"Little Ellic" [Alex Cressler?],
Chambersburg [Pennsylvania], to "My good old Friend"
(Henry A. Bitner): Governor Andrew G. Curtin expected
to arrive tomorrow; mentions family members'
anticipation; expresses patriotic sentiments; letter
bears a colored illustration of an American flag.
1861 May 17
Alex Cressler, Chambersburg, to "Dear
Henry," w/envelope: discusses the appearance of
Governor Curtin [perhaps at a ceremony for presenting
the colors to a regiment]; rumor that two Confederate
regiments passed through Williamsport, Maryland,
possibly on their way to attack Philadelphia;
expresses patriotic sentiments; letter bears a
colored illustration of an American flag; circled
number '37' in ink on the envelope.
1861 May 21
Alex Cressler, Chambersburg, to "Dear
Henry": local excitement at the appearance of
military troops and [apparently] members of the
defeated Fort Sumter garrison; letter bears a colored
patriotic illustration of a man on horseback with a
flag labeled "The Union" and the caption "Onward to
Victory."
1861 June 10
["Little Ellic"], Chambersburg, to "Dear
Henry," incomplete (only pages 1-4 are present),
w/envelope: detailed description of Chambersburg and
its weather ("This modern city is almost one-half of
a mile in length and about one-eighth of a mile in
breadth having a population of about 3,000
inhabitants; the dwellings were of uniform size, the
largest being a little more spacious than the
smallest and the smallest being somewhat less in
dimensions than the largest, with streets leading
along every side of the dwellings and running either
straight or crooked from the one end to the other
side so that strangers could amuse themselves by
turning as many times as there is differences of
direction"); letter bears a colored illustration of a
soldier with an American flag.
1861 June 18
"Ellic" [and a postscript signed Alex
Cressler], Chambersburg, to "Dear Henry": mentions
hearing a report that General George B. McClellan
"has defeated the Secessionists" [battle of Rich
Mountain, Virginia, July 11, 1861]; mentions a
petition on Bitner's behalf; in a postscript he
mentions that an uncle quotes Major General Robert
Patterson as assuring him "that if Johnson did not
attack him that he (Patterson) would attack Johnson
[Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston] before the
term of three months men would have expired"
[Patterson was a Pennsylvania militia general who
commanded the state's three- months volunteers].
1861 July 15
Alex Cressler, Chambersburg, to "Dear
Friend," w/envelope: discusses Bitner's health;
expresses patriotic sentiments, the battle of First
Manassas, or First Bull Run [July 21, 1861],
denounces the South as a land of traitors and slave
drivers, predicts a successful invasion of Virginia;
patriotic envelope cover bears a colored illustration
and poem in memorial to Colonel Elmer Ephraim
Ellsworth, considered the Union's first military
martyr; circled number '23' in ink on back of the
envelope.
1861 July 30
Thad Donely [Donnelly], Camp near Falmouth
[Virginia], to "Friend Henry": camp news; apples
selling for $7.00 a barrel at Aquia Creek; letter
written in faded pencil, several lines and sections
illegible.
1862 Jan. 5
Dave [David] R. P. Shoemaker, Camp
Dennison, Ohio, to "Old Friend" (HAB): has quit
teaching and enlisted (Company E, 11th Regiment Ohio
Volunteers), describes his life as a soldier; misses
the company of women ("I haven't been within 6 feet
of a piece of calico for two months. Ugh! Think of
that old fellow, and the next time you go to see
your-what's her name?- just give her a smack on those
rosy lips of hers for me") and asks to be remembered
to an Angelina Seraphina; HAB should address future
letters to his company care of Captain [William L.]
Douglas, Point Pleasant, Virginia [see Joshua A.
Horton,
A History of the Eleventh
Regiment (Ohio Volunteer Infantry) (Dayton,
Ohio: W. J. Shuey, 1866), 157 & 158]; letter
bears a colored illustration of Columbia (a woman
bearing a sword and shield) with a brief poem beneath
her; circled number '28' in ink on the first page.
1862 Jan. 18
Dave [David] R. P. Shoemaker, Point
Pleasant, Virginia, to "Dear Friend" (HAB): "Should
there be any seeming lack of punctuality in my
answers you will attribute it to the fact that a
military camp is not the best place in the world for
writing and that the mails in this part of the
country are very irregular"; General John Charles
Fremont has replaced General William S. Rosencrans in
the department [March 29, 1862; the Mountain
Department] and made his headquarters at Wheeling,
Virginia [this phrase absent from digital
transcription]; describes camp life and drill;
circled number '25' in ink on the first page.
[1862] April 9
Dave [David] R. P. Shoemaker, Raleigh
Court House, Virginia, to "Dear Friend" (HAB): camp
news; General Jacob D. Cox's forces are nearby at
Flat Top Mountain; the brigade (the 3rd) consists of
the 11th, 36th, 44th, and 47th Ohio Regiments;
Simmons Battery is under the command of Colonel
George Crook is acting brigadier general with
Simmons' Battery under his command; requests local
gossip and news; circled number '35' in ink on the
first page.
1862 June 3
William H. Kindig, Waterloo on the
Rappahannock, Fauquier County, Virginia, to "My old
friend Henry," w/envelope: describes recent movements
and activities of his regiment (Company B, 107th
Pennsylvania Volunteers), attached to General Abram
Duryee's brigade, the soldiers' confidence in their
Army of Virginia and General John Pope's ability to
defeat the forces of Confederate General Thomas J.
"Stonewall" Jackson; circled number '40' in ink on
the envelope.
