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Lt. David W. Poak of the 30th Illinois Volunteer Infantry was at Forts Henry and Donaldson, Corinth, Vicksburg, Atlanta Campaign , March to the Sea, and the Carolina Campaign . He was awarded a 17th Corps Medal of Honor for the Battle of Atlanta when he was conspicuous in Rallying his men, advancing to the front, encouraging his men,firing muskets rapidly at the enemy, and by his service and gallant example materially assisting in bringing his regiment again into action.
HeadQuarters 1st Brig. 3rd Div. 17th A.C.
Goldsboro N.C.
Mar 25th 1865
Sister Sadie,
Presuming that you are quite anxious to hear from me , I will write a letter now and have it ready to send by first mail.As you will perceive , by the heading of my letter we are now at Goldsboro where we expect to take a rest after our long and very severe campaign. How long a respite we will get here is hard to tell . They will be compelled to remain long enough to refit our army as it is now in a very destitute condition. A great many of the men are barefooted and without pants. Many of them have been forced to pick up and wear citizen or rebel clothes to cover up their nakedness. Our Campaign has been , in many respects one of the most severe we have ever made. The marches were long and most of the time through almost impassable swamps. Scarcely a day passed but what the men would have to wade from one to half a dozen swamps frequently waist deep. The roads through these swamps would cut up before but a small portion of our train would pass over and part of the troops would have to remain out all night helping the wagons through. Our Brigade was out four nights all night and very often till two and three oclock in the morning . Whenever the enemy would make a stand it was certain to be at one of these swamps and then our men would have to wade out in the water and stand and fight them. Any one that was so unfortunate as to get wounded would fall in the water and perhaps nearly drown before they could get assistance. Sherman’s Army has I think seen as much campaigning as any other still we learned a few things this trip that we had not thought of before. The men were in excellent spirits all the time. You would never hear them grumble a bit no difference how hard a time they were having. I often wondered how they could stand it at all. We passed through some rich country where we would find an abundance of forage and through some of the most barren regions I ever saw. The principal places we passed through were Orangeburg,’Columbia, Winnsboro, Cherara, S.C. and Fayetteville, N.C. At Orangeburg our Division had quite a sharp little fight. No one in my Regiment was hurt. Columbia was nearly all burned. Lieut. Col. Rhoads Commanding the 30th Ills. was kicked by a horse a few days since.His leg is badly smashed and it is feared he will not recover .A train of cars came up from Wilmington this morning . The Rail Road from New Berne will be completed in a few days. We are expecting a large mail this evening. This is the fifty fifth day since we left Pocolatigo . During that time we have marched nearly five hundred miles. Feby 25th 10 P.M. Have just learned that I can send a letter off in the morning. Will send this . Give my love to all friends.
Your brother,
D.W.Poak
March 24 - Sherman occupies Goldsboro, North Carolina, ending Carolinas Campaign.
New Hanover County, Wilmington, N.C. “Gen. Schofield’s army on the march for Goldsborough, March 6–rebel works in the rear of Wilmington.” 1865. Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, April 1, 1865, p. 20. Neg. 83-198. FP1-10-S72-C582w.
Lt. David W. Poak of the 30th Illinois Volunteer Infantry was at Forts Henry and Donaldson, Corinth, Vicksburg, Atlanta Campaign ,March to the Sea, and the Carolina Campaign . He was awarded a 17th Corps Medal of Honor for the Battle of Atlanta when he was conspicuous in Rallying his men, advancing to the front, encouraging his men,firing muskets rapidly at the enemy, and by his service and gallant example materially assisting in bringing his regiment again into action.
Lt. D.W.Poak
30th Illinois Infantry
HdQrs 1st Brig 3rd Div 17th A.C.
Near Fayetteville,N.C.
