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to Mary Kelly

The weather has been bad. The regiment moved 16 miles east of their former position at Branch Bridge. The journey, made by rail, proved disastrous as the train let them off in a field with no tents. Two days later another train picked them up and...

GLC04197.17

to Mary Kelly

He describes his division commander. "I Must Say that I dont think much of the Celebrated Gen. Lander, in the first place, he is a desperatily profane wicked man, and I am inclined to think he cares nothing for the lives of his men, . . . ." He...

GLC04197.18

to Mary Kelly

Mentions the capture of Forts Henry and Donnelson. He heard a rumor that Jefferson Davis was evacuating Manassas Junction. The regiment returned from its outing to attack a Confederate Camp without having fought. Instead the Union cavalry found...

GLC04197.19

to Mary Kelly

The regiment received marching orders. He believes they are going to Winchester. The weather is still cold.

GLC04197.21

to Mary Kelly

He has not received any mail from home in a long time. The weather is still cold. He requests postage stamps and reports that they will go to Martinsburg by rail.

GLC04197.23

to James Kelly

He is on leave and visited Kelley's house. He encourages his friend to keep his spirits up and to follow the surgeon's instructions.

GLC04197.28

to Charles G. Stack

Promises that as soon as his health improves he will comply with the request to send a photograph. Some text lost on the right side of the letter.

GLC02484.02

The story of a song

Jenkins account of the origins of the song "John Brown's Body." Credits Jenkins as "the author of 'John Brown's Body.'" Says the song was created spontaneously by a group of Union Soldiers, inspired partly by a soldier named John Brown.

GLC02484.03

Albumen print of McKinney.

Albumen print of McKinney in uniform.

GLC02179.01.045

to Nancy E. Jones

March to Charleston, and enthusiastic reception upon arrival.

GLC02739.004

to Nancy E. Jones

Instructions for directing letters. Written at Camp Terry.

GLC02739.005

to Nancy E. Jones

Sending $25; purchasing writing materials.

GLC02739.006

to Nancy E. Jones

Marching orders, perhaps to Cincinnati; expenses at home; determination to remain religious while in the army. Written at Camp Terry.

GLC02739.007

to Nancy E. Jones

No news from home; will leave for either Cincinnati or Kentucky tomorrow. Written in Camp Terry

GLC02739.008

to Nancy E. Jones

They expect an attack on Louisville but he believes "if the rebbels undertakes it they wil git bad whipped." He has "no doubt but that the [war] wil be over by spring." He instructs his wife to teach their daughter as much as possible; "it is worth...

GLC02739.014

to Nancy E. Jones and Elizabeth Jones

150,000 troops at Louisville with armies "a mile long and forty feet wide;" thanking Elizabeth Jones for being a good mother. With enclosed note to Nancy Jones, correcting a previous letter and the position of Gen. Hooker's corps.

GLC02739.016

to Nancy E. Jones

His regiment has not fought yet but Bill Elliot's has. There were 4,000-5,000 Confederates, outnumbering the Union four to one, but the Union won. He does not how many Union casualties there were but it was nothing "like so many as the rebbels."

GLC02739.019

to Nancy E. Jones

Confederates forced his regiment to change routes on their way to reinforce General Buell at Perryville and some of their men were taken prisoner. Although they were unable to reach Buell, he "whipped braggs army with one fourth the men that brag...

GLC02739.020

to his sister Nancy E. Jones

Their shared devotion to Christianity. His faith comforts him through the trials of war.

GLC02739.022

to Nancy E. Jones

Joseph Walker and John Millis were killed in the Battle of Stones River.

GLC02739.031

to Nancy E. Jones

He grieves for George Cooper, John Millis, and Joseph Walker. He describes Joseph's and John's deaths and how he helped bury them. He isn't sorry that he enlisted but if he would never "go in another such a wore as this for it is an unholy war on...

GLC02739.034

"Savage Barbarity."

He saw a wagon master whipping a black man who had trouble driving his team of mules across a river. He has seen many similar cases; "Soldiers hate The negros as a general Thing and would rather Kill them than to do them a favor."

GLC02739.035

to Nancy E. Jones

He sends Phebe Jane Walker his sympathies about Joseph's death. They are working on a fort and he hopes they will get to stay in it. He finds the Confederates "al friendly and kind I tel you it is awful to think that we half to kill them on the...

