1861-1877

Photograph

Title: [View of Barracks in Chattanooga]

GLC07000.29

23 April 1865

Hammond, Horace J., fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Eleanor Hammond

Everyone is healthy, but tired from all the marching. Legs feel "lame." Stopped 18 miles from Petersburg on the railroad. Going to guard the railroad, but is not sure how long he will be doing that for. "We may stay here two weeks and we may not stay here two days." Many think they will be discharged before their time is out. Thinks they will "come out alright." Only his regiment stopped here; "the rest of our corps is all along the railroad." The war is over in Virginia. Would like to buy a team of animals (presumably oxen). Since he has cooked for the captain, he has not touched a gun.…

GLC09273.42

Circa 1864

Henry, Josiah E., 1840-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sister

Dated April 16. Unknown year guessed as 1864. A man named George is now at home; Henry wants to know if George received the letters he sent to Westford, Massachusetts. Writes that there is $90 at Orlando if father wants it, unless George has given him some money already. Thinks that he should buy a cow or two if he can get them at a reasonable price. Butter is 55 cents a pound in Burlington, Vermont, 65 cents a pound in Boston, and 80 cents a pound in Brandy Station, Virginia. Writes that they "have no orders to march yet, but all extra baggage, property, and [stoves] are being sent to…

GLC02749.009

22 April 1865

Morse, George F., fl. 1864-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to mother

hardships of camp life, the surrender of Johnston, family matters, and Chris Skelton's letter from Hart's Island.

GLC02180.27

13 April 1862

Henry, Josiah E., 1840-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sister

Writes that they are within shooting distance of the rebels' fort and have been for over a week. Thinks that there will be some fighting here since the fort is harder to get at than Fort Donelson. The surrounding area is all woods, and the woods are all swamps; they are in the mud and water, which is very deep. Writes that they "carried the great fort at Young Mills at the point of the bayonet, although we did not see more than a bakers dozen of rebels. Has been on picket duty extremely close to the rebels' fort. While on post, he looked down and saw a crowd of rebel men. The rebels…

GLC02749.001

2 May 1862

Henry, Josiah E., 1840-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Parents

Writes that he is well and that the weather is pleasant, sometimes it rains and sometimes it is warm. They were on picket duty yesterday. The day before yesterday, a man from their Company was wounded; he was shot in the calf. He is the third man to be wounded in their Company. Writes that in Company A, the 2nd Regiment had three killed by the rebel sharpshooters and the 6th Regiment had three men wounded. Does not think he will write again till after the Siege of Yorktown (5 April, 1862 - 4 May, 1862). They were called up a few nights ago at midnight to vote as to whether they want…

GLC02749.002

May 1862

Henry, Josiah E., 1840-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother

They are now about 30 miles from Richmond and expect to be there this week. On Sunday morning, 4 May, they were eating breakfast when an order came for them to be ready with their guns and within in ten minutes, they were in the rebels' works. Writes that "it was the same place where the battle of the 16 (possible the Battle of Drewry's Bluff, fought on 15 May, 1862) was fought… there is hardly a tree" left on the field now. They marched 11 miles, and their cavalry overtook the rebels, which resulted in a skirmish. They stopped marching about an hour after dark and camped in some woods.…

GLC02749.003

23 May 1862

Henry, Josiah E., 1840-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother

Many men have caught Dysentery from the bad water. States that they "lost 500 men from this brigade while across the river and the Corps lost 6000." Writes that the army was put into "the shape of a horseshoe with the heel resting on the river." It was a pleasant and sunny day, but there was enough wind to lift the smoke out of the guns so anyone could see every rebel, even if you were a mile away. Claims that the rebels must have lost four men to every Union man killed because the rebels had four lines of battle, whereas they only had one line in front. Found out by the prisoners that…

GLC02749.004

28 May 1862

Henry, Josiah E., 1840-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mother

