Box 4273.001
Container
Contains 47 Collections and/or Records:
Letter from Caroline to Her Cousin, 1861 February 4
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 001
Scope and Contents
This collection contains one handwritten letter from Caroline to her cousin whose name is illegible. Written from Henrico, presumably in Virginia, the letter is written in a very flowery, poetic style and quotes various poets. She discusses various friends and family members and mentions staying in Richmond during Christmas. She specifically mentions a cousin who is ill and had her tongue burned with caustic by her doctor. Of particular interest is her discussion of the political...
Dates:
1861 February 4
Thomas B. Hall Letter, 1861 September 18
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 002
Scope and Contents
This collection contains two items, a letter from Thomas B. Hall to his "Cousin Mary" and a typewritten transcript of the letter. Hall writes from Camp Beauregard in Alabama, describing his manservant, "Jackie," as one of the cleverest fellows he ever knew. He also discusses drills and camp life; he says the only thing he doesn't like is that he "can't go see the fairer sex."
Dates:
1861 September 18
J. D. Rence Letter, 1861 June 10
File — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 003
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter written by Union sailor, J.D. Rence, to his mother, on June 10, 1861, while aboard the U.S.S. St. Louis, moored near Fort Pickens, in Pensacola Bay, Florida. Rence describes some excitement created by the movement of Rebels on the opposite side of the Bay. He also comments that Lieutenant Warden is still a prisoner at Montgomery and fears that he will be treated harshly.
Dates:
1861 June 10
Robert McMillan Letter, 1861
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 004
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of a letter to Governor Joseph E. Brown of Georgia from Robert McMillan discussing the organization of ten companies from Georgia. Two additional letters are added to the first letter. One letter is also written by McMillan and discusses the need for guns for practice. The other is written by an unknown author and written to Senator Ira Foster. All letters are written on one piece of paper.
Dates:
1861
Ninian Duncan Letters, 1861
File — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 005
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of three letters, with accompanying envelopes, addressed to Duncan, a fragment of a fourth letter, which contains no evidence as to its recipient, and a glassine envelope containing the crumbling remains of some grape leaves picked at the site of George Washington’s tomb.
Dates:
1861
George Benedict Letter, 1861 August 31
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 006
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter from Benedict, stationed at Camp McClellan, Iowa, to a Miss Susan Benedict, perhaps his sister, written August 31, 1861. Benedict mentions that there are fourteen prisoners there, one a "rebble [sic] Colonel With one arm off."
Dates:
1861 August 31
Asher M. Talcott Letters, 1861 - 1862
File — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 007
Scope and Contents
Three letters, dated 17 May 1861, 11 May 1862, and 27 September 1862, from Asher M. Talcott to his brother Lorenzo. The latter's address is not discernable on the fragment of envelope that evidently enclosed the last of the letters, however, it appears likely from the content of the letters that Asher Talcott had moved from his home to Iowa shortly before the first was written. The last was sent from Camp Herron, near Davenport, Iowa, after Asher Talcott had enlisted in the Union Army. All...
Dates:
1861 - 1862
William S. Mortimer Letter, 1862-02-11
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 009
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter from Mortimer, a member of the Union forces in central Kentucky, under the command of General Don Carlos Buell, to William Smith of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the letter Mortimer describes Union designs on Bowling Green, the weather, the state of his regiment's health, and other matters.
Dates:
1862-02-11
R. Taylor Letter, 1862 March 13
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 010
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter from Taylor, as directed by Mahone, to Captain Benjamin W. Belsches, on the latter's operations in obstructing a canal in the defense of Norfolk, and in organizing a new cavalry company, March 13, 1862.
Dates:
1862 March 13
Letters from Mother to Edmund Fish, 1862
File — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 011
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of two letters written by Edmund Fish's mother, on August 10 and 21, 1862, from Partridge Island to her son in Bellevue Hospital, New York. She writes about a local boy who was "taken prisoner at Culpepper in the last battle between Pope and Jackson."
