Title: Civil War Letter

Date/Date Range :   1863 May 10

Extent: 0.1 linear feet

Abstract:

In this letter to his sister Beulah, Union army soldier "Josh" reports that his orders are to head to Mississippi on 1863 May 10. He is unhappy at the prospect of leaving his current lodgings at a Secesh woman's home, but glad to escape the rampant spread of smallpox through Memphis, Tennessee.

Call number: MS-2906

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

Aquisition Information:

This collection was purchased on 2006 June 8.

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], Civil War Letter, MS-2906. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Collection consists of a single folder

Josh likely served with an Ohio regiment during the Civil War, as several of the relatives he mentions in this letter hail from that state.

This collection houses one letter from a Union soldier named Josh stationed in Memphis, Tennessee to his sister Beulah written on May 10, 1863. He is distressed about his orders to leave Memphis and head towards Vicksburg, Mississippi. He writes that he is "quite comfortable" in the home of a Secesh woman inside the city of Memphis, but is glad to escape the city because of the increasing spread of the disease smallpox. Josh mentions his unknowing exposure to the disease through one of his friends, but says he has no symptoms as of yet. His regiment was told to leave all tents behind for the wounded and ill, and Josh writes that he "dreads sleeping on the ground."

• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Tennessee -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Memphis (Tenn.) -- History.
• Vicksburg (Miss.) -- History -- Siege, 1863.