7th Wisconsin Infantry, The Iron Brigade

1862-65: Spencer Bronson to Amanda Bronson

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Spencer Bronson, 7th Wisconsin Infantry

The following letters were written by Spencer Bronson (1842-1930), the son of Rev. Major Tyler Bronson (1802-1880) and Matilda Hotchkiss (1812-1872) of Fountain Prairie, Columbia county, Wisconsin. Spencer enlisted in Co. B, 7th Wisconsin Infantry in May 1861 with his older brothers, Elisha (“Eli”) Bronson (1834-1862) and Manly Tyler Bronson (1839-1863). Eli was killed on 17 September 1862 at Antietam, Maryland. Manly died at Belle Plains, Virginia, on 26 March 1863. Spencer survived the war—his memory forever preserved in witnessing the assassination of President Lincoln [see the Journal Sentinel]. He did not pass through the war unscathed, however. He was wounded on 28 August 1862 in the Battle of Gainsville, Va., again at the Battle of Fitzhugh Crossing, Va. on 29 April 1863, and once again on Day 1 at Gettysburg where he because a prisoner of war and confined at Libby Prison and Belle Island in Richmond. He was exchanged in August 1863 but lost his teeth due to scurvy. After he returned to his regiment, he was wounded again in the Battle of the Wilderness and sent to a hospital in Washington D. C. where he was transferred into the Veteran Reserve Corps. The doctor reports included in his pension file make gruesome reading. Aside from losing the two brothers previously mentioned, Spencer lost another brother, 1st Lt. Edward Hotchkiss Bronson of Co. K, 32nd Wisconsin Infantry.

Civil War buffs will recognize the 7th Wisconsin Infantry as one of the five regiments that composed the vaunted Iron Brigade—also known as the “The Black Hats” or “Black Hat Brigade.” Two letters transcribed and previously posted on Spared & Shared by Spencer’s brother Manly can be found at 1861-62: Manly T. Bronson to Friends.

Letter 1

Camp Lincoln
April 10, 1862

Dear Friends,

We received your letter a few days ago and I now sit down to answer it. We are all well as usual. The weather is very warm at present. we are now encamped near Catlett’s Station about 45 miles from Washington & 16 miles beyond Manassa Junction. We expect to move on as soon as a bridge is fixed near us so that the artillery can cross over in safety. There has been some change in the field officers since I last wrote. Gen. McDowell has been put in command of an Army Corps consisting of 4 Divisions. Gen. King being the Senior General in the Division takes his place. Gen. King’s place is filled by Col. Cutler, formerly Colonel of the 6th Regt. Wisconsin Volunteers.

Col. William W. Robinson, 7th Wisconsin

Last night Col. [William W.] Robinson said a few words to us while on Dress Parade. He said that for four or five days he had felt downhearted because he thought we should have no chance to see “secesh” and that there was a chance for us to guard the railroad (which all soldiers fairly despise). But he said that his opinion had changed. He had received news that General Magruder was within 10 miles of us with 30,000 rebel troops. If this was true, he thought the rebels would give us employment. All he asked of us was to do our duty as soldiers & put confidence in him & he thought all would come out well in the end. His speech was received with cheers by the regiment.

I believe that when [brother] Manly last wrote, we were at Bristol Station. Last Sunday we left there & marched 10 miles to our present camp which is about two miles from Warrenton Station (toward Washington). This morning we hear heavy firing towards the enemy. Our Colonel thinks that General Ord is having a battle with the enemy. Gen. Ord (the hero of Dranesville) is on the advance of McDowell’s Corps. His troops are among the best in the army and whenever they fight, they will do it with a will. Gen. McDowell’s Corp consists of Gen. McCall’s, Franklin’s, Blinker’s, and McDowell’s old division, now commanded by Gen. King of Wisconsin. General King is a West Point graduate and a first rate soldier. He is a gentleman in every sense of the word & uses his soldiers as a father would use his son. Wherever the 1st Division goes, they are willing to trust themselves in the hands of Gen. King.

Lieutenant Batchelder started for home a few days ago. I suppose you have heard that our Chaplain has resigned and gone home. He left for home two weeks ago so that now we have no religious services of Sunday. But I must close as it is drill time. Write soon. From your brother. — Spencer

Letter 2

Camp Lincoln
April 19th 1862

Dear Friends

As I have a few moments of spare time, I will improve them by answering your letter. We are all well as usual & enjoy ourselves first rate. Near our camp is a small river & we boys amuse ourselves in various ways in making boats and bobbing for eels and going in swimming in the river. Our camp is a beautiful spot. From where I am, I can see the Alleghany Mountains looming up in distance while way to the south can be seen the Rappahannock.

The firing that we heard yesterday was as we expected a skirmish. It was about 8 miles from our camp. The rebels was repulsed with heavy loss. We expect to move on in a few days. Whenever the time comes, we will be heartily glad as we are tired of laying still. We expect to have a little brush with the enemy but we are prepared for them. We are going to send our overcoats [home] in a few days. Get and keep them for us till we come home.

I have just been down to see the railroad bridge which was burnt by the rebels a sahort time ago. The bridge cost 2,000,000. Tell Henry I will answer his letter as soon as I get time. From Spencer

Letter 3

January 26th 1863

In your last letter you spoke of the box as sent, or about to be. While we are glad that it is on the way, we are very sorry that Manly cannot be here to have some of the good of it. It was on his account more than on mine that we sent for it. At that time we supposed that we should be here if it came here before March the 1st, But this last movement has changed the state of affairs. On one account more than anything else, I am sorry that he is not here. T. E. the wine that you speak of, I think would do him good and on account of those kind friends who have taken so much pains to gratify our tastes & wishes, thank them for me for their kind regards. Such kindness will not be soon forgotten. The box has not yet….

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…consider with that great General McClellan when he said, “A successful winter campaign cannot be carried on in Virginia.” This saying has thus far proven itself true. Twice has the attempt been made & as often has it failed on account of bad weather. But perhaps the superior generalship of a Greeley or a Booth might triumph over any obstacle & before spring we might hear of their entering victoriously into Richmond on a stone bolt & their artillery on a mud scow. Give them a trial.

The mail is not very regular here. For instance, your letter of the 17th of December (or thereabout) was received almost few days ago while that of January 4th was received almost a week previous. The Daily Life comes pretty regular. Though not agreeing with the Editor in some small matters, it is nevertheless a good paper. The speech & sermons I like first rate. Thank you for the privilege of having them to peruse. Perhaps before long I shall be able to return the compliment. But the time for the mail to go out is rapidly advancing & I must bring this letter to a close. You ask whether your letters are too long. No! If we stay here long, I will try to follow youyr good example of long letters.

My health is first rate & I am contented & happy. As soon as I hear from Manly, I will write you. I am in hopes that now he is some good hospital, he will get a furlough or discharge. His disease is the chronic diarrhea though not in its worst state when he left. He was some better when he left. — Spencer

Letter 4

Camp near Belle Plains
February 7th 1863

Dear Friends,

Your kind letter of the 25th came to hand after being 10 days on the road. Since we have been here, the mail for some reason or other has been very irregular. In your letter you speak of the same irregularity in the mail matters. The fault (with but few exceptions) does not lie with us. We have written a letter every week at least while not on the march & will endeavor to so do hereafter. And if we should find time lying idle on our hands (which would be I think the 8th Wonder), we will endeavor to comply with your wishes & write semi-weekly.

It is a warm and pleasant morning—the finest by fat of the new year. If there is any class of people who appreciate good weather more than another, it is the soldier. In fact, good weather is almost a requisite to a soldier’s happiness. Give me ten pleasant days, says Gen. Burnside, and Richmond will be mine.

Manly Tyler Bronson wearing the original grey uniform of the 7th Wisconsin Infantry

Last Saturday I was agreeably surprised by seeing Manly enter our little shanty. I had received a letter from him but a few days before & nothing was said in it about his returning to the company. He has been staying at the Brigade hospital at Wind Mill Point, Va., about 5 miles from here. He says the hospital was filled up so full that they could not do justice to so many so he thought he would come back to the company. He about the same as he was when I last wrote to you. You seem to think that I have kept back his true condition but you have judged wrong. I know that when his disease is fairly settled upon a person it is hard to cure, but in my own experience, I have seen several persons cured who labored under the same disease. It is in this way that I have formed the opinion that Manly’s case is nothing very serious as his disease is not of the worst type. He has a good appetite. For a few days back, we have managed to get food that he relishes very well. He has a very good bed considering the circumstance in which we are placed. He is quite weak although when he came back from the hospital, he walked half a mile with his accoutrements on. Perhaps others who only see him occasionally are better able to judge than I can but I believe not. I may error in judgement but I am sincere in regard to my views in his case. Rest assured, however, that if his sickness should take a more alarming turn, I will inform you at once.

The box has not yet arrived and we begin to fear that something is not right. I hope it will come to hand soon at least while we are together & when not on the march. It is the prevalent opinion here in “Milertery circels” that the Army of the Potomac is about to be divided up. It is thus far rumored that (the veracity of which I believe is correct) that the 9th Army Corps & Sigel’s Grand Division has been taking shipping at Aquia & Belle Plain Landing all day. Their destination is believed to be North Carolina. If this be true, perhaps our military stage of action will be changed to a more southern climate. There is no news of any consequence going on here.

John Hughes of Otsego who was wounded at Gainesville has been discharged. He has secured the post of freight agent to transport provision for the use of the army. He receives $40 per month. For once, merit has received its reward. I received a letter from George Brown a few days ago. He is at work in a drugstore at Berlin, Wisconsin. He has secured a half pension ($8 per month) for life. He thinks his arm will always be stiff.

The company in general are enjoying good health. Herbert Dyer has been rather unwell for a few days past but is now as well as usual. There has been three corporals appointed lately—viz: Herbert Dyer, Theron Helm, & Alexander Hughs. Any news from Capt. [Martin C.] Hobart or Gary Russell will be read with interest at all times. We have not heard from them in a long while except by way of you. Tell Mrs. Haskins that Henry Beecham has been transferred to Battery B, 4th US Regular Artillery for them remainder of his time. He was transferred on the 12th of September 1862. The above named battery belongs to our brigade. He is over here quite often. He was liked very well while in our company. Lieut. Col. [Charles A.] Hamilton & Major [George] Bill of our regiment have or are about to resign the first on account of his wound received at Gainesville, the latter on account of ill health. They are good officers & brave men & we are sorry that they should be compelled to leave us.

