THE WAR NEWS.

As usual of late, there were no occurrences of interest along the lines in front of Richmond and Petersburg yesterday [July 21, 1864].  There was a rumour, vague and unsubstantiated, that Grant was evacuating the position he has been occupying for the past six weeks.  He will not be likely, we think, to retire from his present line until he has lost an additional fifteen or twenty thousand men.  The Petersburg papers say he is massing his forces preparatory to a dash across the Appomattox into Chesterfield county.

FROM OUR ARMIES IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA.

Some rumours reach us from Northern Virginia via Staunton and Lynchburg.  It is said that in the fight at Snicker’s ferry last Monday [July 18, 1864] we captured four pieces of cannon and eight hundred prisoners.¹

There is also a report to the effect that the enemy, on Tuesday [July 19, 1864], captured a large wagon train from us, but that subsequently, on the same day, we recaptured the whole train, except five wagons.

FROM ATLANTA.

The military operations about Atlanta have, within the past few days, become of paramount interest, and every one is looking, with no little anxiety, to their result.

Yesterday evening an official dispatch, dated Atlanta, July 20, from which the following is an extract, was received at the War Office:

“At 3 o’clock to day [July 20, 1864] a portion of Hardee’s and Stewart’s corps drove the enemy into his breastworks.  On our extreme right the enemy attacked Wheeler’s cavalry with infantry and were handsomely repulsed.”²

The press despatch, published in another column, was received about the same time as the above.—From this press despatch we obtain some insight into the present military situation about Atlanta, and we confess that situation is neither what we had expected nor desired.  The despatch says, “the enemy made strong demonstrations yesterday and this morning on our right, NEAR DECATUR.”  Decatur is on the Georgia railroad, six miles EAST of Atlanta.  Previously to this, the last we heard of the enemy they had just crossed the Chattahoochee and were six miles west of Atlanta.  The despatch goes on, “General Hood attacked their RIGHT at 4 o’clock this afternoon, ON PEACH TREE CREEK, NEAR THE CHATTAHOOCHEE.”  This explains the whole thing.  Atlanta is between seven and eight miles south of west of the point at which the Western and Atlantic railroad crosses the Chattahoochee.—Peach Tree creek rises some six or seven miles northwest of Atlanta, and flowing in a slightly southwesterly course, enters the Chattahoochee a short distance above the railroad.  The enemy, having crossed the Chattahoochee, have pushed their columns up Peach Tree creek north of and six miles east of Atlanta, their left confronting our right at Decatur, their right resting on the Chattahoochee at the point of confluence of Peach Tree creek, and holding the railroad bridge.  Their front, which is now turned to the south, stretches over from twelve to fifteen miles of country.  Sherman, it will be observed, though attacking Atlanta from a new direction, retains his hold upon the railroad, his source of supplies.  It was to cut him off from the railroad that we attacked his right, but it does not appear that we were entirely successful.  We drove him INTO but not OUT OF, his intrenchments, and these intrenchments cover the railroad.

It will be seen from both the official and press despatch that in the skirmishing that has taken place up to this time our troops have been uninterruptedly successful.

____________

WILMINGTON.

These Yankees, the people with whom we have been engaged in war for several years, are such liars that to call the daily issues of their press newspapers is a palpable misnomer, however they may deserve to be ranked as works of fiction.  Their latest romance that has attracted our attention is a letter in the New York HERALD of the 8^th, dated Beaufort, North Carolina, June 29, 1864, which purports to give an accurate account of “one of the most daring reconnoissances made during the war,” which had “just been successfully achieved by Captain Cushing, of the gunboat Monticello.”

The letter-writer says that on the night of the 24^th of June, Captain Cushing “took a first cutter, with fifteen men and two officers, and succeeded in passing the forts of the west bar at Wilmington and started up the Cape Fear river.  After a narrow escape of being run over by one of the rebel steamers plying the river, he passed the second line of batteries and continued his course until old Brunswick was reached,” when, after being fired on by a “heavy battery, &c., he succeeded in passing unscathed,” and continued his course up the river.  At daylight he had reached a point within seven miles of Wilmington, and there hid in the bushes until night, when he and his whole party proceeded to within three miles of Wilmington, examining all the “river obstructions, fortifications and other objects of interest.”  The next morning he took possession of two roads leading to Wilmington, and “about eleven o’clock, A. M., captured the rebel courier, with the mails from Fort Fisher and lower batteries, en route to Wilmington.  This mail proved to be a prize of value, there being upwards of two hundred documents, private and official, and many of great importance.”  After the exploit, Captain Cushing returned, not without great difficulty, and after many most marvelous hair-breadth escapes, to the Monticello, carrying with him ‘information of great value to the service,” but which the author of the letter is “precluded from giving to the publick.”