They have not arrived at Richmond yet, but must be ready for a start at a moment's notice. Only allowed to take their haversacks, no knapsacks or blankets. Have to bring 40 rounds of cartridges in boxes and 20 rounds in their pockets when they cross the creek. The creek is about half a mile in front of them, and Richmond is about seven miles away. Writes that their pickets stand on the bank and the rebel pickets are in sight on the other side, about 80 roads apart. There was heavy fighting all yesterday afternoon about half a mile on their right. The report is that they have driven the…

GLC02749.005

9 June 1862

Henry, Josiah E., 1840-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Parents

Writes that nothing important has happened since he "last wrote except the battle of Sunday. Our division was not in it, there was not much artillery firing that day but the muskets was heavy and it was kept up without easing till near two hours after dark." Now on the Richmond side of the Chickahominy; does not suppose that they will attack Richmond this week. Writes that the rebels have fired more than 100 shots since he started writing this letter. Although they have several batteries there, Henry does not know why the rebels are firing because the batteries will burst in the swamp on…

GLC02749.006

16 June 1862

Henry, Josiah E., 1840-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sister

Henry's camp is on picket duty, and there has been a great deal of shooting during picket duty. Writes that some of the rebels climb into trees to get a better opportunity to shoot at their camp; one of the boys in Company G shot a rebel who was in the tree. The next day, the rebel sharpshooters shot into the Union camp and into a crowd of men; two boys from the 4th Regiment were wounded. Did not realize that the rebels could shoot into their camp, but bullets come into the camp everyday now. Writes that it was a "curious circumstance that out of about 200 men in the very crowded and…

GLC02749.007

20 October 1864

Henry, Josiah E., 1840-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sister

Just received her letter dated 10 October. They had as desperate a battle as they have ever had yesterday (Battle of Cedar Creek or Battle of Belle Grove, 19 October 1864). The rebels came in from the rear, attacked them at early light, and killed men in their tents. In less than five minutes after the first shot was fired, the six corps got into line just in time. The rebels took 40 guns, nearly 200 wagons, all of the corps' tents, knapsacks, and haversacks, and drove the whole army more than two miles. When they got a chance, they drove the rebels back to Staunton, Virginia in the…

GLC02749.011

18 July 1861

Foglesong, John C., fl. 1861-1862

Autograph letter signed

Title: to cousin [Lydia A. Bishoff]

Foglesong describes having to sleep on the floor with only his coat to lie on and his carpet sack as a pillow. He reports that there is plenty to eat and drink, but adds that there is only water and coffee - no whiskey. Foglesong does not know how long he will have to stay in Oakland, but he believes that he will be uniformed by next Friday. He tells Bishoff that he still "think[s] of the last night whe was To gether," and he asks her to tell Nelly to come see them, and to tell Kit that he will write to him in a few days. He mentions that he has been drilling for eight hours a day, which…

GLC03523.40.03

December 21, 1861

Swisher, Daniel, fl. 1861-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to sister [Lydia A. Bishoff]

Swisher reports that he has the measles, and is still in the hospital in the city. He expects to go to camp in a week or ten days. Swisher is sorry to hear that his [brother] Jim has fallen ill. Swisher tells Bishoff that he is also sorry to hear that she cannot have any fun without him. He claims to have been away from home for so long that he does not think about home anymore. Although Bishoff has told him that she wished the war were over, he does not think it will be over very soon. Swisher tells Bishoff that he received a letter from Sam, who is doing duty in Romney. Swisher…

GLC03523.40.06

4 March 1862

Swisher, Daniel, fl. 1861-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to sister [Lydia A. Bishoff]

Swisher describes his surprise upon receiving his most recent letter from Bishoff. He had not heard from Bishoff for a long time, and had resolved not to write until he did hear from her. He now understands Bishoff's reason for not writing: she was ill with the mumps. Swisher explains that he is currently under marching orders and expects to go first to Martinsburgh and from there, on to Manassas or Winchester [as previously noted, the 7th Virginia Regiment marched to Winchester on March 4-15]. He tells Bishoff that she will soon hear of the "Bloodyists Battles Ever was fought on the…