Capt. [Mark] Finnicum of Co. H has been recommended to the Governor for one of the vacant places. Col. Robinson is still with us though at present in command of the Brigade while Gen. [Solomon] Meredith is absent at Washington. By the way, it is rumored that the business he has gone there on is to get our brigade into the fortifications near the Capitol. Gen. Meredith is a cousin of the President and relationship may have some weight with him. May he succeed but we shall not be disappointed if he should not. We have a drill of one hour duration daily, company inspection three times a week, regimental inspection Sunday at 11 o’clock. It is now 10:30 o’clock & my gun wants a little cleaning, so I must halt. From Sepencer

Letter 5

Camp near Belle Plains
March 25th [1863]

Dear Friend,

I have sad news to write to you. Control your feelings and may God help you yp bear up under this great affliction. Manly has gone to a better world. He has gone from this world of care & sorrow to one “Where the sound of war is never heard.” He expired about 4.30 o’clock this morning. He died very easy.

Yesterday the Elder was over & staid with him quite a while. He asked him if he thought all would be well hereafter. Manly said he thought it would. Manly also said he was willing to die if it was God’s will.

I shall try and send his remains home to you if possible as I know you would like to have him buried at Fall River. Probably before this reaches you, you will hear of his death by telegraph as I shall send a dispatch this p.m. Inform Edward of his death as soon as possible. If I cannot send his body home, he will be buried here with military honors & his funeral sermon preached by our chaplain. The last words he said to me was “goodbye.” He also said we must all be contented.

The affliction seems almost to much to bear but we have a Friend to lean on. May God help us to be resigned to [His] will and may we be led to explaim, “All is well.” He left a number of things which I will send home by express soon as I know that anything that was once his will be treasured up as a keepsake. He seemed sensible that he was about to leave this world. He read a great deal in the Testament—that being the only book that he read in some time previous to his death.

But I must close by saying that I have resolved to live so hereafter that I can meet brother Manly in a happy world. Pray for me that this may be my lot. From your brother, — Spencer

Letter 6

Addressed to Miss Amanda Bronson, Fall River, Columbia county, Wisconsin

Camp near Belle Plains
April 4th 1863

Dear Friends,

The past week has been one of sorrow & bereavement to me. The loss of a brother at any time is almost heart rending but situated as I am away from home and friends and being the only relation near me, the loss of a brother is almost to much to bear up under. I have seen some of my earliest and best friends stricken down by my side on the battlefield & other trials incidental to a soldier’s life, but never have I had such a feeling of lonliness as I have had since the time when I knew Manly had gone from this world & that I should see his face no more on earth. Manly was more than a brother. He was a friend & companion, ever willing to help me when I was in trouble, to chide me when I erred from th path of virtue. I miss his counsel and advice a great deal. No one but those in my situation can imagine my feelings so you at home are the only ones that know what my feelings are.

But why should we murmur & complain. It is God’s will & we read in his Holy book that “He doeth all things well.” Manly has gone to a better world, I believe, where sickness & pain never enters. He has, I trust, hone to join those comrades of his gone before. God grant that though we cannot meet those loved ones no more on earth, that we may meet them in Heaven. To attain this end, I shall endeavor to live hereafter.

I have sent Manly’s remains home to you. I knew you would be more reconciled to his death if he could be buried at Fall River. Although I well knew that the cost would be considerable, notwithstanding this, I was resolved that he should not be buried on southern soil. To accomplish this, I had to borrow $45 off my tent mate Jacob Fresh which I promise to pay [on] pay day. To pay this debt, you will have to send that amount in a letter (after payday) as there is no express to here, There is about $40 coming to me that I have allotted. Take that or the $40 that you will receive as you please to send. I think we will be paid soon. The cost of sending the remains of Manly was $65. Manly left $20 with me when he was taken worse. Had it not been for this, I fear I should not have succeeded as well as I have.

To Capt. [Martin C.] Hobart, Lieut. [Charles E.] Weeks, & our Chaplain [Eaton] am I indebted for doing everything they could for Manly while he lived to make his sickness less painful. And after he was dead in aiding me in sending his remains home. He died on the 25th & on the 26th we sent him home to you. On the day of his death, I wrote to you and also telegraph to F. Huggins, Columbus, informing him of the fact that & telling him to forward the same to you. Probably both the letter and dispatch has reached you ere this. God help you to bear up under this sad news with resignation. Manly was a martyr to his country. He fell in a noble cause. How thankful I am that I could be near him in his last moments. The last five or six days before his death I was with him most of the time. But the mail is going out & I must close. — Spencer

Shortly after Manly’s death, I sent home his knapsack & other effects. You have probably received them ere this. Some time ago Manly told me if he should not live, he wished that the housewife [sewing kit] that you made for him before he left home should be returned to you, This article you will find in the knapsack. When Manly was alive, I have often heard him say that it was a very handy thing & that no soldier should be without one. If you can collect the debt of $40 which Mr. Prime owes me, I wish you would send that and an additional five dollars in a letter to me so that I can pay the debt of $45 which I had to incur in order to send Manly’s remains home. It may be some time before we are paid off and if possible, I should like to pay this up at once.

Rev. Samuel Witt Eaton, 7th Wisconsin

I will try to answer some of Mother’s questions. We have Divine service here every Sunday when the weather permits & also a prayer meeting during the week days. I have attended most of the time & intent to attend more regular hereafter. Our Chaplain, Rev. S[amuel W[itt] Eaton, formerly of Platteville, Wisconsin, is a whole soul man & I believe a good Christian. Before Manly died, he lacked for nothing that we could get for him for we both had money. While he was alive, I endeavored to act the part as you wished me to do of a friend and brother. There is quite a number of persons in the 7th who profess religion. There are five in the tent with [me] and they are all of a thoughtful & careful disposition. Finally let me say in answer to the last question that I am endeavoring to live a thoughtful and prayerful life.

Write often, all three of you, for your letters are prized. I am sorry you do not receive my letters regular. I shall continue to write every week while living in camp. My health is good and I am content with my lot, believing I can do more good here than elsewhere. This from, — Spencer

John Bissett is not very well at present. Capt. Hobart & all others are well.

Letter 7

Camp near Belle Plains. Va.
April 12th 1863

Dear Friends,

I received your letter (and also Mother’s) of the 29th inst. Never was a letter read with more eagerness. Your feelings were natural, Amanda. In regard to the sickness & as you fear death of Manly, never have we as a family been called upon to suffer such a loss as this before. Never have we needed more help & strength from above to bear up under an affliction than at the present time. In order to bear up under htis affliction, I have found we must out our trust in God. Had it not been for the belief in future happiness & meeting Many in another world, his death would have been too great a trial to bear. But God in His infinite wisdom has ordained that we shall meet those loved ones in a better & happier world where parting will be no more. The Christian resignation & patriotism in Mother’s letter is well worthy to be the utterance of a Mother of a son who has died a martyr to his country. God forbid that I should prove a traitor to my country or be recreant to God’s high & holy will, after having such counsel and advice as this.

The weather is very pleasant & the roads are getting in good order. I expect every day when we will receive orders to march. The enemy are still on the opposite side of the Rappahannock, strongly entrenched. Many precious lives will have to be sacrificed before they are driven back. The army in general put great confidence in Gen. Hooker, believing he will win a triumphant but bloody victory. Our Brigade being in the 1st Division, 1st Army Corps, will probably be on the advance. The old “Iron Brigade” (as I see we are called at home) are determined to a man never to turn their backs to the enemy. I believe they will do it for they are a determined set of men. So be not surprised if you should hear of this brigade being badly cut up in the next great fight on the Rappahannock.

And if in the impending battle, I should become a prey to a rebel’s bullet, content yourselves with the thought that I could not have died in a better cause nor in a place where I could have done my country more good. I shall endeavor to act the part of a true soldier. So if such an event should happen, you would not hear of my acting the coward’s part & of my death at the same time. I shall endeavor also above all things to discharge my duty to that “Higher & greatest Commander” so that I shall be sure of a place beside my comrades gone before at the right hand of God. Blessed thought. I still feel that I have something to live for, at least to prepare myself for a high and glorious careeer above. Toattain this end, may it be my chief study & aim.

Preparatory to a general advance, we have had several reviews the past two weeks. On the 2nd inst. our Division was reviewed by Gen. Hooker. He gave this brigade the praise of making the best appearance on parade of all the troops present. In order to give you some idea of the personal appearance of Gen. Hooker, I will say that he looks more like A. P. Birdsey than anyone that I can think of that you have seen, or in other words, he has all the good looks of Mr. B & other better looks added to these.

On the 9th there was another review of the 1st Army Corps by President Lincoln. The President has altered a great deal since first I saw him (November 20th 1861). The cares of office seems to wear upon him. He looks thin and careworn. Mrs. Lincoln & the President’s youngest son was present. Tell Boyd and Libby that he was about midway between them in size & age. He rode a splendid horse and seemed as self possessed as & cool as General Hooker or his father. Tell them that this little boy has within the year past, like them, been called upon to mourn the death of an older brother & may they, like him, in memory of a beloved brother, ever be kind and affectionate to anyone they may chance to have intercourse with.

I have not heard from Edward for a long time. I wrote to him some time ago but up to this time have received no answer from him. I fear the letters are miscarried. I shall make another attempt to get a letter through to him I think soon. Still continue to give me any and all news you hear from him at any time. — Spencer

William Sickles arrived here on the 2nd inst.

Letter 8

Camo near Belle Plains, Va.
April 19, [1863]

Dear Friends,

I have received the three letters of the 5th & 6th of April (in one). Was very glad to hear that you were all enjoying your usual health. I was very glad to hear also that Many’s remains had arrived safely, that his funeral sermon had been preached in the church of which he was a member & that he was buried in the Old Fall River burying ground. To attain this has been my aim ever since his death. And when I heard that it had been accomplished, a weight was lifted off from my mind. How thankful I am that everything has been arranged to our satisfaction in paying the last respects to the memory of Manly. Although you could not be near him to minister to his wants in his last moments & often I presume (as you say) there were dark hours hours for him, still not a murmur or complaint passed his lips. He said he was willing to go if it was God’s will. He now is without doubt enjoying heavenly bliss with his comrades in another and a better world. It is God’s will, Amanda. Why should we wish him back to this world of care and sorrow. Although he cannot come to us we can go to him if our acts & deeds are in accordance with God’s will.