Mar.14th,1865
Sister Sadie,
It has been so long since I have written to you that I presume you are getting quite anxious to know something about me. Such being the case I have concluded to pen you a short note and try and send it off with a Refugee train that leaves for Wilmington early tomorrow morning. This is the Forty Forth day that we have been marching and Gen. Sherman says that we have not reached our true base yet so I suppose we have more marching before us yet. We crossed the Cape Fear river last night at Fayetteville and are now encamped about three miles from the river. We expect to move tomorrow morning in the direction of Goldsboro. May have a fight there. We have had a pretty hard Campaign.A good of skirmishing . No hard fighting. The weather was as a general thing very fine. Several boats have been up from Wilmington. They brought up some papers,no letters. I have been well all the time and have enjoyed the trip very much. I was up all night last night crossing the river and feel a little sleepy tonight. I have not time to write more . Remember me to any enquiring friend,
I remain Your brother,
D. W.Poak
One of the more interesting questions related to blacks serving in the American Civil War is this, did blacks (free or slave) serve in combat roles in the Confederate Army? Unquestionably the historical evidence is strong that some blacks - perhaps several thousand - did serve in the Confederate Army in unofficial, non-combat roles as servants, laborers, teamster, musician, cooks, etc. But the official record is very unsupportive that thousands of blacks served as official soldiers in the ranks of the Southern soldiers’ rosters.
When we use the word official we mean that a black soldier would have been documented through the same paperwork process as a white man would have in terms of enlisting, mustering in or out, and perhaps applying for pension benefits after the war. It is this logistical paperwork process that leaves a trail for historians to study and interpret.
But how strong is the primary historical evidence - letters, diaries, first-hand accounts, military records, etc., - that blacks served in combat roles for the South? It is an important question.
Besides the fact that it is important to preserve accurate history it is also important to “get it right” when it comes to knowing who fought in the Civil War so that these individuals can be properly honored and their place in history duly noted. Some who favor a Southern perspective on the war, particularly defending the proposition that the South did not fight to preserve or defend slavery, have argued that thousands of slaves fought on behalf of the South thereby proving that they were generally supportive of the Southern way of life.
Some people have suggested that as many as 30,000 blacks took on the uniform and actually fought for the South, but does the historical record support that amount? What exactly does the historical record provide us with any kind of confidence to be able to answer this question?
In short, if one sticks solely to the historical record for primary evidence of the black soldier picking up arms and fighting for the South, one can only conclude that the support for such a claim is scanty at best - merely anecdoctal - and entirely unsubstantiated at worst. Instead of the widely claimed and purported number of 30,000 fighting black soldiers for the Confederacy, an honest look at the historical record leads one to the conclusion that as little as under a hundred to as many as several hundred blacks may have actually engaged in combat for the South during the Civil War by actually carrying and discharging a weapon. How to interpret that evidence - or lack thereof - is left to the professional and armchair historians to debate.
It is widely accepted by historians that perhaps as many as 200,000 blacks served in the Union Army. That is a sizable number when one realizes that only 750,000 to 900,000 men even fought for the South during the entire Civil War. According to historian and Professor James I. Robertson, Jr., “Approximately 180,000 blacks served as Federal soldiers. This figure represents 9 percent of the North’s fighting force. One-third of the blacks (68,17 
died in the service, with sickness causing thirty times more deaths than battle.” Soldiers Blue and Gray: p. 35.
For the Union side at least, the historical record is fairly definitive and clear: we know that about 9-12% of the Union Army was filled by black troops, depending on if one goes with the figure of 180,000 or 200,000 black Union troops serving. Black Union soldiers participated in at least 41 major battles and roughly 450 smaller actions. 37,000 black Union soldiers died in the Civil War. Though early black troops were not aggressively deployed as bearers of arms, it is the case that by the middle of the war, at least, more and more black Union troops were entrusted to carry arms and to perform in combat action.
CWG has discovered that historians and staff - notably Robert Krick - at Spotsylvania National Battlefield Park have sifted through about 100,000 soldiers’ records to see how many non-whites were represented. Non-whites could be blacks, Native Americans, and mulattoes. They found that only 20-30 non-whites were found out of 100,000 soldiers’ records. That is less than 1/300th of one percent. Taking into account that the following estimate involves more conjecture than a good historian would be comfortable with applying to acceptable methods of reliable historical inquiry, one can still get a fairly solid “finger in the air” estimate that if that same ratio of 1/300th was applied to the figure-range of 750,000 - 900,000 Confederates serving during the war from 1861-1865, then one could only reasonably conclude that, at best, between 250-300 black soldiers may have served in the Confederate Army, and of those an even much smaller percentage would have been entrusted to take up arms.
