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Hd. Qurs. Co. “A” 129th Ills.
In the Hills near Allatoona
May 24th 1864
My Dear Wife

After a severe day’s marching, we have turned the flank of the enemy again & are fortifying ourselves among the hills south west of Allatoona. The Rebs seem to understand retreating to perfection, & it is probable we will not get an opportunity to do more than shell them a few minutes.¹ The present Campaign thus far has been a perfect success.

We expect a mail to-night & news from home. The troops endure the hardships of the Campaign with great fortitude. There has been a great many cases of sun stroke within the last two days, but I think none have resulted seriously. Co. “A” were deployed as flankers to-day, & we came in this evening very weary.²

My health is very good and seems to improve rather than diminish. I heard from [Lt.] Smith yesterday; he is getting along finely. Allen Fellows is well.

I do not think there will be much fighting this side of Atlanta which we are nearing rapidly. If the Rebs cannot fight through this country, they will surely not stand long any place. We captured two more cannon yesterday. We carry our bridges with us. The Rail Road bridge across Etowah River, I understand, was saved without any serious damage.³

All the boys are well & in good spirits. The country through which we are passing is very fine and promises fine crops. Everything is pleasing. The fruit will soon ripen, & berries are coloring.

I must close as the mail leaves shortly. We have built quite a formidable fortification in front of our guns to prevent a surprise.⁴ There was some cannonading on our right & light skirmishing on our front as we came in, but that has been an every day occurrence for so long that we have ceased to notice it. Write often. Our mail goes and comes quite regularly.

Genl. Sherman issued an order urging soldiers to write to their families and friends but forbidding newspaper correspondence.⁵ I will write every opportunity. May Our Father in Heaven preserve you in health & bless us with all things needful. Give my love to Mother and Maggie, Chris [Yetter] & Nate [Hill] are well. May Holy Angels guard thee.

Your Affect. Husband
J. F. Culver

1. The 129th Illinois remained near Cassville until 4 A.M. on May 23. When it moved out, Butterfield’s division marched to the southwest, crossing the Etowah at Milum’s Bridge shortly before sundown. To guard against sunstrokes, Colonel Case had his men “put fresh leaves in our hats.” Nightfall on the 24th found the 129th Illinois camped in the hills near Burnt Hickory. One of the soldiers, echoing Lieutenant Culver, reported, “Many of our men suffered so much from the sun and heat that they could not assist” in erecting breastworks, and “threw themselves on the cold ground to sleep and rest, not caring for any supper.” Grunert, History of the 129th Illinois, pp. 65-66; O. R., Ser. I, Vol. XXXVIII, pt. II, p. 382. General Johnston, after abandoning his position in front of Cassville on the 19th, had posted his army astride the Western & Atlantic Railroad at Allatoona. General Sherman wisely determined to flank Johnston’s position. After establishing his base at Kingston, his “army group” crossed the Etowah on a broad front and, abandoning the railroad, struck toward the southeast, flanking Johnston’s fortified Allatoona line, with Marietta as their goal. Horn, Army of Tennessee, p. 320.
2. During the day the vanguard skirmished with Confederate cavalry, the greyciads capturing some of Hooker’s foot-soldiers. O. R., Ser. I, Vol. XXXVIII, pt. II, p. 382; Ibid., pt. IV, p. 742.
3. The XX Corps had crossed the Etowah on May 23 on a pontoon bridge laid by the army’s Pioneers. Culver was mistaken. On May 20, Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler’s cavalry division, covering the Confederate retreat from Cassville into the Allatoona lines, had crossed the Etowah, burning the railroad bridge. O. R., Ser. I, Vol. XXXVIII, pt. III, p. 946.
4. The opposing armies no longer disdained throwing up breastworks whenever they halted for the night. The Confederates grew so adept at it that the Federals said, “The Rebels must carry their breastworks with them.” But so well did they emulate this example that the Confederates countered, “Sherman’s men march with a rifle in one hand and a spade in the other.” Horn, Army of Tennessee, p. 331.
5. General Sherman on May 20 had notified the troops there was no truth to the rumors that he had “prohibited the mails to and from this army.” On the contrary, he wished to encourage them “to keep up the most unreserved correspondence with their family and friends wherever they may be. Army, Corps and Division Commanders should perfect their arrangements to receive and transmit mails, and all Chaplains, Staff Officers & Captains of Companies shall assist the soldiers in communicating with their families.” Sherman, however, discouraged “the maintenance of that class of men who will not take a musket & fight but follow an army to pick up news for sale, speculating on a species of information which is dangerous to the army and our cause, and who are more used to bolster up worthless and idle officers, than to notice the hardworking and meritorious whose modesty is generally equal to their courage and who scorn to seek the cheap flattery of the press.” Circular, May 20, 1864, Mil. Div. of Miss., Regimental Papers, 129th Illinois, NA.