Contrary to the opinion in my last letter, we are still at Belle Plains. Last Wednesday (14th) we received orders to march on the succeeding day. We drew 8 days rations of meet, bread, and sugar & coffee which we would have to carry on our back. Towards evening it commenced to rain and kept it up till the next evening so the orders to march was countermanded. The roads are now getting in good shape for traveling & I again prophecy that before this reaches you, we will be on the march.

Capt. Hobart is enjoying good health, as is all the company except John Bissell who is in the regimental hospital. He is now recovering slowly. Our company is increasing slowly in numbers. We have now 42 men, rank & file.

I was very sorry to hear that Aunt Abby was unwell. I hope she may recover before this reaches you. The weather is very warm & pleasant today as it has been for 4 or 5 days past. Last Sunday Manley’s funeral sermon was preached by our Chaplain. The company to a man was all present besides a good many from this and other regiments. The text was taken from the 116th Psalms, 7th verse. Last evening we had a prayer meeting in our tent. The Chaplain was present and several others from the regiment. We had a very good meeting & I was reminded of old times when 5 or 6 of us use to meet & have prayer meetings at Fall River. Most of that number have gone to a better and happy world. I pray God that that circle may not be broken nor that one should be lost.

Pa asked my opinion about selling the farm. I hardly know what answer to give. One thing is certain, Pa is getting too old to do anything towards working it. I believe I would not sell it unless you could get $800 for it at least for I believe it is worth that. Perhaps if you could get a good man to let it out to them would be the best way to& if you get hard up for means to live on, he can use my money that I send home. Tell Pa & Ma not to work hard but to take it easy as possible. They have done a great deal of work in their lives & it is time they had some rest. Be as careful of your health as possible, Amanda, and fo not make yourself sick working. Give my love to the children and all enquiring friends.

Nut it is almost time for our usual Sunday service so you must excuse my short letter. Write often. This from your brother, – Spencer

California Gold Rush, Hawaii Missionaries

1848: Artemas Bishop to Sereno Edwards Bishop

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The following letter was written by Rev. Artemas Bishop (1795-1872), an 1819 graduate of Union College in New York State, who with his wife Elizabeth (Edwards) Bishop (1796-1828) were among the Second Company of missionaries arriving in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) on 27 April 1823. Their first station was at Kailua on the Kona coast of the big island. After his first wife died in Hawaii in 1828, Artemas married Delia Stone (1800-1875) who came with the 3rd company of missionaries. Artemas wrote this letter to his son, Sereno Edwards Bishop, who was born in Hawaii in 1827. Artemas also mentions his daughter, Jane Elizabeth Bishop (1825-1904) who married Hermann Hillebrand in 1860. Artemas died at the age of 77, having spent 50 years as a missionary in Hawaii. He is credited with leading the effort to translate the Hawaiian Bible.

Bishop’s letter offers an extensive examination of the disruptive effects on Hawaii’s economy resulting from the announcement of gold discovery in California. He expresses grave concerns that this event may lead to a significant decline in religious practice throughout the nation and hinder the advancement of civilization in Hawaii particularly.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Ewa, Oahu
October 17, 1848

My dear son,

I wrote a letter in July last to go by way of Canton & England. In that I stated some of the difficulties in the way of your returning to these islands to settle, and proposed that you take into consideration the subject of a residence in California. All that I then said in reference to a rapid settlement of that country is already being realized. The immediate effect produced at these islands, by the discovery of a gold deposit, was a great stir among the merchants in shipping goods to California by which they are realizing immense profits. Another effect has been to drain off nearly all the foreign population at the islands to go in quest of gold. They have not all got away, but are only waiting for a passage, all with the exception perhaps of a few who are too snugly settled to leave. Vessels are now plying continually between Honolulu & California, making a brisk trade with goods & passengers.

The Rev. T. D. [Timothy Dwight] Hunt 1 who left the mission last spring and commenced gathering an English congregation at Honolulu has been obliged to give up the attempt and follow his people to San Francisco where he intends, if practicable, to settle. I have requested him to look about and see what are the prospects of usefulness to a young man in that region as a preacher of the Gospel, and to ascertain withal what are the facilities afforded for the support of a minister. I propose to correspond with him on the subject, But I have no doubts what will be the state of things there a few years hence. There will be an immense rush of immigration to California from America and Europe by adventurers in quest of gold. It is said on good authority that the deposits are inexhaustible for the present generation.

The probable consequence of this discovery will be to throw a surplus of gold into the markets of the world and before 10 years there will be a fall in the value of gold, or in other words, a rise in the price of goods & all kinds of work. Such has already been the effect here. The price of a day’s work for a mechanic has risen from $3 to $4. And in San Francisco, mechanics are now receiving 15 to 20 dollars per day, and all sorts of merchandise has risen 100 and 200 percent. A man will not work at his trade for less than what he can realize at the mines. But this state of things cannot always continue. When the government shall have taken possession of the mines and [ ] the free diggings, and when the influx of strangers & goods from other ports shall have created a competition and equalized the rough surface od society, the state of things will settle down somewhat as they are in other countries. But at present, the gold diggings have paralyzed every other business in California. They are now dependent for their bread upon foreign supplies. This tate of things has thrown an uncertainty upon the means of support fora minister of the Gospel.

At present I suppose it would be quite difficult for him to get a living without going to work like the rest of them. Teachers, however, are much wanted and large salaries given to such as will undertake the business. Physicians are in great demand. But I suppose a full supply of these will be splendidly obtained. The price of wages for a common laborer is said to be 5 and 6 dollars per day, but this is owing to the scarcity of people in the towns, they having nearly all gone to the mines. It is surprising how quickly some men have already made a property and how easily others have dissipated theirs. There is a man here with his family who came overland to California with nothing but their hands. Upon the discovery of the gold, they all went to digging. they soon realized some 15,000 dollars and are now on their return to the U. S. intending to purchase a farm and settle down. The man says he is rich enough for all his purposes and would not stay there any longer for all the country affords. The society is indeed all in a chaotic state, without a government, a gospel, or Sabbaths. The people spend their Sundays in the grog shops at the card table. Drunkenness, gambling, fighting & horse racing are their pastimes. All these are done openly with no one to correct or restrain them.

The Panama steamers are about to commence their operations and will doubtless soon bring into the country a more respectable population. But they must have the gospel or the country will be ruined. Nor do I despair, but means will be provided for its support as fast as ministers can be raised up to enter into the work. I am not one who believes that the Alglo-Saxon race by which the world is to be regenerated is to be neglected in favor of the heathen who are passing away. Tis time the heathen must not be passed by. But the white race have doubtless the first claim in such circumstances of destitution as California, which is as much a missionary field as China, and will soon be filled with a teeming population from all parts of the civilized world. But time must develop what will be your path of duty and it is highly proper to seek the Divine direction in the view of your future field of labor. As I said in my last letter, your mother and I are growing old and feel that it will not be our duty to stay at this solitary station many years longer. But we would not run away from the path of duty, nor go without the clearest convictions of the Divine will.

My opinion is that the great emigration now going on here will drain the islands of nearly all the foreigners & of multitudes of the natives who are equally anxious to go—especially the half breeds & the more enterprising of the full blooded natives. What will be the results of this expatriation, it is impossible to predict. I fear this new feature of things will retard the progress of civilization of the nation now slowly going on. All the enterprise & capital of the country belongs to the foreign residents. But the difficulties in the way of procuring lands here, and the facilities offered for the same in California has been one cause of foreigners leaving in such numbers. Every year seems to lessen the hope that this nation as a whole will [ ] native race is destined to be perpetuated. They have as a people been anglicized [?] and multitudes, I trust , will be saved. But their indolent habits & their old method of living in miserable houses remain. Sickness and mortality is rapidly carrying them off. Just now, for the first time, the measles has been imported here and is spreading like wildfire through the Kingdom. The sickly & feeble are falling before it like grass before the scythe. Tis melancholy to look on it and count the dying. The only consolation we have is the hope that many of them are being removed to a better world—are dying in the faith of a crucified Savior.

My request is that we correspond frequently & freely. Next year the packet steamers will be running & letters will reach you from here in little more than two months. You will only have to put yours to me in the mail with directions for them to go via Panama & San Francisco (postage paid). The postmaster of the latter place will forward them by some of the vessels leaving there for Honolulu almost weekly. I shall write you again as soon as I shall hear next winter of the sailing of the steamers in this ocean. The expense of a voyage to & back from California which is now 100 dollars each way will probably prevent me from making the voyage which I contemplated when I wrote you in July. But I will correspond with persons with whom I am acquainted now there. Should you wish to know further particulars of that place, I advise you to write to the Rev. Mr. Hunt at San Francisco, should he remain there, which you can ascertain by enquiring of his father who lives in Rochester. He would be happy to give you any information you wish to know.

I send you two newspapers as a specimen of the state of affairs in this part of the world. When you have read them, be so good as to send them to your sister for her perusal. I hope you have received ere this the contemplated visit from her which she wrote me she intended to make. We pity the poor girl so far removed from all her relations and friends. You must act the part of a good brother to her and write her often. Her situation as to society has not been so favorable as yours. I wish we had a good home for her here but we are alone & I fear she would not be happy at Ewa. Though she has never expressed it in her letters, yet we fear her mind is often depressed at the feeling of having no home. May the Lord bless & provide for you both. Amen!

I directed my last to Auburn. But if you have not entered that Seminary, I fear you will not get it. I shall send this to Rochester as formerly lest you may not be at Auburn. Your mother sends much love to you and all her family. She intends to write to you and them all this fall. We like your letters very much for their manly style & [ ] sentiments, but they ought to tell us of more particulars than they arewont to do. Excuse my frankness & believe to remain your affectionate father, — A. Bishop

to Mr. S. E. Bishop

1 Timothy Dwight Hunt was born in Rochester, New York on March 10, 1821. Hunt attended Yale (graduating in 1840) and completed his degree at Auburn Seminary in 1843. Ordained by the Presbytery of Genesee, he and his wife sailed to Hawaii as missionaries. After four years, he and his family sailed to San Francisco, arriving on October 28, 1848. Hunt, a New School Presbyterian, is believed to have been the first full-time Protestant minister to settle in California. He held his first communion service at the “Public Institute” in Portsmouth Square, San Francisco on November 5, 1848. The congregation included different denominations. He was elected chaplain of San Francisco for two years. He organized the First Congregational Church in July 1849. Hunt became its minister on June 26, 1850. He also was one of three ministers who were part of the Presbytery in San Francisco in September 21 for Monterrey. The other ministers were Samuel H Wiley and John Waldo Douglas. Hunt left San Francisco in 1857, becoming the minister for First Presbyterian Church in Ithaca. He died February 7, 1895, leaving behind a significant legacy of journals, letters and church registers.