This might seem surprising but a leading Civil War historian, Professor James McPherson, who won a Pulitzer prize for a Civil War book he wrote, has gone on record to say that of the more than 25,000 soldiers’ letters he has personally read over the years, he has only found evidence that perhaps 6-12 black Confederate soldiers were even mentioned.
The reality is this, looking at the historical record itself when it comes to answering the question - did many black men, free or slave, take up arms for Confederacy - one can only confidently say that perhaps a few, maybe scores, did but anything beyond that is highly conjectural and suspect. The larger the number of fighting black Confederates grows by one who would purport that thousands, even tens of thousands of blacks actually carried arms and faced combat during the Civil War, the more any objective observer would have to wonder what his or her agenda really was.
The best evidence that blacks even served in the butternut uniform as official soldiers is suggested by records related to some blacks serving in a regiment from Louisiana and one perhaps from South Carolina.
Civil War Gazette (CWG) turned to a couple leading Civil War historians to address the question, how many blacks actually took up arms and fought for the South?
CWG asked Professor and Civil War historian-author Steven Woodworth about the number of blacks who fought for the Confederacy:
“It would be hard to prove that absolutely zero blacks fought in the Confederate army, but I think it must have approached that level. I wonder if “non-white” includes American Indians. I suspect it does and further suspect that American Indians would have been much more prevalent than blacks in Confederate ranks. I haven’t kept a count of how many Civil War soldiers’ diaries and letters I’ve read–I guess it has been quite a few–but I’ve never come across a single instance of a black serving in the Confederate army. Whatever may have been the number of blacks serving and actually fighting as soldiers in the Confederate army, it must have been a minuscule percentage–completely insignificant for anyone trying to make the argument that blacks saw the conflict as a war of Yankee aggression, felt it was their war too, and joined up to fight for the Confederacy. That’s just a fairy tale.”
CWG also asked Civil War author and historian Wiley Sword about blacks serving in the Confederate army as soldiers:
“The majority of black Confederates who actually fought were essentially with the army as servants or personal attendants for officers. This was especially true in the initial part of the war (1861-62), I have read occasionally about these slave/servants taking up a rifle and fighting in the ranks with their master. Otherwise, various mulattoes or persons with light complexions may have been directly enrolled in the army. Since it was against C.S.A. policy to enlist blacks in the fighting army (until the very last
in 1865), I doubt if formal records will show the extent of black combat participation. I’m convinced some did fight, but how many is a very subjective guess.”
For further reading on the role of blacks serving in the Confederacy check out:
- Black Southerners in Gray, Essays on Afro-Americans in the Confederate Armies, edited by Richard Rollins
- The Journal of Confederate History Series, Vol. XI, published in 1994 by Southern Heritage Press, Murfreesboro, Tenn.
- “Blacks in Gray”, by Jason H. Silverman. North & South Magazine, Vol 5, Number 3, April 2002: 35-45.
- “Black Confederates”, by Bruce Levine. North & South Magazine, Vol 10, Number 2, July 2007: 40-47.
- “United States Color Troops”, by Gregory J.W. Urwin in Encyclopedia of the American Civil War, edited by Heidler and Heidler: 2002-2003.
- “African-American Soldiers, C.S.A.”, by Frank E. Deserino in Encyclopedia of the American Civil War, edited by Heidler and Heidler: 16-18.
- “African Americans in the Confederacy”, by Edgar A. Toppin in Encyclopedia of the Confederacy, Volume One. Edited by Current: pages
Desperate now, Confederate Congress approves using black troops in combat.
The Civil War Gazette Civil War Timeline is a linear, chronological look at the important events related to the American Civil War, fought between April 1861 and April 1865. The timeline includes major battles and skirmishes, significant political events impacting the war, deaths of major military figures, as well as details of important battles including casualty numbers.