GLC02739.036

to Nancy E. Jones

There was a very difficult battle but his regiment killed more Confederates than any other. If those she sells crops to will not "take Uncle Sam's money at ful face let them go without it for I don't want to serve in their place and then them not...

GLC02739.038

to Nancy E. Jones

He does not regret joining the army "for it has bin a blessing to me, and I think it wil work out for good to us all in the long run." He will never desert but does not blame anyone for deserting as "our men is meaner than the rebbels."

GLC02739.039

to Nancy E. Jones

He cannot pray at night in the 20th Ohio and must rely on secret prayer. All the prisoners "that we get say that the rebel armey is both starveing and getting naked for the want of clothes."

GLC02739.046

to Nancy E. Jones

"If general hooker is successful at [Fredericksburg] I think that will end the war." They get good news from the armies of the Mississippi and the Rappahannock every day. He wants a likeness of her and the children. He closes discouraged, having...

GLC02739.048

to Nancy E. Jones

The men of the 20th are by "far mutch the hardest men that I have ever bin with" but they treat him like a gentleman. They no longer expect a fight and he has no doubt "but that our forces have gained a complete victory at fredricksberg."

GLC02739.049

to Nancy E. Jones

He has terrible pain in his head and had a tooth removed. He is still with the battery but will be with the regiment soon. "A man cannot git a discharge here until he is four days dead if he wanted it ever so bad."

GLC02739.053

to Nancy E. Jones

The Confederates are retreating towards Chattanooga. The road is so muddy that they can barely get through. The 79th of Illinois and 77th of Pennsylvania defeated nine Confederate regiments. "The rebs having al advantages in the mountains we have...

GLC02739.058

to Nancy E. Jones

He has the opportunity to change his terms of service by being mustered out and then sworn in again but awaits her opinion. The new terms would offer him a furlough and a change in pay and length of service.

GLC02739.063

to Nancy E. Jones

Mentions that he has atteneded prayer meetings led by Black church members. Refers to the educational disaparity between Black and White children. Writes, "if they had the schooling and chance that we have they could take care of their selves and be...

GLC02739.064

to Nancy Ellen Jones

Jones, a Civil War soldier, replies to a letter from his wife. Expresses joy that Nancy spends time with Brother Millis, possibly a pastor. Traveled the previous day from Bellefont to Stevenson, Alabama. States that divisions led by Generals...

GLC02739.067

to Nancy E. Jones

He expects to move to Georgia and fight Bragg. He will look for her cousin in the army.

GLC02739.068

to Nancy E. Jones

He is glad she and the children are staying with Brother Millis. Most of the men left to reinforce the right wing, which has been engaged in heavy fighting. They must stretch one meal over two days but are in good spirits.

GLC02739.083

to Nancy E. Jones

"It is nothing to a soldier to here of the death of a friend or comrade for he has enough of such…that he cannot mourn for the dead." He describes the Battle of Chickamauga: "For two long days we fought the brave men of longstreets corps from...

GLC02739.084

to Nancy E. Jones

The Confederates had an internal battle on October 28: "One brigad[e] of them was determined to quit them and ground arms and come to our lines and they was silenced by their trusty troops which terminated in three hours fight killing eight hundred...

GLC02739.086

to Nancy E. Jones [incomplete]

From her letter he believes that the Copperheads there "must be equally as Mean as those about Paris in Edger County."

GLC02739.089

to Nancy E. Jones

He was detailed as a Provo guard and sent to protect the Roberts, a slaveholding Confederate family, from being robbed. The women there do no work and he credits their intelligence to the luxury of time to study. He has a room to himself but has...

GLC02739.103

to Nancy E. Jones

They may join their old brigade, Wilder's, at Huntsville, Alabama. They are on detached duty with another cavalry brigade. A man was severely wounded on picket duty.

GLC02739.107

to Joseph Jones and family.

"Our country is Getting very Bad Some Will Steel and Some Will take the Bankrupt law and too lasy to Work."

GLC02739.108

to Nancy E. Jones

He expects a forward movement soon. He gives news of friends. He offers to send her papers.