GLC03523.40.07

23 October 1862

Shafer, David H., fl. 1862

Autograph letter signed

Title: to [Lydia A. Bishoff]

Shafer reports that times are fine at present, for the men can go anywhere that they please inside of the pickets which are placed 2-3 miles from camp. But there are not as many apples and cakes and pies as they had previously at Camp Willey. Also, there are hardly any women, even though there were "any amount" of women at Camp Willey. The men have to work one day out of the week in the entrenchments, but they do not work "to hurt our selves" and they are allowed "one dram a day." He worked yesterday, and George and Fred worked today. There is quite a stir amongst the soldiers who "don't…

GLC03523.40.18

13 November 1862

Swisher, Daniel, fl. 1861-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to sister [Lydia A. Bishoff]

Swisher tells Bishoff he has undertaken a long, fatiguing march since he last wrote. He is now 22 miles south of Manassas Junction in camp until his regiment receives some clothes. He believes that his regiment will then take up the march for the rebel capital, which he expects the Union army to capture before many months elapse. Swisher reports that there were many little skirmishes on the recent march, but that there was seldom anyone hurt. He was surprised to hear of his friend Daniel H. Wagoner getting married. Dick is sick and at the hospital, but was not bad when Swisher last saw…

GLC03523.40.19

16 December 1862

Swisher, Daniel, fl. 1861-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John Bishoff Jr.

Swisher has set up a house which has a fire place that he can use to cook. He suspects Bishoff has already heard about the battle of Fredericksburg, so he will not bother to give him all the particulars. His regiment fought for two days with artillery across the Rappahannock. Union men put a pontoon bridge across the Rappahannock. The Rebels were throwing shells as fast as they could in an attempt to knock the pontoon to pieces, but they could not get in range of it. His was the first Union Brigade was to advance through the town. Rebels shot at his regiment but it did not suffer as…

GLC03523.40.20

22 March 1863

Shafer, David H., fl. 1862

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Lydia A. Bishoff

There has been some confusion over delayed receipt of letters. Even though Bishoff wrote Shafer twice, he only received one letter (in February). He thought she had forgotten her "best friends that are absent from home." Regardless, Shafer promises Bishoff that it was nothing more than a mix-up. Shafer discusses some news he has received from home (that Dan Wagoner is getting married). He then remarks that there are plenty of good-looking girls around, who are nearly all Irish. He explains that there are presently two companies at Sir John's Run. Shafer tells Bishoff he is stealing her…

GLC03523.40.24

9 June 1862

Dewey, Orville S., fl. 1861-1902

Autograph letter signed

Title: to [Harriet W. Dewey]

He has been receiving compliments on his work. They are camped on the battlefield and as he writes the Rebels are throwing shells into their camp.

GLC02161.025

18 July 1862

Dewey, Orville S., fl. 1861-1902

Autograph letter signed

Title: to [Harriet W. Dewey]

Accomodations are not good. They have had no regular meals and anything good is very expensive. He asks her to send fruit and vegetables. There will be a general exchange of prisoners soon and he hopes Will will be among them.

GLC02161.035

10 August 1862

Dewey, Orville S., fl. 1861-1902

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his sister

He is afraid he raised her hopes by talking of Will's probable release. Meanwhile, Capt. Albergen is trying to see if he can get him a furlough. He encloses a sketch of his quarters, not included here.

GLC02161.047

13 October 1862

Dewey, Orville S., fl. 1861-1902

Autograph letter signed

Title: to mother

No one is getting paid. Some of the men have no clothes and few tents. He assures his sister he will send some money the moment he is paid.

GLC02161.062

ca. 1880

Print

Title: [Camp Compson]

Print of a group of soldiers and three women at Camp Compson.

GLC02179.01.047

January 19, 1862

Dewey, Orville S., fl. 1861-1902

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his aunt

He is camped near Washington and he is very interested in the town. He wants to get a pass and explore. He imagines a time when the great rebellion will end and the troops will go marching back to whoever is home.

GLC02161.016