[from the diary of Jesse Calvin Spaulding, Co. F, 25th Massachusetts]
Sunday
July 6
Very warm to-day. Had an inspec
tion this forenoon, and dress
parade to-night, and then had services
at the chaplains tent. Read the Bible and
a book called “Lessons from the great Biograph[ies]
Had quite a talk with Thompson concerning
religion. There was a mail come in tonight
Have felt quite trustful in God to-day.
MSS 11293
Camp Carlile Va.
J uly 6th 1862
Dear Sisters
With the great
est of pleasure, I reply to
your letters which came
to hand a few days before
I left Camp Butler. I am
well and enjoying myself
very well. to-day is Sunday
and I have been out hunting
two deserters all-day. It is now
three oclock and very warm.
We are camped on an island
of the Ohio river and hence
it is very cold in evenings
but the sun comes out about
ten oclock in mornings
and shines very hot all
day. We shall leave here on
[page 2]
to-morrow after-noon
Our destination is un-
known to us–probably
some-where in McClellan’s
department. I fancy that
we shall “smell” powder soon.
All right, Hank is ready
for anything, but guard–
ing prisoners Did you
hear my report regarding
the 12th being captured by
the Rebels? I understand that
it has been published n
the Chicago that were
captured by the Rebels
20 miles from here.
The Report is false and you
must not believe any
of the reports until you
know them to be true.
This is a very pleasant camp
and we have plenty of water
and it is good water.
[page 3]
Harvest is nearly over here
and the crops are good
yet the country is so rough
and hilly that I do not see
any such fields of grain
as in Ills. I have not re
ceived my pay yet, but
probably will soon and will
send it to you to Lanark
as before. I will let you know
when I send it I haven’t
yet seen any of the ruins of
the rebellion but have hopes
to soon. Dear Sisters you
must not fret and worry
your minds about me for
remember that if I should
fall upon the battle–field
and not be permitted
to see you again in this
world that it is in a
good cause and with a
willing heart. I will be
[page 4]
true to the oath that I
have taken and my back
shall never be turned to
the enemy, without officers
from my commanding
officers I do not go into the
enemie’s country with hatred
and envy in my heart but am
urged on by a realization
of my duty to country and
love for my home and friends
May the God Lord bless the
nation with a speedy res-
toration of peace and harmony.
I want you both to look to
your own self interest and
never forget that a good char-
acter, is worthy of all commen
dation girls I must bid you
Good Bye. You have my best
wishes as a brother. I will
write again when we have again
settled down in Camp.
Write often and soon. Post
your letters via Springfield Ills
Dont forget to designate the Regiment
distinctly
Your loving brother Hank
Do write soon
Wiliam Henry Redman, Captain, Co. C, 12th Illinois Cavalry
MSS 7415
Marion Hill 2 miles below Richmond
July 6th 1862
Dear Aunt Mary
It has been such a very long time
since I either wrote to you, or you to me, that I have for-
gotten which wrote last, but that makes little difference
now & I must not put off writing to you any longer,
for you don’t know how anxious I am to hear from you.
I have received several letters from home lately
& heard from those that you were well & boarding at
Cousin Charles Craddock’s. I hope you are very
pleasantly situated & have no doubt you are. I
suppose you are aware that I have left the 2d Co
Howitzers and joined a Maryland company, the
“Chesapeake Artillery”? I have only been in the companyfor about two weeks, and am very well satisfied so
far. the officers are Captain Brown, Lieutenants Plater
Chew & Grayson: they are three very nice good men.
The rank & file of the company of course will not
compare to the Howitzers, though there are a good many
very nice young men in it. I regretted very much having
to leave the Howitzers, for I had many real true friends
in the company; I knew however that I was treated with
a good deal of injustice by the officers and that the
only way to get rid of it was to leave the company, so
I made up my mind to do it. I didn’t know how many
friends I did have in the company until I went round
to tell them goodbye: there were not half a dozen men
in the company that didn’t express & show real
regret at my leaving & all wished me the best
[page 2]
luck in the world. In this company, Martin Harvey
whom you have heard me speak of before, is Orderly
Sergeant. He & I & four others fellows have formed a
mess together and get along very well & have a
a very pleasant time. I am chief of a 12d Howitzer gun,ranking and rank as Sergeant. The office itself is not
worth ten cents, but it is a great deal better Aunt Mary
to have a good horse to ride on these long marches
than to be in a Company where you are detailed
nearly all the time to ride & drive two horses & to
have nothing to do but hold them when in Battle.
If I am not satisfied with this company after trying it awhile
I can easily obtain a transfer too to any company I wish.
