Walbridge, Charles E., 1842-? Collection of Charles E. Walbridge, US volunteers quartermaster's department [Decimalized .001-.126]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04662 Author/Creator: Walbridge, Charles E., 1842-? Place Written: Various Places Type: Header Record Date: 1861-1866 Pagination: 126 letters Order a Copy
The collection contains 125 letters of Charles E. Walbridge, of Buffalo, New York, to his mother. Two stray items are at the end of the inventory: an undated letter to his mother and a letter to Minnie Walbridge, his sister (#126). The letters cover Walbridge's recruitment in New York and his service in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. Although he enlisted as a member of the 100th New York Volunteers, Walbridge repeatedly served in the quartermaster's department, and eventually became Chief Quartermaster on General Truman Seymour's staff. Walbridge rose from lieutenant to lieutenant-colonel by the end of the war.
Walbridge's duties as quartermaster kept him from battle, but his position kept him informed about the battles and casualties. Letter #60 contains his most notable description, the Battle of Olustee Station, Florida, where the Union army reported over 1700 casualties. Walbridge witnessed the use of Confederate torpedoes off the coast of Florida; in letter #64 he details (and illustrates) their component parts and mechanics. His requests for everything from clothing and leather goods to books and table linens provide insight into the camp life of an officer. His request for books to educate his contraband servant, #53, and his shock over a southerner's attitude toward enslaved people, #8, are also noteworthy.
Throughout the war Walbridge's activities demonstrated a strong entrepreneurial spirit: he opened a saw mill while stationed on Folly Island, South Carolina, # 48, 52 and 54; he used his position as quartermaster to find employment for civilian friends, #47, 79 and 96; and he repeatedly advised his mother on financial matters. After the war, he bought army surplus livestock and wagons and attended government auctions. The horses and wagons were sold and rented in South Carolina and Georgia. The materials he bought at auction were shipped north and sold in New York. A more problematic manifestation of Walbridge's acquisitive spirit is suggested by his apparent theft of a 1689 court deposition from Warwick Court House, #10.
His postwar letters provide an account of the economic and material devastation of the south. These letters also discuss demobilization and government auctions, and especially noteworthy are letters written in 1865 and early 1866 regarding the adjustment of newly emancipated people.
See also Walbridge's letters to his sister Louise (GLC04663). A battle mentioned in passing to his mother is described more fully to his sister.
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