Category Archives: Civil War Letters

They left Port Hudson by riverboat bound for Cairo, Illinois, and were to proceed by rail through Chicago to Concord. Gilbert and Joseph were sick by this time, although there is no correspondence discussing this prior to departure. Their neighbor from … Continue reading →

By the time they moved to Port Hudson on May 20, the the men of the 15th NH Volunteer Infantry had been together for seven of the company’s intended nine-month existence. They had seen no real action other than boredom, … Continue reading →

President Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, thus adding the abolition of slavery to the war’s original agenda of saving the union. So we start to see political discussion interjected into the normal correspondence. The boys from New … Continue reading →

The historical account of the first days at Camp Parapet sound somewhat idyllic, with nice weather and compliments to the semi-tropical landscape, although with ominous references to the brackish and unsanitary water lurking under the surface of the land. Within … Continue reading →

The iron ship upon which they finally embarked on December 13 was the “Cambria,” although Gilbert calls it the “Cumbria.” Gilbert wrote to his wife, Mary Anne, along the way. The letters seem to have all been mailed together when … Continue reading →

On November 13, 1862 the regiment left for New York: ———————————————————————————————————————————————————— On November 21 Joseph wrote to Nelson: Long Island Nov 21 1862 Dear Brother I would inform you that I am well and hope this will find you all … Continue reading →

With the war situation becoming increasingly serious, in July of 1862 President Lincoln called for 300,000 volunteers to the union effort, and issued quotas for states in what was actually the first union draft of the war. These regiments would … Continue reading →

Meriden Sept 17 1859 Dear Brother I take this opportunity to inform you that your message of Aug 5 has come to hand, but rather behind times. I am a well as usual. I saw Mary Ann two weeks ago … Continue reading →

The letter below is not complete, so I don’t know who wrote it or to whom it was written. There is no date. It is possible I will move this later to the Civil War pile, as it might have … Continue reading →

Next cool random thing: This is an envelope addressed to my third great grandfather (my grandfather’s great grandfather). This is interesting because this guy’s an enigma. He is clearly the father of Myrtilla Clifford, my second great grandmother. Yet Myrtilla’s mother’s … Continue reading →