Dates:
1862
H. Bandy Letter, 1862 November 17
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 012
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter written by H. Bandy to his wife Mary on November 17, 1862. In the letter, he refers to a rumor suggesting that North Carolina was going to leave the Confederacy and go back to the Union. He also writes about the difficulties in obtaining news.
Dates:
1862 November 17
Lucius D. Whaley Letter, 1862 November 23
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 013
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter from Lucius D. Whaley at Frankfort, Kentucky, to his sister Mary M. Whaley of East Cleveland, Ohio, 23 November 1862. The letter is written on stationery with an engraving illustrating "Desperate Bayonet Charge at the Battle of Winchester" [today labeled the First Battle of Kernstown], March 23 1862. The accompanying envelope is also illustrated with a scene depicting a soldier bidding his wife or girlfriend farewell, the words "The Girl I Left Behind Me"...
Dates:
1862 November 23
H. B. Hillen Letter, 1862 February 10
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 014
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter, written by a Union soldier from Indiana in February of 1862. In this letter written from Paducah, Kentucky, the soldier provides a detailed description of the Battle of Fort Henry. He writes about finding 19 dead "Rebels" in a mud hole and says that he captured a mule and a fine rifle. He also mentions the gunning of the Essex. Notes:
The letter appears to be dated as "January 10, 1862," but the letter was presumably written in February...
Dates:
1862 February 10
A. W. Dwight Letter, 1862 January 9
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 016
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter written by A. W. Dwight, a Lieutenant Colonel of the 122nd Regiment New York Volunteers, to C. E. Smith, Esquire. The letter discusses the reading and writing of personal journals. He also talks about the progress of the war.
Dates:
1862 January 9
John De Wolf Letter, 1862 March 29
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 017
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter written by John De Wolf to his wife, L. D. M. DeWolf, on March 28, 1862. He writes of life in the camp, explaining that it is difficult to know what is going on in the larger world because they do not have access to news. When they are able to obtain newspapers, the papers are out-of-date and often sell out.
Dates:
1862 March 29
Caleb Henry Phillips Letter, circa 1862 September 9
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 018
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of one letter from Phillips to his wife Carroline [sic], written from Indianapolis, Indiana, on September 9, no year stated. Phillips assures his wife early in the letter "that you are a going to get your bounty money," probably a reference to enlistment bounties that many states began to offer as enlistments began to drop off following the first flush of enthusiasm for the war. This suggests that the letter may date from 1862 or 1863 but there appears to be no other...
Dates:
circa 1862 September 9
John R. Lynn Letter, 1863 February 28
File — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 020
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of a single letter from Lynn to his father, Joel Lynn of Hartford, Ohio County, Indiana, written from Camargo, Illinois, February 28, 1863. Most of the letter relates to cattle, but Lynn also mentions that "There is Strong talk of a [military] draft here & also in some parts of the State Strong talk of resistance (which will prove a Humbug)".
Dates:
1863 February 28
E. C. Gray Letter, 1863 November 16
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 021
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of a letter from E. C. Gray to his sister, Sarah T. Gray. He told her of the execution of at least fifteen men who had deserted the Confederate Army and that conditions were the same as when he last wrote to his family.
Dates:
1863 November 16
Letter from Edward to Sister, 1863 July 28
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 022
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter from Edward to his sister, dated July 28, 1863, at which time the Army of the Potomac had returned to Virginia following the Battle of Gettysburg, and was preparing for an anticipated attack by Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. The letter sheds interesting light on a private soldier's perspective on the war and its prospects. The letter's reference to Pottsville and a newspaper named the journal suggests that Edward may have been from...