1862 July 27
William H. Kindig, Camp near the
battlefield six miles south of Culpepper, Virginia,
to "Dear Old Friend Henry," w/envelope: discusses his
regiment's participation in the battle of Cedar
Mountain [August 9, 1862], criticizes General Irvin
McDowell's corps and General Nathaniel Banks for the
Union defeat; mentions Confederate artillery fire
against his regiment [107th Pennsylvania Volunteers]
silenced by a battery in General Abram Duryee's
command; the front of the envelope is a printed form
with a poem "The Bravest Home".
1862 Aug. 13
William G. [Martin?] [not William H.
Kindig as listed in digital transcription], Camp
Wells [near Washington, D.C.], to "My Friend Henry":
describes his visits to Baltimore and Washington,
D.C.; assault of one of their camp guards by an
unknown assailant; says his must close his letter as
"we must drill 9 hours tomorrow" [this phrase absent
from digital transcription]; is a member of the 130th
Pennsylvania ("Our company is not yet lettered");
circled number '31' in ink on the first page.
1862 Aug. 20
Dave [David] R. P. Shoemaker, Paroled
Prisoners' Camp, Annapolis, Maryland, to "Dear Sir":
was taken prisoner at the battle of South Mountain
(September 14, 1862); describes his captivity;
circled number '9' [or '6'] in ink on the back.
[1862] Oct. 18
Dave [David] R. P. Shoemaker, Camp Parole,
Annapolis, Maryland, to "Dear friend": has been ill
and is still a prisoner of war; wants local news.
1862 Nov. 26
Thad Donely [Donnelly], Camp near
Falmouth, Virginia, to "Dear Brother" (HAB?):
identifies himself as a member of Company D, 130th
Pennsylvania Volunteers; general comments regarding
camp life; this letter written in faded pencil;
several lines and much of its four pages illegible.
1863 Jan. 7
Thad Donely [Donnelly], Camp near Falmouth
[Virginia], to "Dear Friend" (HAB?): anticipations of
battle; closes with the remark "My Dinner is ready
and I must eat"; letter written in faded pencil,
several lines and sections illegible.
1863 Jan. 20
Thad Donely [Donnelly], Camp near Falmouth
[Virginia], to [HAB]: begins with "A Chaunt" (a
sexually suggestive poem entitled "What"); soldiers
recently paid; Levi Marsh appointed colonel of the
regiment [appointed February 3, 1863; his name absent
from digital transcription]; letter written in
bleeding ink ("it is made out of vinegar and
powder"), several lines and sections illegible.
[post 1863 February
3]
Dave [David] R. P. Shoemaker, Camp near
Nashville, Tennessee, to "Dear Henry," w/envelope:
passing reference to Union General George D. Wise [a
general by brevet]; troops on the march but
destination unknown; sends respects to HAB's wife
Katie; misses the nightly company of the opposite sex
("How I wish that instead of lying down to-night with
my cold and bony masculine bed-fellows, and being
bothered by those parasites which even poor soldiers
have, I could have the pleasure of folding - a- -
what in the D___l was I going to say?") Asks HAB to
address future letters to Cincinnati, Ohio; first
postscript says the regiment's destination is
Cumberland Ford, Kentucky; second postscript (in
pencil) asks that letters be addressed to Gallatin,
Tennessee; circled number '41' in ink on the
envelope.
1863 Feb. 22
Dave [David] R. P. Shoemaker, Carthage,
Tennessee, to "My dear Friend": makes reference to
HAB's recent marriage ("If you really have 'gone and
done it' allow me to congratulate you on your choice
and to wish you and your bride a happy joyous life
together down the stream of life together with the
'little responsibilities'. I am sorry however to lose
you from among the noble fraternity of Batchelors. I
fear that the joys and cures of matrimony may induce
you to forget your friends who have not yet joined
the Benedictine order"); camp and local news; an
attack expected from Confederate General Braxton
Bragg; mentions captures and attacks against Union
soldiers; expresses his appreciation of a new rifle:
"Our regiment was today furnished with bran new
Norfolk Rifles [Springfield pattern] I am quite proud
of mine, which I call 'Katie Darling' and I am
anxious to draw a bead on a rebel with it. I intend
to sleep with it tonight"; circled number '26' in ink
on the first page.
1863 March 21
Henry T. Daihl, Camp Drake Near
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to "Mr. Henry Bitner/Dear
Sir": is a member of Company A, 77th Pennsylvania
Volunteer Infantry [not 12th Pennsylvania Volunteers
as listed in digital transcription], Army of the
Cumberland; denounces Copperheads; criticizes Army of
the Potomac ("I believe that if the Army of the
Potomac would do what is right we would have closed
up this fuss before now"); letter bears a colored
illustration of an angel with a banner captioned "The
Union Now Henceforth & For Ever Amen!" [The 11th
and 12th Pennsylvania Infantries were stationed and
fought in Virginia. The 77th was stationed in or near
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, from December 1863 to June
1864; see Frederick H. Dyer,
A Compendium of the War of the
Rebellion, (New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1959),
3:1599.]
1863 May 9
Dave [David] R. P. Shoemaker, Carthage,
Tennessee, to "Dear Friend Henry": is recovering from
an illness; many soldiers suffering from diarrhea;
alludes to Confederate General John Hunt Morgan
("Morganland and his ragamuffins have mostly left,
and gone to Va."--this comment absent from digital
transcription); asks HAB "to foresend my compliments
to Miss Addie [Crumpler?] and the fair sex
generally."
1863 May 25
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