Slave Revolt, Slavery

A View on Slavery, by H. Flagg

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The following essay or oration on slavery was not dated and signed only by the name “H. Flagg” so confirming the author’s identity remains problematic. However, I think there’s a high probability that it was written by Henry Collins Flagg (1792-1863), a native of Charleston, South Carolina, a graduate of Yale, and a lawyer in Charleston by 1814. He gave up the practice to return to New Haven to edit the Connecticut Herald, honing his skills as a writer and immersing himself in politics. He returned to the practice of law in South Carolina in the 1820s and then resided in New Haven once again in the 1830s so that his children could attend school there. He remained there until his death in 1863.

The essay refers to frequent fires in southern cities that were thought by many to be started by slaves. Charleston was one such city that had numerous fires in the 1850s and these would have no doubt caught the attention of Henry Flagg. He was described by those who knew him as a “graceful and eloquent public speaker, with a powerful voice and fluent utterance, and a ready and effective writer. His attachment to his native State was strong, but secondary to his devotion to the Union.” [Source: Biographical Sketches of the Graduate of Yale College, page 385]

The essay presents a powerful persuasive argument for a gradual, if not immediate emancipation of the slaves held in the southern states and suggests that, once liberated and recognizing themselves that they could never be treated as equals in American society, most of the free Blacks would opt for migrating back to Africa. The author also suggests that by ridding themselves of slavery, the white population would become less indolent and more virtuous.

T R A N S C R I P T I ON

The great number and rapid increase of the slaves in the southern states is becoming a subject of considerable interest and alarm. The vindictive disposition they manifest, the jealousy with which they are watched, and the severity with which insurrection is punished, indicate a state of dreadful insecurity. Witness the fearful apprehensions of the inhabitants during the late distressing fires that have desolated the southern cities, many of which were attributed to the sable incendiary. At the cry of fire, the whites were not seen running with buckets & engines to extinguish the flames, but with arms, on horseback, galloping in every direction to intimidate the negroes & prevent them from seizing the favorable moment of general confusion & consternation for mutiny & outrage. The combinations they have formed & the policy with which they have been conducted, evinces what the negro is capable of achieving. The mischiefs they have already effected are but the precursors of wide-spreading devastations—the first tremulous shocks of an earthquake which is soon to convulse the continent. The period may not be far distant when we shall hear with horror that the negroes, conscious of their strength & goaded to frenzy by their sufferings, have burst like a deluge over every dike of opposition, and overwhelmed the territories of their oppressors with a tide of desolation. Who can say that when the menace of some foreign invasion has summoned an army from the slave-holding states, they will not find their return disputed by the negro who has seized on the wealth he has created & the fields he has cultivated, & with the courage of desperation shouts defiance to his masters?

Lacedaemon once beheld such a scene & but for a stratagem, the Helots would have remained the lords of Sparta. With what facility might another Corsican march a broken army into the heart of the country & recruit his ranks with any number of this oppressed & exasperated population, & incite the rest to a general insurrection & an undistinguished massacre. What measures shall be adopted to avert the impending calamities? What barriers shall be opposed to their threatening desolation? Shall we prevent their propagation by enacting penal statutes? Shall we break down their spirits, and reduce them to a state of uncomplaining acquiescence by increasing the severities of their bondage? If this were attempted, we should see the tragedy of Egypt acted over again. Their miseries are now swelled to the greatest magnitude of endurance & the least aggravation might drive them to desperation. Shall we try to make them contented in their present state? Shall we give them instruction? For this they are already enthusiastic & regard its attainment as the means of effecting their emancipation. Shall we ameliorate their condition?

Alas! How shall this be accomplished? Go, teach the tiger mercy, but think that you can learn those monsters whose property they are, who have been bred to despotism & hardened to cruelty, even the rudiments of kindness. But allowing that some mitigation of their sufferings could be effected, still it would be slavery & would be endured no longer than till an opportunity offered to break the accursed chain. Shall we determine to liberate a certain proportion annually until at the expiration of a given period they shall all have obtained their freedom? When indolence becomes progressively industrious, when intemperance gradually leaves the full flowing bowl, and when avarice becomes by degrees munificent, then, & not till then, may such a project hope to see its accomplishment. No, there is no other expedient to which we can resort, but to throw off their shackles immediately & universally; to disarm their resentments, & conciliate their affections by an act of generosity. But perhaps I misname it, for tho they might consider it an act of generosity, it would in fact be an act of justice. Will anyone urge that the consequences of such a measure would be more dreadful than those of an insurrection? That we should thus turn loose among our citizens a horde of unprincipled desperadoes who would gain their livelihood by theft & robbery? Has he not in his calculation forgot that overruling Providence which can avert these evils & preserve in tranquility the nation that dares to be just?

Or does he consider the slave unsusceptible of generosity & utterly destitute of virtue & humanity? Would not the recollection of his deliverance allay the resentment of the most vindictive, and unnerve the arm of the most desperate? But allowing that a small proportion of them should band together and lay waste on a few paltry villages & plunder some of the useless treasures of the opulent How easily might they be apprehended & punished! And what would be the losses sustained by a few districts compared with the devastations we must expect if things continue as they are, till, within a century, they will outnumber the white population of the confederacy. But what would in fact be the effects of the measure we advocate? The white inhabitants of the slave-holding states would be obliged to labour more. They would become more healthy & robust, & of course, would increase much faster than in their present state of pampered indolence. They would become more virtuous. They would no longer be employed in human traffic—that most detestable commerce, nor surrounded by the vices nor hardened by the enormities which are the concomitants of slavery. And as they are almost the sole proprietors of the soil, the negroes would be obliged to rent the fields of a landlord for their subsistence, or seek some distant settlement where they enjoy the fruits of their labors.

And feeling as they must the pride & independence of humans, they will not endure the consciousness of inferiority. They will still be despised and branded by the odious epithet of negro. But they, hearing of the colonies establishing in the land of their fathers, of the extent of the country, the exuberance of the soil, & the congeniality of the climate to their constitution, thither will they direct their attention & it will be both the interest of the politician & pleasure of the philanthropist to equip them for their departure. They will return to Africa in multitudes, leaving tranquility behind, & carrying with them the arts of life & the blessings of civilization. H. Flagg

Vicksburg, Mississippi

1863: Levi Fletcher to his Cousin

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The following letter was written by Levi Fletcher (1842-1898), the son of Nathan Fletcher (1798-1863) and Louise [ ] of Monticello, Wright county, Minnesota—formerly of Maine. In 1860, Levi was enumerated in his parent’s household in Monticello, identified as a 17 year-old mail carrier. When the Civil War began, Levi enlisted in May 1861 as a private in Co. B, 1st Minnesota Infantry. Fighting at the First Battle of Bull Run on Henry House Hill while supporting Rickett’s Battery, the 1st Minnesota suffered severe casualties with 49 killed, 107 wounded, and 34 missing. Levi was one of the wounded severely enough to warrant a discharge for disability, granted in October 1861. He filed for a pension as an invalid in 1863.

The year of this October 11th letter is not given but it had to be either 1863 or 1864; after the fall of Vicksburg and before the end of the war. Unfortunately, nothing in the letter gives us a clue as to which year it might have been. We learn that Levi has opened a store in Vicksburg where he believed there was “a great chance to make money.” But he found the town people hard to deal with. “They would not hesitate in taking a man’s life for a dollar. That is the kind of men that we have to deal with down here,” he told his cousin. Apparently this was not just so much hyperbole as there was a notice in the Vicksburg Daily Times of 28 November 1871 referring to the examination of Frank Newman “for the alleged shooting of Levi Fletcher.”

Levi lived out his days in Vicksburg and died there in 1898.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Vicksburg, Mississippi
October 11 [1863]

Dear Cousin,

I have been so busy ever since I have been here that I could not have time to write to you until now and I have not time to write you but a few lines now. And I hope you will excuse me for not writing sooner. I think this is the meanest country that ever white man ever got into but this is a great chance to make money here. But everyone is trying to get rich in one day and that they cannot do. But if a man hangs on, he will make money here.

I like [being] in the store very well but I have some of the hardest men to deal with that I ever saw. They would not hesitate in taking a man’s life for a dollar. That is the kind of men that we have to deal with down here. I have to keep hopping around from night until morn and from morn until night and what time so I get to sleep? Why I sleep in the corner of the store while the customers are looking at the goods.

I should like to be up in the State of Minnesota for a short time. One feels as dull as if he had been sick all of the time. I do not feel as lively as I did when I was up there. There is something in the atmosphere that makes me feel very dull.

I had a very pleasant time in coming down here. There were a great many ladies on the boat and we had a very good time. We would dance in the evening and the day times. I would lie to them ladies and make them think that I and the whole of Minnesota and part of Wisconsin and a part of Illinois and they thought that I was one of the great. I am of the northwest. I made them think that I was coming down here to take charge of the Southern Confederacy and then they thought I was one of the southern spies and then some of them detectives and then I was a Yankey soldier. But before the boat landed, they come to the conclusion that I was a gambler and they were right.

Please answer as soon as convenient. From your ever true friend, — Levi Fletcher

Excuse all of these mistakes.

4th Minnesota Infantry, Battle of Iuka, Battle of Port Gibson, Second Battle of Corinth, Vicksburg, Mississippi

1862-63: Wellington S. Cates to his Sister

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I could not find an image of Wellington but here is a pen and watercolor rendering of Sgt. William T. Lambert who served in the same company.

The following letters were written by Wellington S. Cates (1836-1863), the son of Mark L. Cates (1797-1844) and Mary Palmer (1799-1861) of Washington county, Maine. Wellington was residing in St. Cloud, Minnesota when he enlisted in Co. D, 4th Minnesota Infantry. He did not survive the war, however. He was killed in the massive Union assault on the Confederate works at Vicksburg on 22 May 1863. There were 12 killed and 42 wounded in the 4th Minnesota during that assault which failed, though the regiment pressed right up to and on the enemy’s works.