I went into Richmond yesterday and found Pa’s letter
there informing me that he had left that morning and
you may imagine how disappointed I was at not seeing
him. I suppose though he was compelled to get back
or he would have come out to see me certainly. I am
very glad to hear that he has obtained a situation
at last & one so convenient too, right there at
the CHouse, where he can be with the family and
where there are so many friends to aid him about
the Hospital. I hope he may meet with success
in attending the wounded & sick that are sent to
him & give entire satisfaction. Pa said you were all
very anxious to know where I was in the fight &c. I am very sorry
to tell you that our company took no active part whatsoever in the
fight & consequently I am not able to give any account.
We were down within three or four miles of the battlefield
of Tuesday the 2d & heard all the fighting without being ordered
in. That was the hardest fought battle of them al &
in it we lost a great many men. The artillery that was
[page 3]
engaged on our side suffered terribly: The 1st Company Howitzers
lost 2 men killed & wounded; none of our friends
however were hurt. The 3d Company were also engaged
engaged for a little while, but lost no men. The 2d Company
was not in the fight. I feel really mortified to think that
McClellan should be driven entirely away from R
without my having been in any of the battles. The young
Napoleon is now truly “fallen“; there never was an army so
completely whipped & more thoroughly d[e]moralized & cut
to pieces than McClellan’s. I don’t believe he will ever be
able to reorganize the same army. The war must end
now very shortly; the North will be glad enough to make
peace & if she is not, foreign powers will intervene and
settle the question anyway. I take it for granted, & I
do hope too, that the policy of our generals now, will be
to carry the War into the enemy’s country. I want to see
Washington, Philadelphia & New York surrendered to
Confederate authorities & those vile cowardly fanatics that
inhabit the northern states made to feel what war is.
They will never realize what War is , until it is carried
into their own country & the people made to suffer
directly from the ravages of a hostile army.
I understand that the Yankees tore everything to pieces in
the neighbourhood of Turkey Hill and the place par=
ticularly. I am very sorry for the people who remained
there in the neighbourhood, for I know they have seen
sights. I noticed in the paper the death of Captain
Charles Bruce of Halifax & was very sorry for it.
I have heard nothing from the CHouse company
since the fight; it is impossible to find out anything
about the fight or those engaged in it. Booker Garnett
had a brother killed in the fight. I received Nannie’s
[page 4]
last letter & will answer it very soon. Give my best love
to her and tell her I am very much obliged for such a good
long letter and will answer it in a few days. I was in
town yesterday and took dinner at Mr Harveys. That
place is my Head quarters now while I am in town.
All of the family have been up the country for a good
while except Mr Harvey & I have been in the habit
of just walking into the house & making myself
at home whenever I felt like it. Mrs Harvey came
down a few days ago & the girls will soon be down
too; when they get home, if we remain encamped here, I
hall go in still oftener. I suppose Mama carried
my clothes up the country with her? If we remain
here which we probably will do for sometime, I should like
right much to have my Sunday pants sent down
to R–by some one coming down. I have the opportunity
of getting into R right often to Church & as my
soldier pants are very dirty and ugly, I would like
to have a pair to slip on when I go in. I can keep
them at Mr Harvey’s with Martin’s clothes. There is
one thing I want, Aunt Mary, & which I intended mentioning
to Pa, but forgot it. The knapsack I have is a very large
unwieldy thing & one is always very apt to lose it when
on a hasty march & over bad roads. I have a horse
to ride now & I want to get me a pair of ordinary saddle
bags, in which I can carry all my clothes & have them
with me all the time. Whenever I move then all I will
have to do, will be just to throw my saddle- bags over
my horse & go ahead. It is impossible to get a pair in
Richmond; every pair has been sold & I thought there might
possibly be some in the country. Even a second hand pair
would do, provided they were whole & not very large
[page 5]
I want them either of the medium size, or a little
smaller & am willing to pay a good price for them.
I have written to you now about everything I
know of almost & must close. Give my best love
to Papa, Mama & Nannie & to Watt Bee & Dinkie
& kiss little Tommy for me. I wish I could see
the dear little fellow. Give my love too to Uncle
George & Aunt Pat & to little Leigh & Frank & to
all of my friends. I shall look for a good
long letter from you now Aunt Mary & very
soon. direct to “Care Capt Brown, Chesapeake
Artillery, Richmond”. I must now bid you
goodbye. Yr aff nephew
Jas. P. Williams
Jame Peter Williams, 1844-1893, of the 1st Regt. Va. Artillery and the Maryland Volunteers, Chesapeake Artillery; Later a freight agent and last superintendent of the Lynchburg Division of the James River and Kanawha Canal Company.