We have characterized this letter as a romance.  By all who are acquainted with the sleepless vigilance of our military and naval authorities at Wilmington, it will be classed with such extravagances as “Gulliver’s Travels,” “A Flight to the Moon,” &c.  If we could believe anything of this New York fellow’s story, we should think it a serious matter indeed, and could readily understand that Captain Cushing had really obtained information of great value to his service.³

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SIEGE OF PETERSBURG.

Skirmishing Along the Picket Line—Relative Positions of Both Armies Unchanged—They are Within Rifle Range of Each Other—Value of Rifle Pits—The Rebels now Behind Impromptu Earthworks—The Regular Defenses of Petersburg Taken by the Advance of Our Army—Their Possession a Great Advantage—Conduct of Negro Troops Gaining Esteem for Them Among the Soldiers.

Special Correspondence of the Inquirer.

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,
June 21st. 7 A. M.

Yesterday [June 20, 1864] was quiet, that is, there were no assaults and no line of active firing; but our batteries kept exchanging occasional compliments with those of the enemy, and along the picket line the spiteful whiz of the minie was a very familiar sound, enough so to assure one that two large armies lay in close proximity.  The number of casualties in this skirmishing has been rather large.

The relative positions of our own and the Rebel army appear to be nearly the same as at the several points where they have lain for a time in opposing lines of battle from the Rapidan hither.  Both occupy similar lines of intrenchments, within short rifle range of each other, but as it devolves on us to attack, the enemy derives the greatest advantage from his works.

One unfamiliar with military operations can hardly form a conception of the value of mere impromptu earthworks; rifle pits, such as can be constructed in a single night.  But troops who have had to charge them can fully appreciate their importance as parts of a defensive system.

Every attack upon such works, unless it is a surprise, costs hundreds or thousands of lives, and men ensconced behind them can successfully hold at bay largely superior numbers.  These impromptu works are all that now enable the Rebel army to keep us out of Petersburg. The strong fortifications taken by the advance of our army, on the evening of the 15th [of June, 1864]¹, were the regular defenses of the place, and, had they been fully manned, could only have been taken by regular siege approaches, requiring protracted labors.  That we gained possession of them so easily was an immense advantage, and is the more satisfactory because it is an unequivocal strategic victory over the wily Rebel commander [Robert E. Lee], to whom it must be extremely mortifying.

He was, for once at least, held in uncertainty as to our movements long enough to enable us to beat him in point of time—an achievement which the chivalry ought to consider a decided test, so confident have they always felt in his vigilance and promptness.  The fact that the negro troops of the Eighteenth Corps [3/XVIII/AotJ] had the most important share in the capture of these works has won for dark skins a much higher respect than they have hitherto had from the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac, and our artillerymen, who, without a contest, have planted their guns upon the captured heights in sight of the spires of Petersburg, speak in warmly appreciative tones of the service rendered them.² Our line is nearly the same as when I last described its position.  I may add that a Rebel fort (Fort Clifton) on the other side of the Appomatox, which bears upon our position here, is within range of Fort Springhill³, in Gen. BUTLER’S line of fortifications, and is commanded by it.⁴

SOPO Editor’s Note: This article was transcribed by Jackie Martin.

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Source/Notes:

SOPO Editor’s Note: Captain Henry F. Young of the 7th Wisconsin wrote twenty letters while at the Siege of Petersburg from June to December 1864. Researcher Roy Gustrowsky transcribed this letter from the original at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, Wisconsin.  He is currently in the process of writing a regimental history of the 7th Wisconsin. “Delia” was Henry F. Young’s wife, and “Father” was his Father-in-Law Jared Warner, a prominent businessman of Grant County, Wisconsin. Gustrowsky has magnanimously made these transcriptions available to the Siege of Petersburg Online for publication, and we thank him for his generosity.

