Joseph F. Culver Civil War Letters

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Dec. 30th 1862

Dear Wife

Amid the cares & business surrounding me, I did not write yesterday, but, as I shall have an opportunity of sending my letter by a gentleman going North to-morrow. Otis B. Taylor died this morning about three o’clock, & by intelligence from Bowling Green just recd. I learn that Uriah Springer of our Company died on Christmas. ((Uriah Springer, a 27-year-old farmer, was mustered into service Sept. 8, 1862, as a private in Company A, 129th Illinois Infantry. Private Springer died on Christmas 1862 of measles in Hospital No. 5 at Bowling Green, Ky. Compiled Service Records of Union Soldiers, NA.)) E. A. Kenyon is rather better but still bad. Lieut. Smith is getting well fast & is, I think, beyond danger. Continue reading →

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Hd. Qrs., Co. A, 129th Ills. Vols. Inft.
Bucks Lodge, Tenn., Dec. 28th 1862

Dear Wife

I see but little prospect of this communication reaching you for some time, but as soon as opportunity offers, will ford. it. This is Sunday & a beautiful day, though for the past two days it has been raining hard & is yet quite damp.

My health is quite good, all thanks to a kind Providence. We are rather sorely afflicted. Otis Taylor is very low with scarcely a hope of recovery. ((Otis Taylor, a 22-year-old Pontiac Township farmer, was mustered into service Sept. 8, 1862, as a private in Company A, 129th Illinois Infantry. Private Taylor died of measles on Dec. 30, 1862, in the regimental hospital at Buck Lodge, Tenn. Compiled Service Records of Union soldiers, NA.)) He has had the measles & was doing well, but the dampness has driven them in, & they have settled in his lungs. I wish it was possible to send word to his family, but all communication is cut off. ((General Morgan and his horse-soldiers between Dec. 26 and 29 wreaked havoc on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. A number of weeks would pass before there would again be through traffic between Louisville and Nashville.)) I hope to be able to tell of his recovery soon, but it is at present highly improbable. Lieut. Smith has the measles but is doing well, & if nothing happens will soon recover. Earl H. Kenyon is very low with typhoid fever & congestion of the brain; ((Earl H. Kenyon, a 22-year-old surveyor, was mustered into service on Sept. 8, 1862, as a sergeant in Company A, 129th Illinois Infantry. Sergeant Kenyon died of pneumonia on Jan. 6, 1863, in the regimental hospital at Fountain Head, Tenn. Ibid.)) he may recover. He was married while our Company was at Kankakee & lived in Dwight. I am informed that J. Wood is getting better; he is back at Mitchellsville. Continue reading →

Pontiac Ill. Dec. 27th 1862

My Dear Husband

Yours of the 22nd I rec’d this afternoon I mailed you a letter yesterday, that makes the third this week. After this I will mail as regularly as possible Monday Wednesday & Saturday In my letter of yesterday I enclosed one dollars worth of Postage stamps & a five dollar bill which I hope you will receive

I am truly sorry to hear of the danger to which you are exposed at the present time May God protect you in every time of danger. Simon Burker has returned on a furlough I have not seen him yet but hope to before he leaves, he goes next week. There is so much sickness I am afraid he will not enjoy his visit much We heard this morning that Augustus Groswell was not expected to live he was taken with the small pox before his father got well Continue reading →

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Letter No. 2
Hd. Qrs., Co. A, 129th Ills. Vols. Inft.
Buck Lodge, Tenn. Dec. 25th 1862

Dear Wife

I commenced [a] letter hastily this afternoon & closed it this evening, & as I have still a few leisure moments I will try & give you a short description of our present situation.

We left Mitchellsville rather hastily last Saturday evening [the 20th] having learned that Morgan with a large force was intending an attack here. ((On the 19th General Granger had telegraphed Colonel Smith to “hold yourself in readiness to march, if required, at a moment’s notice. Meantime fortify strongly to resist a superior force, be vigilant. Keep pickets out to the east and southeast.” Granger to Smith, Dec. 19, 1862, Regimental Papers, 129th Illinois, NA.