Dates:
1863 July 28
C. A. Carson Letter, 1863
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 023
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of two letters from C. A. Carson, Union Army soldier at "Camp near Sulphur Springs, Virginia" (the extreme southwestern corner of the state, wedged between Kentucky and Tennessee), 12 September 1863, to his parents and brother. The letters are both on the same sheet of paper, and discuss, among other things, an episode of fraternization between Carson’s unit and a Confederate force on the far side of a river. The accompanying envelope is postmarked Washington, D. C., 15...
Dates:
1863
Letter from Daniel to Sister, 1863 November 28
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 024
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter from Daniel to his sister, describing the military situation in and around New Iberia, Opelonsas, and Brashear City, Louisiana in late 1863. There is mention of the Boston Journal and the name of an officer from the 33rd Massachusetts Regiment, who was listed as killed by the newspaper, suggests that the author was from Boston or its vicinity.
Dates:
1863 November 28
R. M. Rucker Letter, 1863 March 21
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 025
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter from Confederate soldier, R. M. Rucker. Rucker wrote to his mother in March of 1863 from Tullahoma, Tennessee. In the letter he refers to the fight at Murfreesboro and refers to Union soldiers stripping the people of their corn and stock.
Note: Envelope addressed to "Samuel R. Rucker," but the letter is addressed to "Mother."
Note: Envelope addressed to "Samuel R. Rucker," but the letter is addressed to "Mother."
Dates:
1863 March 21
L. M. Denman Letter, 1863 March 22
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 027
Scope and Contents
A single letter from Denman to his sister, written from "home" on 22 March 1863. The letter covers a variety of topics: weather, prices, Denman's son, father, and other relatives, and his desire for a visit from his sister. There is a single reference to the Civil War, namely "we had a good union meeting at Toldeo the 18[th.] there was quite a crowd there[.] we had a good speech from Col Hawkins of Tennessee[.] he is down on Jeff Davis and Co[.]"
Dates:
1863 March 22
Sanford M. Curlis Letter, 1863 June 25
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 028
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter by Curlis, written from Gallatin Convalescent Camp, Tennessee, on June 25, 1863 to an unnamed recipient, informing him of his brother's death a few days earlier. The grammar and spelling are both very poor.
Dates:
1863 June 25
David Tod Proclamation, 1863 March 4
File — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 030
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of a single proclamation by Governor Tod, commemorating the service of and officially discharging one of the so-called "Squirrel Hunters," Frank Rockway of Clark County Ohio, March 4, 1863. In late August and early September 1862, southern Ohio was threatened with invasion by a Confederate force under General Kirby Smith at Richmond, Kentucky. Governor Tod called upon able-bodied men to form an impromptu militia to defend Cincinnati, to which some 15,000 men,...
Dates:
1863 March 4
Benjamin Hurd Letters, 1863
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 029
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of two letters from Benjamin Hurd of the 1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery G. In these letters to his brother he says, “Richmond has fallen into our hands” and adds that he does not think the war will be over soon. He also makes a reference to the Confederate Army, saying the Rebels “fight like the Devil.” In the February 10 letter, he makes extremely disparaging remarks about the local population near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Dates:
1863
Edward M. Willis Letter, 1864 November 5
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 032
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter from Willis, a soldier in the 60th Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, to his parents, written from Camp Burnside, Indianapolis, Indiana, where the unit was guarding Confederate POWs, on November 5, 1864.
Dates:
1864 November 5
Letter from Billie to Mollie, 1864 December 18
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 033
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter and one partial transcript written by Billie, a Confederate soldier from North Carolina, to his sister, Maggie, about hearing the "salute of the Yankees saluting General Sherman for landing on the coast." He also asked his sister to tell their father to hide his corn from deserters.
Dates:
1864 December 18
Annie E. Wall Receipt, 1864 February 5
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 035
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of a single receipt, recording the payment of $150 by D. A. Boyd to Wall as partial payment for a team of mules, dated February 5, 1864. The remainder of the sum owed--$600--appears to have been due within a month of February 8, although the wording is not clear. The high price for the team suggests that this transaction took place in the Confederacy, where inflation had reached ruinous levels by early 1864.
