes to his sister, Caroline Amelia Perkins, about his experiences at sea.

David King Perkins and the U.S.S. Seminole

Drawing of USS Seminole by Alfred R. Waud via Wikimedia.

The USS Seminole was commissioned on April 30, 1861 with Edward R. Thomson as commander. The Seminole was a steam sloop-of-war and while David King Perkins was serving was mainly stationed as part of the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron.

David King Perkins’ first letter in the Research Arsenal collection is dated November 26, 1863, about 11 months after he first started serving on the ship. In it he described  the boredom that the blockade duty had brought to the crew:

“Everything is about the same here in the Blockade. We have no hopes of getting relieved. I expect we shall have to lay here all winter or until the place is taken. I hope that will be soon for I am most tired of laying here. Since our two new officers came, we have it very easy. Stand four hours watch and then have twenty hours off so I am sure I cannot grumble about having hard times. I improve my spare time by study. We have a very nice old man for an Acting Master. He takes great interest in teaching us young Masters Mates navigation. I shall be an experienced navigator by the time I leave the Navy.”

By April 15, 1864, the USS Seminole was off the coast of Mobile Bay, Alabama, and David King’s Perkins’ spirits seem to have raised somewhat:

“We lay in sight of “Fort Morgan.” When we are in our night stations, we are about three miles from land and five from “Fort Morgan.” There is quite a fleet of vessels here. I think there is twelve in all but twelve does not seem to be enough to stop blockade runners for since we arrived there has been two run the blockade and one a large steamer named the “Auslin.” I feel in hopes we shall be lucky to catch one soon. We have been quite fortunate so far in catching prizes.”

David King Perkins’ Hopes of Promotion

While serving as a Master’s Mate on the USS Seminole, David King Perkins dreamed of advancing his station. In a letter written March 9, 1864, he wrote to his sister that he had taken the examination to be promoted to ensign and was anxiously awaiting the results:

“I have been very busy about my application. I have sent it in to the Commodore but have not heard anything from it yet. However, I hope to soon for I want to know the worst of it. If I pass my examination, it is well and good. If not, I shall not care to stop in the Navy. I cannot make a cent to serve in the capacity as Master’s Mate. If I do not get my promotion as Ensign, I think the Merchant services would be better for me.”

A week later, David King Perkins wrote in a new letter that he still hadn’t received any word on his application:

“When we first arrived here, I applied to the Admiral for permission to be examined for the position of Ensign. I have not heard anything from my application yet and am afraid I shall not. I shall wait a little longer. Then if I do not hear from it, I will forward my recommendation. I think it would be much better if I pass my examination, then I shall not be under obligations to anyone. However, if I do not hear from the Admiral soon, I will forward the recommendation to Father and let him give it to Mr. Moody.”

By the end of the war, David King Perkins served as the Acting Ensign on the USS Seminole.

The USS Seminole Off the Coast of Texas

Trimmed CDV of David King Perkins.

The USS Seminole participated in the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864, though David King Perkins had nothing to say about it to his sister. After undergoing repairs at Pensacola, Florida, the USS Seminole was then sent to Galveston, Texas in September of 1864 and remained along the Texas coast until the end of the war.

On November 3, 1864, David King Perkins’ wrote to his sister about events along the coast:

“Since I wrote to father and Tenie we have had quite an exciting chase. On the night of the 30th, signals were made that a steamer was running out. We immediately slipped our chain and stood off to sea in the direction we supposed the steamer would take. In the meantime, the weather had come in very thick. Quite early in the morning I discovered a suspicious looking steamer. I having charge of the deck at the time, we changed course at once and stood for the stranger. He also changed his course and stood away from us with the hopes of making his escape. We made all sail in chases fired a gun at him, which he did not seem inclined to notice. We were gaining very fast and had him most under our guns when the weather came in very thick and we lost sight of the steamer.

