11 October 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Damuth family

In two days, the soldier have marched twenty-five miles, "the greatest marching we have ever done." Towards the end of the day's march, Damuth and another soldier fall back from exhaustion and arrive at camp after the rest of the regiment. He describes the countryside of Louisiana as similar to the prairie in Illinois. Soldiers from Indiana are sharing beef they have stolen, despite order against foraging. Citizens in the area have been complaining "aganst the boys taken all thear geese and chickens," but the generals say they cannot stop the men from stealing. The next day, Damuth…

GLC03523.14.38

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

8 November 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes to his sister about doing guard duty on a plantation near camp. The soldiers encounter enslaved people who remained living on the plantation. Damuth purchases food from them and enters their homes. Describes that the enslaved people observe did not seem, he believed, interested in attacking them. Writes that he is currently in the largest group of men since the battle of Champion Hills. General Banks is moving a large force from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico, and Damuth anticipates meeting up with them. The regiment has received a new flag with "all the Battles we have been…

GLC03523.14.42

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

24 November 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Ida

Writes to "friend Ida." Says that the weather is getting cold, and the men need new clothes and tents. Although their captain is strictly against foraging, Damuth says "he dont know all that is going on in Co D Dave dont care how much the boys forage he dont belive in the boys going hungry." Stops writing for a moment because "the boys are yelling Dolph come and draw our whiskey it has come." Enjoys being orderly of the company very much. Talks about the men who are being drafted and writes that "I wish thear was no such thing as thear getting rid of it by paying $300." Of the dearth of…

GLC03523.14.45

18 December 1863

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes to his sister about the men enlisting in the Veteran Corp. They are mostly older soldiers who will go home to recruit. Discusses the strangeness of seeing some men, who have already served three years, re-enlisting while others pay to get out of the draft and "rob thear wives and children." Describes all the fun soldiers have, running foot races and wrestling ("the Officers indulge in it as well as the men").

GLC03523.14.46

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

February 2, 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes to his sister. His brother, John, has enlisted and is joining Damuth's company. Damuth promises to make him comfortable, but admits that "it was hard enough for me to leave home but it is nothing compared with leaving a wife and five little ones." Confesses that "the war is a very dangerous undertaking." Twenty-seven men from his company have died since the start of the war. The men have been seeing rattlesnakes in Texas, including one which is six feet long. Writes of the hard work of his captain and says he "ought to be Major but others have rich and influential friends to work…

GLC03523.14.48

1 March 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes to his sister about gossip from home in response to a letter he has recently received. The 29th Wisconsin and some Indiana regiments they have been traveling with have parted ways after a year together. Reminisces about General McClernand and says of him: "there is no kinder men or trur Patriots." They have met some men from the Army of the Potomac who "put on more style than we do they wear white gloves and are well drilled." The men receive no news about the war. Written from Algiers, New Orleans, Louisiana.

GLC03523.14.49

10 March 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes to his sister from Berwick City. Damuth wants to stay in the army once his three years are up, despite the fact that his father has expressed displeasure at the proposition. Sends some camp news.

GLC03523.14.50

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

30 April 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Describes being put on emergency picket outside town two days before. Damuth enjoys standing guard and complains only of the lack of blankets during the night. Tells of his fears during the night, wondering "which one of us had got to fall this time," and writes that his fear of death only grows stronger with each battle. Finds the "big scare" humorous because during the frantic change of camps "they piled every thing up together" and many soldiers lost their belongings. Writes about the surprise of discovering a silk handkerchief in the pocket of one of his shirts while doing his…

GLC03523.14.55

23 May 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes that the men are camping beside the Mississippi River again. They are waiting to take a boat down river. Mail arrives for the first time in a month.

GLC03523.14.56

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

2 June 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Ida

Writes that the whole camp is on picket, except for himself (the orderly) and the cooks. One of Damuth's friends has adopted birds, and it is Damuth's job to care for them. He dislikes them, but his friend "thinks every thing of them and will talk baby talk to them all the time." Mentions that he is glad "they are raising so many 100 day men," but mentions that serving for a hundred days is not long enough to really experience the soldier's life. Speculates on the end of the war and writes "I want to get home and enjoy domestic bliss for the rest of my days."

GLC03523.14.58

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

2 July 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

Writes to his sister about how busy life is at camp. Damuth is in charge of pay roll and "mad out four Muster & pay Rolls this week besides making out other papers." One of the captains in Company C has been promoted to major, much to the chagrin of many of his fellow soldiers. In response to news from home, writes that "I hope Pa wont fret him Self to death" over worries about provisions. Wishes he could be home to celebrate the 4th of July with his family. Says that in camp they will march and "hear a little talking they wont have the one thing needful to make such a day pass off…

GLC03523.14.61

8 July 1864

Damuth, Dolphus, fl. 1839-1913

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Maria Damuth

The men are going to march for Algiers in the morning. Damuth has heard "there is Ocien Steamers waiting for troops at Algiers." Comments on family affairs, his father has sold their oxen, but Damuth reminds him not to sell his colt. Damuth is preoccupied by the idea of taking a furlough to visit his family.

GLC03523.14.62

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