Joseph Jermain Slocum Letters

Collection

Identifier: MSS-4295

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Civil War materials

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Scope and Contents

The Joseph Jermain Slocum Letters comprise five letters that Slocum wrote between March 26 and June 1, 1862, while he was serving in the US Army in Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee, and Huntsville, Alabama. The letters describe his life as a captain in the US Volunteers Commissary Department Infantry Regiment. He signs his letters as J. J. Slocum.

He wrote the first letter to his father-in-law, S. S. L’Hommedieu in Cincinatti, Ohio, where his wife and children seemed to be staying with her family. Written directly to his wife, the remaining four letters contain more personal messages to her and their children, Bertie and Tiny (an infant). Slocum wrote the first letter on March 26, 1862, when he first arrived in Nashville--which he sardonically called “Gnashville”--from Bowling Green where Union forces had taken control from the Confederates. He talks about people on the train with him who were “somewhat anxious about being captured by [General John Hunt] Morgan.”

His letters to Sallie show that he was in some measure sympathetic to the plight of Southerners and did not always take advantage of his position as an officer in an invading army. One finds evidence of this in his letters that recount giving horses back to their Southern owners. In fact, he tells Sallie that “our army is behaving badly about taking horses . . .” and in another letter says that “the people here suffer from friend and foe--both armies have robbed them of nearly everything.” Towards the end of his March 30th letter he tells Sallie that “there is one thing I want to impress upon your mind & that is that I am willing to resign when you say so.”

Dates

Creation: March 26 - June 1, 1862

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Due to the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to certain materials may require additional advance notice.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers are responsible for using the materials in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright claimants in collection materials. Copyright for official University records is held by The University of Alabama. The library claims only physical ownership of many manuscript collections. Anyone wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of literary property rights or copyrights. Please contact Special Collections (archives@ua.edu) with questions regarding specific manuscript collections.

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Biographical / Historical

Joseph Jermain Slocum was born in 1833, the son of Joseph J. Slocum (1795-1863), a pioneer settler of Syracuse, New York. Joseph Slocum was a successful businessman in Syracuse until the Panic of 1837, after which he engaged in various unsuccessful enterprises and eventually found work overseas in Russia and England. By 1849 he was elected to the New York State Assembly.

Joseph Jermain Slocum married Sallie S. L’Hommedieu (1833-1895) on June 8, 1854, in Hamilton County, Ohio. They had at least three children: Herbert J. Slocum (1855-1928), Margaret Olivia Slocum Flint (1870-1946), and a child they referred to as Tiny in 1862 letters. His draft registration records indicate that he was a farmer in Iowa at the beginning of the Civil War. He enlisted on February 19, 1862 and was commissioned as a captain in the US Volunteers Commissary Department Infantry Regiment that day. He was promoted to brevet major on March 13, 1865, and colonel on October 23, 1865. He mustered out on July 6, 1866.

After the war Slocum went into business in Cincinnati, Ohio, and in 1878, the Slocums moved to New York and joined his sister Margaret and her husband, financier Russell Sage. Margaret Slocum Sage later inherited a significant fortune from her husband and gained notoriety for her philanthropy. Joseph Jermain Slocum inherited $8,000,000 from his sister at her death in 1918.

Herbert Slocumb, referred to as Bertie in the letters in this collection, later served in the US Army and as colonel led the 13th Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of Columbus in 1916 against Pancho Villa and his troops.