The weather did not clear up until about 2 o’clock. The chase commenced at about 6 o’clock in the morning and we losing sight of the steamer at about 9 a. m. When it had got well cleared up, we again saw the steamer from the masthead but she was a long way off, having steered a different course from us while it held thick. We continued to chase until night came on when we were compelled to give it up, being most out of coal. Had we captured the steamer, it would have probably put three or four thousand dollars in my pocket. But I am afraid there is no such good luck in store for me.

The same night the steamer run out, there are six schooners also run, all of which were loaded with cotton. I believe only one was captured.”

In another letter written about three weeks later, David King Perkins revealed the meagre share of prize money he had accumulated so far:

“It is hardly worthwhile for me to caution you to be prudent and saving. I do not lay up but little money although I am saving, yet my expenses are great. If I was on board a small vessel, I could save much more than I do. This ship has not been very lucky in capturing prizes. My share of the “blockade runner Charleston” amounts to $46.31 which is only a very small sum. Should the steamer “Sir William Peel” be condemned, I shall probably get something quite handsome.”

David King Perkins continued serving on the USS Seminole past the end of the war until November, 1865. He died in California in 1893.

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

To read the full collection of David King Perkins letters and thousands of others, sign up for a membership at the Research Arsenal.

Check out some of our other spotlight collections like James A. Durrett of the 18th Alabama Infantry or Albert Henry Bancroft of the 85th New York Infantry.

 

 

Research Arsenal Spotlight 6: James A. Durrett of the 18th Alabama Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman

 

James A. Durrett was born around 1840 to John Andrew Jackson Durrett and Anne (Beauchamp) Durrett. James A. Durrett, along with his brother Thomas Jefferson Durrett and cousin Henry Durrett, enlisted in Company E of the 18th Alabama Infantry in the fall of 1861. Even more amazingly, their mother, Anne Beauchamp Durrett also appears on the muster records of the 18th Alabama Infantry as the “matron” of the regiment. Her records indicated that she received pay through November 30, 1861.

Muster record for Anne (Beauchamp) Durrett listing her as Matron of the regiment.

While Anne (Beachamp) Durrett seems to have stopped serving with the regiment sometime in 1861 or 1862, her sons stayed on for the duration of the war and she is the recipient of some of James A. Durrett’s letters home. Our collection spans nine letters written from 1863 to 1865 as well as photos of some of the Durrett family.

James A. Durrett and the Battle of Missionary Ridge

The Battle of Missionary Ridge took place on November 25, 1863 and with it the Union army seized control of Tennessee and held Chattanooga which would soon become a major logistical hub for their armys. The Confederate forces under General Braxton Bragg were forced to withdraw and a large number were taken prisoner, including James A. Durrett’s brother, Thomas.

In a letter  to his sister written on December 2, 1863, James A. Durrett detailed what he had learned about Thomas’s capture.

“I suppose you have heard the sad news of Tom’s capture before now. I know that a wise Providence has and will direct all things to be as they are, but I sometimes wish that I had been permitted to have shared his fate. I know that if alive, a long and tedious captivity and exile from home and all that is dear to him awaits him, but he can feel that he has done his duty, and that will sustain him in captivity — or death if need be. I will tell you all I have been able to learn about him.

When our Brigade went into battle it went into an ambush the Yankees had prepared and the first notice they gave of themselves was to pour a deadly fire into our Brigade from three directions. This threw us into confusion and a great many — seeing that they were flanked and nearly surrounded — started to run but being rallied by the officers, stopped and fought until the officers — also seeing the danger of being cut off — gave the command to retreat. Tom with eleven others of our company either not hearing or not wishing to obey such an order, stood their ground and while the rest made their escape, were surrounded. The rest is left to conjecture whether they continued to fight and were killed at their post (which I do not think probable), or, seeing they were surrounded and no chance of escape, surrendered.”

Although he was not directly involved in the battle, James A. Durrett had a close call of his own:

“I was not in the battle. I was detailed to hold the Colonel’s horse. Because I had no gun, my business does not require me to keep a gun, and as we were not expecting a battle even in the morning of the day it came off. I had no chance to get a gun, but I think I will be prepared for the next one. I came very near being captured — so near that I was obliged to throw away my knapsack and haversack and run about five miles. But I suppose I had better not tell that part of it as it is not military to throw away baggage on a retreat. I will close for tonight.”

