7-10 September 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter

Title: 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 uniform.

GLC02739.011

11 September 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: 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

16-17 September 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter

Title: to Nancy E. Jones [incomplete]

Volunteering for picket duty; long, hot march through Louisville in which many fell ill.

GLC02739.013

19 September 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: 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 more to her than all else you can do for her."

GLC02739.014

26 September 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Nancy E. Jones

Dreams of people at home; his health and gaining exemption from duty; lack of contact with the enemy; marching orders; sickness in camp due to overexertion.

GLC02739.015

29 September 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: 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

4 October 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: 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 [clear] of rebbels soon."

GLC02739.017

16 October 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph note signed

Title: to Nancy E. Jones

They are still on the march and traveling has improved his health.

GLC02739.018

17 October 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: 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

26 October 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: 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 had." Buell, who has "so many troops now that we never can get up close to aid him," pursued Bragg and they fought again. Jones describes the Confederates as ragged and says "most al [are] glad when they are taken prisoners."

GLC02739.020

31 October 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: 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

2 November 1862

Walker, Joseph, fl. 1862

Autograph letter signed

Title: to his sister Nancy E. Jones

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

GLC02739.022

10 November 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: 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

26 November 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Nancy E. Jones and Benjamin Jones

They are camped again and in good spirits; he hopes for a visit from Benjamin. On stationery with poem titled "The Soldier's Dream," with bottom third of first page cut off.

GLC02739.024

26 November 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Nancy E. Jones

If they don't get paid soon, he thinks "a good many wil go home and I don't blame them for our soldiers is used worse than a dog." He estimates that there are 200,000 troops around Nashville but they have not fought yet.

GLC02739.025

30 November 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Nancy E. Jones

He is on picket and it is difficult to write because "there is so many generals passing and we [have] to fall in to line evry time one comes along to salute him." On 27 November his brigade was ordered to scout towards Murfreesboro and skirmished with the Confederates. His regiment was ordered to guard the battery; they had "no firing to do but we was in the dangerest place." They drove the Confederates a mile from their camp, took possession of the nearby town, and burnt it.

GLC02739.026

3-4 December 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Nancy E. Jones

Apologizes for not being able to keep her letters but asks that she save his until he comes home; regiment will likely move towards Alabama and Georgia; rumors that Richmond was captured; advises her not to visit as "here is no place for a woman."

GLC02739.027

6-7 December 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: 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

12 December 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Nancy E. Jones

He hopes that Martha's health will improve. Many men are "joining the regulars for three years service" but he is not.

GLC02739.029

12 December 1862

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: 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

7 January 1863

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Nancy E. Jones

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

GLC02739.031

January 21, 1863

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Nancy E. Jones

They left the Nashville area on 26 December and fought almost every day on their way to Murfreesboro. He describes a very tough battle and his own close call. The Confederate guns were "so hot that they burnt our hands when we took hold of them."

GLC02739.032

January 24, 1863

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Nancy E. Jones

He does not think the South can be defeated: "we can't starve them out for they have a plenty and we can't whip them out for they are armed as well as we are, and they are as brave a men to fight as we are."

GLC02739.033

February 11, 1863

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: 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 both sides."

GLC02739.034

February 11, 1863

Jones, Joseph, fl. 1862-1865

Autograph document signed

Title: "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