Joseph F. Culver Civil War Letters

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Head Quarters, Co. A, 129th Ills. Vols.
Camp Near Mitchellville, Tennessee, Nov. 30th 1862

Dear Wife

As Mr. Jos. Reeder of Dwight is here & returns home to-morrow, I am happy to have another opportunity to write to you, as you will receive it much sooner than you would by mail. ((Joseph Reeder was a 39-year-old Dwight Township farmer. In 1860 he valued his real estate at $4,000 and was living with his three sons, Levi 13, George 8, and James 5. Eighth Census, Livingston County, State of Illinois, NA.)) Smith & Capt. Hoskins both recd. letters from home. Mrs. Hoskins says you are well which is the best news I could receive. I would like to have recd. a letter also but hope better of the next mail. Continue reading →

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Thanksgiving morning Nov. 27/62

Dear Mary

I have got up quite early this morning & made a fire, & as all is quiet I felt like talking with you. Lieut. Smith is expecting his wife here soon. He wrote for her to come to Bowling Green, then expecting to remain all winter there; & when the news came of our removal, it was too late to notifv her. While we remain here he may possibly find fair accommodations for her. I thought if we spent the winter in Bowling Green, I should like to have you with us. ((In letters written Nov. 9 and 11, from Bowling Green, J.F.C. had broached the subject of his wife traveling south for a visit, provided the regiment went into winter quarters at that point.)) But I could not think of your coming here with your babe, &, as you made no mention of it in your last letter, I concluded you did not contemplate it. Continue reading →

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Head Quarters, Company A, 129th Ills. Vols.
Camp Near Mitchellville, Tenn. Nov. 26th 1862

Dear Wife

I am somewhat disappointed in not having heard from you before this. I earnestly hoped to have a letter to help spend Thanksgiving to-morrow. We will have no duty to perform, except to guard our camp, but I shall have to spend most of the day in getting the company books & papers straightened. Continue reading →

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Head Quarters, Company A, 129th Ills.
Camp near Mitchellville, Tenn. Nov. 24th 1862

Dear Mary

I wrote to you on Thursday Evening informing you that there was a probability of our leaving Bowling Green. We commenced the march about 3 o’clock P.M. of Friday [the 21st] & arrived here yesterday morning about 10 o’clock, the distance 27 miles. ((Lt. Col. Henry Case had commanded the regiment on the march south from Bowling Green. On his arrival at Mitchellville, on the morning of the 23d, he found the post in charge of Col. Henry A. Hambright of the 79th Pennsylvania Infantry, the brigade commander John C. Starkweather being absent. Colonel Hambright was surprised to find that the 129th Illinois had been directed to relieve his command, as he had received no orders in this respect from his immediate superior, General Rousseau, to proceed to Nashville. Colonel Case was placed in an embarrassing situation when Colonel Hambright declined to accept his offer of assistance in guarding or unloading supplies. Hambright predicated his refusal on the probability that his brigade would be ordered to Nashville within several days, and “it would only introduce confusion” if the 129th participated in this activity. He would, however, allow the 129th Illinois to help picket the area. Case to Granger, Nov. 30, 1862, Letter Books, 129th Illinois, NA.))

We are now in Dixie, how long we shall remain here I do not know. We flattered ourselves with the hope of remaining in Bowling Green all winter but were disappointed. This is the most God forsaken place I ever saw, but we can make ourselves very comfortable. Continue reading →

Pontiac Ill. 23 Nov. 1862

My Dear Husband

I was much disappointed last night when I got no letter I rec’d but one from you last week always before I have had two or three I hope nothing has occurred of importance to hinder your writing to me as I suppose the only thing likely to seem to prevent it would be “Marching Orders” Oh how I long to read from you “You may come” I wonder when we shall know. Mother is keeping baby while I write she says he is telling me a story, hear him laugh, &c. so I suppose my letter will be rather disconnected Continue reading →

Thanksgiving was celebrated on the last Thursday in November until the 1930s.  J. F. Culver describes his Thanksgiving but since we are blogging these posts 150 years after they were written, his description will appear next week.  Look forward to it!

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Head Quarters, Company A, 129th Ills. Vols.
Camp Near Bowling Green, Ky. Nov. 20th 1862

Dear Wife

Yours of the 10th inst. came to me while out on Picket night before last. It was raining, & I was very happy to receive it. I am glad to learn that you are all well. I should indeed be most happy to step in when you feel lonely & cheer you up.

I am not prepared to divine what the future of our country will be, I get so little news. The proclamation of Lincoln looks to me very much like a sham affair, & I should not be a bit surprised to find him out-generaled, but I have no disposition to discuss the matter. ((On September 24, 1862, President Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation warning that on January 1, 1863, all slaves in states or parts of states in rebellion against the United States “shall be then, thenceforward and forever free,” and the federal government would “recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons.” This was a war measure and, as Mr. Lincoln’s critics have pointed out, it did not free a single slave in territory under jurisdiction of the United States. A wave of fury swept the South. Lincoln was breaking the law of civilized warfare, outraging private property rights, and inviting a servile insurrection. Carl Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years (New York, 1954), pp. 319-321.)) Continue reading →

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Head Quarters, Co. A., 129th Ills. Vols.
Camp near Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 16th 1862

My dear Mary

Yours of the 8th inst. I recd. on Friday evening last & yours of 3 inst. by politeness of Gagan on yesterday evening, with one from Maggie & Mother, Abbie Remick & Henry Greenebaum; also the pictures, socks & papers. Dear Wife, accept my thanks. Continue reading →

Pontiac Ill. Nov. 14th 1862

My Dear Husband

Your letter dated 11th Nov. I received day before yesterday & the one dated 6th yesterday Maples come home yesterday I sent Sis & Abbie down in the evening & got your letter I was much disappointed to learn that Gagen had not reached you when he left I hope ere this you have rec’d the pictures I was sorry I did not get your letter before Gagen went away he could have carried your shawl just as well as not Oh! Frank do you think I can come to you? I’m afraid almost to hink of it lest I be disappointed I am so well & the baby too that if you stay there this winter I must come pay or no pay I will sell the cow and every thing else I have to pay my expenses there if I can have tea to make dinner for my baby Continue reading →

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Head Quarters, Company A, 129th Ills. Vols.
Camp Near Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 12th 1862

Dear Wife

Maples is going home this morning & will see you perhaps before my last letter reaches you. ((Sheriff Maples of Livingston County, on his frequent visits to the regiment, served as a volunteer mail carrier. This was common practice. Undoubtedly the most famous mail carrier, North or South, was Absalom C. Grimes. To learn more about Civil War mail carriers, the reader is referred to Absalom Grimes: Confederate Mail Runner, edited by Milo M. Quaife (New Haven, 1926).)) I am quite well & getting along well. Write soon.

We have not recd. the election returns yet. ((On November 4 voters had gone to the polls in most Northern states to elect representatives to Congress and to state and local offices.)) We are yet in Camp & do not know where or when we will go into Winter Quarters. Continue reading →