Near Capture at Egypt Station

There is a gap in James A. Durrett’s letters lasting through much of 1864, though he is known to have been hospitalized at Jackson, Mississippi for much of the winter of 1864 and early 1865. On February 18, 1865, James A. Durrett wrote to a friend, Mrs. Marian Abigail (Fitch) Searcy, a former schoolteacher. He first detailed the much reduced state of his regiment saying:

“On returning to my regiment from the Hospital, I found it much decreased in number. In fact, but very few who went into Tennessee returned. Of my company, but two escaped capture — though strange to say, none were killed or even wounded — all captured [and] doomed to waste away their lives in Yankee prisons. Slowly and wearily the time will drag along with them, but then it is a soldier’s fortune and, as such, they will take it nor grumble at the hardship, but be thankful that life is spared to them.”

James A. Durrett then went on to recount his own close call with capture:

“I came very near being captured by a raiding party of Yankees after I left home the last time. I had got to Okolona, Mississippi, on my way to my regiment when the railroad was torn up thirteen miles above there by the raid. I joined a company and went back to Egypt Station, seven miles below Okolona. At daylight next morning, and while we were asleep, the enemy surrounded us. As soon as this was known, the company to which I belonged was ordered to get on the cars as an attempt was going to be made to run the train out and save it from capture. We ran out almost through the enemy’s lines, they firing at us all the way, and we returning it with interest. After making so bad an out in my first attempt to reach my regiment, I concluded to wait for a quieter time and remained in West Point, Mississippi, until my regiment passed on its way here.”

Death of James A. Durrett

A terse letter  written on April 3, 1865, by James A. Durrett’s cousin, Henry, revealed James A. Durrett’s grim fate during the Battle of Spanish Fort:

“Dear Cousin,

It is with painful regret that I inform you that Jimmy was this evening mortally wounded, being shot directly through the brain. He was wounded about four o’clock this evening. While standing in the ditches, he imprudently raised his head to look over at the enemy which was firing at our line. He is now at the field hospital and will be sent to Mobile tonight. As he had written the letter enclosed with this [dateline 22 March 1865], I concluded to send it to you with a lock of his hair.

I am, dear cousin, yours with great sympathy, — Henry Durrett”

The letter written March 22 was a happy one from James A. Durrett, sharing the news that many of his brigade had been exchanged and he hoped that his brother Thomas, already a prisoner for two years, would be among them.

One April 7, 1865, Anne (Beauchamp) Durrett received a more detailed account of her son’s death:

“I very much regret to have to inform you that your son James is dead. He died about dark on Monday evening the 3rd of this month from a gun shot received that evening near Spanish Fort, about fifteen miles below Mobile. The ball penetrated his forehead just below the edge of his hair and came out near the top of his head. The blow seemed to produce insensibility and he never spoke afterward, but continued to sink until death. Henry Durrett, who accompanied him to the field hospital, was present at his death…”

Thomas Jefferson Durrett later in life.

James A. Durrett was buried in Mobile, Alabama. His brother, Thomas, survived the war and was finally exchanged on May 23, 1865. Thomas passed away in 1924 at the age of 82. To read the full collection, sign up for a Research Arsenal membership.

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

For more spotlights on our collection, check out our articles on Albert Henry Bancroft of the 85th New York Infantry  and Colonel Clark Swett Edwards of the 5th Maine Infantry.

 

Research Arsenal Spotlight 5: Albert Henry Bancroft of the 85th New York Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman

Albert Henry Bancroft was one of five children born to shoemaker Jenson Bancroft and his wife Esther Susannah Batchelor in Ontario County, New York. Bancroft enlisted in the 85th New York Infantry on September 26, 1861, as a private in company B. He would later receive a promotion to corporal.

Our collection contains 62 letters, mostly written by Albert Henry Bancroft to his family, with a few other letters being written by his brother, William, who served in the 24th New York Cavalry, and a few by sister, Almira “Myra” Bancroft. The letters span from 1861 until his capture in 1864.