Wellington wrote the letters to his sister, Sarah E. Cates (1834-1897). He often refers to his brothers, Calvin, Mark, and William Cates. Calvin served in Co. K, 1st Maine Heavy Artillery. Mark was married and living in Kingston, Meeker county, Minnesota at the time of the 1860 US Census. William (1841-1901) served in Co. H, 28th Maine Infantry, enlisting in October 1862.

There are 12 letters posted here that were written by Wellington; a 13th letter is included that was written by a comrade, William Henry Hall (1841-1932), announcing the death of Wellington. He was a native of Buckfield, Oxford county, Maine.

Letter 1

Ft. Abercrombie
January 4, 1862

Dear Sister,

I am once again seated to write you a few lines thinking you would like to hear how I am getting along. I am well and have been the most of the time this winter. I like a soldier’s life first rate. It is a lazy life. We are drilling now every day for we expect to go south in the spring and we want to be good soldiers.

This Fort Abercrombie is in Dakota Territory on the west bank of Red River three hundred miles northwest of St. Paul. It is a fine country up here. The prairie is very level. You can look for miles and not see as much as one bush.

I have written you two letters—one from Kingston and one from Ft. Snelling, and I have got no answer from either of them yet. I have not heard from home for a long time. I should think some of you might write once more.

We have meetings here every Sunday and I go as a general thing. Our captain is a preacher and I think a very fine man. There is two companies here at this post. I was down to Georgetown last week. Went down with a six mule team to carry provision for the soldiers. Captain Lewig [?] and fifty soldiers went down to protect the settlers for the Indians is quite troublesome down that way. But there is no Indians about here.

I had a letter from Mark a few days ago. His family was all well. They have got another boy and he weighed twelve lbs. when he was born. Well, Sarah, I can’t think of anything more to write this time. Don’t forget to answer this. Write all of the news. Give my love to all of my folks. From W. S. Cater

Write Abercrombie, Dakota, Territory

Letter 2

Fort Snelling
April 19, 1862

My Dear Sister,

I received your letter this morning & also one from William and a likeness from both of you. I need not tell you how glad I was to hear from you & also glad to hear you received my letter and present. You may judge for yourself about the Ambrotype. I was very much pleased with them. I have been up & had them put in cases. I shall take them wit me down to Dixie.

Well, Sarah, you may be some surprised to have a letter from me dated Fort Snelling. I arrived here eight days ago and will probably leave on Monday morning for St. Louis. I went into Kingsley as I came down. Mark and family was well. They have three boys now. Mark said he wrote to you and wanted you to send a make for his last boy. I should not have known William—he has changed so much since I left home. He is a fine looking fellow.

Sarah, I sent you my likeness in case. It put it in the office this morning. I hope you will get it. I wish Rufus & Adeline would send me that likeness together. I received a letter from Adeline some three weeks ago and will answer it soon. I don’t have a very good chance to write.

My health is very good at present & has been most of the time this winter. I like a soldier’s life very well. They are all in good spirits and willing to go south or anywhere we are called. You must not fret about me for I think I shall come out all right and come home when the war is all over. I can’t think of anything to write this time. I will try and do better next time.

Give my love to all the folks. You must write often. you have a better chance to write than i do. Well, I must now close. So goodbye Sarah. From Wellington

N. B. Write W. S. Cates, Ft. Snelling, 4th Regt. Co. D, Minnesota Vols., Care of Capt. Inman

Letter 3

Gen. Pope’s Division
Near Corinth, Mississippi
June 26, 1862

My dear sister Sarah,

I received your kind and interesting letter of the 10th instant adn was very glad to hear you was well but very sorry to think you should fret about me for I am getting along very well. I am enjoying good health. I have not been sick since I left Minnesota but there is a great many in our regiment that are very sick. There has been three soldiers died out of our company and four more not expected to live. It is very sickly here now. Our regiment are about half sick.

Sarah, I can’t think of much to write this time. I wrote you a letter three weeks ago and wrote all the news. I have not received that letter you sent to St. Louis. One letter is all I have received from my old home in Maine. I was very much pleased with your letter which I received yesterday.

We have not been in any battle yet and I do not think there is prospects of us having a battle very soon so you must not fret on that account. We made the rebels leave Corinth and I think they were badly frightened by the looks of things they left behind them. We followed them a ways as far as Booneville and have returned and shall stop here until further orders.

Dear sister, I wish you would write as often as possible for you don’t know how it pleases me to get a letter from home. If I leave here, I will write and let you know where I am, Excuse my bad spelling for I have a very hard chance to write. Don’t forget to write often. I will say goodbye. From your most affectionate brother, — Wellington

N. B. Give my love to all of my folks and tell them all to write. Goodbye.

Letter 4

Jacinto, Mississippi
August 25, 1862

My dear sister,

I received your kind and interesting letter of the 11th and was very glad to hear from you. It is very strange that you do not get my letters for I see you have not received my last. I was much surprised to hear that Calvin had volunteered. I am very sorry that Rufus and Cal should be separated for it would benefit much pleasanter for them to be together. I think they will [find it is] no fun to be a soldier. I do hope they will get in a healthy climate. It has been very sickly here. A great many of our regiment has died. There has been nine men died from our company and a great many sick. I must confess that I am not very well now myself but think I shall be better soon.

You wished to know what I do with my money. I sent fifty dollars from St, Louis by Express to Minnesota. Mark for safe keeping. And I have 25 with me now. Get another payment the first of September. Then I shall have 50 dollars. Sarah, I am quite saving. I do not spend my money foolishly. Sarah, I can’t think of much more to write this time so goodbye.

From your absent brother, — W. S. Cates

P. S. My best respects to all of the folks. Goodbye, — W. S. C.

Letter 5

In Camp near Jacinto. Mississippi
September 13, 1862

Dear Sister,

I am now seated to answer your kind letter which I received last evening. I need not tell you of my joy on receiving your very welcome letter. I was sorry to hear of William going to the war. I was in hopes he would stay to home with you for I know you need him with you. It is a very bad place for a boy in the army for he is with all kind of men—good and bad.

I received a letter from you ten days ago and answered it and also one from John & Hannah and I have not much news to write this time.

You wanted to know if I heard from Mark. Yes, I have heard that the Kingston folks were all alive. I haven’t received any letter from Mark since the Indian troubles broke out and I have written to him several times. I think he has forgotten us all. I don’t know what will become of us. We have war all around and on all sides.

There has been some two or three hundred soldiers sent from Ft. Snelling up to Kingston & Forest City so I think there will be no more trouble there so you must not fret about Mark for I thin khe is safe. I am expecting a letter from him daily.

We are now camped near Jacinto. We marched out to Iuka and [had a] great fight with Old Price & drove him & [his] forces from Iuka & took possession ourselves. Our troops occupy the town. Our Brigade was ordered back here. We are expecting another battle with Price daily. I wrote you all of the particulars of our late battle in my last letter.

You [should] direct your letter to W. S. Cates, Co. D, 4th Regiment Minnesota Vols., Gen. Buford’s Brigade, Army of Mississippi.

P. S. Sarah, you must not fret about us boys for we may all live to get home yet. If you want some money, you write to Mark and he will send it to you for me. I have sent 50 dollars to Mark from St. Louis and if you need money and I think you do, I want you to say so & you shall have it. So goodbye from your brother.

Letter 6

Corinth, Mississippi
October 12th 1862

Dear Sister,

I am now seated to answer your kind letter which I received this morning. I was very glad to hear from you. The last time I wrote to you I was at Jacinto.

We have had a very bloody time here to Corinth since I last wrote to you. Old Price made an attack on our forces here and got badly licked. We fought him one day and a half & the Rebels all left & [we] chased hem four days. We took some prisoners. We had a very hard battle. The Rebels’ loss is two or three thousand killed & wounded. Our loss is not so great—I think about nine hundred killed & wounded. The field was covered with dead and wounded men. We had one man killed out of our company. I have been in three battles & have not got as much as a scratch yet so you see we do not all get killed—that is, in battle.

Sarah, you say you want me to lend you some money. I am very glad you let me know it for I shall send you ten dollars today & if you need more, I will [send] it out of my next payment. I have four month’s pay coming to me now. I have sent fifty dollars to Minnesota.

I am sorry you are obliged to leave home. You say you have a good friend that is going with you. I am very glad you have someone. I will send you money any time you want it.

Sarah I have not got time to write much today for we are a going to march in a few moments. So goodbye from your brother, — W. S. Cates

Letter 7

Oxford, Mississippi
December 9, 1862

Dear Sister,

It is with pleasure I acknowledge the reception of your kind letter which I received two days ago. I was very glad to hear from you. I am now stopping in Oxford, Mississippi. We have seen some very hard marching since we left Corinth. We left that place about one month ago. We have been in Tennessee part of the time. It is one hundred miles from here to Corinth. We expected a fight with Price’s forces at Holly Springs but we were disappointed. He found that we was a coming and he made up his mind the best thing he could do was to leave & has done so. We have followed him as far as this place. I don’t know as we shall go any further at present. I hope we shall stop here a while for we all need rest.

The weather is very pleasant & war, here. It is as warm as summer. I am now seated on the ground under a tree & the boys are cooking our supper. We are all well and good spirits & all very anxious for the war to close for I [assure] you, a soldier has a pretty hard time of it.

You must excuse my bad writing for I am in a great hurry. I received a letter from William a few days ago. He was then to New York. I think he is not very well pleased with a soldier’s life. I hope he will have his health. I must now close, so goodbye. From Wellington

P. S. Give my respects to all. I will write again soon, so good night. — W. S. Cates

Letter 8

White’s Station, Tennessee
January 22, 1863

My dear sister,

It is with pleasure I acknowledged the receipt of your kind & much esteemed letter of the 6th instant which I received two days ago—it being the first letter I had received from you since you left home. I was very glad to hear from you but sorry that you got disappointed. It was quite of an undertaking for you two girls to start off alone among strangers & I do hope you will get a chance in a shop in the spring. You say that a girl that works out in not thought much of. Were you or anyone that knew anything would not the least of girls that works. I know that some folks do. I wish I had plenty of money so I could help you, If I had, you shiould not hire to do house work for nobody.

I received a letter from Adaline Davis a few days ago. She writes a very good letter. The folks were all well when she wrote.

