Tag: Civil war letters

Research Arsenal Spotlight 27: William Fish 11th New Hampshire Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman

William Fish enlisted in Company C of the 11th New Hampshire Infantry at the age of nineteen. He was the son of John Blaney Fish and Mary Holmes (Barrett) Fish. William Fish enlisted on August 8, 1862. His older brother, John Linzey Fish, was a private in the 1st New Hampshire Light Artillery Battery, having enlisted in September, 1861.

The first letter in our collection was written by William Fish on August 26, 1862 while his regiment was still in Concord, New Hampshire. The space they occupied had recently been vacated by the 9th New Hampshire Infantry which proved to be quite a boon for the men of the 11th New Hampshire Infantry.

“We keep a guard around our camp now. I have to take my turn. The Ninth Regiment left quite a lot of trash behind. We went to work and cleaned out the tent we occupy and most everyone found something. I found a first rate new three-bladed penknife, five cents in change, ink, a bottle of olive oil, and a few other things. One fellow found a dollar bill & Reub Smith found a knife and twenty-six cents. Gil [Smith] found a dirk knife. Quite a number found money. We have first rate living and plenty of it. Ten of us were detailed to go over to the city in the Quartermaster store and hoist up a lot of goods from the lower story to the one above and I had a chance to see our uniforms. It is to be dark blue pants [and] dark overcoats. I understand we are to have no dress coats. I did not see any there.”

William Fish in General Casey’s Division

Image of Major General Silas Casey who commanded the division the 11th New Hampshire Infantry was part of in late 1862.
Image of Major General Silas Casey who commanded the division the 11th New Hampshire Infantry was part of in late 1862.

William Fish and the 11th New Hampshire Infantry were soon sent south to Camp Chase at Alexandria, Virginia. For the most part, William Fish was occupied with drilling throughout the day. On September 25, 1862, he wrote home about a recent review of their regiment by General Silas Casey, the head of their division.

“We have had two division reviews — one day before yesterday. We are in Gen. Casey’s Division. There were as near as I could learn twelve thousand troops reviewed and a number of batteries. It is a grand sight to see the columns as they pass — to see the bayonets glistening and the steady tread of the men.

Gen. Casey is an old man with gray hair and prominent nose. He wears a beard. There are a great many troops in the vicinity. Take it in the night and look off, the camps present the appearance of a city lit up.”

A few days later, the 11th New Hampshire Infantry moved down to Frederick, Maryland, a less than pleasant journey as William Fish recounted in a letter to his sister, Martha, dated October 2, 1862.

“We came through safe and sound although we were packed like cattle on board a freight train — two cars to each company — part of the men being on top. Along in the middle of the [trip], it set in for a storm and then it was a complete jam to lay down — legs mixed up in every direction. We passed a train of 400 paroled prisoners. We couldn’t get much sleep till we arrived here at four this morning where our company piled into an old barn and laid down on the hay.”

William Fish also added that the rumor around camp was that they would soon be marching under General Ambrose Burnside.

“This is rather a pretty place., I should think full as large as Manchester. We expect orders any time to leave. We shall not probably stop over a day or two at the furthest. It is the talk that we are to take the cars to Sandy Hook to go under Gen. Burnside but I do not think of much more to write.”

In this case, the rumor proved to be correct.

11th New Hampshire Infantry at Pleasant Valley, Maryland

William Fish’s next letter was written on October 14, 1862 once the 11th New Hampshire Infantry had arrived at Pleasant Valley, Maryland. He revealed that the regiment was indeed now under the command of General Ambrose Burnside.

“We are brigaded under Brig. Gen. [Edward] Ferrero in Gen. Burnside’s army of the Ninth Army Corps. We will not probably stop here long though we can not tell.”

The camp location proved to be a fruitful one and William Fish revealed that he was good making use of the local flora, saying “I have been writing with ink made from garget berries which are very plenty here.” Garget berries are more commonly known as pokeberry or “inkberry” and are a poisonous berry that can—as the inkberry name suggests—be used to make ink.

William Fish was also located near his brother, John Fish, though when writing this particular letter  he had yet to see him.

“The 9th and 10th [New Hampshire] Regiments are here near us. The centre section under William Chamberlin of the [1st N. H.] Battery were down here last night. They carried two guns to the depot at Sandy Hook and stopped here on their way back. The boys look well. John did not come with them but the boys say he is well.”

Finally, William Fish shared that though there was considerable food growing near the camp, it was risky to try to go after it.

“We have a good chance to wash as a brook runs by the foot of the hill on which we are camped. There is considerable quantities of butternuts, chestnuts, shag barks, and black walnuts though we cannot go far from camp without running the risk of being picked up by the patrol guard and sent to Harpers Ferry to work for twelve days as none of the soldiers are allowed out of the lines of their regiments without they have a pass signed by the Gen. Commanding. This is to pick up stragglers and prevent depredating.”

William Fish at the Siege of Knoxville

View of Knoxville, Tennessee taken from Fort Sanders looking southeast. The University of Tennessee is visible in the background.
View of Knoxville, Tennessee taken from Fort Sanders looking southeast. The University of Tennessee is visible in the background.