As the University of Iowa moves to EndNote as its official citation management solution, we at Hardin are here to help with the transition from RefWorks (or any other tool). At this quick workshop, you will learn how to collect your citations and bibliographic data and import them into EndNote.

Our next sessions are:

Thursday, May 29 from 1:30-2 pm

Monday, June 2 from 10-10:30 am

Friday, June 13 from 12:30-1 pm

Location: Hardin Library East Information Commons

Register here. Questions? Call (319) 335-9151 or email us at lib-hardin@uiowa.edu to learn more.

Excerpted from an article by Jennifer Howard in the The Chronicle of Higher Education:

“A new nonprofit group wants to help authors understand all of their options. Called the Authors Alliance, it’s led by several academics and writers, including Pamela Samuelson, a professor of law and information at the University of California at Berkeley. She has long been a major voice in copyright discussions and has been a moving force behind friend-of-the-court briefs filed in closely followed copyright-infringement cases, including a lawsuit that pitted another authors’ group, the Authors Guild, against Google over its mass digitizing of books.

The new alliance is part of an attempt to develop a positive agenda around copyright, she says, and to arm writers, and perhaps policy makers, with information that will help them make decisions.”

Read full article here.

And, for more: Kevin Smith, a copyright expert and librarian, explains why he joined the Authors Alliance, and how it differs from the Authors Guild, in his most recent blog posting.

Jean Étienne Dominique Esquirol (1772-1840)

Des maladies mentales considérées sous les rapports médical, hygiénique et médicolégal. 2 vols. Brussels : J.B. Tircher, 1838.

Esquirol’s drawing of an inmate of Bethlem Hospital.

As Pinel’s most outstanding pupil, Esquirol so closely followed his teacher’s works that the contributions of the two men are sometimes confused. Like Pinel, Esquirol did not attempt to analyze mental illness from a philosophical standpoint, but sought to classify and describe the various kinds of insanity he encountered in his practice.

Esquirol coined the term monomania, a concept which anticipated the modern view of schizophrenia, and he was the first to distinguish hallucination from illusion.

While at Sâlpetrière, where he succeeded Pinel as chief physician, Esquirol introduced formal instruction in psychiatry and gained support for Pinel’s humanitarian reform movements by lecturing throughout Europe. Des maladies mentales, the work for which he is best known, served as a basic text in psychiatry for over fifty years.

To learn more, visit http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/rbr/

Text via Donna Hirst, Curator of Rare Books for the John Martin Rare Book Room at Hardin Library for the Health Sciences.

Image via kingscollections.org

The library will be closed on Monday, May 26 in observance of Memorial Day.

We will be holding shortened hours on Memorial Day Weekend:

Saturday: 10 am-2 pm

Sunday: Noon-4 pm

Image via indianabarrister.com

Hd. Qurs. Co. “A” 129th Ills.
[Near Cassville, Ga., May 20th 1864]
My Dear Wife

I wrote a line this morning & have just learned that another mail goes out shortly. Yours of the 10th & 11th I recd. to-day.¹ I am very happy to hear that your health is so good. God be praised for all his mercies.

We have lay in camp all day. I heard from Lt. Smith yesterday, his wound is not dangerous.² The other boys are doing well; Fred Huetson is worst.³ I had my Company under the enemy’s fire yesterday about 4 hours,⁴ and on last Sunday [the 15th] about 6 hours of a most murderous fire, none faltered except Frank Long (Sergt.) & I had him reduced to the ranks to-day for cowardice.⁵ I have a noble Company & my earnest wish so long cherished has been granted. I have been permitted to lead them in all their battles. We will again advance upon the enemy, & I fear no danger. We will end this Campaign with brilliant and permanent success.

Continue to write often. A letter is a great treat. I scarcely think our letters yet go beyond Chattanooga or Nashville, but you will get them by & by. May God bless you and keep you by his Grace. Remember me to all and accept the love of

Your Affect. Husband
J. F. Culver

Much obliged for the stamps. I have recd. all.