85th New York Infantry duty in Washington, D.C.

After its formation, the 85th New York Infantry was sent to do duty as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. In a letter from January 14, 1862, Albert Henry Bancroft related an amusing story about his company’s somewhat unusual taste for meat:

“There was one or two companies out practicing with blanks and the train of mule teams — 6 mules in each team — come along and not liking the noise, they pricked up their ears and took French leave as though they were sent for and the way they went was not slow. One mule capsized and went under the wagon and all stopped and we thought we were going to have some fresh mule for supper but we were doomed to be disappointed for when the wagon was raised off from him, he was as good as new and the last I saw of him he was going along in his mule way rejoicing. But we all hoped him dead. We have eat so much mule beef that our ears are about 3 inches long and thrifty indeed. I am almost ashamed to look a mule in the face, and some of the boys are braying quite lustily, and all are tough and so am I.”

In a letter to his aunt on March 2, 1862, Albert Henry Bancroft conveyed his rather unflattering opinion of the city of Washington:

“ The inside of the building is mostly marble and of all kinds and colors and it does not seem as though the hand of man were capable of working out such wonders. One may travel all day and yet see something new at every turn, and here inside the walls of marble, it seems we are keeping our drones or fast men. We had better take the bees way of ridding the hive of its worthless members and hang them and then they would not be picking quarrels and the stand behind the fence ready to join the biggest heap and share their profits and cry, “didn’t we give it to ’em.” But the Capitol is all that makes Washington for there are more poor, rickety old houses and three-cent grog shops here than there ought to be in seven cities and anyone that visits the city must have a keen eye to get his money’s worth.”

Shortly after this letter was written, the 85th New York Infantry left Washington D.C.

Albert Henry Bancroft and the Battle of Seven Pines

Photo of Lieutenant Colonel Abijah J. Wellman who was wounded at the Battle of Seven Pines.

The Battle of Seven Pines occurred on May 31 and June 1, 1862. At the time, it was one of the the biggest battles of the Civil War to date and resulted in large casualties to both the Union and Confederate armies with neither side winning a decisive victory. In a letter  to his sister written a few days after the battle on June 6, 1862, Albert Henry Bancroft wrote in great detail about his regiment’s role in the battle:

“The first indication we had of the enemy was a cannon ball—and then another, sounding more like a swarm of bees in a great hurry but doing no harm. This was about 11 in the forenoon. And then the order was to fall into line for the Rebs were driving in our pickets (which they had done the day before) and in five minutes our Brigade was in line and the 81st New York and 98th were sent out to support the pickets. They marched into a piece of woods which our men have been felling to prevent them from coming on to us and we were put in to the half-finished rifle pits for them to fall back on in case they were driven back. The 92nd [New York] was to the right of us and between us was a small fort with three small cannons inside and three out. We were in the pits nearly an hour before we saw anything of the enemy. In the meantime, those in front of us were hammering away at them and the little Brass Boys were speaking to them once in awhile but their balls had been kept too long and broke all to pieces when they got over into the woods. But soon we saw what was to pay. Those in front came running back beyond us and the obnoxious Rebel flag was seen bearing down upon us through the slashing when the Colonel said, “Take good aim boys, and let them have it,” and for the first time we drawed a bead on the Rebs and then they were more than 50 rods [275 yards] off, but they felt it. We loaded and fired as fast as possible and the canister shot was poured into them from the cannon but they still bore down upon us until within about 20 rods [100 yards] when what there was left of them turned and went back. But there was not one-fifth of them able to get back out of the two regiments that started out.

