My Families Civil War Letters...( Another Letter 7-18-10 )

[DARKSIDE351]

my grandmother passed away a few years back. i dont have much that was left from her, the memories are worth the most to me. one of the things i have is one of several books she put together of old letters from the civil war. the letters belonged to sombody else in the family, but she was able to get copies. she took the copies and re-typed them out as the letters were in pretty rough shape after all those years. i feel like sharing some of these letters. i may post a few.

tonight i will post one. i am typing the letters here as they were typed into the book. i will also share photos of the copies original letters. i hope some find this interesting... thanks for reading!

the first letter im sharing was written by one of the men on our family on my grandmothers side to his wife back home...

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camp near nashville tennessee

march 19, 1863

dear wife,

i take this opportunity to inform you that i am well and hope these few lines finds you the same. we left covington on last thursday and it was very cold, but got warmer when we come down the river. we arrived at fort donelson on saturday a little before sundown. stayed on the boat until next morning. we then unloaded and marched down to camp about one mile and a half.

there is a great many sick troop here. from the best information about 15,000 and about 12 to 15,000 able for duty. i received orders today to cook two days rations and be ready to leave tomorrow morning at 6 o'clock for murfreesboro, which is 30 miles. the first batallion left for there on monday and the second this morning. there was one corporal and one friend of the first batallion taken prisoner on thursday, one corporal of capt. canaday's company was prisoned and dies since we came here, and two of our men was prisoned but are getting better, but is very bad.

we expect a big fight at murfreesboror. we have over one hundred thousand troops there. we were promised our pay at cincinnati and then at nashville, and we have not got any yet and i do not know when we will. we are all about out of money, officers and all.captain sent to town for a coffee mill and has about $20 left. we do not need much. we have plenty of rations and better than we did in cleveland.

this is the best country i have ever saw. the weather is beautiful. the boys is runnin bare footed and in their short sleeves. oh, if you were only hear to see this country. there is any amount of limestone here and the land is the best i have ever saw. if i get home and the war is over we will come here to live.

i got a letter from will walker yesterday. they are at lexington kentucky. they have done a great deal of marching. i will just send this letter as i am writing in my tent and sombody is a-bothering me all the time. i have a tent to myself, but have to keep all my provisions in it. good by. no more at present. write soon and tell me what the excitment is and how you are getting along. direct to T.B. Edwards, camp F10 O.V.C, Nashville, Tennessee, in care of Capt. A.V.P. Day. i wrote you from covington.

from your husband, T.B. Edwards

[Jake3501]

Thanks for sharing these, I'm sure we will enjoy the perspective of a soldier in the civil war.

[ncfarmer]

I'm somewhat of a Civil War buff. Thanks for sharing this letter and those that
will follow. Which side, which army, and which regiment did your ancestor fight
for?

[joecil]

Yes thanks for sharing that. I have an old letter from my wife's great great grandmother from the 1700 which was sent from Key West Florida to what is now Coconut Grove Florida. It was sent to her by a suitor from Key West and took 3 1/2 months to get to her. Mostly polite conversation but it is now under glass to help stop the paper decomposition any further.

[DARKSIDE351]

Thanks for sharing these, I'm sure we will enjoy the perspective of a soldier in the civil war.

thanks jake!

I'm somewhat of a Civil War buff. Thanks for sharing this letter and those that
will follow. Which side, which army, and which division did your ancestor fight
for?

thanks, and your welcome. they were fighting for the north. my moms side of the family is from OH and PA. i dont have answers for the rest of teh questions...thats about all i can tell you.

[DARKSIDE351]

Yes thanks for sharing that. I have an old letter from my wife's great great grandmother from the 1700 which was sent from Key West Florida to what is now Coconut Grove Florida. It was sent to her by a suitor from Key West and took 3 1/2 months to get to her. Mostly polite conversation but it is now under glass to help stop the paper decomposition any further.

wow 3 1/2 months for a trip that now takes a couple of hours.

[joecil]

Well they had a guy called the barefoot mailman that was also a member of my wife's family. It seems they and 3 other families landed in Florida in what is now Coconut Grove. There was no bridges then so it was mostly small boats and walking in those times. Most of the local native people where not what one would call friendly either.

I did find it interesting that though the late 1700 they still used leaches and bleeding methods to cure illness. There is also a land grant given later by Lincoln to other family members giving them the island that would now be Cape Kennedy/Canaveral though the next century was taken for back taxes. My wife's family has a long history in the US, while half of mine goes back 4 generations the other is Native American/English (mayflower). I'm a walking united nations personally.

[Smokewagon]

I've always enjoyed reading things like this. Takes you back in time. People were certainly different from what they are today. Thanks for sharing, DARKSIDE351!

[DARKSIDE351]

Well they had a guy called the barefoot mailman that was also a member of my wife's family. It seems they and 3 other families landed in Florida in what is now Coconut Grove. There was no bridges then so it was mostly small boats and walking in those times. Most of the local native people where not what one would call friendly either.

I did find it interesting that though the late 1700 they still used leaches and bleeding methods to cure illness. There is also a land grant given later by Lincoln to other family members giving them the island that would now be Cape Kennedy/Canaveral though the next century was taken for back taxes. My wife's family has a long history in the US, while half of mine goes back 4 generations the other is Native American/English (mayflower). I'm a walking united nations personally.

yep the barefoot mail man...

i grew up in south FL ( born n raised in broward county ) there was a small hotel in pompano beach called the barefoot mail man...they used to walk the beach to deliver mail to the ocean homes as i heard the story.

my fathers side of the family goes back three generations in south FL . my grandparents came over from the "mother land" so i guess i was the thrid generation...?

maybe we are related....

[DARKSIDE351]

I've always enjoyed reading things like this. Takes you back in time. People were certainly different from what they are today. Thanks for sharing, DARKSIDE351!

yeah smoke, when i read these letters i cant help but imagine what life was like back then.

your welcome, and thanks for the comment