1. Mary Culver’s letter of May 10 & 11 is missing fron the Culver Collection.
2. General Sherman’s “army group” had outflanked Johnston’s Army of Tennessee, compelling it to abandon its Rocky Face line and retire into the defenses covering Resaca. The 129th Illinois had marched south by way of Snake Creek Gap, and on the 13th approached Resaca from the west. On May 15 General Butterfield’s division moved to the left and took position in front of the earthworks east of the Dalton road defended by Maj. Gen. Carter L. Stevenson’s division of General Hood’s corps. Orders were issued for Ward’s brigade to attack and storm the redoubt and rifle pits to its front with bayonets. The units formed in battalion column at intervals of 44 paces between regiments—the 129th being the fourth regiment in the column—and prepared to advance. The soldiers shucked their knapsacks and fixed bayonets, and Colonel Case gave the command “forward!” Much of the ground across which the brigade advanced to reach the works defended by Brig. Gen. John C. Brown’s Tennessee Brigade of Stevenson’s division was grown up in dense underbrush. Cannoneers of the Cherokee Georgia Artillery, who had unlimbered their four 12-pounder Napoleons about 80 yards in advance of the breastworks, opened fire on the Federal column with shell at a range of 800 yards. Soon thereafter the bluecoats entered a dense cedar thicket which screened them from view. As the Illinoisans ascended a “small hill about 400 yards” from the Georgians’ guns, they were fired upon by Brown’s Tennesseans posted in the rifle pits. The column charged at the double-quick, the men cheering. There was a change of direction to the right, and the companies on the right, having a shorter distance to go, approached the battery first. General Ward shouted, “Go in boys, give them the devil!” and the soldiers stormed into the “redoubt, which was simply a natural basin on the ridge, with formidable breastworks flanking it on the right and left, and on higher ground.” Sergt. Frederick Hess of Company H, 129th Illinois, placed the colors near the guns of the Cherokee’s Artillery. Brown’s Tennesseans, from their breastworks, blazed away, forcing the storming party to retreat a few steps and take cover in front of the “redoubt.” The four cannon, abandoned by their gunners, were between the lines, and a desperate struggle ensued for their possession. In this fight casualties were heavy; General Ward was wounded; and the Confederates called up reinforcements. Soldiers of Ward’s brigade held the ground gained for five hours, until relieved by General Geary’s division on the night of May 15. Rolls were called. It was found that in the charge and fight for the “redoubt” that the 129th Illinois had lost 9 killed and 39 wounded. The dead were buried on the field next day. Lieutenant Smith had been wounded in the abdomen and shoulder. He was hospitalized until June 4, when he was released from the hospital and given a 20-day furlough. O. R., Ser. I, Vol. XXXVIII, pt. II, pp. 322-323, 340-341, 365-366, Ibid., pt. III, pp. 812-813; Compiled Service Records of Union Soldiers, NA; Grunert, History of the 129th Illinois, pp. 60-62.
3. Frederick G. Huetson, a 20-year-old farmer, was mustered into service on Sept. 8, 1862, as a private in Company A, 129th Illinois Infantry. Private Huetson was wounded in the left leg at Resaca, May 15, 1864, hospitalized at Madison, Ind., and medically discharged at Quincy, Ill., March 25, 1865. Compiled Service Records of Union Soldiers, NA.
4. On the 15th, while the 129th was engaged east of the Dalton road, other Union troops advanced on Lay’s Ferry to the Confederates’ left and rear. With his position at Resaca outflanked, General Johnston, under the cover of darkness, abandoned the works successfully defended for two days and retired south of the Oostenaula. Soldiers of Ward’s brigade on the 16th policed the battlefield, buried the dead, and succored the wounded. The Union dead were buried on a knoll, “the bodies wrapped in blankets and laid along side of each other. Some green twigs were put over the dead, several chaplains addressed the listeners, the grave closed . . . and a board, bearing an inscription the name, number of brigade, regiment, and company of the dead, was placed at the head of each corpse.” That evening the brigade started in pursuit. Next morning the 129th Illinois crossed the Coosawatee, five miles east of Resaca, and turned south. On the 18th an exhausting 20-mile march was made, the column passing east of Adairsville. The day was terribly hot, and many soldiers straggled. Near Cassville, on the 19th, General Johnston prepared to turn on Sherman’s pursuing columns. The Confederate corps commanders botched their assignments, and Johnston pulled back, posting his Army of Tennessee south and east of Cassville. On the morning of the 19th General Ward’s brigade, with other units of Hooker’s XX Corps, formed into line of battle and advanced on Cassville. Ward employed the 105th Illinois, deployed as skirmishers, to cover his battle line. Confederate skirmishers were encountered and forced to retire. The Union advance came to a halt when shelled by a Rebel battery. Taking cover in the timber, the troops threw up breastworks. Here they remained until ordered by General Hooker to move by the right flank to Price’s farm and support the artillery. About 2 P.M., the advance on Cassville was resumed, and four companies of the 129th, one of which was Company A, advanced as skirmishers. Supported by the other six companies, they pressed forward, “driving the enemy from their ambushes and entrenchments until they reached a point less than 1/4 mile from town, and would have penetrated the town had they not been ordered by Gen. (Joseph F.) Knipe to advance no further.” The gallant conduct of the 129th called “forth repeatedly very flattering compliments . . . from Gen. Knipe.” Here they were relieved at dark. O. R., Ser. I, Vol. XXXVIII, pt. II, pp. 341-342, 366; Case to Thomas, May 21, 1864, Regimental Papers, 129th Illinois, NA.
5. Sergeant Long was reduced to the ranks on May 20 and deserted one month later. Compiled Service Records of Union Soldiers, NA.

Information Commons close 15 minutes before the library.

Please note that the library will be closed on Monday, May 26 in observance of Memorial Day.

Here is a very good article in The Nation outlining some of the challenges faced by university presses:

http://www.thenation.com/article/179712/university-presses-under-fire?page=0,0