It has been five weeks since I received a letter from William. I think he is getting tired of a soldier’s life. I know that I have seen all the war that I care about seeing. I hope he will not have to go into battle.

I am on picket guard today and have got a very poor chance to write. We have a good deal of guard duty to do this winter. We are on guard every other day. We are in camp on the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. We have to guard the road. We camp nine miles from Memphis. We are having very pleasant weather here this winter—much warmer than I am used of seeing in the winter. My health is very good. The soldiers are all in good health here now.

Sarah, I wish this war would come to a close for I tell you, a soldier has a hard time of it. We have received a small payment of two months pay and have got five months more pay due us. i think Uncle Sam is getting pretty poor when he cannot pay us poor soldiers. What do you think about it?

I am a going to send you a five dollar bill for a New Year’s present & any time you need money, let me know it & if I have it, I will send it to you. I must now close by saying goodbye. From your brother, – W. S. Cates

P. S. Please give my love and respects to Mary J. & tell her I would like to receive a letter from her very much & will answer. So good night.

Letter 9

White’s Station, Tennessee
January 27, 1863

Dear Sister,

I take the present opportunity to answer your kind letter of the 13th December which I received three days ago. I also received one dated 6 January and answered it before. I was very much pleased to hear from you. I wrote to you the 22nd of January and sent you a five dollar bill for a New Year’s present. I was some surprised when I received your first letter dated Hallowell for I thought you had given up going. I hope you will like the people where you are stopping & you must not work too hard. If the work is so hard, I think you had not better stop long where you are. I am very sorry to think that you are obliged to work for a living. I think a good deal about you & if I had the money to help you more, you should not work for anyone.

I am on picket guard again today so you see I am well. I never had better health than I am having this winter & when this reaches you, I hope you will be enjoying the same great blessing.

Sarah, I have not much news to write this time for I wrote a few days ago.

Dear sister, you wished for me to tell you how I feel in regard to religion. I think it is a blessed thing to be a Christian & I wish that I could say to you that I was one. I know it would be a dreadful thing to die unprepared. I am like a great many others—think I will put it off until a more convenient time. Dear sister, it is a very hard place in the army. It is the hardest place I ever see. I hope that William will not learn any bad tricks. I think he is trying to be a Christian by his last letter. He tells me that he finds it a pretty hard place in the army.

I have not heard from Calvin nor Rufus since they left home. We are expecting to leave here soon and I expect we are a going to Vicksburg. That seems to be the talk. If we go there, I expect some to see William. I understand thatGen. Banks’ expedition landed in the Mississippi river below Vicksburg. I cannot think of anything more this time. So I will close by saying goodbye from your brother, — Wellington

Please direct to W. S. Cates, Co. D, 4th Regt. Minn. Vols., Gen. Quinby’s Division, ARmy of West Tennessee

My respects to Mary J., Goodbye, — W. S. C.

Letter 10

Tallahatchie River, Mississippi
March 28th 1863

Dear Sister,

I am now seated to answer your kind letter which I received yesterday morning. I need not tell you of my great joy on the receipt of your letter. I also received one from William & one from Mark. I got them all by one mail. William was a hospital near New Orleans. He says he has got quite smart again and will join his regiment soon. Mark and family are well. They have got another baby. It is a girl. I think they are doing prett well in the baby line.

Our Division left Memphis the first of March. We went aboard of transports & went down the Mississippi River about two hundred miles & landed on the Arkansas side of the river & stopped there a day or two and we was ordered back to Helena & went aboard of smaller boats & come down the Yazoo Pass into Cold Water River and down the Cold Water into Tallahatchie River. And down the Tallahatchie to here. We have got some rebels to clean out before we can go any farther. The rebels are below here about ten miles at the mouth of the Tallahatchie. They have blockaded the river and have got the batteries planted on the shores & we have them to clean out before we can go any farther. I expect we are on our way to Vicksburg.

It is very warm here. The trees are all leafed out & the woods look green. The peach trees has been in bloom a month or more. I picked some peach blossoms from a tree in Arkansas. I am a going to send them to you in this letter.

It is getting sickly here. A great many of the boys are getting sick. My health is good and has been the most of the time. I have not heard from Calvin nor Rufus yet. I cannot see why they don’t write to me. I would write to them but I don’t know where to direct a letter to them.

I am real glad to hear that you have got a better place to live. If I should live to get home again, I want you and William to go to Minnesota with me & we will all settle on a farm and go a farming. I think I would like living in Minnesota. I cannot think of anything more to write this [time]. I will write again soon. I shall write as often as I can and you must do the same.

From your affectionate brother, — W. S. Cates

P. S. Direct to Co. D, 4th Regt. [Minn.], Quimby’s Division, Army of Tennessee

Letter 11

Tallahatchie, Mississippi
April 4, 1863

Dear sister,

As I had a few spare moments today, I thought I would improve them by writing you a few lines to let you know how I am getting along. In the first place, I will tell you about my health which is good at present and I hope these few lines will find you enjoying the same great blessing.

It is very warm here today & it is getting very sickly here. A great many of our boys are sick. The country is very flat about here and badly overflowed with water & it cannot help being very unhealthy.

I received a letter from you about a week ago & answered it the same day. I wrote you all of the news so I haven’t much to write this time. We are still camping on the Tallahatchie RIver & have not taken the rebel’s fort yet. We have been expecting to attack them every day for more than a week but have not done it yet. I wish that I had it in my power to stop this war for I tell you, I am getting sick of the way it is carried on. I cannot see much prospects of it ending.

You must excuse the shortness of this letter for a I was on picket guard last night and I am pretty sleepy today. Please write as often as you can. I will do the same. From your affectionate brother, — W. S. Cates

To Sarah

P. S. The directions will be the same as before. So goodbye, — W. S. Cates

Letter 12

Big Black River, Mississippi
May 8, 1863

Dear Sister,

It is with pleasure I take this opportunity to answer your kind letter which I received yesterday. It had been some time since I had heard from you and you know I was very glad to hear from you.

We have been having pretty hard times of late. We have crossed the Mississippi River and are now on Black River and about 20 miles from Vicksburg. We have found plenty of rebels on this side of the river and there was a battle fought near Port Gibson about ten miles from here and the rebels got the greatest whipping they ever got. Our Division did not get along quite soon enough to have a hand in the fight. We marched over the battlefield as we came along & I tell you, there was plenty of dead men laying all over the field. It is a horrid sight to behold. The rebels have retreated back towards Vicksburg & we have been chasing them up. We have taken about two thousand prisoners.

Now I’ll tell you about my health which is good. I never enjoyed better health than I do now. I hope it will continue to be so while I am in the army. I cannot think of much to write today so you will please excuse this short letter & I will do a better one next time.

So you think it is most time that you and I were thinking about getting married. I think we are almost old enough anyway. You wished to know if I had anyone in view. No, I have not. So I have answered your question & want you to tell me have you anyone in view? I hope you will make a wise choice when you do get married. Oh! I wish you would get a nice little girl for a wife if you can find [me] one. I think a good deal of the eastern girls. I am very sorry that Calvin didn’t get a better woman for a wife. I think he could done a great deal better than he did.

I must now close. So goodbye from your affectionate brother, — Wellington S. Cates

Letter 13

Rear of Vicksburg, Mississippi
May 24th, 1863

Miss Sarah E. Cates,

It is with great plain that I have to announce to you the death of your brother Wellington. He was killed while nobly doing his duty in a charge on a rebel fort on the eve of the 22nd at 5 o’clock.

It was his wish if he met with any disaster that I should write you. After a daily acquaintance with him of nearly 3 years, he seemed to me more like brother than anything else. He was kind, affectionate, a true and noble soldier and a good man. May God comfort you all in your sad bereavement. From, — William H. Hall

P. S. Wellington had a few miniatures and a pocket bible which I shall take care of and send to Maine. I will write no more for it is needless for me to tell you how we charged the rebel works and was repulsed. We lost one third of the 4th Minnesota Regt. and 8,000 in all. I will say Wellington has been in six battles since we crossed the Mississippi.

Antebellum Texas, Fort Brown, Texas

1849: Joseph Hatch LaMotte to Ellen (Chambers) LaMotte

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I could not find any image of LaMotte but here is a pen & watercolor of Co. James Duncan (1811-1849) in his military uniform of the period. He was also a graduate of West Point and roughly the same age as LaMotte.

I can safely attribute the following letter to Major Joseph Hatch LaMotte (1807-1888), an 1827 graduate of the US Military Academy, Mexican War Veteran and career infantry officer. Joseph was married to Ellen M. Chambers (1818-1911) in May 1842 and his two oldest children, Francis Xavier LaMotte (1843-1868) and Charles Chambers LaMotte (1846-1896) are mentioned in this letter. An infant and unnamed daughter is also mentioned. She was Catherine Mullanphy LaMotte (1848-1852); she died in 1852 and was buried in St. Louis. A sister, Louisa, is also mentioned which would have been Louisa LaMotte (1826-1897).

Joseph’s presence at Fort Brown is confirmed by an article published in the New York Herald on 4 December 1848 stating that “The following officers are attached to the First Regiment of Infantry, five companies of which arrived at Fort Brown on the 21st inst.—Col. H. Wilson, Major J. H. LaMotte, Capt. R. S. Granger, Capt. F. S. Mumford…”

Joseph filled various frontier posts, rising to the rank of captain in the War with Mexico. He was severely wounded at the Battle of Monterey in September 1846 for which he was recognized for gallant and meritorious conduct, and was later reassigned as the acting Inspector General of Brig. General Kearny’s Division at Mexico City. After a brief stint at East Pascagoula, Mississippi, he was transferred to frontier duty in Texas. He retired to his farm near St. Louis in the 1850s where he died at the age of 81. His Italianate style home, called “Wildwood,” built in 1857 in Ferguson, still stands.

Fort Brown, originally called Fort Texas, was begun in April 1846 by Zachary Taylor. It was built near Brownsville on the Rio Grande river to establish the river as the southern boundary of Texas—the boundary between the United States and Mexico being the principal matter of dispute between the two countries. The earthen fort had a perimeter of 800 yards, with six bastions, and walls that were 9 feet high and a parapet 15 feet wide. It was surrounded by a ditch 15 feet deep and 20 wide. It was when the fort was being outfitted that a Mexican force intercepted the supply train and triggered the Mexican War. In 1848, after the war ended, the US garrison constructed quarters for officers and enlisted men at a permanent site a quarter mile north of the fort. The post was abandoned by US troops in 1861 though it was used for various purposes well into the 20th Century.

