Title: Orlando L. French Civil War Letter (transcripts)

Date/Date Range :   1862-1865

Extent: 0.2 linear feet

Abstract:

This collection contains transcriptions of the letters written by Orlando L. French to his wife, Lydia, during his service in the Civil War from 1862-1865. French enlisted as a Quarter Master Sergeant in Co. A., 75th Illinois Infantry. Each of his letters is dated and has the location on it. His service took him throughout the South, especially Kentucky and Tennessee.

Call number: MS-2346

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Aquisition Information:

Collection was donated to Special Collections.

Access Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Copyright:

The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of Item], Orlando L. French Civil War Letters (transcripts), MS-2346. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Collection consists of two folders.

Orlando L. French was born in Vermont in 1829. His family later moved to Illinois. Before the Civil War, he was working in the furniture business. Between 1862, when he enlisted in the Union Army, until the end of the war, he was active in a series of important campaigns. He marched with Sherman and saw action in Kentucky and Tennessee. He returned to the furniture business, also serving as Recorder of Harrison County (Illinois) and a Justice of the Peace in Missouri Valley. He died at the Solders' Home in Marshalltown, Iowa, 1905.

This collection contains transcriptions of the letters written by Orlando L. French to his wife, Lydia, during his service in the Civil War from 1862-1865. French enlisted as a Quarter Master Sergeant in Co. A., 75th Illinois Infantry. Each of his letters is dated and has the location on it. His service took him throughout the South, especially Kentucky and Tennessee.

He records places he travels through and marches and battles in which he has taken part. French details everything from changes of officers, the food available, and any news of the war he has. After the Battle of Cane Springs (Kentucky?), he writes to Lydia on October 10th, 1862, "Oh I tell you it is awfful [sic], awful, and all I can say is damn the war & damn every body that makes war." He continues to express this sentiment in one way or another, throughout his letters, though his loyalty to his regiment prevents him from every seeking a permanent post or resigning. In the same letter, he also asks her to pass along information about several soldiers from Co. A. he has seen in the hospital whose families are near her.

The later letters, by 1864, begin to focus more on French and his relationship with and concerns for his wife. Both of them suffer illnesses at various times. Back home, Lydia is attempting to buy them a house to settle in after the war, too.

• Tennessee -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Kentucky -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
• United States. Army. Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 75th (1861-1865).