A Guide to the Civil War Letters of Albert and Charles Allen 1862-1864
A Collection in
The Special Collections Department
Accession number 11290
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Administrative Information
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Preferred Citation
Albert and Charles Allen Civil War Letters, 1862-1864, Accession #11290, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
Acquisition Information
The Library purchased this collection from Alexander Autographs, Inc., Cos Cob, Connecticut, on February 13, 1997 and it bears no restrictions.
Scope and Content Information
This collection consists of 19 letters, June 4, 1862 to July 20, 1864, of Sergeant Albert F. Allen, Company A (?), 9th Rhode Island Volunteers and his brother Corporal Charles H. Allen, Company G, 10th Rhode Island Volunteers, to their sister, Mrs. George W. Simmons, Bristol, Rhode Island. (The typescripts variously give Albert Allen's middle initial as "G," "H," "L" or "Y.") For further information about these Rhode Island regiments, see Edwin Stone, Rhode Island in the Rebellion, 2nd ed. (Providence: George H. Whitney, 1865), 337-344, and, William A. Spicer, History of the Ninth and Tenth Rhode Island Volunteers, and the Tenth Rhode Island Battery in the Union Army in 1862 (Providence: Snow & Farnham, 1892), 121-316, 361-384, 385- 409.
The 9th and 10th Rhode Island regiments were assigned to garrison duty at various forts in or near Washington, D.C. and Virginia during the period which the Allen letters were written. Most of the letters (seventeen) were written by Albert. He and his brother discuss camp, family and state news including the election of James Y. Smith as governor of Rhode Island (April 6, 1863), Union Major General John Joseph Abercrombie (April 20, 1863), snowfall in Virginia (April 6, 1863 and March 26, 1864), the cost of butter in Washington (March 26, 1864), the arrival of wounded Confederate prisoners by train (May 6, 1863), issuing of Sibley tents and a clam bake by soldiers (August 15, 1863), the visit of the Russian Imperial Fleet (December 15, 1863), and a fire at the Washington Navy Yard (January 28, 1864).
Contents List
- Charles A. Allen, Camp Rhode Island, Tennally Town [Tenleytown], District of Columbia, to "Dear Mother and Sister and all the rest of my folks" 1862 June 4
Describes Camp Rhode Island, 20,000 soldiers (1600 from Rhode Island), five forts; complains it rains every day; Sunday services; the regiment had been given ten rounds of ammunition before marching through Baltimore; camp streets "are all laid out as they are in the city of Providence"; most of the men are Christians; the family should address letters to "Charles H. Allen, Co. G 10 Reg. R[hode] I[sland] V[olunteers], Tennally Town, D. C. in care of Captain A. C. Green" [Albert Crawford Greene]
- Corporal Charles A. Allen, Camp Frieze, to "Dear Sister and the rest" 1862 June 11
the regiment has taken the oath; describes camp life and drilling; "we have more than we can eat"; Brother Clapp [A. Huntington Clapp] is the regimental chaplain; the name of the camp has been changed from Camp Rhode Island to Camp Frieze; he is now a corporal
- Sergeant [Albert] Allen, Union Mills [Virginia], to "Dear Sister" [Mrs. George W. Simmons; see March 18, 1864] 1863 April 6
family news and glad her husband George is well; asks about the outcome of recent elections and supposes Smith [John Gregory Smith, 1809-1876; governor, 1863-1865] carried the State by a large majority; twelve inches of snow here in "the sunny south"; asks about the effects of the conscription law and promises "to see the end of this war or die in the attempt"
- Sergeant [Albert F. Allen], Union Mills, Virginia, to "Dear Sister" 1863 April 20
his unit is about to march and is under the command of Major General John Joseph Abercrombie (1798-1877); 15,000 cavalry, 10 batteries of artillery and 6 brigades of infantry are preparing to march; has visited the Bull Run battlefield
- [Albert F. Allen], Union Mills, Virginia, to "Dear Sister" 1863 May 6
battle at Warrenton [Warrenton Junction, May 3, 1863], describes arrival of Union and Confederate wounded on railroad cars ("The blood was running out of the cars when they came in"), 60 prisoners taken, mostly members of Mosby's cavalry [John Singleton Mosby, 1833-1916]
- [Albert F. Allen], Chantilly, Virginia, to "Dear Sister" 1863 June 22