Diagram of Fort Brown

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Fort Brown, Texas
24 January 1849

My dear wife,

Since my last dated, I believe, the 8th inst., I have not had a line from you. No mail, however, has arrived during this period and I am therefore—per force—as the Mexicans say, contento. The Quartermaster [Major. W. W. Chapman] it seems is disposed to send a steamer here every ten days and the growing wants of the country about us will probably induce the department to run a mail regularly for the benefit of the citizens. I hope therefore ere the lapse of many months, to be in direct communication with New Orleans (especially) as it takes but three days to run over.

The Mexican troops are directly opposite to us—1,000 in number. The music of their fine bands & the trumpet & bugle calls we hear day and night. The most friendly feelings appear to govern them. Gen. [Francisco] Ávalos, the commander, came over the other day and insisted upon our naming the time when we could dine with him. we went over as agreed and were treated very handsomely—so well indeed that we did not get back till 11 p.m. At the table we fixed upon the night for a Grand Biler [Ballare] as they call it, or as we would say—a Big Ball. It comes off this evening. Tomorrow at 9 our mail starts. If I have time and space after the labor is ended, I may attempt a short account. But you are aware that when I come to Ladie’s dresses, my genius loses all of the graphic, which in a fit of vanity, I might occasionally aspire to.

Two companies of Dragoons start for Camp Ringgold 1 tomorrow. That garrison will upon the arrival of this reinforcement number 5 companies. Some of them, however, will soon be on the way to Laredo and when I go up the river again, it will probably be towards that point. The Rio Grande Station will soon be passable though the access must always be more or less unpleasant. Notwithstanding the abuse that has on this account been heaped upon the country—in spite of appearance and prejudices—the region of the Rio Grande is even now very healthy and what was once considered a great drawback in this respect is now regarded as the greatest blessing. I mean the compulsory use of the river water. This becomes perfectly sweet and beautifully clear when settled, but when just taken from the river in time of high water, is is so turbid that the Missouri even would pale beside it.

Everything here seems quiet though we are busy in the erection of quarters and the town near us [Brownsville, TX] expands as rapidly as the mushroom does.

I commenced this letter in the full belief that ere this point was attained, I should have heard from you, but the mail has arrived without bringing me a letter. As this rarely happens, however, you are pardonable. Besides, there was an interval of five days only between the departure of the last two boats from New Orleans. Learn philosophy from this!

I have had, however, the satisfaction to receive a duplex epistle from Capt. Smith & his wife, & am pleased to hear that you and Frank & Charley and the little one continue in good health. Be assured it gives me joy to learn that the infant bids fair to equal, perhaps even to surpass, her brothers—those dear little fellows that I once fondly imagined would not so soon be eclipsed. Upon this point, however, I must have better proof than woman’s base assertion for in the philanthropy of her sex, she is bound to favor the weaker party. I am grieved to hear of Louisa’s ill health & sincerely hope she may soon recover. Our Mother will be much distressed when she hears of Louisa’s arrival in Saint Louis in such a state. I am exceedingly sorry to hear that the Judge is still an inmate of the Hospital.

The Ball is over (9 a.m.). Mr. [Capt. Ferdinand S.] Mumford & [1st Lt. Stephen D.] Carpenter & Mrs. & Dr. [Eugéne Hilarian] Abadie were there from our side—nearly all the officers. It was very much crowded and the room consequently warm. Altogether it went off well. Give my love to all. Kiss the children & believe me forever yours, — L.

1 Camp Ringgold was located upriver from Brownsville and barracks were eventually built on a high bank of the Rio Grande within a half mile of Rio Grand City. Camp Crawford was established in March 1849 just outside the old Mexican village of Laredo, 120 miles further upriver. A fort was eventually built there called Fort McIntosh.

121st Ohio Infantry, Dipping & chewing tobacco, Shelbyville, Tennessee

1863: Henry Blackstone Banning to Friend “Mart”

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Henry Blackstone Banning (1836-1881)

The following letter was written by Henry Blackstone Banning (1836-1881), the son of James Smith Banning (1800-1867) and Eliza A. Blackstone (1804-1878) of Mt. Vernon, Ohio. His Find-A-Grave biographical sketch reads as follows: “Civil War Union Brevet Major General, US Congressman. Born in Bannings Mills, Knox County, Ohio, he attended Kenyon College, studied law, and became a prominent lawyer in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. He was also a supporter and member of the Douglas Democratic Party. When the Civil War began, he volunteered and enlisted in the 4th Ohio Volunteer Infantry as a Private. He soon accepted an officer’s commission as Captain and was later assigned to organize the 87th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in June, 1862 for three months service. On September 15, 1862, nearly the entire regiment was captured by Confederate Major General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s forces at Harper’s Ferry and paroled five days later. After the regiment was mustered out of service, Banning re-enlisted, was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and was assigned to the 125th Ohio Volunteer Infantry on January 1, 1863. Three months later, he was transferred to the 121st Ohio Volunteer Infantry and placed in command of the 2nd Brigade in the 2nd Division of the Army of the Cumberland during the Atlanta Campaign. He also participated at the Battles of Chickamauga and Nashville and was promoted to Colonel in November, 1863. He received two promotions to Brevet Brigadier General and to Brevet Major General of US Volunteers on March 13, 1865 for “gallant and meritorious services during the war.” He accepted an assignment to organize and command the 195th Ohio Volunteer Veteran Infantry for one year service. The regiment was used for garrison duties until December.”

After the war, he became a member of the Ohio Legislature in 1866 and 1867. He then moved to Cincinnati, Ohio to resume his law profession. Elected as a Liberal Republican to represent Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, he served from 1873 to 1879. While a member of Congress, Banning was the chairman on the Committee of Military Affairs. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1878 and again in 1880. He died at his residence in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1882.

Banning was married in 1868 to Julia Kirby (1846-1917) of Cincinnati, Ohio.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Headquarters 121st OVI
In camp at Shelbyville, Tenn.
August 4, 1863

Friend Mart,

Yours of the 26th received. You say you do not know which of us wrote last. I can tell you. You have owed me a letter for a bout two years. And if I thought you would be as long answering this one, I would not be in so much of a hurry about writing. But I hope you will follow this my good example and write me soon.

Nothing of moment has occurred in a military way since we occupied Shelbyville except a Grand Review of this Division on Monday by Gen. Rosecrans. His wife was with him. He is looking very well and in good spirits. Promised our Corps should take the advance on next move.

This is election day in Tennessee. Mr. [Edmund] Cooper of this place is a candidate for Governor. This is the best Union town I was ever in, either North or South. They are all united and have but one object—the restoration of the government.

There were over 1500 refugees from this county who have spent the last ten months with our army and come back to their families when our army came through. Hundreds of others have spent the winter in the woods. you would not believe it was I to write you the trials and hardships some of the patriots have suffered through. And now they are doing anything in their power to make our stay here pleasant. Men, women & children pay attention to nothing but the comfort of the soldiers. Dinner, tea, and breakfast parties are given out. Everything in their houses and on their plantations are free for the ease of the soldier. There are a number of very elegant young ladies here. Horseback riding is the order of the day. I have had some very pleasant rides.

On Thursday evening, our General ([Walter Chiles] Whitaker) gives us a dance. White vests and white gloves are at a premium. We expect a gay time. I am going to take a young lady 13 years old. 14 is a proper age to marry down here and 20 is an old maid. 35 to 40 [is considered] a proper age for a gentleman to marry. There is one delicate and refined custom among the ladies here that does not exactly meet my approval—Dipping—chewing tobacco [and] most of them use it. I often meet a very beautiful lady with a stick in her mouth. She has chewed one end of it until she has made a kind of a swab or brush of it. With this stick she swabs the snuff around among her teeth. They first commence taking it to improve their complexion and afterwards use it to satisfy the appetite. The custom is not so common over here as it was over at Franklin. In that town almost every lady uses it, old and young, and spit like old tobacco chewers. Accomplished ladies of fortune in Franklin came to me and asked me to have our sutler bring them snuff. I am told gentleman are not often very anxious to kiss them. You are mistaken about my being interested in the lady. Major Cooper took to the caves [?]. I lost my interest years ago, I think you are interested in the gentlemen that took the lady that went with Major Cooper.

I am well acquainted with Capt. [ ]. He is much of a gentleman. Rather unkind in you, Mart, to allude to his marriage to Miss Newman. I don’t believe my friends can much [know] how they would my feelings. But I will take your advice and try to bear up under it.

I have tried to do as you advise—fall in love down here. But every time I propose to a girl, she objects because I don’t chew tobacco and says as my social qualities are different from hers, she does not think she can live happy with me.

You say you never got the piece of music I sent you—“My Maryland.” I will send it to you certain & will send it again as soon as I can get it.

The weather is very warm down here now in the day time. A heavy coat is comfortable at night. I like the climate very much. A good cool night refreshed one so much, he is willing to bear with hte heat of the day in anticipation of the night again. I am going home in September next month if I can get a furlough. Capt. [Charles C.] Aleshire of the 18th Ohio Battery is going up with me, and two other friends. I have good hope of getting a leave.

How is Aleck. Does his term of office expire this fall? If it does, tell him I will vote for him and against Vallandigham.

Hoping to hear from you soon, with my kind regards & you people, I am most truly your friend, — Banning

Draft

1862: Harry Anders to his Friend

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The following letter appears to have been written by Henry, or Harry, Anders but I have not been able to identify him in census records. It seems that he was probably a college student and writing to a former classmate. His letter refers to the preliminary measures being taken by Frederick county, Maryland, to prepare draft lists of suitable young men fit for service in advance of the draft that was anticipated in 1863. He pokes fun of those currently being examined by surgeons with the hope that they would be declared exempt them from the draft.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Home
September 3, 1862

Dear Frank,

I thought I would talk a little while with you about times agone. How reluctantly does fond memory relinquish hold upon the scenes of the past. Though there is much of that past, that we would wish to forget, yet how pleasantly it is for us at times to take a swift review and live again the part of life that’s gone & enjoy, in our minds, the society of those we love.

How I should like to be with you at lectures, Frank, and of course more than all, at recreation. But it seems that fate has decreed a temporary separation for us & we have to abide by the old thing’s decision.