But there was fresh troops ready to take their places and we saw that they were coming down on us on both sides and in the center and that the cannons were deserted and the horses nearly all killed and wounded and floundering in their harness. Our Lieutenant Colonel [Abijah J. Wellman] was wounded and the Colonel [Jonathan S. Belknap] no where to be seen and the Major [Reuben V. King] also had got out of the way or somewhere else and the regiment gave away for a moment. When remembering that we had no orders for doing so, we rallied into the pits again and with a shout of defiance we poured in the leaden storm, doing fearful execution, but they swarmed on all sides and we had to run or be taken prisoners. We fell back across our camps and there met reinforcements and from that time until dark, we were fighting anywhere we could see Rebs. But there was a fault somewhere. If Couch’s Division had supported our left as he should, we never need to have been driven from our camp and lost everything. But the battle is over. Our dead are buried. Our wounded are cared for. The enemy are driven beyond our camps and we can draw any signal from it we see fit. But it was a bloody field.”

Albert Henry Bancroft gave an additional account of the battle in another letter  written on June 25 presenting many of the same details.

The 85th New York Infantry at Plymouth, N.C.

Illustration of the capture of Plymouth, N.C. by Confederate forces from Harpers Weekly 24 December 1864 via Library of Congress.

In May 1863, Albert Henry Bancroft and the 85th New York Infantry moved to Plymouth, North Carolina where they would serve for a large portion of the war. Writing to his sister, Albert Henry Bancroft described their new location:

“We are all well and over head and ears in work digging, chopping, and picket duty. Our brigade is all the troops that are here and the duty will be heavy for awhile until the place is fortified. Plymouth has been a nice place for a small one but the best buildings are burned and some of the brick buildings pierced for rifles which makes the place look military. The streets are all lined with shade trees and soldiers quarters where the elite once lived. We are outside of the town in new tents raised with boards 4 feet high—4 in each tent. We have brick walks in front of the tents, one walk right in front and one the whole length so [sketch of parallel lines I I I I I I] and the corners are sodded over and all say they look nice. So you see we are comfortable.”

In April, 1864, Confederate forces led a successful attack on Plymouth, driving back the Union forces and leading to the surrender of the garrison at Fort Williams. Albert Henry Bancroft was among the soldiers captured on April 20, 1864 and was held at Andersonville Prison until his death in August 1864.

We’d like to extend a special thanks to William Griffing of Spared & Shared for his tireless work in transcribing and sharing these documents. You can read the full collection of letters and thousands more with a Research Arsenal membership.

Check out more of our spotlights like this one on Colonel Clark Swett Edwards of the 5th Maine Infantry and John L. Hebron of the 2nd Ohio Infantry.

 

 

 

Research Arsenal Spotlight 4: Colonel Clark Swett Edwards and the 5th Maine Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman
Clark Swett Edwards via Library of Congress.

This week our spotlight is on the Clark Swett Edwards Collection, a group of 25 letters written by Clark Swett Edwards throughout his service in the 5th Maine Infantry. Clark Swett Edwards helped form the regiment as a captain of company I, before being promoted to Major, then Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel, eventually being awarded the brevet rank of Brigadier General.

Clark Swett Edwards and Company I, 5th Maine Infantry

Clark Swett Edwards was born in 1824 to Enoch and Abigail (McLellan) Edwards. Prior the war he operated several trading businesses in Maine and married Maria Antoinette Mason, to whom he addressed many of his letters in our collection. At the start of the Civil War, Clark Swett Edwards began recruiting a company in his hometown of Bethel, Maine which became known as the “Bethel Rifle Guards.”

The Bethel Rifle Guards were then mustered in as Company I of the 5th Maine Infantry, with Clark Swett Edwards as their captain. Clark Swett Edwards’ brother, Bryce M. Edwards, also served as a private in company I.

Throughout his service, Clark Swett Edwards kept a close eye on the Company I and often lamented its ever dwindling numbers of the original enlisted men.

While his letters to his wife did not discuss the specifics of the many battles in which his regiment fought, he frequently shared with her small anecdotes of camp life, as he did in this letter  from August 9, 1861:

“One little circumstance I thought I would write you. It is this. In Company F, a lady by the name of [ Mrs. Albion R.] Stewart came from Lewiston here to see her husband. He stood in his camp door night before last and the first he knew of it, she stood before him. They told me he stood like a ghost for a minute and then she fell into his arms. There were but few dry eyes around the camp for a few minutes. She is here yet. The quartermaster gave up his tent to them and they have it yet. She left Lewiston alone and came on here without his knowing it.”