This alert had been triggered by a message from General Rosecrans warning, “John H. Morgan started today from his camp, below Lebanon, with between 5,000 and 6,000 cavalry . . . and a few small batteries, for the purpose of breaking up the railroad.” Orders soon followed for the force at Mitchellville to reinforce the regiment at Buck Lodge. O. R., Ser. I, Vol. XX, pt. II, pp. 200, 202, 212.)) We were well fortified & felt quite secure. We have just fairly commenced our fortifications here. Bucks Lodge is nothing more than a tank which supplies the Rail-Road with water. There are two bridges & over 3/4 mile of trestle work under the road which if destroyed would take a long time to repair, hence the importance of the place. Continue reading →

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Bucks Lodge, Tenn., Dec. 25th 62

My dear Wife

Sixteen days have elapsed since the date of your last letter, ((The reference is to Mary Culver’s letter of Dec. 7 and 8, 1862.)) & with the news of the prevalence of the Small-Pox all around you, I feel unusually anxious to hear. I have lived in hope for the past ten days expecting Maples by to-day at farthest. This morning we received the unwelcome news that on account of the Small-Pox, he has indefinitely postponed his coming. Continue reading →

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Bucks Lodge, Dec. 22nd 1862

Dear Wife

We left Mitchellsville on Saturday [the 20th] about 3 P.M. & arrived on the ground about 1/4 mile from here after dark & camped. ((The 129th Illinois had been ordered from Mitchellville to Buck Lodge on Dec. 20. There they would guard the Drakes Creek railroad bridges and the water tank.)) Yesterday (Sunday) we moved to where we now are encamped & pitched our tents which occupied all the day. We are in the woods on a high hill. ((There were several high hills, both over 900 feet, on either side of the railroad at Buck Lodge. USGS—Fountain Head Quadrangle—7.5 Series.)) I have not yet been out of the timber to see what view is afforded from our position. Continue reading →

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Mitchellsville, Tenn., Dec. 18th 1862

Dear Wife

I received yours of the 7th & 8th this morning, rather unexpectedly, as I scarcely expected a letter before the arrival of Maples. I am happy & thankful that you all enjoy such good health.

I can readily inform you what I was doing on the Sunday you were writing as you wondered. ((Mary Culver had written on the 7th, “I have thought much of you today and often wondered where you were and what you were doing.” Mary Culver to J.F.C., Dec. 7, 1862, Culver Collection.)) About 4 oclock in the morning [of the 7th] we started & marched about 14 miles halting about 1 o’clock P.M., pitched our tents, & arranged for the night. I was quite sick & as I have already told you, I returned to this place on Monday [the 8th]. ((The march described by J.F.C. was that of Hoskins’ battalion from Mitchellville to the Drakes Creek stockade, and the distance covered was about 8, not 14, miles. As Culver had explained in his letter of the 12th, he was suffering from jaundice.)) I am most happy to say I am quite well now. Continue reading →

Mitchellsville Tenn Dec 17th 1862
William T Russell Esq

Dear Friend

I wrote to you and Henry sometime ago which Henry promptly answered and I should have written to you much sooner but for want of postage stamps a commodity we are not likely to see now until after we are paid off if such a thing does ever transpire; I have ventured however thinking you might be willing to pay for the satisfaction of hearing from us; I have been on the sick list for over two weeks but not seriously ill I have been doing a little all the time yet feeling quite badly I am happy to say however that I have almost entirely recovered; There was a rumor in camp a short time ago that you were coming to spend the holidays with us but when I heard that Suva was so seriously ill I concluded you would not come; There was another rumor afloat which I was not very well prepared to believe to the effect that you and a certain Miss Hutchinson were to be married. Continue reading →

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Head Quarters, Co. A, 129th Ills. Vols.
Mitchellsville, Tenn., Dec. 16th 1862

Dear Mary

I anticipated the arrival of E. R. Maples with several letters from you before this, but notice by the “Pontiac News” that he will leave Pontiac to-morrow. I shall look quite anxiously for him, as I scarcely expect any more letters by mail before he comes. My letter of Dec. 12th will not, I presume, reach you in time to get an answer by him. ((The Dec. 12 letter is the one J.F.C. wrote his wife on their first wedding anniversary.)) Continue reading →

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Mitchellsville, Tenn., Dec. 16th 1862

Dear Wife

I have consulted Dr. Johnson with regard to the School Orders in question. He acknowledges the receipt of them & says that their amount is properly credited as interest on a note or notes in his hands of which Mr. Rollings is one of the payors. Continue reading →