9 June 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Has just learned that it is Sunday, and writes that "I never have seen a day since I have been South that realy seemed like our old fashion Sundays that we used to have up north." Has been suffering from dysentery. Describes what it is like to be a sharp shooter, watching "Rebels sticking thear heads up over thear rifle pits then we would give it to them." The men have built a "Bullet proof" shanty from rails and bark. Adjusting well to battle, Damuth writes that he barely notices the sound of cannon and shoots at the Rebels as easily as he used to attend drill. Speculates on life after…

GLC03523.14.27

20 June 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes to thanks his sister for a package she has sent him, "I think more of the handkerchief than any thing." Describes the evening before when, on picket, "we could here the rebels sing Methodist hyms I think they are all like devils very pious when they get in a dangerous place." Gives details of a bombardment of Rebel lines in the morning. A new general is coming to replace McClernand, since he "done some thing the day they made the charge that dident suit Grant." Their new general is named Orff. Opines that Northern Democrats have been patriotic "onely to save thear own cowardly…

GLC03523.14.28

24 June 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John Damuth

Describes the daily routine of the soldiers, who "sharp shoot day times and stand picket and dig rifle pits nights." Some men are about to attempt to infiltrate a nearby Rebel fort. The life of the soldiers laying siege to Vicksburg is filled with constant strain, and Damuth describes being woken in the middle of the night to stand guard in the pouring rain. Complains of the alarm, "I wish we could get out of this place for a little while so we could pul our pants off at night I have not had mine off in almost three months." Sends home a half-filled canteen he took off a Rebel soldier at…

GLC03523.14.29

2 July 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Complains of boils all over his legs. Firing on Rebel lines continues and "yesterday our men blew up another of thear Forts." Rails against Democrats as traitors and tells his sister not to spend any money at stores owned by Wisconsin Democrats. Damuth has become orderly sergeant, and his pay been raised to $20 a month. Describes the problem soldiers have with "grey backs," or body lice, even in the cleanest camps.

GLC03523.14.30

3 July 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Rebels are flying flags of truce and Grant has declared "that the surrender must be unconditionly and compleat." Describes "a friendly chat" between Union and Rebel soldiers, taking place as they stood in their picket lines.

GLC03523.14.31

5 July 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes about the surrender of Vicksburg the day before: "you could see white flags on all of thear works it was the happyest 4th of July I ever saw." Is going on an expedition to Black River. Describes the defeated Rebels scavenging for food. The Union troops give them "all we can spare."

GLC03523.14.32

20 August 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Damuth's regiment has moved from Natchez, Mississippi, to New Orleans, where "we have a good cool breeze right off the Salt water." Describes the trip down the river. Some deserters are left off the boat at Port Hudson and Damuth proclaims, "I had rather be a soldier in the rebel army than a deserter from ours." The men also pass Baton Rouge. In Carlton, Damuth and a friend breakfast on oysters and beer. There are peddlers everywhere selling cheap goods to the soldiers. Damuth is eager to explore New Orleans.

GLC03523.14.33

8 October 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

The men have moved to a new camp. They pass through Franklin, Louisiana, and marched a total of fifty-five miles to their new campground. The men are eating well and Damuth believes they will "all come out fat." They are marching for the Gulf of Mexico and will not have mail until they get there. On their march, the soldiers met the 19th Army Corps, who share stories of their fights with rebels in the vicinity. The next stopping place will be Opelousas, Louisiana, and Damuth urges his family to look at a map and trace the soldiers' route. Thanks his sister for sending him a list of men…

GLC03523.14.37

14 October 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes from the same campground where he wrote his last letter. Damuth thinks they will be there for some time. They are very isolated, "for all I know peace may be declaired now we are so far from any whear." The men have noticed a "great difference eather between Banks and Grant or els the Expedition against Vixburg and this is not much alike." Describes their lifestyle as calm and pleasant. Finds that he has "been to work for Old Abe 14 months," so that he has almost gotten halfway through his three years service. Mentions that there have been rumors "that France was about to…

GLC03523.14.39

2 November 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

The men have turned around and he thinks they may be heading back to New Orleans. On their return path, they meet some mounted Rebel soldiers and engage in a skirmish until the Rebels are driven back. Eagerly anticipates voting for the Union ticket in the election the next day. Everyone in Company D is in good health and some men from the company who were wounded at the battle of Champion Hill have returned.

GLC03523.14.40

6 November 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John and Joan Damuth

Describes a battle in which the Union men chased the Rebel cavalry to Opelousas. After the battle, the Union forces camped in Barron's Landing, Louisiana, for eight days. The men believe that any expedition to Texas has been forgotten. They returned to Opelousas and then moved on to a camp in Buzzard's Prairie, where they once again engaged with Rebel forces. The second fight took place on Election day, and Damuth expresses pride at "fighting the Copperheads of the north at the Balot box and in the afternoon the Copperhead of the South on the field."