MSS 490
[from the diary of Daniel D. Logan, younger brother of General Thomas M. Logan, formerly a Sgt, Co. B, 1st Special Battalion (Rightor’s), now with the Hampton Legion]
Sunday July 6th 1862 quite warm –
Rose this morning at 8 o’c – breakfasted &
spent the morning with Mr & Mrs Harvey – at ten
o’c went down town & saw some friends at the
Spottswood – & to the Bloomfield’s office where
I spent some hours making out Estimates for money
him for the South Western Army of Genl Ma
-gruder – amounting to 3,000,000 $ for four mo’s [months]
Bloomfield is very anxious for me to go on
with them – I am tired of waiting on the Col of
the 10th La Reg’t, & do not like to be in town
as a day longer than necessary – Dined with
my good friends, & went to Savages farm on the
York railroad this Evening with Mr H & committee
the destruction of property by the Enemy is all
most incredible at this point – muskets,
ammunition, Commis’ stores, rolling stock &c
1500 yankee wounded are left here with some
15 of the surgeons – Lindsay was running the Engine
Returned at dusk with 6 sick Confederate Soldiers
very warm from 12 M today
[transcript by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards]
MSS 6154
Richmond
Sunday July 6th 1862
Dr Doctor
Murray is in town & having
been through all the fights is safe. Robinson
Jim & Ally are also safe I have not heard
of Temple suppose he is still on the Institute
asked Miss Chaneth[?] about him but she had
not heard. Yesterday met Dr Nicholson Dr
Martin & Mr Nelson right from Middlesex and
seeing from your letter of 22nd to Murray that
you were uneasy asked him of your matter down
there all was “in Stauts Quo” but you will
not make a peck of wheat to the acre corn
& oats looking well George Thornton[,] Murray
tells me is safe save a little hair singed
off the side of his head, the road from Middlesex
up was a bad one
Yours truly
F L F
Love to all
Envelope addressed:
Dr. W. S. Forbes
College avenue & 10th St.
Philadelphia
Pa
[letter sent through the lines to Dr. William Forbes of Philadelphia from a family member in Virginia]
MSS 15127
District of West Tennessee
Office of the Provost Marshal General
Memphis Tenn. July 6th 1862
Special order No 14
X X X X
It is ordered that Mrs Fannie
B. Galloway be taken and conveyed
beyond our lines South and notified
that if she shall be an any time
hereafter found within our lines
she will be arrested and sent
north and kept in confinement
during the war
It is further ordered that
her house and furniture be seized
and held and used for Government
purposes until further orders
By order of Maj Gen U.s. Grant
Wm S. Hillyer
Provost Marshal General
[from the diary of Ephraim Wood, Co. C, 13th Massachusetts]
Sunday July 6th /62
The warmest day I think that we
have had. I went to a brook and
had a bath, after inspection. Also
got all the Cherries that I wanted.
I went down to Warrenton
It is a very pretty place about
as large as Martinsburg.
There is a great many beautiful
Residences in the Town.
Most of the Women seem to
be dress in mourning.
[transcript by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards]
MSS 12021
[from the diary of Samuel Johnson of the 1st Massachusetts Independent Light Battery]
July 6th
Yesterday and to day have once again passed
in quietness. the balloon was up both days;
this afternoon we changed our camp about
one mile to the front. Smith’s div. are
building fortifications on our left. Warm and
pleasant.
[transcript by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards]
MSS 8493
[from the diary of Dr. Brodie Strachan Herndon]
6 Luc stays with Nannie of nights
to nurse her. We feel very anxious
about our dear Nannie Gordon
MSS 2563-b
[from the diary of Eliza Oswald Hill, refugee from Wilmington, N.C.]
Sunday 6th Communion to day being the 1st Sunday in the month. Our
Congregation was not as large as usual–No melodian–Mr Fred Fetter
being away–& Susy Wingfield stayed with Mrs Vermillian who
heard of the death of her husband a few moments before Church opened.
He fell in battle- & after looking all over the list of wounded & killed & not
finding his name there she passed it to another—who on reading the
obituaries found it there. She is very young–very pretty–has two
small children & appeared devoted to her husband–It is a terrible shock
to her–She cant realize it–Still her grief is truly distressing tho’
not more so than his poor old mother–& his youngest sister who is
here too–on him the 2 latter are entirely dependent–I am truly sorry
for her–But sympathy tho’ soothing cannot allay sorrow–deep and
long must be her wailing- sad & sorrowful her walk henceforth. For
the one dearest & most beloved has been called from earth, where
she cannot meet him more–I received a letter from Liz in todays
mail–she says she will soon be here. Will bring Dan with
her to go to school in Hillsboro’–Henry will return to Mr Hamer[?]
MSS 6960
