Title: Stephen Ward Letter

Date/Date Range :   1863 February 18

Extent: 0.1 linear feet

Abstract:

In this letter to his wife Nancy, Stephen Ward describes encountering Confederate cavalry on a recent scouting mission, the inclement winter weather, and foraging for food and supplies. He also complains that his recent exertions have left him "as sore as an old Government mule" and mentions that a wealthy Union sympathizer had been hung after two of his Confederate neighbors betrayed him shortly before Ward's unit arrived in the area.

Call number: MS-3032

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

Aquisition Information:

This collection is property of the University of Tennessee Special Collections Library.

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], Stephen Ward Letter, MS-3032. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Collection consists of a single folder.

Stephen Ward was born in about 1836 in Pennsylvania. He married Nancy [last name unknown] in about 1859, and the couple had four children: Emmet (born about 1860), Laura (born about 1862), Sherman (born about 1865) and Winnie (born about 1867). Ward enlisted in Company F of the 38th Ohio Volunteer Infantry as a musician in 1861, and the unit served in the Tullahoma Campaign, the Chickamauga Campaign, the Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign, the Atlanta Campaign, and the Campaign of the Carolinas before mustering out in 1865. After the war, Ward returned to his family in Ohio. They subsequently moved to Illinois and Kansas. Ward died in Kansas between 1920 and 1930.

In this letter to his wife Nancy, Stephen Ward describes encountering Confederate cavalry on a recent scouting mission, the inclement winter weather, and foraging for food and supplies. He also complains that his recent exertions have left him "as sore as an old Government mule" and mentions that a wealthy Union sympathizer had been hung after two of his Confederate neighbors betrayed him shortly before Ward's unit arrived in the area.

• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Tennessee -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Soldiers -- Ohio -- Correspondence.