GLC03523.14.41

13 November 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes to his sister about a skirmish between Union cavalry and Rebel mounted infantry a few days earlier, "we heard the canon very plain but it was 4 mils away from here." Mentions rumors that many infantry regiments have been transformed into mounted infantry, but "I hope not I had rather go afoote than to be bothered with a horse." If he could enlist again, believes he would sign up with heavy artillery. Writes about his brother John, who he hopes will not be drafted. Asks about the results of the elections in Wisconsin. Damuth received a ticket for the Democratic party from a friend…

GLC03523.14.43

22 November 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes to his sister from a camp in New Iberia, Louisiana. Begins the letter with a description of "what the folks in our house are doing Barney is fixing a short tailed shirt that I sold him...Don Stanley is mixing up pancakes for dinner." The men left Vermillionville a week earlier and stopped in Teche Lake, Louisiana. They are in New Iberia for thirty days. As they set up their new camp, Damuth's regiment is attacked by Rebel soldiers. Though they manage to scare off the Rebels, "they got two of our teems and a few men that had stragglered out to forage." The next morning, Damuth's…

GLC03523.14.44

4 January 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes to his sister to tell her that "the next time you hear from me I shall be in Texas." Wonders when the war will end and says some people in Louisiana think that as long as Lincoln is president, the country will continue to be at war. Reminisces about being part of the Wide Awakes, a campaign group affiliated with the Republican party. He mentions the lamp he carried as part of the Wide Awake uniform, but says now "I had rather be a soldier than a Wide Awake." Some Union soldiers who were taken prisoner at Buzzard's Prairie have returned to the regiment, and they describe the…

GLC03523.14.47

3 April 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes that the men are waiting to fight. A battle is going to take place at Pleasant Hill, thirty-five miles from their campsite. Tells a story about some men out on picket the day before who were captured by a plantation owner who "mad his negros tie them he marched them out in the woods to shoot them." One man is dead and the other two escaped. Damuth describes seeing the dead man's body and his anger that the murderer "pretended to be a union man." Reports that Texans they have captured were completely unaware of Northerners coming South. Predicts the war will be over by the summer…

GLC03523.14.52

11 April 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes his sister that the "29 have been in a fight and nearly all killed wounded and taken prisoners 5 companys were engaged and out of 180 men we lost 64." Lists the fates of various family friends. After the fight, the men meet new recruits at Pleasant Hill.

GLC03523.14.53

15 April 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes his sister to describe the battles of the previous few days in more detail, with particular attention to the amount of marching his company engaged in and the specific places where friends died. Writes about the moment of realizing "our Co was all thear was that was not killed or wounded." Damuth's company carries the regiment's colors, which they hoist up before the Confederate soldiers "were on us in overwhelming numbers." He describes retreating from the fight: "I thought my time would come next I could see the Rebs and hear them say Stop you yankee Sons of Bitches Surrender you…

GLC03523.14.54

26 May 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Has been helping to write out papers, although it is not his job as an orderly. The men have been assigned garrison duty along the river, and Damuth suspects they will end up near New Orleans. Speculates about visiting home. Mentions a friend who is at Vicksburg as "a detective…he wearse good clothes and has an easy time." Writes that "we are waiting anxiously to see if Grant is going to whip out the rebel Lee," and that if this doesn't happen, "old Abe will have to call for more men."

GLC03523.14.57

6 June 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

The men have nothing to do and are relaxing in camp. The regiment has heard "good news from Grant to day" but doesn't know if it is true; they hope Grant "whips Lee at Richmond." Damuth's brother John has enlisted for a period of a hundred days. Adds a postscript on 7 June about a friend who is guarding a nearby house "to keep the boys from stealing every thing and to protected [sic] the women folks."

GLC03523.14.59

23 June 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Has recently arrived at a new camp on the Mississippi River, twelve miles from [Carrollton]. Damuth does not know why the men are there: "I cant see anything to guard except fences houses and hog pens." Says that it is too hot for the men to march. A man wounded in at [Sabine Cross Roads] in April has turned up at a nearby hospital. Damuth writes that the man and another soldier "lay on the Battle field that night and the next day Ferdinan died what a lonesome night that must have been." Describes the sense of brotherhood he feels in his company and hopes to send home photographs of his…

GLC03523.14.60

30 July 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Reports the deaths of more members of Company D at a fight against the Confederate Army on the Atchafalaya River. Mourns a friend and writes, "I cant think otherwise than that cotton and whiskey was the cause of Jeromes death… I do know that a great many of the Officers were beastly drunk." The men marched thirty-four miles in the heat after the battle, and "after the funeral I went into my tent and laid there till this morning." The Confederate soldiers have fortifications across the river, and Damuth writes that the Union soldiers will not attempt to fight again soon.

GLC03523.14.63

6 August 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes about the soldiers who died in the skirmish on the Atchafalaya. A few days earlier, a "big scare down to Baton Rouge" caused the officers to load all the men into boats; the men fell asleep and woke up the next morning still in port, and since then "have heard nothing of Rebs." Agrees with his sister on her judgment of young men who have avoided the draft, "I had rather a sister of mine would marry a soldiers old shirt." Writes about the draft that he hopes it will be the least, although "things look rather dark and discouraging but my faith in the wisdom and Patriotism of our…

GLC03523.14.65

13 September 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

The men are on guard against the Confederates in a camp on the bank of the White River. The Cavalry has captured some Confederate soldiers. Damuth is working as Provost Marshal. He reminisces about coming to Arkansas before with his friend Jessie, "we had never seen many fortifications then."

GLC03523.14.68

1 October 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes to his sister that he has been taking quinine to keep away "the ague." Thinks that the change of water has made the regiment sick, "when we were here a year a go last winter the water made a great many of the boys sick." The men are building quarters for the winter. In response to a question about McClellan, writes, "I like him will enough but the party that nominated him and the platform that he stands on I despise." Does not want an armistice and believes that it would "give the rebs all we have gained in the last three years." Thinks the war will only end if Lincoln is re-…

GLC03523.14.70

8 October 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Writes about an election held by the 21st Iowa Regiment. The votes are overwhelmingly in favor of Lincoln, and they are "for fun, or to show the Peace Sneaks, and Copperheads how men of sense vote." The 47th Indiana Regiment has also held a mock election with Lincoln as the winner. Damuth is convinced that if the war does not end with complete defeat of the South, "no soldier could go north and hold up his head."

GLC03523.14.71