Clark Swett Edwards as a Field Officer

Clark Swett Edwards was promoted to Major on August 28, 1862 and to Lieutenant Colonel on November 1, 1862. Despite this, he remembered his men from company I and kept a special interest in them. In a letter  written December 28, 1862, about a month after his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, he wrote about the situation of some of the men in company I and the problems with military bureaucracy:

“I will now write you the news of the camp. [Rufus Crockett] Penley of my old company died this morning of consumption here in our camp hospital. He was a fellow I enlisted in Portland when at Camp Preble. The poor fellow sent for me to come and see him a few moments before he breathed his last. He thanked me for my kindness to him while under my command and requested me to see that his folks received the pay due him from government. I took him by the hand and bid him a last farewell. It caused a tear to dim my sight but such is life. I think he has gone to a happier land than this. The poor man should have gone to his home in Portland months ago but this red tape and want of promptness of actions is fatal in many cases. I sometimes feel that great injustice is done to the poor soldiers in holding them when the surgeon knows he will never be of service to the government but it is the same as everything else. There is a lack in almost every department of energy. I have yet some discharged from Co. I since I left it and am making an effort for others which I hope will be successful. I feel sad at heart when I look back on my old company and think of what it once was but few are now in it that once filled its ranks. Some are discharged for disability; others are now sick in hospitals around Washington; some in convalescent camps; while others have gone to their last resting places among the dead. It is anything but pleasant for me to look back and I almost shudder when I look or reflect on the future. But I must drop this and look on the brought side.”

During this same time, Clark Swett Edwards’ brother, Bryce Edwards, was also sick in the hospital. After many months he would be discharged for disability as well.

On January 18, 1863, Clark Swett Edwards was worried about the future battle plans for his regiment and feared that they would be sacrificed in service of General Ambrose Burnside trying to regain ground lost after the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862. The offense, known as the “Mud March” was a failure and was General Burnside’s last major action as commander of the Army of the Potomac.

Sketch by Alfred Rudolph Waud of the Army of the Potomac near Falmouth, Virginia on January 21, 1863 via Wikimedia Commons.

Contributing to the march’s failure was the awful weather, which Clark Swett Edwards detailed in his letter, as well as his determination to do his duty despite his own misgivings:

“Last night it froze hard enough to bear my horse anywhere in the roads so you can judge how it is with the poor soldiers. And still the prospect is a fight soon. We are now under marching orders and I think it must be over the river but I dread the consequence as the army is disheartened. Burnside is bound to cross the river at this place and to retrieve his loss but all the generals are opposed to it so you can judge of our prospect. It is heart sickening, I can assure you. But I shall do my duty regardless of others, or at least I think I will now, but no one can tell till after the fight is over. I feel for others as well as myself. I know if a fight comes off now, that the wounded must suffer greatly, but then I will not borrow trouble as it comes soon enough. The sick of my regiment I sent away this morning to Aquia Creek but as the hospital tents were not ready to receive them, so they only went a mile or so and were sent back. I ordered to send them in the morning again but this moving the sick this cold weather is awful.”

Clark Swett Edwards Hopes for a Star

Towards the end of his service, both Clark Swett Edwards and his wife, Maria, were hopeful that he might receive a promotion to general, despite the long odds against them. The referred to this potential promotion as a “star” in reference to the uniform insignia.

On December 6, 1863, Clark Swett Edwards referenced his wife’s desire to see him promoted:

“ I know you are wishing to see me one peg higher but it will take some political influence to bring that about. But one thing sure, I will never be beholden to anyone at home for a promotion in the army. I know I have done enough to have a star, but there is to many Big men sons in the army for me to rise higher. I still see puff in the eastern papers for myself, some in the Bangor papers [and] also in the Massachusetts papers, but they will do now if I get no more. I presume you see a great many but not all.”

