Civil War letters

    Good Morning!   Cloudy here and cold.   We had nicer weather in Jan. & Feb.   But good old March is just like itself.  Cloudy, damp and cold!   The snowdrops are blossoming and there are daffodils up with buds but don't know if they will get blasted or if they will open.  Time will tell.
    Thought you might like to hear some more from the boys in the Civil War.
                                                                   6 Feb. 1862
                                 From the Eleventh Regiment
                                 Hatteras Inlet, Jan. 18, 1862
                         W. R. P. = William Rhodes Potter, Woodstock

"Editor of Transcript:-- We left the campground on the 7^th, at 12 o’clock, M., and had to stay in Annapolis till 8 P.M., for a boat to take us on board the ship that brought us here. While we were waiting for the boat, some two or three of us took the liberty to go on a voyage of discovery through the city. After having completed our circuit, we returned to the Regiment, and were conveyed to our ship, and marched down into the hold—or the Valley of Humiliation, rather—for I can think of nothing else to compare it with. Sea sickness. For the benefit of your readers that ever may chance to take a voyage, I will give a description of the disease. It is not laid down in Scott’s or Hardee’s tactics but should be, I think, if the Government means to send soldiers by sea. It is performed in one time and three motions; 1^st motion, Start for the side of the ship on double-quick. 2^nd, Lean over the side of the vessel, and, 3d, Fire. After the first discharge, fire at will till nature gives the command, Cease firing."

    I don't know about you, but being seasick must be AWFUL!    Luckily I am not and actually like being on a large vessel.  Not a cruise ship size but others when we have gone from Portland, Me. to Nova Scotia.  And smaller ferries.  

13 Feb. 1862
From The Eleventh Reg’t.
The following letter is from a member of Capt. Clapp’s company, H. Cady, on the vessel, (the Voltigeur):
Hatteras Inlet, Jan. 20^th, 1862 

"Dear Parents:--I wish to give you a description of our journey here from Fortress Monroe. There was a few in our regiment that were sick from the measles and other causes, and on Wednesday night one of the poor fellows died, having taken cold after having the measles. Thursday morning it was very rough, so that there was no prospect of getting into the harbor though we were near to it, and they prepared to bury our dead comrade at sea. He was enclosed in a piece of sail cloth with pieces of iron at his feet, then brought on deck and enshrouded with the flag to defend which he had left home and friends. The ship sailed from the land into the deep water, as it is not customary to bury where they can take soundings. All who could, came on deck, but many could hardly stir from sea-sickness. The Colonel read the burial service, and the body was launched into the deep. Three volleys were fired by a part of his company and the solemn ceremony of a burial at sea was over. It would have been more solemn and impressive had it been pleasant, the ship still."

3 Apr. 1862
From the Eleventh Regiment
An Account of the Newbern Battle by Windham County Soldiers

"The whole fleet lay at anchor off Cape Hatteras. Soon three brigades were on the way. Landed and without delay marched towards Newbern. It rained through most of the day and by spells at night. If you would like to know how we passed the night, just imagine ten thousand troops--part of them lying down from exhaustion on the soaked earth, drenched with rain, after a hurried march of ten miles, each burdened with a heavy overcoat, haversack, arms and accoutrements, with a hard cracker and piece of salt junk for their stomachs, and for a cover the dark clouds, which poured upon us their contents during the night. The next morning we were ordered forward to engage the enemy. Our regiment drew up a few howitzers, 12-pounders, and planted them in the face of the heavy fire. By this time, volleys of musketry, and the roar of artillery, shook the very earth with their thunder. Our Regiment filed in to the left of the main road and took our
position a few hundred yards from the enemy’s entrenchments, and relieved the 27^th Mass., which had spent their ammunition. We were ordered to lie down, and no sooner was it executed, than the enemy, discovering our position, poured forth a perfect shower of bullets, grape and canister, riddling the trees, and passing mostly just over our heads, which, you may infer, hugged old mother earth in a most affectionate manner. After lying a few minutes, Lieut. Col. Mathewson, who is in command of the Regiment, ordered us to return compliments. Suddenly the firing ceased on both sides; a few minutes intervened, and the Star Spangled Banner was proudly floating to the breeze, planted on the ramparts where a few minutes before the black flag of disunion was struggling for existence."

    Near the end of 2010, beginning of 2011, we got an email from a man in New Bern, NC, who is writing a book about the Battle of New Bern and wanted to know if we had anything from the 8th, 10th or 11th regiments from Connecticut who participated in that battle.   Well, of course we did!  All because of the wonderful Editor of our newspaper at that time, John Q. A. Stone, who asked the men to send letters to the paper and he would publish them.   That is how we were able to publish our Civil War book "Dear Transcript."    So, I copied things for him and emailed them to him.   That started a correspondence between us and last October when we went to visit friends in Virginia, we went to visit him and his wife in New Bern.  Lovely, lovely people.   I am looking forward to getting a copy of his book when he has finished it.   I still hear from him every once in awhile and the last time was when he was wondering about a flag that was captured by the 10th Regiment on the night following the battle.   Greenwich Historical Society has it in their collections and I hope they know more about it.  They have an on-line exhibit on this and it is called Voices from The Civil War online..  or you can go to the Greenwich Historical Society home page and under exhibitions you will see the link.

Hope you enjoy this tidbit and please leave a comment.