Dates:
1864 February 5
Isaac Milner Civil War Pass from British government, 1864 May 11
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 036
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of a pass issed by the British government for English citizen, Isaac Milner, who lived in Lauderdale County, Alabama. The pass allowed Milner to pass through Union lines during the American Civil War.
Dates:
1864 May 11
State of Georgia Bond, 1864 April 6
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 037
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of a State of Georgia Confederate bond of five dollars, No. 11548, dated Milledgeville, 6 April 1864. It states, "The State of Georgia will pay the bearer five dollars at her treasury on the 25th day of December next, in Confederate Treasury notes issued after the 1st of April 1864, if presented within three months after maturity, otherwise not redeemable except in payment of Public Dues."
Dates:
1864 April 6
Luther K. Casey Letter, 1865 October 16
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 038
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter from Luther K. Casey, Union soldier in Anderson Court House, South Carolina, to his uncle, W. D. Barrell, in Turner, Maine, 16 October 1865. Casey discusses the health of his fellow soldiers (evidently a part of the 1st Maine Battalion), an incident in which three of his comrades were murdered, and denounces South Carolina as "the hardest Secesh hole in the whole south."
Dates:
1865 October 16
O. A. Luckett Letters, 1865
File — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 039
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of three letters (and transcripts), written by O.A. Luckett, just months after the war ended. The letters provide a glimpse into a former slave owner's post-war viewpoint. Luckett said "we are all ruined" and refers to this period as "dark and troublesome times," and that he wanted to move to another part of the world. Luckett suggested that his former slaves could come back to work for him and offered specific wage considerations. He also asked about his mule and wagon...
Dates:
1865
Isaac Shelby Letter, 1865 January 10
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 040
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter from Shelby to an unidentified colonel, apparently on the latter's request for information about Shelby's commissary activities in the Military Department of the Gulf from late February to late May or early June 1862.
Dates:
1865 January 10
Union Soldier Letter (II), 1865 December 7
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 041
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of one letter from a soldier to his mother, written from "Washington City", DC (SC?), December 7, 1865. The accompanying envelope is postmarked Washington DC, April 24, suggesting that it does not belong with the letter. The envelope is addressed to Mrs. Dicy Hicks [sic], of Jonesville, Lee County, Virginia. The letter furnishes few clues about its author, save for the fact that he was barely literate. A partially illegible closing seems to read "Company B 107 USCI,"...
Dates:
1865 December 7
Latimer N. Dike Diary, 1865
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 042
Scope and Contents
This collection contains the 1865 diary of Latimer N. Dike, a cook with the 67th Ohio Regiment. The inside cover of the diary says: “Anyone finding this book will please send to this address: Latimer N. Dike, East-Rockport, Cuyahoga, member of C.G. 67th Regt OVI.”In his diary, Dike records his basic daily activities, notes the weather and records when he sends or receives letters. Among other daily activities, he notes the meals he had such as biscuits and butter, bread pudding,...
Dates:
1865
W. H. Wait Pass, 1865 April 29
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 043
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of a pass by Wait, countersigned and approved by Lieutenant Colonel H. E. Jones, permitting Private Silas Dickens of the 56th Ohio Volunteer Infantry to pass from Algiers, Louisiana, "to and through the city of New Orleans."
Dates:
1865 April 29
Jameson J. Berkey Discharge, 1865 January 3
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 044
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of Berkey's discharge from United States military service. Berkey enlisted on 4 November 1862 and was discharged on 31 December 1864, prior to the completion of his three year enlistment "by reason of S.O. No. 211, dated Hd Qrs M[ilitary] D[istrict of] W[est] Miss[issippi] dec [sic] 12 1864". The discharge took place at Morganza, Louisiana.