GLC02739.109

to Nancy E. Jones

They marched to Athens, then Charlestown, and then to Cleveland. They are headed toward Dalton, Georgia where the Confederates are stationed and expect to encounter a Confederate garrison soon.

GLC02739.111

to Nancy E. Jones

They fought hard at Rocky Face north of Dalton on the 9th and he was wounded slightly in the neck. They drove the Confederates to Resaca and defeated them there. A musket ball passed through his hat and grazed his head. The Confederates retreated...

GLC02739.114

to Nancy E. Jones

Nine days' engagement with the enemy; continuous fighting in Tennessee from 4 May to 7 June; discomfort from "filth and durty clothes and loss of sleep;" hopes for a furlough.

GLC02739.118

to Nancy E. Jones

Movement towards Atlanta; recounts various hardships of army life; tallies the lost men from the regiment over the course of two years.

GLC02739.119

to Nancy E. Jones

Charge on June 27th ("I never saw a grater [sic] slaughter in as little [sic] time").

GLC02739.122

to Nancy E. Jones

More description of the charge on June 27th, with 800 killed or wounded; assisting the wounded on the field and in the hospital; safekeeping his diary.

GLC02739.123

to Nancy E. Jones

No end of the campaign in sight; lack of paper, envelopes, and steel points.

GLC02739.125

to Nancy E. Jones

Surrounding the city and three subsequent engagements; news of mutual acquaintances; rumors of Confederate reinforcements.

GLC02739.127

to Nancy E. Jones

Traveling to Bridgeport; disrupted communication with Nashville due to Confederate cavalry; Lincoln/McClellan election; private apology to his wife; surrender of Vicksburg; Lee's retreat.

GLC02739.134

to Nancy E. Jones

Informing Jones's wife of his capture during a battle at Franklin, Tennessee.

GLC02739.147

to Nancy E. Jones

Arrival without furlough papers; commutation of rations. Written at the Benton Barracks Union Military Camp

GLC02739.153

[Map of fortifications]

GLC02739.159

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He writes about the sacrifice the country has made. Written at Camp Foote.

GLC02744.007

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He writes about how all the men are going home for the last time. Written at Camp Foote.

GLC02744.010

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He writes he has been so busy he has not had time to see anyone. Written at Camp Foote.

GLC02744.013

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He received her letter about Ely.

GLC02744.014

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He writes that he is now Lt. Col. of his regiment.

GLC02744.017

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He is preparing to leave. He talked of his horse and the new privileges he will now have. Written at Camp Norton

GLC02744.020

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He is upset because he hasn't received any mail from her in three weeks.

GLC02744.024

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He talks about their relationship and how intertwined their lives are.

GLC02744.034

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He talks at great length of how even though they are separated, she is there in spirit and that bond is unbreakable. She is the best wife he could ever have and their separation only rekindles the passion. He feels blessed by god to have her as a...

GLC02744.035

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He writes that their souls are united forever.

GLC02744.036

[Jerry the horse attached to 21st regiment, Connecticut]

Note about Jerry the horse.

GLC02744.038

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He misses his family and longs to see them. Written in Camp Plesant Valley

GLC02744.043

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He writes that there is too much complaining going on. Written in Camp Plesant Valley

GLC02744.045

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He tells her not to pay attention to the papers because the Rebels are not doing as well as they report. Written in Camp Plesant Valley

GLC02744.047

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He is somewhere in the woods. He is writing by the light of a camp fire.

GLC02744.049

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He writes that he has a very pleasant camp along the river. gunboats patrol up and down and there are several rowboats available. Written in a camp near Suffolk, Virginia

GLC02744.052

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

Talks about Hooker's defeat, his faith in McClellan, includes song about boy asking his mother about his father that is a soldier.

GLC02744.053

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He wonders why the 21st was not mentioned in the list of killed and wounded since one man was killed and three were wounded. Mentions Hooker's withdrawal.

GLC02744.054

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He thinks of her always and wishes she could be with him.

GLC02744.057

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He discusses Hooker's defeat and why it occurred. He talks of changing attitudes toward the war.

GLC02744.058

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He writes that Hooker's defeat prevented the rebels from sending reinforcements to the Southwest. He hopes that Grant can be successful.

GLC02744.059

to Charles A. Burpee

Letter written to Thomas's son Charlie. He has enclosed some letters. Most of letter is illegible.