William Fish was wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862. His brother, John Fish, was killed on the same day also at the Battle of Fredericksburg. For the period of 1863, part of which time William Fish spent recovering, we do not currently have any letters in our collection, though three are available to view at the New Hampshire Historical Society.

The letters by William Fish resume in the Research Arsenal collection on January 7, 1864, with William Fish writing to his sister after the Siege of Knoxville.

“You must have felt quite anxious concerning me during the time we were besieged in Knoxville by Longstreet. We had no mail communication for three or four weeks and consequently did not write. But now (from all accounts the boot appears to be on the other leg), Grant and Sherman it has said has Longstreet surrounded. I sent you in my last a piece composed by one of the Indiana Battery on Longstreet’s visit to Knoxville. It is represented that he is in a very tight place and cannot get supplies or clothing and his men are deserting in great numbers. Two whole companies came in a day or two ago.”

By this time, William Fish was confident that the war would end soon.

“Fighting is heard out at the front at times. The rebel deserters that come into our lines represent Longstreet’s army as in a terrible condition. They are hard up for shoes, some being barefoot and others in their stocking feet. Our army has been very successful for the past 6 or 8 months and I do not see how the Rebs are going to hold out much longer. The fact is there are whipped if they would only own it.”

On May 6, 1864, William Fish along with two other men from Company C of the 11th New Hampshire Infantry were captured at the Battle of the Wilderness. The men were all sent to Andersonville Prison.

William Fish survived to the end of the war and was released from Andersonville on July 31, 1865. He married Eliza Gage 1869. After Eliza Gage died in 1917, William Fish married Helen L. Ober, who was the widow of John Whipple, a fellow soldier from the 11th New Hampshire Infantry who died at Andersonville.

On August 29, 1936, William Fish died at the age of 93. He was buried at Shawsheen Cemetery in Bedford, Massachusetts.

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

To read more of William Fish’s letters, as well as a letter by his brother, John, and access thousands of other Civil War documents, sign up for a Research Arsenal membership.

If you enjoyed this article, check out some of our other featured collections like David Patten of the 35th Illinois Infantry and David Poak of the 30th Illinois Infantry.

 

 

 

 

Research Arsenal Spotlight 26: David Patten 35th Illinois Infantry

Posted on by Gloria Wickman

David Patten was born in 1838 and lived in Illinois. When war broke out, he enlisted in G.A. Smith’s Independent Regiment, which was later designated as the 35th Illinois Infantry. The regiment was organized by Colonel Gustavus A. Smith in Decatur, Illinois.

David Patten was mustered in as a private in Company B, 35th Illinois Infantry on August 28, 1861. His first letter in our Research Arsenal collection was written on September 13, 1861, when the regiment was still known as Col. G.A. Smith’s Regiment, and was currently stationed at Benton Barracks in St. Louis, Missouri. In it, David Patten reveals that sickness has already taken hold of the regiment, writing, “There is a good many sick here at this time with various diseases.”

In the same letter, David Patten also revealed that the men had yet to receive their uniforms.

“We have not got all our uniforms yet. We have got two shirts and two pairs of socks, one pair of shoes, and two pairs of drawers and cap. I don’t know when we will get the rest.”

David Patten in Missouri

Photo of Benton Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri where David Patten and the 35th Illinois stayed in 1861.
Photo of Benton Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri where David Patten and the 35th Illinois stayed in 1861 via Iowa Digital Library.

The 35th Illinois Infantry spent much of the early war fighting in Missouri against the forces of Confederate General Sterling Price. In a letter  dated October 21, 1861, David Patten wrote about the regiment’s pursuit of General Price while camped along the south branch of the Osage River.

“We are camped here for awhile to rest. We are going on in the morning south after Price and Jackson. They are running but they are [trapped] since they cant get out without fighting. We camped on the same ground Saturday that they did one week ago. They are going south as fast as they can but there is about twenty thousand California rangers that will meet them about Arkansas. Our forces is about forty-seven thousand [and] twenty-five pieces of cannon. I think we will catch them sometime or rather, if we do, it will be all day with them. There is enough of us to take them right along without any trouble.”

He closed with the rather optimistic assessment that, “Three of four weeks will bring the war to a close in Missouri. Then Kentucky and Arkansas will be the fighting ground next.”

In an undated letter written sometime in early 1862, David Patten revealed that the fighting in Missouri was looking a bit grimmer for the Union, saying:

“The Unions folks of Missouri are moving out as fast as they can following the soldiers. [They are] going to Illinois, leaving their homes and taking what they can haul or drive. There is one thing more I must say—it is the poorest county I ever was in. The timber is all brush and the soil is flint rock and they lay as thick as one can lay beside another and there is no end to the depth. The water is good where there is water, but that is scarce.”

On January 9, 1862, David Patten wrote about a trip he took to see the “Mammoth Cave of Missouri,” not to be confused with the more well-known Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. It’s not known which cave this passage referred to, as there are many small caves in the area near Rolla where David Patten and the 35th Illinois Infantry were camped.