The exemption is going on again at Frederick. Humbug No. 2 being conducted by several Army Surgeons assisted by the invincible Commissioner [William] Mahoney. 1 I’ve not been up yet, but I suppose I’ll have to go or else J. M. Wachber & myself will be the only two left for the draft to fasten on. Gracious! I wish I was in Canada or had been born under an Absolute Despotism so I could breathe as free as when I first tumbled on to this little round hill of ours. (Hold! thou inspired enthusiasm—Like IV.3)

Frank, you had better come home and get exempt for it would be hard for you to have to spend the money for ticket, then lose it if drafted. You can see all kinds going up. Our atmosphere is filled with grave yard ejaculations, dyspeptic belches, and belly-ache grunts. Tomorrow is an extra day. The surgeons have to pay the applicants an admission fee, it being the day to witness the contortions of the hemorrhoidal men’s asses, the blinking of the blind, and the shampooning of barefooted heads. Old men accompany their boys and young wives go with their matorrheal husbands to swear they are not men.

Salry, he went up and told them he did not know what was the matter with him, but wanted the surgeons to tell him, as everybody else went up and got examined. Didn’t get through & got very much intoxicated thereupon.

Present my regards to your Uncle & Aunt when you see them & little Katie O’Neal. For the present, I must close, hoping you are well and that I may receive a speedy reply. I subscribe myself, — Harry Anders

Write very soon.

1 “Records of the Union draft as it affected Frederick County might have given helpful information but they are not available. “David Agnew was the local draft officer for Emmitsburg under the President’s call for troops in 1862” and probably had records of Emmitsburg men in service. However, William Mahoney, Commissioner of Enrollment and Draft for this county, was arrested by the Confederates [during the Antietam campaign in Sept. 18621 and the enrollment books destroyed.” Under that 1862 call the county was asked for 259 more men to add to the total of 1019 it had already provided. Presumably, therefore, the records of at least 1,278 (and possibly their places of residence) became Confederate possessions and were later lost if not immediately destroyed. This was not actually a draft but a call for more volunteers. The first actual mandatory draft was riot instituted until July of 1863.” [Source: Emmitsburg Area in the Civil War]

104th Ohio Infantry, Morgan's Raid

1863: Ephram Marsh to his Friends

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The following letter was written by Ephram Marsh (1842-1917) who served in Co. H, 104th Ohio Infantry. Ephram enlisted on 2 August 1862 and mustered out 17 June 1865. He was married in 1870 to Mary L. Wuchter (1850-1939) after the war.

Ephram may have been an orphan. He was enumerated in the 1850 US Census in the household of Daniel Waggoner of Franklin township, Summit county, Ohio. In the 1860 US Census, he was enumerated as a 16 year-old farm laborer/boarder with the Samuel Warner family in Green township, Summit county, Ohio. Neither the Waggoner’s nor the Warner’s appear to be relatives of Ephram’s.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Camp near Stanford, Kentucky
July 16, 1863

Dear Friend,

It is with great pleasure that I take my pen in hand to inform you that I am well at present and hope you [are] the same. We are in camp at Stanford, Kentucky. We left Somerset and started after John Morgan but we did not go after him very far till we got tired of it and left him go. I heard that he was paying the Ohio people a visit. I hope they know enough not to let him go very far till they catch him.

I have not much to write this time but will try and do better when I get home and that will not be long if things keep on as they have done this while.

I received that [letter] Oliver wrote. He did not say anything about that money which I sent home. I sent five dollars about two months ago and do not know whether you got it or not in the last letter that I received from home that F. McConnaughey wrote.

The boys are all well at present. No more at present. From Ephram Marsh to his friends, one and all. Direct your letters to Stanford, Kentucky, Company H, 104th [Ohio] Regiment in care of Captain Ford.

Battle of 2nd Bull Run, Battle of Antietam, Battle of South Mountain, Carthage, Tennessee, Crook's Division

1863: James Lambert to Ambrose Lambert

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The following letter was written by James Lambert (b. 1822), the son of Virginia native, Ambrose Waveland Lambert (1796-1882) and Mary “Polly” Walker Adams (18xx-1867) of Parkeville, Parke county, Indiana. No regimental affiliation is identified in his letter and the content suggests that he was serving as a teamster or driver—possibly in a civilian capacity—in Gen. Crooks’ Headquarters in 1862 and 1863. He mentions being a part of “six regiments of the Kanawha Division” who were sent east to the aid of Gen. Pope just prior to the 2nd Battle of Bull Run. I believe these six included the 11th, 12th, 23rd, 28th, 30th and 36th Ohio Infantry regiments. I could not find a “James Lambert” in their rosters, however. The on-line ancestral tree for Ambrose Lambert, his father, to whom he addressed the letter, is also incomplete and seems to contain many errors so is of little help.

Be that as it may, the content of the letter is excellent, giving a description of the movements of these regiments sent East from West Virginia in August 1862 and of their participation in the battles at South Mountain and Antietam where Lambert served as an “eye witness” to both battles. He then describes their transfer to the Army of the Cumberland in January 1863 and of the journey up the Cumberland river to Carthage, Tennessee, where he wrote the letter. When Crook arrived in Carthage in 1863, he set up his headquarters in the Smith County courthouse and put his troops to work on the Battery Hill Earthworks.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Addressed to Ambrose Lambert, Bruins & Roads, Parke County, Indiana

General Crook’s Division
Army of the Cumberland
Carthage, Tennessee
May 25th 1863

Dear parents, brothers & sisters,

I embrace the opportunity of dropping you a few lines to let you know that I am in reasonable health and I hope that this may find you all in the same condition when it comes to hand.

I have no apology to offer for not writing sooner as it has been only through my own neglect but I will try and write oftener in the future. I wrote to you from Flat Top Mountain, West Virginia, in July last to which I never received any answer but what is the reason, I know not.

In order to give you a short account of where I have been since I wrote to you from Flat Top Mountain, I will have to go back to near the date of my letter from that place. Two weeks after I wrote to you from Flat Top, General [Jacob D.] Cox with six regiments of the Kanawha Division was ordered to reinforce General Pope at Warrenton Junction in East Virginia. We had to go by way of Parkersburg and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. We immediately broke up our quarters at Flat Top and returned to the Kanawha Valley where the troops was embarked on steamboats ten miles above Charles Town & was taken to Parkersburg by water. The train was taken through by land. The distance from Flat Top was 190 miles which we made in six days with a train of near 300 wagons. At Parkersburg, the trains was shipped on the cars and after a weary ride of fifty-one hours on the heavy-loaded train, we reached Washington City. We crossed over immediately into Virginia and encamped at Munson Hill, six miles above the Capitol, where we lay at the time of the Battle of Bull Run, which for the second time was baptised in human blood. The terrible explosions of artillery was distinctly heard at the Capitol—a distance of thirty miles.

A few days after the bloody battle—which resulted in the defeat of Pope—we recrossed the Potomac with the combined armies of McClellan and Burnsides to head off the rebel raid into Maryland & Pennsylvania which resulted in the Battle of South Mountain & Antietam, in both of which the Kanawha Division bore an active part. In both of those battles, I might mention many interesting incidents but for want of time and space, must pass them by. I was an eye witness of both battles. At the Battle of Antietam, I was stationed with an ambulance at Gen. Cox’s Headquarters, about a mile in front of the enemy’s batteries but shielded from their fire by a slight elevation so their shot and shell passed harmlessly over us. I had only to walk a few yards to the top of the elevation to witness the terrible conflict raging between the two contending armies. The roar of artillery was almost incessant. About three hundred pieces was engaged.

Shortly after the Battle of Antietam, we was ordered to our old stomping ground in the mountain regions of West Virginia. So on the 8th of October, we broke up our camp at Antietam and commenced our march westward. We reached the Kanawha Valley about the middle of November. We went into winter quarters at Charles Town where we remained until the latter part of January when Gen. Crook with four regiments of infantry was ordered to this department.

We left Charles Town on the 26th of January with a fleet of eleven boats. We had a very rough time coming down the Ohio, the weather being cold and stormy. We stopped three days at Louisville where we was joined by the 21st Indiana Battery and two regiments of Kentuckians. At Smithland at the mouth of the Cumberland river, we was joined by a large fleet from Cairo. We commenced our ascent of the Cumberland on the same day that the rebels made their desperate attempt to recapture Fort Donelson and arrived at that place about 8 o’clock that night, just after the rebs had withdrawn from the fight where they had been terribly handled by the little garrison in command of the fort.

We lay one day at the fort and then steamed on up the Cumberland and reached Nashville on the 8th of February. On arriving at Nashville, our little fleet of eleven boats with which we came down the Kanawha had increased to 63—58 transports and 5 gunboats. We encamped at Nashville until 24th of February when we again started up the Cumberland and reached this place on the 27th.

Carthage is on the Cumberland river in Smith County, 150 miles from Nashville by the course of the river and about 60 by land. We are on one of the extreme outposts of the Army of the Cumberland on the left wing of Rosecrans’ Army and about 30 miles from Murfreesboro or the main bosy of the army. We have had one train of 18 wagons with 40 men captured since we have been here and three mails have been captured between here and Gallatin—a post 35 [miles] lower down the river. But I think when all are counted, we have captured as many prisoners from the rebs as they have from us. They are continually prowling about our lines and firing on the pickets and picking up those who venture beyond our lines alone.

A man by the name of Joseph Smith was hung here a few days ago who was condemned for being a spy and for other crimes against the laws of the United States for which the penalty is death.

How long we will stay here I cannot say. It is rumored through camp that we are ordered back to West Virginia but i think that is doubtful.

The rumor has just reached us that [Clement] Vallandigham of Ohio who was recently sentenced is sentenced to go beyond our lines during the war for violating General Burnsides’ Order No. 38 [and] will shortly pass through the Army of the Cumberland on his way to Dixie. Bully for Burnsides! say I. The sooner the country is rid of such sympathizers with traitors, the better.

I must soon bring my letter to a close but before doing so, there is one thing I would ask of you. I would like to know who all are in the army from that neighborhood and to what regiment and company they belong. As I often meet with Indiana regiments and might thereby find some with whom I am acquainted. Please write me all the news from those of us who are scattered abroad and don’t forget to mention friends and old acquaintances. Give my best respects to all. Nothing more at present but remain yours as ever, — James Lambert

Address: Headquarters Crooks’ Division, Carthage, Tennessee, in care of John R. Craig, Captain & Asst. Q. M.