John Reed of the 18th Iowa Infantry,
Company B.Ft. Smith, Ark. /
March the 8th, 1865
Company B.Ft. Smith, Ark. /
March the 8th, 1865
letter reads in part:
Father, Mother and Sisters
It was mismanagement of Government Officials and not the fault of Uncle Sam at all. And now I will give you the sequel. The General that was in Command has been removed and ordered to Washington and there is a strong probability that he will loose his Commission and we have a new order of things. We have a new General and we also have plenty to eat. You was lamenting about the poor Negro, that he was going to be free and be made better than the White man. Well I can tell you without fear of contradiction that they are better than a great many White men gave alms in the sight of men and yet laid grievious burdens on men shoulders, too grievous to be borne. Our Armies are going on conquering and to Conquer. It is not in their own strength but the God of Liberty and of Freedom is with us. You think according to the Richmond papers there is no prospect of peace (I was not aware before that you took the Richmond paper). The Johnies are in the last ditch and Grant and Sherman are about to push them to the wall.
son and Brother, John Reed
Source: eBay, June 2007
John Reeds info:
John Reed, a resident of Afton, Union County, Iowa enlisted in the Union army on July 28, 1862. Reed was twenty-six years old when he was mustered into Company “B” of the 18th Iowa Infantry.
The 18th Iowa was organized at Clinton and saw service in Missouri, Arkansas, and Indian Territory. The regiment made up part of the Frontier Division stationed at Fort Smith. It took an active part in Frederick Steele’s Camden Expedition and suffered its heaviest casualties of the war at the battle of Poison Spring. Following the failure of the campaign, the regiment returned to Fort Smith where it engaged in garrison duty until the end of the war.
Residence Afton IA; 26 years old.
Enlisted on 7/28/1862 as a Private.
On 8/5/1862 he mustered into “B” Co. IA 18th Infantry
He was Mustered Out on 7/20/1865 at Little Rock, AR
Other Information:
born in Ohio
See his letters
History of the 18th Iowa
Eighteenth Infantry IOWA
(3 years)
Eighteenth Infantry. Cols., John Edwards, Hugh J. Campbell
Lieut.-Cols. Thomas F. Cook, Hugh J. Campbell; MaJs., Hugh J.
Campbell, Joseph K. Morey.
This regiment was mustered in Aug 5, 6 and 7, 1862. Soon
after it moved to Springfield via St. Louis and Sedalia,
joined the Army of the Southwest under Schofield and marched
through Missouri into Arkansas. Returning to Springfield, it
formed a part of the garrison there during the winter.
On Jan. 8, 1863, Marmaduke’s forces, numbering over 5,000 men,
attacked the garrison, which consisted of not to exceed 1,500
men the 18th being the only regular organization there, with
detachments of several Missouri regiments, citizens and quite
a number of convalescents in the hospitals. The fight
commenced about noon and continued with varying success until
almost night, the enemy gaining ground at times only to lose
it by some daring charge, the tide being turned just before
dark by the coming up of five companies of the 18th, which had
been stationed at an outpost. They entered into the fight
with such energy that the enemy was driven into a stockade at
the outskirts of town and declined to give battle the
following day, having lost more than 200 in killed and
wounded. The loss of the regiment was 56 in killed and
wounded and the loss of the entire Union force was about 200.
The regiment remained at Springfield about a year, being
denied the privilege of participating in the stirring scenes
that were bringing glory to its sister regiments, but
performing well the duties so necessary in guarding the border
at that time. Col. Edwards assumed command of the post in
April, and in the fall was in temporary command of the
district of southwestern Missouri, and later in command of his
regiment, which formed part of the force that made Shelby
throw aside his artillery and much of his baggage to escape
his pursuers.
Reaching Fort Smith, Ark., on Oct. 30, the regiment was
assigned to garrison duty and spent the winter there, Col.
Edwards being placed in command of the post. In March, 1864,
the regiment moved with Steele’s forces to Arkadelphia, Col.
Edwards being in command of the brigade to which the 18th was
assigned. The command joined Thayer’s forces at Elkin’s
ferry, the intention being to effect a junction with Banks.
When the retreat of Banks was learned the entire command moved
to Camden.