“Me and three others were out about 3 miles yesterday to the Mammoth Cave of Missouri. When we got there and went into the entrance, it looked like the entrance of the wet cave in Ohio. For a moment, it seemed to me that I was in Ohio. The entrance of the cave is larger than that of the wet cave in Ohio. There is a nice stream of water running through the center of the cave. We was in about half a mile. We could a went further but our candle was not sufficient to last so we had to go back. The wet cave is no comparison to these Here, all kinds of petrified stone and different apartments on both sides of the stream. We found the bones of an Indian in one hole that we was in. I suppose they had been carried there by some animals. We shot a few rounds of lead at the mark with our revolvers and took a snort of dog leg. I then left for camp.”

Continued Fighting by the 35th Illinois Infantry

Harper’s Weekly illustration of the Battle of Pea Ridge from 29 March 1862.
Harper’s Weekly illustration of the Battle of Pea Ridge from 29 March 1862 via Wikimedia Commons.

On March 7-8, 1862, the 35th Illinois Infantry fought at the Battle of Pea Ridge, in Missouri. This pivotal battle in which Union forces were able to hold back the Confederate army gave them control over most of Missouri and the northern part of Arkansas.

During the Battle of Pea Ridge, the lieutenant colonel of the 35th Illinois Infantry, William P. Chandler, was captured. One March 23, 1862, David Patten wrote that the lieutenant colonel had recently been exchanged and returned to them:

“We are in Missouri now about 10 miles from the Arkansas line. Our lieutenant colonel was exchanged yesterday and is in command of the regiment now. He said rebels treated him like a gentlemen. Their force is at Fort Smith, Arkansas. The first day we fought 12,000 of the rebels and [we] only had about 2,000. They said we fought like devils. Seven of their regiments was Mississippians and Louisianans. We found a good many arms that they had hid. I don’t know where we would go yet.”

By June 7, 1862, David Patten and the 35th Illinois Infantry were in Mississippi. While they didn’t participate directly in the Siege of Corinth, David Patten still observed  some of the aftermath:

“We went to Corinth and saw them skirmish some and stayed there till the rebels evacuated the place, then followed them south. We are about 25 miles from Corinth now, close to the rebels. You have heard about the arms that our men got and destroyed. And the prisoners—they don’t amount to much. We have papers here up to the 3d of this month. They tell all about our movements and about McClellan fighting the rebels at Richmond, Virginia—-that is the two first days, but no further.”

David Patten wrote again on July 29, 1862 revealing that his current duties were light and that he hoped to become a sergeant.

“But my duty is not very hard now. All I have to do is to draw rations from the commissary for the company and divide them out to the messes, drill and go on dress parade and do some fatigue duty at times. I don’t have to stand guard at all. There will be a sergeant to elect in the company before long. I will stand a chance to get that place so I will wait for this time.”

By October, 1862, continued fighting, including the recent battle at Perryville, Kentucky, left David Patten tired of the war and desiring to come home.

“We had a fight with the rebels at Perryville, Kentucky, on the 17 of this month. There was a good many killed and wounded on both sides. I have seen no official report but I seen a good many dead here. We had a fight with them yesterday. We are resting today but I don’t know how long we will rest. We are nearly wore out a running and fighting the rebels. If I had a got pay at Louisville, I would a come home.”

Declining Health

While David Patten had battled sickness throughout his time in the 35th Illinois Infantry, his health seemed to decline more aggressively in 1863. The poor conditions and meagre rations were taking their toll as he revealed in a letter dated January 19, 1863:

“I am not very well at this time. I have felt bad ever since the Battle [of Stone River] It was enough to kill the devil to lay out in the rain and mud with no fire and half enough to eat as long as we did. But I am thankful to come off as well as I did.”

As with the letter written last October, David Patten continued to wish to go home.

“I would get my likeness taken if I had a chance but there is a better chance of getting a scalp taken than a picture now. I am homesick now more so than I ever was. I long to see the time when I can come home and bid adieu to this bloody war. I will be 25 years old tomorrow and 17 months and 16 days to serve yet in this war.”

The final letter by David Patten in our collection was written on November 1, 1863 beginning with:

“I now take my pen up to write you a few lines this Sabbath morning to inform you that I am still alive but not in good health.”

Though he went on to assure his family that he was still able to do duty, David Patten also requested that they send him some desperately needed food:

“I want to know if you can send me some butter and some molasses and a little buckwheat for us. One gallon of buckwheat flour would do me a good while and a gallon or so of molasses and [illegible] pounds of butter and some kind of fruit. I never was so near starved in all my life than I am now.”

Sadly, David Patten passed away just a month after this last letter was sent on December 12, 1863.

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

To read more of David Patten’s letters or access thousands of other Civil War documents, sign up for a Research Arsenal membership.

If you enjoyed this feature, check out some of our other articles like David Poak of the 30th Illinois Infantry  and Silas Leach of the 52nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regimental Band.

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.

 

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