36th Massachusetts Infantry CIVIL WAR LETTER - Fighting Their Way Into Tennessee
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| Reference Number: Avaluer:205912 |
CIVIL WAR LETTER
Charles Henry Howe—known to all his friends as “Charley”—wasborn on 4 May 1845 in Lancaster, Massachusetts. He was the son of EbenezerWilson Howe (1817-1885) and Sarah Ann Blanchard (1823-Aft1900) of Clinton, Worcester, Massachusetts. His father worked as a mill hand and struggled to putfood on the table for his wife and three boys. Charley had a limited educationand a difficult childhood. He fell in with the wrong crowd, shirked his workand developed a repu...tation for laziness among the Clintonites. Though he wasbelow the minimum age, Charley begged his parents to let him enlist, hoping tosee something of the world and get out from under his parent’s roof. When theyfinally consented, he enlisted on 15 August 1862 in Co. I, 36th MassachusettsInfantry.Charley’s letters are a delight to read and provide a rich, detailed history of the 36th Massachusetts not found elsewhere. According toCharley, only one in five of the men serving in the regiment were single. Assuch, Charley’s letters are not rife with home front domestic issues so oftenfound in the letters of married men. Fond of travel and adventure, Charley’sletters abound with personal observations and impressions that give us rareinsight into the life of a foot soldier. The 36th Massachusetts was also one ofthe few Eastern regiments that served in both the Eastern and Western Theatersof the war, enabling him to contrast the degree of difficulty in campaigning onthe eastern seaboard, the mid- and deep-South.According to theregimental history, “while the regiment was encamped at Rutledge, EastTennessee, during the pursuit of Longstreet, after the siege of Knoxville, [Israel H.] Smith, with nine other members of the 36th, and a small detail ofthe 49th Pennsylvania, under charge of Sergeant Charles HenryBoswell ofthe 36th, were ordered out on a foraging expedition, the regiment being greatlyin need of subsistence supplies. While out for this purpose they tookpossession of an old mill about four miles from camp. the detail of the 36thwas composed of Sergt. Boswell, Privates Daniel H. Park, Lucius A. Reynolds, Frederick Ruth, and Israel H. Smith of Co. C; Hezekiah Aldrich, Calvin Hubbard, and Patrick Gillespie, of Co. G, and Charles H. Howe of Co. I. These men werein the mill grinding corn, their rifles stacked in one corner, when, early inthe morning of December 15, a boy came running into the mill saying the rebelswere approaching. Smith glanced out the window and saw a squadron of men whomhe supposed from their dress to be Federal Cavalry, but it afterwards appearedthat their blue uniforms had been taken from one of our supply trains captureda day or two before. They numbered about 400 and immediately surrounding themill, they demanded a surrender. Resistance being hopeless, our men…gavethemselves up.”The prisoners were sent to AndersonvillePrison in Georgia where all of them died except Smith who survived and wasparoled a year later. Charles Howe died on 27 August 1864 and was buried atAndersonville.TRANSCRIPTION
Columbia [Kentucky]
June 1st 1863My dear Mother, I wrote a letter to you yesterday but owing to the orders that we have just received, I will write again today. The orders are that the men are to have three days rations in their haversacks and give more in the knapsacks and to be ready to march immediately. Officers are to give up their wall tents and use shelters just as the privates and all their extra baggage is to be sent to he rear. I believe I shall throw away my blanket and only carry one rubber, one tent, and an extra pair of socks. I shall wear one shirt and throw the rest away.The pontoon train is on the road and we no doubt have got to cross the Cumberland river and fight our way into Tennessee. If you do not hear from me again soon, do not worry for I will write as soon as possible.I understand that the 36th Mass., 45th Mass., 27th and 17th Michigan are to constitute the 1st Brigade, 1st Division under the command of Col. Henry Bowman. Excuse haste.Yours with much love, — CharleyTERMS$3.00 postage in the United States. We accept Paypal. Postage combined for multiple purchases. Please wait for me to send the invoice, otherwise will pay a much higher postage rate!For International buyers: We are now using eBay's Global Shipping Program. We had too many packages sent via the post office go missing. So we believe this program will be safer for us - and for you.We're members of the American Philatelic Society, the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, the Confederate Stamp Alliance and the Illinois Postal History Society.We only sell genuine, original letters (no copies or reproductions). Some of our letters have been transcribed and nicely presented for future genealogists and history buffs on the Spared & Shared blog. We've been selling on eBay since 2001. BID WITH CONFIDENCE.