It was engaged at Prairie d’Ane and at Moscow, where Edwards’
brigade stood the brunt of the attack and on being reinforced
drove the enemy for several miles. After some ten days at
Camden the regiment engaged in a severe battle. With one
section of the 2nd Ind. battery, it was sent to reinforce Col.
Williams of the 1st Kan. Colored regiment, guarding a forage
train. The force was attacked by several thousand troopers,
the Kansas regiment receiving the first shock, and giving way,
crowded through the lines of the 18th and left it to take up
the fight alone. Seven fierce charges were repelled more than
its own numbers were put out of action, but it was finally
surrounded, when, with fixed bayonets, it cut its way out and
reached Camden, having sustained a loss of 77 in killed,
wounded and missing.
The wretched three weeks’ retreat to Little Rock followed,
Col. Edwards holding the reserve and guarding the ordnance
train at the battle of Jenkins’ Ferry. Resuming its duty as
garrison at Fort Smith, the regiment moved on numerous minor
expeditions and was often compelled to forage to keep from
actual starvation, the river below being blockaded. Col.
Edwards was promoted to brigadier-general and was succeeded as
colonel by Lieut.-Col. Campbell. The regiment marched to Fort
Gibson in November to meet a supply train from Fort Scott, but
finding it had not arrived, set out on the evening of the 27th
with two ears of corn each and one tablespoonful of coffee for
each mess of four, as rations, and found the train over 100
miles distant four days later.
The regiment passed the winter and spring in alternate
starvation and plenty, remaining on garrison duty at Fort
Smith until the latter part of the summer of 1865, when it was
mustered out. Its original strength was 866; gain by
recruits, 9; total, 875.
Source: The Union Army, vol. 4
Lincoln gives his Second Inaugural Address.
Fellow-Countrymen:
AT this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. 1
On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, urgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came. 2
One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. “Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.” If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” 3
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
******************************************************
The Civil War Gazette Civil War Timeline is a linear, chronological look at the important events related to the American Civil War, fought between April 1861 and April 1865. The timeline includes major battles and skirmishes, significant political events impacting the war, deaths of major military figures, as well as details of important battles including casualty numbers.
March 3 – Union Congress creates the Freedmen’s Bureau.
The involvement of the Freedmen’s Bureau in the establishment of African-American family structure is rarely discussed as one of the Bureau’s major activities. Although the Bureau is though of having been ineffective overall, many historians credit the Bureau for having succeeded in the provid ing freedmen with education and the power of negotiating fair labor contracts. These two services are often cited because the right to education and the right to cho ose one’s employment are commonly thought of as the two most important rights that were denied to slaves. However, the cruelest aspect of slavery may have been the denial of a slave’s right to a secure family structure.
Full article
The Civil War Gazette Civil War Timeline is a linear, chronological look at the important events related to the American Civil War, fought between April 1861 and April 1865. The timeline includes major battles and skirmishes, significant political events impacting the war, deaths of major military figures, as well as details of important battles including casualty numbers.
March 1865
March 2 - battle of Waynesboro.
March 3 – Union Congress creates the Freedmen’s Bureau.
March 4 - Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
March 13 - Desperate now, Confederate Congress approves using black troops in combat.
March 19-21 - Sherman repulses Johnston’s attack at Bentonville, North Carolina.
March 24 - Sherman occupies Goldsboro, North Carolina, ending Carolinas Campaign.
March 25 to April 2 – The Battle of Petersburg in Virginia.
March 28 - Lincoln, Sherman, Grant and Porter meet to confer on peace terms to end the long war.
March 29-31st - final Virginia Campaign begins with fighting around Dinwiddie Courthouse.
The Civil War Gazette Civil War Timeline is a linear, chronological look at the important events related to the American Civil War, fought between April 1861 and April 1865. The timeline includes major battles and skirmishes, significant political events impacting the war, deaths of major military figures, as well as details of important battles including casualty numbers.
Soldiers at rest after drill, Petersburg, Va., 1864. The soldiers are seated reading letters and papers and playing cards. 111-B-220.