UPDATE: I recently learned that a new book has been published by the University of Wisconsin Press, entitled Dear Delia: The Civil War Letters of Captain Henry F. Young, Seventh Wisconsin Infantry, and edited by Micheal Larson and John David Smith. If you want to read all of Henry’s letters throughout the war, purchase the book!

Camp 7th Wis[consin] Vet[eran] Vol[unteer]s
Weldon R[ail]R[oad] Va
Nov 20th/64

Dear Father

Your last letter with its Sad news has been received¹, it was unexpected and Sorrowful news to Me as I received no dispatch and Delias last letter led Me to believe that all danger was past. It has ever been a Source of anxiety to Me to know what to do in Case of the Sickness of My family, and perhaps it is better under the circumstances that I did not receive the dispatch, for I could not have got home in (time) to See My dear Child and I certainly Should have went . While I Mourn the loss of My Child I am pleased to No that all was done for her that kind hearts and loving hands could do. I think I will go out of the Service next Month, I owe it to My family and I will go. I have faithfully Served My (country) over three years, and My wife has nobly performed her part, but now She Says come home and a Man must not neglect his family.

We were just on the eve of a move this Morning but the rain has Stoped it, where we were going is all Speculation. Some Say two or three Corps are going to Wilmington NC. My own theory is that it is merely a demonstration to keep Lee from Sending troops to operate against Sherman. I never Saw this Army in as good Spirits as now-the overwhelming defeat of the Copperheads, the advance of Sherman, the depression of the Rebs on pickett in our front, all contribute to raise the Spirits of our Men. You hear no whining or grumbling at the Administration or anything else All feel Satisfied that we can whip the Rebs in our front. Since our friends at home have so crushingly defeated the enemy in our rear your Segestion to Stay till Spring and then Muster out-does not meet My approbation. My Military carrear I feel proud of, and what you recommend is what I have often cursed officers for in fact it was carried to Such an extent last Spring that Grant published an order dismissing all officers dishonourably from the Service asking for discharges-of course you did not understand this or you would not have recommended it.

Allow me to thank you and Mother for your kindness to My family in their affliction. My best wishes to all.

Yours truly
H F Young²

***

Letters of Henry W. Young:

• LT: June 20, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: June 27, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: July 2, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: July 15, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: July 26, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: July 29, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: August 4, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: August 6, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: August 23, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 2, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 5, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 15, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 19, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 27, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 6, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 13, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 21, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 22, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 30, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 5, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 7, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 10, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 13, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 20, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 23, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)

TELEGRAPHIC REPORTS OF THE PRESS ASSOCIATION.

_________

FROM PETERSBURG.

PETERSBURG, July 20.—There is no change in the situation, and no indication of any immediate hostilities on the part of Grant.

The weather is warm and sultry.  There was a heavy rain yesterday [July 19, 1864], which refreshed everything.

The report of Grant’s death is contradicted by deserters who entered our lines yesterday [July 19, 1864].

There is the usual skirmishing and cannonading.

___________

FROM GEORGIA.

ATLANTA, July 20.—Reynolds’ brigade [Reynolds/Walthall/Stewart/Aot] attacked the enemy’s line of skirmishers last evening [July 19, 1864] at Peach Tree creek, and took possession of their intrenchments.  He then charged the reserve pickets, supported by Dilworth’s corps, and captured one hundred and fifty prisoners.¹

The Eightieth Illinois regiment lost in killed and wounded alone one hundred, while that of the Fiftieth Ohio was severe.²

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IN FRONT OF PETERSBURG.

Sunday [June 19, 1864] appears to have been a day of comparative rest, if not of peace, along the lines of our army in front of Petersburg.  The condition of affairs (down to the hour when this is written) therefore presents no change that invites comment or explanation.  We are thrown back upon a perusal of the details of the battles of last week¹, the general reports of which have already been before the public by telegraph.  In these we find abundant evidence of gallant fighting on the part of our brave soldiers, impetuous charges, fiery and successful assaults, fortifications carried against heavy odds of position, constant progress, all showing a marvelous development of elan in our troops, and of indomitable energy and resolution in their commanders.  In such things we see the foreshadowings of the certain success of the great cause.

