Abstract

The Wartburg (Tenn.) Collection, 1864-1925 (bulk 1864-1896), contains numerous letters to residents of or regarding life in Wartburg, Tenn. (Morgan County). All of these documents except for the single letter from 1925 are written in German. Some of the topics covered include Civil War-era Chattanooga (letter dated March 29, 1864), the Southern Express Company of Knoxville (November 6, 1868), and alcohol production and prices (many of the letters from the 1880s and 1890s).

Abstract

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.

Abstract

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.

Abstract This collection houses four letters that Watson B. Smith wrote to his family in Michigan from East Tennessee during August and September of 1863. In them, he discusses the Knoxville Campaign, battles with Confederate troops and guerillas, and dealings with the civilian population, which was mostly (but not entirely) sympathetic to the Union. He also discusses his duties in headquarters, including his temporary appointment as aide-de-camp. Several letters written to and from captured...

Abstract

This circular, printed on lined paper, invites qualified veterans or their heirs to contact the firm of White & DeLany for assistance in claiming their Civil War soldier bounty. It provides the text of the two pertinent sections of the Congressional Act that established these bounties, before summarizing and explaining them below. It also gives directions to the firm's offices in Cleveland, Tennessee.

Abstract

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.

Abstract

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.

Abstract

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

Abstract

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 his 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.

Abstract

William Dunlap writes to his sister commenting on Confederate prisoners taken and expressing his hope that the Union Army controls Richmond, Virginia. He also comments upon his general well-being and his desire to know more about Nelson. The letter is dated May 10th, 1863 from Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Abstract

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.

Abstract William Edwards wrote this letter to his cousin Jennie Searce from camp near Battle Creek, Tennessee on August 9, 1862. In it, Edwards says "we have to quit writing until they get old morgan cleaned out of Kentucky" (referring to John Hunt Morgan) and mentions that his unit has been eating poorly because they have had to ration provisions. Edwards also asks Jennie to write and "tell if any of short creek Boys has enlisted ... they ought to pitch in and help us out ... they ought to be...

Abstract

This collection consists primarily of letters documenting William Gannaway "Parson" Brownlow's service as Governor of Tennessee and showing the problems that Tennessee faced during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Also included are letters to and from Brownlow's son, John Bell Brownlow.

Abstract

This collection contains five letters written by William G. Brownlow between 1836 and 1862. In them, he discusses speaking engagements and the Civil War. Also included are three photographs of Brownlow.

Abstract

This letter, composed in 1862 at Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., is written by William H. Blake, 3rd Iowa Volunteers, Company C, to his brother and discusses events leading to the Battle of Shiloh.

Abstract

This letter by William H. Green, of the 45th New York Regiment, Company F, was written to his brother, from Nashville, Tenn. on February 16, 1865. In the letter, Green writes of a large battle that took place between the Rebel General Hood and the Union General Thomas. He also states that the city is under martial law.

Abstract

This Civil War letter written by Union soldier William H. Gripman to his friends describes the conditions in Chattanooga, where his regiment was stationed in 1865. The letter is dated March 1, 1865. He describes how bad the officers are and how they got rid of an officer that hung one of the boys up by his thumbs.

Abstract

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.

Abstract

William J. Crook wrote this letter to his cousin, Hattie Crook, at Columbia Female College in Columbia, South Carolina on May 4, 1864. In it, he describes enemy reconnaissance, discusses the upcoming Northern Presidential election, relates news about family and friends, enumerates his thoughts on marriage, and mentions that the enemy is advancing on Cleveland road.

Abstract

William J. Crook wrote this letter to his cousin Hattie from Tullahoma, Tennessee on November 12, 1862. He discusses the failure of the Kentucky campaign, the hardships accompanying the retreat, Northern politics, and the future course of the war. He also asks for news of his other cousins.