Lt. David W. Poak of the 30th Illinois Volunteer Infantry was at Forts Henry and Donaldson, Corinth, Vicksburg, Atlanta Campaign ,March to the Sea, and the Carolina Campaign . He was awarded a 17th Corps Medal of Honor for the Battle of Atlanta when he was conspicuous in Rallying his men, advancing to the front, encouraging his men,firing muskets rapidly at the enemy, and by his service and gallant example materially assisting in bringing his regiment again into action.
Lt. D.W.Poak
30th Illinois Infantry
HdQrs 1st Brig 3rd Div 17th A.C.
Pocotaligo,S.C.
Jan. 29th, 1865
Sister Sadie,
Yours of the 15th inst. is received . You will doubtless be somewhat surprised when I tell you that instead of being ready to start home I am ready to start on another campaign. It appears as though our Regiment would never get anymore officers . It is now over forty days since the last commissions were sent for and nothing heard from them yet. When, after numerous delays they finally make their appearance. So many of the officers who are now present will be absent in some way that there will not be enough then. If I get through the present campaign all right I am going to make application to Corps and Department Head Quarters to be mustered out . We are expecting to march tomorrow morning . In what direction is not known. I presume however that we will start toward Charleston even should it be Gen. Sherman’s intention to move on Branchville. Some of Gen. Fosters troops marched in today to take our place. The rebs are strongly fortified three miles and a half from here . So we will not have to go far for a fight unless they prove to be of such a progressive nature that they get out of our way. Gen. Sherman’s HeadQuarters are within a few rods of ours . We see the old gentleman quite frequently. Gen. Force made me a present a few days since of a very nice pair of Staff Shoulder Straps . The weather is delightful. Hope we may have a good time and be successful . I have not time to write anymore . Our last mail has gone. I send this by courier.
Give my respects to any enquiring friend,
Your brother,
D. W.Poak
John Sheperd of the 13th Indiana Infantry
17 January 1865
I went to Church last Sabbath for the first time since I left. There is prayer meeting every night. I think I shall go tonight.
Shooting musketry, and offal Yelling…over the capture of ft. fisher in N.C. that our Boys failed to take the first trip they made?
Source: eBay, July 2007
The 13th Indiana was part of the Army of the James in Jan 1865; 3rd brigade, 2nd division, 24th corps.
It participated in the assault on Fort Fisher in Jan. 1865 in the capture of Fort Anderson and the occupation of Wilmington, and was stationed at Raleigh, until July 20, when it was assigned to duty at Goldsboro, where it remained until mustered out, Sept. 5, 1865.
John Sheperd was from Hicksville, Ohio. He enlisted on 11/12/1864 as a Private. On 11/12/1864 he mustered into “E” Co. IN 13th Infantry. He was Mustered Out on 9/5/1865 at Goldsboro, N.
The 13th Indiana saw action at Cheat Mountain, Winchester Heights, Fort Wagner, Petersburg and Fort Fischer.
Union Civil War soldier’s letter from PVT John L. Henry of Company “I,” Ohio 123rd Infantry Regiment, dated Camp Holly, New Market Heights, Virginia, Jan 5 1865, to his brother, Isaac N. Henry, Fostoria, Seneca County, Ohio
The letter reads, in part, as follows
Your letter found myself and all my comrades here in Camp enjoying good health … We left Opequan Creek, West Va. the morning of the 19 December. We took the [railroad] cars … and went to Washington City, distance about one hundred and fifty miles. We arrived … on the morning of the 20 of Dec … took the boat … and went down the Potomac River to Point Lookout Va., distance about one hundred and twenty five miles. From there we went up the Chesapeake Bay to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, distance about one hundred miles. From there we went up the James River to Jones Landing, East Virginia, distance about one hundred and twenty five miles. We got off the boat at Jones Landing and went into Camp. We had a tedious time getting here. It was very cold and windy and the water was very rough. Our whole Regiment and all of the Brigade horses and baggage was on one boat. The boat likened to sink several times. Whenever a large wave would strike, the boat … cracked and gave way. The name of the boat was KEYPORT. We are now in Camp what is called New