But there were indications early on Monday morning [June 20, 1864] that the quiet of Sunday was to be followed by a vigorous renewal of the assault on Petersburg.  “All is quiet along the lines” means something different with General GRANT from the old time import of those familiar words.  With him they presage the gathering of a storm that is soon to burst with augmented fury on his former object of attack, or to threaten with its irresistible sweep some new point of the enemy’s lines.

We may therefore expect to have early intelligence of the final and successful assault on Petersburg, or in default of that, of some new and admirable application of General GRANT’S favorite flank movement, by which BEAUREGARD will be driven from his works without the expenditure of another shot.  It will be widely different from GRANT’S usual practice if a whole day of rest has not resulted in such new combinations as will command success in some direction.²

SOPO Editor’s Note: This article was transcribed by Jackie Martin.

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Source/Notes:

SOPO Editor’s Note: Captain Henry F. Young of the 7th Wisconsin wrote twenty letters while at the Siege of Petersburg from June to December 1864. Researcher Roy Gustrowsky transcribed this letter from the original at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, Wisconsin.  He is currently in the process of writing a regimental history of the 7th Wisconsin. “Delia” was Henry F. Young’s wife, and “Father” was his Father-in-Law Jared Warner, a prominent businessman of Grant County, Wisconsin. Gustrowsky has magnanimously made these transcriptions available to the Siege of Petersburg Online for publication, and we thank him for his generosity.

UPDATE: I recently learned that a new book has been published by the University of Wisconsin Press, entitled Dear Delia: The Civil War Letters of Captain Henry F. Young, Seventh Wisconsin Infantry, and edited by Micheal Larson and John David Smith. If you want to read all of Henry’s letters throughout the war, purchase the book!

Camp 7th Wis[consin] Vet[eran] Vol[unteer]s
Weldon R[ail]R[oad] Va
Nov 13th  1864

Dear Delia

This morning I received the news of the loss of our darling child it was entirely unexpected as I had received no dispatch and your last letter left me the impression that the dear child was out of danger and after that I gave myself no uneasiness. I had just got her a hat made out of corn husks, I got it yesterday evening and was anticipating how well She would look and what pleasure She would have in Sharing her Rebble gipsey hat. I went to Sleep thinking About it, and when I awoke I found yours and Fathers letter on My table, with the Mournful intelligence that I Should never See My darling More; had I received your telegram I Should have gone home on a leave of absence but now I will remain till I can get Mustered out. Frank Boynton was Mustered 1st Lieut day before yesterday; I will have to remain here till the paymaster comes and pays us off, as there are Some of the Men have unsettled accounts and could not well get them Settled without I was present and our Co have clothing Stored at Alexandria Va which we have Sent for and I have Qr Masters Stores there for which I am responsible that I have Sent for So as to turn them over. All of which I will do as quick as possible So as to get Mustered out & return home to Stay with the loved ones.

I feel verry thankful to our friends & neighbors for their kindness to you through the trying Ordeal you have passed. I feel So greived to think I was not with you to assist you and to See our darling Child once More.

I cant write More at present My love to Jared & May and tell them Papa will soon be home.

Ever Yours
Henry¹

***

Letters of Henry W. Young:

• LT: June 20, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: June 27, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: July 2, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: July 15, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: July 26, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: July 29, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: August 4, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: August 6, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: August 23, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 2, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 5, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 15, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 19, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 27, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 6, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 13, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 21, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 22, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 30, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 5, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 7, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 10, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 13, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 20, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 23, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)

THE HUCKSTERS.