00084
Charles Henry Howe—known to all his friends as “Charley”—wasborn on 4 May 1845 in Lancaster, Massachusetts. He was the son of EbenezerWilson Howe (1817-1885) and Sarah Ann Blanchard (1823-Aft1900) of Clinton, Worcester, Massachusetts. His father worked as a mill hand and struggled to putfood on the table for his wife and three boys. Charley had a limited educationand a difficult childhood. He fell in with the wrong crowd, shirked his workand developed a repu...tation for laziness among the Clintonites. Though he wasbelow the minimum age, Charley begged his parents to let him enlist, hoping tosee something of the world and get out from under his parent’s roof. When theyfinally consented, he enlisted on 15 August 1862 in Co. I, 36th MassachusettsInfantry.Charley’s letters are a delight to read and provide a rich, detailed history of the 36th Massachusetts not found elsewhere. According toCharley, only one in five of the men serving in the regiment were single. Assuch, Charley’s letters are not rife with home front domestic issues so oftenfound in the letters of married men. Fond of travel and adventure, Charley’sletters abound with personal observations and impressions that give us rareinsight into the life of a foot soldier. The 36th Massachusetts was also one ofthe few Eastern regiments that served in both the Eastern and Western Theatersof the war, enabling him to contrast the degree of difficulty in campaigning onthe eastern seaboard, the mid- and deep-South.According to theregimental history, “while the regiment was encamped at Rutledge, EastTennessee, during the pursuit of Longstreet, after the siege of Knoxville, [Israel H.] Smith, with nine other members of the 36th, and a small detail ofthe 49th Pennsylvania, under charge of Sergeant Charles HenryBoswell ofthe 36th, were ordered out on a foraging expedition, the regiment being greatlyin need of subsistence supplies. While out for this purpose they tookpossession of an old mill about four miles from camp. the detail of the 36thwas composed of Sergt. Boswell, Privates Daniel H. Park, Lucius A. Reynolds, Frederick Ruth, and Israel H. Smith of Co. C; Hezekiah Aldrich, Calvin Hubbard, and Patrick Gillespie, of Co. G, and Charles H. Howe of Co. I. These men werein the mill grinding corn, their rifles stacked in one corner, when, early inthe morning of December 15, a boy came running into the mill saying the rebelswere approaching. Smith glanced out the window and saw a squadron of men whomhe supposed from their dress to be Federal Cavalry, but it afterwards appearedthat their blue uniforms had been taken from one of our supply trains captureda day or two before. They numbered about 400 and immediately surrounding themill, they demanded a surrender. Resistance being hopeless, our men…gavethemselves up.”The prisoners were sent to AndersonvillePrison in Georgia where all of them died except Smith who survived and wasparoled a year later. Charles Howe died on 27 August 1864 and was buried atAndersonville.TRANSCRIPTION
Columbia [Kentucky]
June 1st 1863My dear Mother, I wrote a letter to you yesterday but owing to the orders that we have just received, I will write again today. The orders are that the men are to have three days rations in their haversacks and give more in the knapsacks and to be ready to march immediately. Officers are to give up their wall tents and use shelters just as the privates and all their extra baggage is to be sent to he rear. I believe I shall throw away my blanket and only carry one rubber, one tent, and an extra pair of socks. I shall wear one shirt and throw the rest away.The pontoon train is on the road and we no doubt have got to cross the Cumberland river and fight our way into Tennessee. If you do not hear from me again soon, do not worry for I will write as soon as possible.I understand that the 36th Mass., 45th Mass., 27th and 17th Michigan are to constitute the 1st Brigade, 1st Division under the command of Col. Henry Bowman. Excuse haste.Yours with much love, — CharleyTERMS$3.00 postage in the United States. We accept Paypal. Postage combined for multiple purchases. Please wait for me to send the invoice, otherwise will pay a much higher postage rate!For International buyers: We are now using eBay's Global Shipping Program. We had too many packages sent via the post office go missing. So we believe this program will be safer for us - and for you.We're members of the American Philatelic Society, the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, the Confederate Stamp Alliance and the Illinois Postal History Society.We only sell genuine, original letters (no copies or reproductions). Some of our letters have been transcribed and nicely presented for future genealogists and history buffs on the Spared & Shared blog. We've been selling on eBay since 2001. BID WITH CONFIDENCE.
00084