Market Heights, East Virginia. We are about eight miles from Richmond City and about eleven miles from Petersburg … and about twenty miles from no place. We arrived at Jones Landing on the morning of 24 of Dec and since I came here, I seen but two houses and I have not seen one citizen, neither man nor woman. There have been some fighting here every day and night since we came. There is some pretty hard fighting today in the left of the lines. Our lines here must be between thirty five and forty miles long. One can’t see anything here but breast works, rifle pits and fortifications. We have good winter quarters here now, and get plenty to eat and drink and wear. We have had a very open winter here. We have had but one snow storm … and it only lasted a few days. The weather here is pretty cold at this present time. I can’t tell you how long we will stay here. We may stay … all winter and again we may leave in a few days. There is, near as I can tell, between one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy five thousand troops …
[signed] John L. Henry …”
Eighteen year old PVT Henry enlisted on Sep 24 1862 and was immediately mustered into “I” Company, Ohio 123rd Infantry Regiment. On Oct 16 1862, the was transferred to “K” Company, same regiment. Henry was taken as a Prisoner of War (POW) on Jun 15 1863 at the Battle of Winchester VA and paroled on Jul 15 1863. On Feb 1 1865, he was promoted to corporal. At the time the letter was written his unit was engaged in siege operations against Richmond and Petersburg. The 123th Ohio was present at the surrender of Confederate GEN Robert E. Lee and his army at Appomattox Court House VA on Appr 9 1865. The Steamer KEYPORT (91 tons), mentioned in the letter, was chartered by the US Army as a transport vessel. At the time (1864) it was operating in the James River. Our short research file is included.
John Reed of the 18th Iowa Infantry,
Company B.
Ft. Smith, Ark. /
March the 8th, 1865
letter reads in part:
Father, Mother and Sisters
It was mismanagement of Government Officials and not the fault of Uncle Sam at all. And now I will give you the sequel. The General that was in Command has been removed and ordered to Washington and there is a strong probability that he will loose his Commission and we have a new order of things. We have a new General and we also have plenty to eat. You was lamenting about the poor Negro, that he was going to be free and be made better than the White man. Well I can tell you without fear of contradiction that they are better than a great many White men gave alms in the sight of men and yet laid grievious burdens on men shoulders, too grievous to be borne. Our Armies are going on conquering and to Conquer. It is not in their own strength but the God of Liberty and of Freedom is with us. You think according to the Richmond papers there is no prospect of peace (I was not aware before that you took the Richmond paper). The Johnies are in the last ditch and Grant and Sherman are about to push them to the wall.
son and Brother, John Reed
Source: eBay, June 2007
John Reeds info:
John Reed, a resident of Afton, Union County, Iowa enlisted in the Union army on July 28, 1862. Reed was twenty-six years old when he was mustered into Company “B” of the 18th Iowa Infantry.
The 18th Iowa was organized at Clinton and saw service in Missouri, Arkansas, and Indian Territory. The regiment made up part of the Frontier Division stationed at Fort Smith. It took an active part in Frederick Steele’s Camden Expedition and suffered its heaviest casualties of the war at the battle of Poison Spring. Following the failure of the campaign, the regiment returned to Fort Smith where it engaged in garrison duty until the end of the war.
Residence Afton IA; 26 years old.
Enlisted on 7/28/1862 as a Private.
On 8/5/1862 he mustered into “B” Co. IA 18th Infantry
He was Mustered Out on 7/20/1865 at Little Rock, AR
Other Information:
born in Ohio
See his letters
History of the 18th Iowa
Eighteenth Infantry IOWA
(3 years)
Eighteenth Infantry. Cols., John Edwards, Hugh J. Campbell
Lieut.-Cols. Thomas F. Cook, Hugh J. Campbell; MaJs., Hugh J.
Campbell, Joseph K. Morey.
This regiment was mustered in Aug 5, 6 and 7, 1862. Soon
after it moved to Springfield via St. Louis and Sedalia,
joined the Army of the Southwest under Schofield and marched
through Missouri into Arkansas. Returning to Springfield, it
formed a part of the garrison there during the winter.