There is a subject of deep interest to the citizens of Richmond, which demands the attention of the Council.  The extortionate prices demanded for all kinds of vegetables and other supplies in the markets, are the subject of serious consideration.  How the middle and poor classes of citizens supply themselves with the necessaries of life, is a wonder.  The rich care not for the cost, for their abundant resources enable them to meet any demands.  The speculators care not, for they make enormous profits on whatever they buy and sell.  But the classes we have mentioned, which constitute the large majority of the community, are made to suffer beyond endurance.  One of the causes of these high prices is the permission to the hucksters to buy provisions and retail them again in the market.  The hucksters are a small class of disreputable persons, being mostly shirkers of military service, who, combining together, are enabled to command the market, and exact any prices they choose from the necessity of the people.  In former times we had an ordinance prohibiting this traffic.  It was thought wise by the City Council, under peculiar circumstances, to repeal this wise regulation.  The consequence has been that the hucksters now besiege our railroad and canal depots, hover around our commission stores, and at once buy up in quantities every article of food that comes to the city, and immediately exhibit them in market at enormous profits.  It would seem that everything possible has been done, as if with the express design to starve the people of Richmond.  The Government seizes all the transportation of our railroads, and it becomes almost impossible for private persons to obtain transportation for anything, and when an article is permitted to reach us, it is pounced upon by harpy hucksters, who prey upon the wants of their fellow-citizens.  We call the attention of the Council to this latter grievance.  Their interference to prevent the evil complained of would meet the approbation of a large majority of the people, and contribute much to alleviate the distress of the community.

We feel assured it is the desire of the Council to do whatever in them lays to alleviate the present sad condition of the masses, and therefore take the liberty of making a suggestion.  This huckster question is an old sore that has bothered many Councils, but the time has come when it should be met fully and fairly, and the point decided whether it is absolutely necessary that the food consumed by our people should, after leaving the producer, pass through the hands of the hucksters, thereby receiving an enhancement of from fifty to one hundred per cent.  We would make this simple suggestion to the Council:  At the meeting which takes place to-day appoint a committee to examine into and report upon this subject.  If the committee, after a thorough examination of the subject, find that they can do no good, let them so report.  It will at least be some solace in our misery to know that our ills are beyond human remedy.¹

SOPO Editor’s Note: This article was transcribed by Jackie Martin.

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THE JAMES RIVER FLEET.

Where the Iron-clads are Located—The Removal of Torpedoes—Position of the Rebel Fleet—Condition of the Defenses on the James River.

Correspondence of the Providence Journal.

UNITED STATES STEAMER “ONONDAGA,” James River, Virginia, June 7 [1864].—The iron fleet is now at anchor in a bay-like expansion of the river called Trent’s Reach.  We are three miles below Fort Darling [at Drewry’s Bluff], and ten below Richmond.  The river is very tortuous, making a little peninsula of the land on our right, which is low and marshy, and overflowed at high stages on the river.¹  This shore, of course, cannot be held, and is of no use if it could be.  The western bank consists of a series of rolling hills of considerable elevation, and thickly wooded.  A mile in front of us the river makes a sharp turn to the right or east, and from this point the bank, like a broad lawn, rises to the top of the hill, which is crowned with a new, large, unfinished country mansion.²

This house marks the point where the left flank of BEAUREGARD’S Army rests upon the river.  At this point they have been endeavoring for weeks to erect batteries which might serve to annoy us, as well as to oppose our ascending the river.  But the emphatic intimation to “clear out,” which always accompanies a 15-inch shell, has stopped the digging, and the batteries are yet unfinished.  We can see none of the Rebel army, for the land slopes gently toward the interior, and their lines are hid by the intervening woods, immediately on our left, and almost abreast of us, the right flank of BUTLER’S Army is in position.  Along and in front of the line on the right of this army the woods have been felled, and the remainder of the mile which separates the two lines is broken by ravines, and quite thick with timber, and this intervening distance is occupied by the opposing pickets.  So much for the position.  Although we have seen the enemy in no force of any magnitude, either on or near the river, that is, on the eastern bank, yet we know there are scouting and skulking parties who are vigilantly watching our movements, and from which the fleet has suffered to a small extent in the capture of pickets, of sailors and marines, who were sent ashore, and venturing too far, were surprised, surrounded and captured.

From Rebel sources we have been threatened in all sorts of ways and by all manner of things, but the threats have resulted in no recent material manifestations. From the bed of the river, both above and below this point, a large number of torpedoes have been taken, some made of three-eighth inch boiler iron firmly riveted, and containing large quantities of powder, one having nineteen hundred pounds.  In their exterior geometry has been amply illustrated; for there are spheres, and cubes, and ovals, and polygons and all other kinds of gons. Some are anchored in the river and fired by concussion, some are attached to logs and sent floating down the river, and some, I presume, from their exhaustless store, are awaiting our moving up the river.³  And we are hoping that the river may be sufficiently high before long to warrant our moving still further up.  At the foot of Drury’s Bluff, which is the site of Fort Darling also, the three Rebel iron-clads, Virginia, Richmond and Fredericksburg are lying.⁴

