19 April 1865

Morse, George F., fl. 1864-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to father

report of battle and retreat, loss of knapsack and clothes, assassination of President Lincoln, and an accounting of the wounded and the dead.

GLC02180.26

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

26 September 1864

Henry, Josiah E., 1840-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sister

Writes that they can only send letters every four days now, and soon he will not be able to send any letters for two or three weeks. They are in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia within 25 miles of Staunton, Virginia and nearly 100 miles from Harpers Ferry, Virginia. They have had two battles since he last wrote, one at Winchester, Virginia (Battle of Opequon or the Third Battle of Winchester, 19 September 1864) where "this Regiment captured a brigadier General. It was a hard fight; our forces took five cannons, 15 stand collors [sic], 2500 prisoners besides killing and wounding over 5000."…

GLC02749.010

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

14 August 1861

Sam, fl. 1861-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to cousin [Lydia A. Bishoff]

Sam is still in Oakland, and does not know how soon he will be called to take the line of march, although he is going to get his arms this week. He describes the health of a few members of his company, and asks how his mother is doing back home. He has heard from the "north Branch" that there are 5000 "sesechers" within 5 or 6 miles of Oakland. Sam suspects that this is true, and is worried since "there is no company but ours and whe have no arms whe would play hell afighting without arms," he says.

GLC03523.40.04

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

23 April 1862

Autograph letter signed

Title: to brother and sister

The author writes that he expects to leave Winchester on the following Friday to go to 70 or 80 miles South to Gordonsville. He reports that there are currently only nine companies of his regiment still in Winchester, as six of the companies left for Strasburg on April 21st. He further explains that Union men are still in pursuit of [Stonewall] Jackson, who has retreated towards Staunton. His company plans to meet a Brigade at Gordonsville to reinforce General Shields' Division before entering Staunton. He reports that "Jef Davis," in command at Yorktown, has been completely surrounded by…

GLC03523.40.09

12 July 1862

Swisher, Daniel, fl. 1861-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to sister [Lydia A. Bishoff]

Swisher reports that since the last time he wrote, there has been a "Considerate Skirmish" and that the "3rd and 4th of July Did not go off as nice as it did Last year." On the 4th of July, Swisher's regiment suffered one casualty and three wounded. Swisher remarks that he would have liked to have gone to the party Bishoff hosted on the 4th, and to have seen "all the pretty little Girls step around over the floor," for he has "not seen a woman for so long it is almost a show To see." According to Swisher, if his regiment happens to march through a town, the women all go into their houses,…

GLC03523.40.11

24 August 1862

Foglesong, John C., fl. 1861-1862

Autograph letter signed

Title: to cousin [Lydia A. Bishoff]

Foglesong received Bishoff's letter on the 22nd, and currently has orders to take transports somewhere at a moment's warning (some think to North Carolina, others believe to New Orleans). Foglesong's Brigade is an Independent Brigade, and consists of the 4th Ohio Regiment, the 7th Virginia Regiment, the 14th Indiana Regiment, and the 8th Ohio Regiment, which has fallen back 80 miles. McClellan's Army has nearly all left but he knows "not whare." Foglesong recently had a terrible time of marching through sand that was shoe-top deep. He has had no water except that taken out of creeks "the…

GLC03523.40.12

19 October 1862

Swisher, Daniel, fl. 1861-1863

Autograph letter signed

Title: to sister [Lydia A. Bishoff]

Swisher traveled towards Winchester to follow the Rebel army. They wiped them out of Charlestown and came back to camp again. He is tired by hard marching in the rain. Swisher tells Bishoff he would come home if he could, but he can't. He then explains that he is waiting to see whether "Mr Abram" is going to put his proclamation into effect, for if he does, Swisher is "not agoing to stay." But "as long as I am Fighting for the right Cause I would Rather Die at the point of the Enemys Bayonets than to Have the name of A Deserter," he says. He and Dick are tent mates and have agreed that…

GLC03523.40.17

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

February 14, 1862

Dewey, Orville S., fl. 1861-1902

Autograph letter signed

Title: to [Norman R. Dewey]

Wednesday they marched through Centerville. Centerville has the strongest position the Rebels ever had. He has been to Manassas and Bull's Run.

GLC02161.017

10 April 1862

McLean, William, fl. 1854-1862

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mary "Mollie" McLean

They are advancing with an army of 100,000 men. He expects their there to be a "dreadful battle in a day or so". He applied to be on Gen. Smith's staff. There will be terrible slaughter sioon.Written at Fort Monroe

GLC02161.020

11 May 1862

Dewey, Orville S., fl. 1861-1902

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mary "Mollie" McLean

Last night they crossed the Rappahannock, marched through Fredricksburg and camped. He talks about how the Rebels treat their dead horses and mules. Fredricksburg is described as a filthy place.

GLC02161.021

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

16 June 1862

Dewey, Orville S., fl. 1861-1902

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mary "Mollie" McLean

He got a letter from Will who has picket duty. Their sharpshooters killed or wounded every gunner that attempted to use their artillery. There will be no more picketing on their end.

GLC02161.027

16 June 1862

Dewey, Orville S., fl. 1861-1902

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mary "Mollie" McLean

There was a cavalry fight described as one of the fiercest. Will was wounded. 31 were killed. Written in Camp Lincoln

GLC02161.028