Dates:
1865 January 3
D. Spreacher Letter, 1866 March 26
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 046
Scope and Contents
Letter from a Christian minister (possibly Lutheran) in Jonesboro, Illinois, to his friend George Schramm in Farmington, Iowa. The letter discusses a growing church membership in his area. He also discusses at length national politics, U.S. Army deserters during the Civil War, and former slaves in the South, saying, "God pity the poor negro."
Dates:
1866 March 26
W. W. Duffield Letter, 1866 May 7
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 048
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter from Duffield to Major Lewis M. Maney, CSA., relative to a grape vine sent by Duffield to Maney in 1862, and to Maney's impending visit to Woodside. It also refers to Maney as one "who sheltered me when a stranger, and who healed and comforted me when wounded and a prisoner," evidently a reference to the two men's encounter during the Civil War. That, however, is the lone reference to the conflict.
Dates:
1866 May 7
E. F. Mendendall Paper, 1895 June 8
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 052
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of a handwritten paper titled "From School Room to Army," read to the Grand Army of the Republic George W. Lennard post in New Castle, Indiana, on June 8, 1895, by Mendenhall, a soldier in the 101st Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The regiment saw extensive service in the Western theater, including the Battle of Chickamauga, the siege of Chattanooga, and Sherman's "March to the Sea." These events, however, are only mentioned in passing in Mendenhall's very brief...
Dates:
1895 June 8
John L. W. Monenntly Paper, 1895 March 2
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 053
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of a handwritten paper about Indiana's contributions to the Civil War, read to the George W. Lennard post of the Grand Army of the Republic in New Castle, Indiana, on March 2, 1895, by Monenntly. It contains no references to any individual service or regiment, being an encomium lauding the service of Indiana regiments and officers. Were its hagiographic qualities in any doubt, Monenntly's paper actually heaps praise on General Ambrose Burnside, calling him "as fine a...
Dates:
1895 March 2
L. P. Mitchell Paper, 1895 June 14
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 054
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of a handwritten memoir titled "Retrospective of the War, of Mitchell's Civil War experiences, both growing up in Indiana and in the Army," which was read to the George W. Lennard post of the Grand Army of the Republic, New Castle, Indiana, on June 14, 1895. Mitchell never mentions his regimental number, but, judging by the date he states that it was mustered into the service--June 8, 1864--it was perhaps the 139th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, whose service consisted of...
Dates:
1895 June 14
G. W. Burke Paper, 1895 April 27
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 055
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of a photocopy of paper titled "The March to the Sea," read to the George W. Lennard post of the Grand Army of the Republic, New Castle, Indiana, on April 27, 1895, which recounts William T. Sherman's army's march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia, September-December 1864. Burke, according to a handwritten inscription at the paper's end, was a member of the 46th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. The paper reads more like a newspaper account than the reminiscence of a...
Dates:
1895 April 27
Louis Moore Paper, 1895 April 13
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 056
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of a handwritten memoir of Civil War service by Lou Moore, which was read to the George W. Lennard Post of the Grand Army of the Republic at New Castle, Indiana, on April 13, 1895. It describes Moore's service in the 16th Indiana Infantry Regiment, which was mustered into United States service on August 12, 1862. The regiment saw service in the Western theater, including the Battle of Richmond (August 29-30, 1862), the Vicksburg campaign, the Battle of Arkansas Post...
Dates:
1895 April 13
A.T. Goodloe Postcard, 1910 August 22
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 057
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one postcard from A. T. Goodloe of Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, to Lieutenant A. F. Evans of Huntsvile, Madison County, Alabama, inquiring about the given name of a fellow officer in the CSA.
Dates:
1910 August 22
Charles A. Watson Letter, 1928 April 20
Item — Box: 4273.001, Folder: 059
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one letter from Watson to John E. Boos, describing his experiences at the Battle of Gettysburg, where Watson fought as a member of the 13th Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and where he had two comrades fatally wounded at his side.
Dates:
1928 April 20