Editor’s Note: This item is part of a collection of letters from New York engineers written while their units were at the Siege of Petersburg. Researcher and Engineer enthusiast Dan O’Connell generously donated all of the items in this collection for use at The Siege of Petersburg Online. These transcriptions are copyrighted by Brett Schulte and may not be used without my express written consent. I do not have images of these letters so some errors could be from transcription or in the original.
Camp in the woods two miles from City Point
June, 18 1864Dear Parents
I thought that you would like to know how I am getting along . I am as wel as usual and hope these few lines will find you the same. I got your welcome of the 1st of this month stating that you are very uneasy about us but we are all right You must excuse short letter from us this time for the mail will go out before long. This is from your son in the US
June 18 1864
Dear Parents
Daniel has been _____ing me to write some in his letter but the paper is so poor I won’t write but very little. In my last I wrote we were ordered to move. Well we broke camp about 7 o’clock a.m. that morning and marched to Tunstall Station four miles from White House that day. The next day (Sunday) marched to within five miles of New Kentt Court House and passed the church where Washington was married and the next day (Monday) marched to within three miles of the Chickahominy River. Next day (Tuesday) moved down to the Chickahominy river and in the afternoon built a bridge of sixty boats but the other Co’s helped us for we did not have boats enough of our own. The next day (Wednesday) we did not move . Thursday took up the bridge and made it into rafts and a steam tug toed us down the river about two miles and anchored for the night. Friday we passed down the river and entered the James River and passed up it to the landing opposite Charles City Court House and then loaded the boats on the wagons and marched three miles in the direction of Petersburg and today came here. We are now six or seven miles from Petersburg.
Charles
PS the Cannonading has been very heavy today in the direction of Petersburg.1
***
Other Letters Written By Charles Personius at the Siege of Petersburg:
- LT: June 10, 1864 Charles Personius
- LT: July 18, 1864 Charles Personius
- LT: July 24, 1864 Charles Personius
- LT: August 8, 1864 Charles Personius
- LT: November 7, 1864 Charles Personius
- LT: November 18, 1864 Charles Personius
- LT: January 12, 1865 Charles Personius
- LT: January 15, 1865 Charles Personius
- LT: February 17, 1865 Charles Personius
- LT: February 19, 1865 Charles Personius
- LT: March 16, 1865 Charles Personius
Source:
- Personius, Charles. (1864, June 18). (Letter to his parents). Personius Brothers Letters (CL 105, Box B, Folder 35). Booth Library, Chemung Valley (NY) Historical Society, Elmira, NY. ↩
Are there any letters between this one of June 18, 1864 and the end of June 1864? I’m interested in whether Personius participated in the building of the pontoon bridge to Deep Bottom on the night of June 20-21, 1864.
John,
If any exist, I’m not aware of them. Everything I have on Charles Personius will appear here in chronological order. The next one after this occurred a month later.
Brett