2nd Rhode Island Infantry is camped nearby; battle yesterday at Snickers Gap [Haymarket and Thoroughfare Gap skirmishes] and heavy casualties among Rhode Island cavalry but the rebels were defeated
- [Albert F. Allen], Fairfax Cemetery, Virginia, to "Dear Sister" 1863 July 6
discusses merits of strawberries and huckleberries; all rebel sympathizers in Alexandria must leave in 36 hours or join the Union Army; mutual acquaintances missing in action after a recent battle
- Albert F. Allen, Camp near Fort Ward, Fairfax Cemetery, Virginia, to "Dear Sister" 1863 July 19
experiencing a severe thunderstorm and describes new tents
- Albert F. Allen, In Hospital Near Fort Ward, to "Dear Sister" 1863 August 15
[four letters in one, different dates]: August 15, has been hospitalized, praises his doctor; August 18, A.F.A.: postscript to previous; has been released from the hospital but has not yet returned to duty; August 23, "From your Sister," Bristol [Rhode Island--see March 18, 1864], to "Dear Brother": has received a letter and photograph from Albert [Albert Allen]; September 12, Charles F. Allen, Providence [Rhode Island], to "Dear Sister and all the rest": has received letters from Albert; soldiers recently had a clam bake; wrote on this crowded stationery because "their was room enough, and I thought that it is well enough
- Sergeant [Albert F. Allen], Camp on Arlington Heights near Fort Richardson, Virginia, to "Dear Brother" 1863 September 6
the battery [regiment?] has been issued Sibley tents and praised by various generals as the best drilled in the service [see Spicer, History of the Ninth and Tenth Rhode Island Volunteers, page 102 for illustrations of tent types]
- [Albert F. Allen], Camp near Fort Scott, to "Dear Sister" 1863 September 9
likes the new captain, 20 men on the sick list, he and a Sergeant Mesinger are the only two sergeants healthy enough to remain on duty
- [Albert F. Allen], Camp Barry, Washington, to "Dear Sister" 1863 December 15
yesterday, he saw the Russian fleet in Alexandria and watched an official visit by members of Congress [The Imperial Russian Navy's Atlantic Fleet arrived in the United States for an official visit on September 23; the Lincoln administration held a reception for the officers on December 19, 1863]
- [Albert F. Allen], Camp Barry, Washington, to "Dear Sister" 1863 December 20
mentions a two-day storm; requests a bottle of Pain Killer [whiskey?]; sprained his hand last Tuesday
- A. F. Allen, Camp Barry, Washington, to "Dear Sister" 1864 January 16
his hand is improving; mentions Portsmouth Hospital
- Albert, Camp Barry, Washington, to "Dear Sister" 1864 January 28
complains of the slow response of the city fire department to a fire alarm at the Navy Yard; his hand continues to improve though a bone was broken; weather is pleasant
- [Albert F. Allen], Camp Barry, Washington, to "Dear Sister" 1864 February 14
his health has improved and he has been promoted to first duty sergeant in place of J. B. Louis
- [Albert F. Allen], Camp Barry, Washington, to "Dear Sister" [w/envelope addressed to Mrs. George W. Simmons, Bristol, Rhode Island] 1864 March 18
"We have drawn new horse and Shelter tents [see Spicer, History of the Ninth and Tenth Rhode Island Volunteers, page 102 for illustration of tent types] ammunition today": rumors that the regiment will join an expedition led by General Ambrose P. Burnside (1824-1881) or to join General William T. Sherman (1820- 1891) at Mobile, Alabama
- Albert F. Allen, Camp Barry, Washington, to "Dear Sister" 1864 March 26
Burnside expedition a rumor; butter is 40 cents a pound; 12 inches of snow last week
- Albert F. Allen, Fort C. F. Smith, Arlington Heights, to "Dear Sister" 1864 July 20
picked 18 quarts of blackberries; there was an attempt to arrest a Colonel Tompkins [there was a First Lieutenant Albert W. Tompkins, Company A, 9th Rhode Island Volunteers mentioned in Spicer, History of the Ninth and Tenth Rhode Island Volunteers, page 118, 363] to "make him prove where he got his authority for stating the term of service to be less than two years to serve. If he did not get his authority from the War Department the men will sue him for damages and try to get out of the service on the plea of being enlisted under false pretense and if he did get orders from the War Department then they must discharge us at any rate."