On Jan. 8, 1863, Marmaduke’s forces, numbering over 5,000 men,
attacked the garrison, which consisted of not to exceed 1,500
men the 18th being the only regular organization there, with
detachments of several Missouri regiments, citizens and quite
a number of convalescents in the hospitals. The fight
commenced about noon and continued with varying success until
almost night, the enemy gaining ground at times only to lose
it by some daring charge, the tide being turned just before
dark by the coming up of five companies of the 18th, which had
been stationed at an outpost. They entered into the fight
with such energy that the enemy was driven into a stockade at
the outskirts of town and declined to give battle the
following day, having lost more than 200 in killed and
wounded. The loss of the regiment was 56 in killed and
wounded and the loss of the entire Union force was about 200.
The regiment remained at Springfield about a year, being
denied the privilege of participating in the stirring scenes
that were bringing glory to its sister regiments, but
performing well the duties so necessary in guarding the border
at that time. Col. Edwards assumed command of the post in
April, and in the fall was in temporary command of the
district of southwestern Missouri, and later in command of his
regiment, which formed part of the force that made Shelby
throw aside his artillery and much of his baggage to escape
his pursuers.
Reaching Fort Smith, Ark., on Oct. 30, the regiment was
assigned to garrison duty and spent the winter there, Col.
Edwards being placed in command of the post. In March, 1864,
the regiment moved with Steele’s forces to Arkadelphia, Col.
Edwards being in command of the brigade to which the 18th was
assigned. The command joined Thayer’s forces at Elkin’s
ferry, the intention being to effect a junction with Banks.
When the retreat of Banks was learned the entire command moved
to Camden.
It was engaged at Prairie d’Ane and at Moscow, where Edwards’
brigade stood the brunt of the attack and on being reinforced
drove the enemy for several miles. After some ten days at
Camden the regiment engaged in a severe battle. With one
section of the 2nd Ind. battery, it was sent to reinforce Col.
Williams of the 1st Kan. Colored regiment, guarding a forage
train. The force was attacked by several thousand troopers,
the Kansas regiment receiving the first shock, and giving way,
crowded through the lines of the 18th and left it to take up
the fight alone. Seven fierce charges were repelled more than
its own numbers were put out of action, but it was finally
surrounded, when, with fixed bayonets, it cut its way out and
reached Camden, having sustained a loss of 77 in killed,
wounded and missing.
The wretched three weeks’ retreat to Little Rock followed,
Col. Edwards holding the reserve and guarding the ordnance
train at the battle of Jenkins’ Ferry. Resuming its duty as
garrison at Fort Smith, the regiment moved on numerous minor
expeditions and was often compelled to forage to keep from
actual starvation, the river below being blockaded. Col.
Edwards was promoted to brigadier-general and was succeeded as
colonel by Lieut.-Col. Campbell. The regiment marched to Fort
Gibson in November to meet a supply train from Fort Scott, but
finding it had not arrived, set out on the evening of the 27th
with two ears of corn each and one tablespoonful of coffee for
each mess of four, as rations, and found the train over 100
miles distant four days later.
The regiment passed the winter and spring in alternate
starvation and plenty, remaining on garrison duty at Fort
Smith until the latter part of the summer of 1865, when it was
mustered out. Its original strength was 866; gain by
recruits, 9; total, 875.
Source: The Union Army, vol. 4
John Sheperd of the 13th Indiana Infantry
17 January 1865
I went to Church last Sabbath for the first time since I left. There is prayer meeting every night. I think I shall go tonight.
Shooting musketry, and offal Yelling…over the capture of ft. fisher in N.C. that our Boys failed to take the first trip they made?
Source: eBay, July 2007
The 13th Indiana was part of the Army of the James in Jan 1865; 3rd brigade, 2nd division, 24th corps.
It participated in the assault on Fort Fisher in Jan. 1865 in the capture of Fort Anderson and the occupation of Wilmington, and was stationed at Raleigh, until July 20, when it was assigned to duty at Goldsboro, where it remained until mustered out, Sept. 5, 1865.
John Sheperd was from Hicksville, Ohio. He enlisted on 11/12/1864 as a Private. On 11/12/1864 he mustered into “E” Co. IN 13th Infantry. He was Mustered Out on 9/5/1865 at Goldsboro, N.
The 13th Indiana saw action at Cheat Mountain, Winchester Heights, Fort Wagner, Petersburg and Fort Fischer.