The first was built in the early part of the war, and was intended to go to sea with the Rebel Merrimac, and is armored with eight inches of iron, and mounts eight guns.  Her draught is too great to admit of her manoeuvring in the river, except at its highest stages. The other two are lighter draught and smaller vessels, but more vulnerable.  We have understood that the obstructions placed in the river to oppose our ascending have been removed, to permit the Rebel iron-clads to come down.  This, however, is very improbable.⁵  Opposite Drury’s Bluff is another high bank, called Chapin’s [sic, Chaffin’s] Bluff and this, too, has been, and still is, crowned with batteries, but from which, we are assured by recent deserters, the guns have been moved and taken to the defenses of Richmond. Above these bluffs there is sufficient water, until you reach the lower suburbs of the city, called “Rocketts,” where there is scarcely ever water enough to float vessels of much draught. As Rocketts is some distance from the city proper, it is doubtful if the city could be injured by the guns of the fleet, though it is an experiment we are extremely anxious to try.⁶

SOPO Editor’s Note: This article was transcribed by Jackie Martin.

If you are interested in helping us transcribe newspaper articles like the one above, please CONTACT US.

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Source/Notes:

SOPO Editor’s Note: Captain Henry F. Young of the 7th Wisconsin wrote twenty letters while at the Siege of Petersburg from June to December 1864. Researcher Roy Gustrowsky transcribed this letter from the original at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, Wisconsin.  He is currently in the process of writing a regimental history of the 7th Wisconsin. “Delia” was Henry F. Young’s wife, and “Father” was his Father-in-Law Jared Warner, a prominent businessman of Grant County, Wisconsin. Gustrowsky has magnanimously made these transcriptions available to the Siege of Petersburg Online for publication, and we thank him for his generosity.

UPDATE: I recently learned that a new book has been published by the University of Wisconsin Press, entitled Dear Delia: The Civil War Letters of Captain Henry F. Young, Seventh Wisconsin Infantry, and edited by Micheal Larson and John David Smith. If you want to read all of Henry’s letters throughout the war, purchase the book!

Camp 7th Wis[consin] Vet[eran] Vol[unteer]s
Near Weldon RR Va
Nov 10  1864

Dear Delia

I just received your letter. Sorry to hear of Lauras Sickness but verry glad to hear she was getting better. I am glad to hear you have got into a comfortable house.

The Election [held on November 8, 1864] is over Our Brigade cast 1291 Votes of which [Abraham] Lincoln received 946 & Mc [George B. McClellan]-345 giving Lincoln 645 Majority. The rest of the Army Voted about the Same. Tomorrow we will begin to get the news of how the States went I am looking for Lincoln to have a larger Majority than at his 1st Election.

Frank Boynton has got his Commission as 1st Lieut but he has not Mustered yet, it is Still My intention to Muster Out as Soon as he Musters and I can get things fixed for it will take Me Some time to Settle My accounts with the Govt. Every thing has to be done under the infernal redtapeSystem. Frank has been a week trying to Muster in and it will perhaps take a week longer before he accomplishes it-All because the Mustering Officer is Judge Advocate of a Court Martial. We have nothing now in the way of consolidation but are looking for an Order to that effect.¹

I received a letter from your Father two days Since he wrote of you all being well but Laura, it made Me verry uneasy untill I received your letter. I am anxious to get home So as to Make Some arrangements about the Mill, So as to be ready to go to work next Spring. Furman wants to buy half the Mill. I will Sell him My half if we can agree About the terms.

I have the rheumatism every time I get wet and I tell you its verry uncomfortable for the cursed thing dont Stop when I lay down but pains more than ever.

I look for a Move in the Army Soon perhaps within the next week, but what will be the point of attack I cannot pretend to Say.² My love to all Jared Laura & May.

Ever Yours
Henry³

***

Letters of Henry W. Young:

• LT: June 20, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: June 27, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: July 2, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: July 15, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: July 26, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: July 29, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: August 4, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: August 6, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: August 23, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 2, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 5, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 15, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 19, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 27, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 6, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 13, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 21, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 22, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 30, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 5, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 7, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 10, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 13, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 20, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 23, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)