In a letter from January 27, 1864, Edwards was less optimistic:

“You speak of the Star. I am not expecting it. I learn there were six hundred names before Congress at this session and out of that number, five has been appointed—four for Black Regiments and one in the [Regular] Army. There is a great many Colonels whose commission dates from sixty-one while mine dates only back to sixty-three, so you see my prospects is poor. If I should get it, it would be for my exhibiting good conduct.”

Clark Swett Edwards mustered out with most of his regiment on July 27, 1864. The veterans of the regiment who stayed were transferred to the 7th Maine Infantry. On March 13, 1865, Edwards received a brevet promotion to brigadier general for gallantry in action. He died in his hometown of Bethel in 1904.

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

To access all of the Clark Swett Edwards Collection as well as thousands of other letters, photos, and other documents, sign up for a Research Arsenal membership here.

Looking for more spotlights on our collection? Check out the story of John L. Hebron of the 2nd Ohio Infantry or the letters of Alfred Washington Ellet, the commander of the US Ram Fleet.

Research Arsenal Spotlight 3: John L. Hebron, 2nd Ohio Infantry Collection

Posted on by Gloria Wickman
Photo of John L. Hebron in 1863.

While serving in the 2nd Ohio Infantry, Company G, as a bugler, John L. Hebron wrote hundreds of letters home to his family. These letters offer a valuable insight into the mind of a Union soldier who served from September 1861 to October 1864 as well as the movements and actions of his regiment. The letters of the Hebron collection begin in September 1861 and continue through the end of August, 1864.

The 2nd Ohio Infantry in 1861

The 2nd Ohio Infantry was originally formed as a three-months regiment and mustered into service at the outbreak of the war in April, 1861. Although John Hebron did not serve in the three-months regiment, he enlisted in the three-years regiment on September 10, 1861.

John Hebron’s first letter  to his family in the collection comes from Camp Dennison, Ohio, just one week after enlisting on the September 18, 1861. He assured them that his regiment had enough food and mentioned some of the other regiments passing through the camp:

“We have a good time of it down here. We had big bonfires down here last night. There was an Illinois Regiment come along hungry and we got them their supper. They were the 24th [Illinois]. Two regiments left here on Sunday for western Virginia — one zouave regiment and the 32nd Ohio.”

In early October, 1861, the regiment was engaged in battle for the first time at West Liberty, Kentucky. John L. Hebron wrote home  about the skirmish to his mother:

“I now sit down to write you a few more lines after the war [battle] of West Liberty. We started from Camp Garrett Davis on Tuesday at 2 o’clock p.m. and marched all day and all night. Early in the morning we met the enemy about 200 strong. They fired first without doing any damage. Then we tore down a fence and got in a field and throwed a shell among them which scattered them in every direction. They all broke for the hills. Then we marched about a hundred yards and then throwed two shells into the town about a half mile distant. We thought there was more in the town. The inhabitants fled in all directions.

The cavalry went after the soldier secesh and killed 6 or 7 of them while they only wounded one of the cavalry — a lieutenant. One of our company received a flesh wound in the arm while another had a ball go through his coat on top of his shoulder. None of the rest of the companies had a bullet come near them. The secesh heard that we had only 75 men and they had an awful frolic on the head of it. They left blankets, their grub, and everything else. They thought they were going to take us right away but they was sold.”

John L. Hebron’s Animosity Toward General Don Carlos Buell

Major General Don Carlos Buell via Wikimedia Commons.