GLC02744.064

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He got a leave of absence for 30 days on account of disabilty.

GLC02744.070

to Mrs. Thomas F. Burpee

He informs her he will be in Plymouth by Thursday night. Written at the Howard Hotel.

GLC02744.071

to Mrs.Thomas F. Burpee

Four miles from New Haven. He will be home Saturday night.

GLC02744.073

to Mr. Elijah Holt

He describes his long sickness in detail, starting in Baton Rouge and leading up to his current circumstances.

GLC02744.090

to Nancy E. Jones

Guard duty; mustering in; receiving uniforms; prayer meeting.

GLC02739.002

to Nancy E. Jones

Camp life; prayer meeting; female visitors; writing paper and envelopes.

GLC02739.003

to Nancy E. Jones

Lack of arms in "rebel country;" Confederate guerrillas; African Americans in camp ("…it is very wicked the way that the soldiers dos abuse them…"); behavior of fellow soldiers in camp; plans to send a picture after he is outfitted with gun and...

GLC02739.011

to Nancy E. Jones

Still no letters from home; guard duty; lack of arms; rebel activity in the vicinity; paying debts and other concerns at home; arrival of guns and uniforms.

GLC02739.012

to Nancy E. Jones

Five divisions including his left Louisville in pursuit of the Confederates. The doctor will not excuse anyone from duty "until they are half dead." She knows "more at home than we do about what is going on." He believes that "Kentucky will be...

GLC02739.017

to Nancy E. Jones

They have been traveling every day and are now five miles west of Bowling Green on Lost River. They will rest here and then move on to Nashville.

GLC02739.021

to Nancy E. Jones

He expects that "the rebbels is so near drove out and [there are] so many union troops that the mail can go through safe" now.

GLC02739.023

to Nancy E. Jones

George Cooper died of the measles. The Confederates tried to capture their grain train but were unsuccessful. He lists the hierarchy of officers above him: Sill, Rosecrans, Kirk, and Reid.

GLC02739.028

to Nancy E. Jones

He went out on a very difficult picket but slept that night in a Confederate's barn to stay out of the rain.

GLC02739.030

to Nancy E. Jones

He thinks they will stay in Murfreesboro. He would like to know how the Confederates are faring near home.

GLC02739.037

to Nancy E. Jones

He thinks the war may end soon but wouldn't be surprised if it lasted a year or two more. Their latest news from Grant is favorable. He will rejoin Company F of the 79th.

GLC02739.051

to Nancy E. Jones

He is still with the battery. Mr. Shorter will hand deliver the letter and tell her more in person.

GLC02739.055

to Nancy E. Jones

He believes "Morgan the [guerilla chief] is neer his last end." The whole army is working well together toward a quick end to the war. The Union has control of Port Hudson and Bragg has left Tennessee. "His Armey is very mutch Reduced" and...

GLC02739.060

to Nancy E. Jones

He received the children's likenesses. She should not write to the captain asking for a furlough. He believes he has fought his last battle; "this armey may have a hard battle yet with brag but I don't expect to be in the engagement."

GLC02739.061

to Nancy E. Jones

He describes the march from Tullahoma, Tennessee through the mountains. They may follow Bragg to Georgia.

GLC02739.065

to Nancy E. Jones

Expectations of battle; taking Chattanooga with the loss of only one man; close proximity to the Confederates; wounding of Cornelius Hanvy.
.

GLC02739.070

to Nancy E. Jones

He encourages her to go live with Brother Millis and to read often. If he had known what soldiering would be like, he wouldn't have thought any man could stand it.

GLC02739.078

to Nancy E. Jones

They are running a grist mill and shipping meal and flour to Knoxville. The rest of the regiment is at Knoxville with the 22nd Illinois. Burnside drove the Confederates "from in front of him with heavy los[s] on the part of the rebles." Longstreet...

GLC02739.091

to Nancy E. Jones

Were he home, he would teach Phebe Jane himself instead of sending her to school. There was another battle near Chattanooga.

GLC02739.097

to Nancy E. Jones [incomplete]

God has carried him through the war thus far. She is going back home. He contemplates the effects of war: "In peace: children bury their parents; in war: parents bury their children."

GLC02739.102