Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the H. E. Norton Letter must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: H. E. Norton Letter, Ms2009-074 - Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Acquisition Information

The H. E. Norton Letter was purchased by Special Collections in 1993.

Processing Information

The processing and description of the H. E. Norton Letter commenced and was completed in May 2009.

Biographical Information

H. E. Norton was a soldier in a Michigan brigade during and following the Civil War. He may have been Hylon E. Norton (1828-1911), a sergeant in Company I of the 6th Michigan Cavalry.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of a letter from H. E. Norton, a soldier in a Michigan brigade just after the close of the Civil War. Writing from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to friends Erastus and Viola Terry in June 1865, Norton briefly describes the brigade's journey westward. He then complains that veteran members of his regiment were supposed to have been mustered out in May but that the regiment was instead ordered westward, seemingly with the acquiescence of Michigan's governor. ("[I]t is Generally Believed that the Michigan Brigade was Basely sold by the Governor of the State of Michigan for we could never have been transfered to this Dept. if he had not consented to it," he writes.) Norton pledges to remain with his regiment and discusses the camp rumor that the regiment will soon be assigned to guarding a government train to Nebraska Territory.

Index Terms

Subjects:

• Civil War
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865