SCOUT

This collection houses fourteen letters sent to Robert T. Jones by friends and family serving in the Civil War. Ten of the letters are from James Thomas, and the others were written by John Williams, Daniel Thomas, and John T. Jones. Several of the letters describe the siege of Vicksburg and other battles. Most of the letters include news of other Welsh friends from Iowa. The collection also houses two photographs, one showing cannons and the other showing soldiers near rows of tents.

In this letter to his brother Andrew J. Gibson, Stephen W. Gibson reports on his health, discusses his distaste for the three African American regiments stationed with his unit in Nashville, and asks for information about the activities of the Copperheads in his hometown.

This collection consists of a letter from Private Thomas Griffin, then serving with Company I of the 8th Indiana Cavalry, written from Camp Shiloh to his wife on April 23, 1862.

This letter, written by Thomas M. Walker, discusses his time in the Civil War. At the time this letter was written, Walker was stationed with the Ohio 15th Infantry in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The Tilghman Blazer Papers, 1864-1892, contains two notebooks, both of which are in fairly good condition. The first details his military experience as a member of Company K of the 8th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry (Union) in Georgia and Tennessee during 1864, and the second contains classroom rosters and business transactions written after his return to Cocke County, Tenn.

This collection consists of a letter, dated February 24, 1863 from Camp Cripplecrick, Tenn., from W. M. Creamer of the 90th Ohio Infantry to his cousin, M. C. Creamer. He discusses his religious beliefs as well as Captain Robert O. Caddy's treatment of sick young boys in Nashville.

This collection houses five letters written by Watson B. Smith in the field in Tennessee in November and December 1863 to his father and a general order congratulating another commander. The letters discuss his promotions and battles against the Confederates near Knoxville and offer his regards to his family.

This collection houses two letters that Union soldier Watson B. Smith wrote to his mother, Mary Amanda (Birchard) Smith, on September 23, 1863 and October 1, 1863. In them, Smith discusses Union operations in the Knoxville Campaign, life in headquarters, and news from the Battle of Chattanooga.

Wilbur P. Buck wrote these three letters, dated between October 9, 1862 and June 23, 1863, to his sweetheart, Charlotte Lottie Smith. The first letter was sent from Camp Fuller and the others were written at the Officer's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. They discuss Buck and Smith's relationship, Buck's homesickness, and the wounded and dead soldiers that Buck sees in the field hospital where he works.

This collection houses 22 letters written between various members of the Wildermuth family during the Civil War. Brothers John, Henry, and Eli Wildermuth wrote much of this correspondence while serving in the Union Army and discuss such topics as life in the South, the battles they have experienced, their living conditions, and their desire to return home to Wisconsin.

This is a collection of sixty-one Civil War letters written by William A. Huddard to his father. The letters begin in June of 1861 and end in April of 1864. Huddard’s letters to his father describe many aspects of life in the western armies during the Civil War. He describes battles, camp life, enemy combatants, the environment, furloughs, his health, rumors, and weather.

This collection is composed of a letter that William Cosgrove of the 1st Ohio Light Artillery Regiment, Battery G, wrote to his aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Bowers, in Mount Vernon (Knox County) Ohio from Nashville, Tennessee on January 31, 1864. He writes of cousin Charles's death in Memphis and his own Battery's move to Nashville. Also, he speaks of conditions in camp, including a recent outbreak of smallpox and his personal troubles with rheumatism.

William E. VanAuken of Company D of the 107th New York Infantry wrote this letter to his sister and brother-in-law from Shelbyville, Tennessee on January 7, 1863. In it, he discusses the weather and mentions that the 145th N.Y. Volunteers have recently been disbanded, saying that "Their is one company here with us now. They we got up in New York. They are Bowery Boys..." The letter is fairly brief and includes the envelope.

William H. Lambert wrote this letter to George and Jesse Cox of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 24 February 1863 while he was stationed in Lookout Valley, Tennessee. In it, Lambert discusses the bureaucratic processes of discharge and resignation. He also mentions that he has been promoted from Adjutant to Captain and recounts meeting a friend, Colonel Joseph B. Palmer, who he had not seen since the Battle of Antietam in Chattanooga the previous week.

In this July 11, 1863 letter to his cousin Malvina Brunnemer, William J. Knox writes about his travels to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and his company's movement's in the south.

This collection consists of six letters that William J. Ricketts wrote to his parents in Wales, Massachusetts from October 2, 1863 to March 15, 1864. In them, he discusses camp life, poor rations, being hospitalized in Knoxville, various battles that his unit has engaged in, marching across Tennessee, citizens forming the National Guard of East Tennessee, and his plans for returning home.

This collection consists of ten letters and five envelopes from Union soldier William Styer to his wife Susannah (Defenbaugh) Styer dating from 1862 November 12 to 1863 September 5. One letter was written in Camp Morton, Indiana; one was written on board the Ohio Belle; and the rest were written from Fort Pickering, Tennessee.

Three letters from Private William Taylor of the 43rd Ohio Infantry to his sister Susan in Morrow County, Ohio, describe experiences in the Gayoso Hospital in Memphis and another military hospital in LaGrange, Tenn., during 1863.