In the summer of 1862, the 2nd Ohio Infantry was serving under General Major Ormsby Mitchel whom John L. Hebron had grown to like along with the rest of his division. General Mitchel had recently captured Huntsville, Alabama, for the Union army and Hebron attributed jealousy over that success to General Don Carlos Buell coming down hard on the men of his division. In a letter  from July 20, 1862, Hebron wrote:

“ I see the papers are giving Mitchel’s division thunder on all sides — something he don’t deserve at all. The whole division was down on him at one time but now they like him so much the better. I guess Old Buell didn’t like it because Mitchel got another star on his shoulder. The citizens around Huntsville made a poor mouth [complained] to Buell how Mitchel has used them and Buell is now giving them our rations and feeding us on half rations. Old Mitchel told them [the citizens] he wouldn’t allow the stores to open till his trains could go through to Shelbyville without being fired into and it was nobody but the citizens that done it. And they tried to burn the bridges and fired into the cars when they were full of soldiers every chance they could get. [In retaliation,] Old Mitchel burnt down some of their houses and the people in Huntsville will spit in a soldier’s face now. We all were down on Mitchel because we thought he was not hard enough on them but Old Buell won’t make much by feeding us on half rations for the hogs and sheep look very saucy at us and we have to shoot them for fear they will bite us for we know they are secesh. And [we] don’t like to leave them lay around to stink so we eat them.”

Two days later John L. Hebron had even harsher words for General Buell:

“Dave Laizure just came from Huntsville last night. He was shot through the foot above the big toe some 2 or 3 weeks ago but he has got able to walk now. He says that Buell is giving all the sugar and nearly all the other rations to the citizens and we are living on half rations. He says the negroes are going around with wheel barrows of flour and meat. He [says] the citizens are stepping around with their revolvers and knives and a guard can’t say a word to them. If the government don’t do something with Buell soon, some of our division will for he was shot at by one of the 10th Ohio and shot through the hand and there has been a good many threats made. I believe he is as bad as Old Jeff himself.”

Battle of Stones River

The battle of Stone River or Murfreesboro’ sketched by A.E. Mathews, 31st Regiment, O.V.I. via Wikimedia Commons.

The Battle of Stones River, also known as the Second Battle of Murfreesboro, was fought between December 31, 1862 and January 2, 1863. The Battle of Stones River resulted in a Union victory, high casualties on both sides, and the withdrawal of the Confederate forces under General Braxton Bragg.

During the battle, Lieutenant Colonel John Kell of the 2nd Ohio Infantry was killed and the regiment was credited with capturing the flag of the 30th Arkansas Infantry regiment. John L. Hebron was present for the first day of the battle and even helped to transport the 30th Arkansas flag, as he described in a letter to his mother after the battle:

“On the morning of the 31st [December], our division to the front or away back through some cedar bushes that was so thick you could hardly see 10 steps ahead of you. We went through them about ¼ of a mile and maneuvered there a few minutes and then fell back in order that we could get a better chance at them. We went about 400 yards from the woods and stopped and layed down as the rebs had followed us and were firing on us. On they came towards Terrill’s Battery which was at our right. Our regiment let them come till they was pretty close [and] then let them have it — and the Battery gave them grape and canister and just mowed them down. They dropped their flag  and run like scared sheep.

It was while charging on us that [Lt.] Col. [John] Kell was killed and Waty Nichols, William Dunn, and Elijah Matlock was wounded. Somebody picked the [dropped] flag of the rebs up and gave it to Gen. Rousseau and Gen. Rousseau gave it to Major McCook for the 2nd [Ohio]. He said they took the flag. Major [Anson G.] McCook gave the flag to me and told me to keep it till the fight was over so I took the flag and put it in the ambulance and went to gathering of wounded for that is the musician’s job in battle.”

Conclusion

John L. Hebron and the 2nd Ohio Infantry went on to fight in many more battles including the Battle of Chickamauga as well as the Atlanta campaign. Miraculously, Hebron never received a single wound in battle and was mustered out on October 10, 1864, returning to his home in Ohio and remained in the state until his death in 1914.

With nearly 150 letters as well as photographs of John L. Hebron and his family, the collection is a fascinating and detailed look at one Ohio man’s service during the Civil War. We would like to extend a special thanks to William Griffing of Spared & Shared for his work in transcribing and sharing the letters.

Join the Research Arsenal  today to view all these letters and thousands more by Union and Confederate soldiers and their families.

Looking for more spotlights on our collection? Try reading about the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery in the Chester Chapman letters or the US Ram Fleet in the Alfred Washington Ellet letters.

 

 

 

 

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