From Jerome to probably Allie, May 28, 1863
Dublin Core
Title
From Jerome to probably Allie, May 28, 1863
Subject
Peirce, Jerome
Allie
Columbia, KY.
Description
From Jerome to probably Allie
Creator
Jerome Peirce
Source
Jerome Peirce Collection, National Park Service
Publisher
HIST 428 (Spring 2020), University of Mary Washington
Date
1863-05-28
Contributor
NPS, Civil War Study Group, Josef Rokus (Transcriber)
Rights
For educational purposes with no commercial use. Courtesy of National Park Service, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP, FRSP 16095-16102 (FRSP-00904).
Format
8.04 X 9.74
8.04 X 9.74
Jpg
8.04 X 9.74
Jpg
Language
English
Type
Text
Identifier
Letter #116
Coverage
Columbia, KY.
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
LETTER TRANSCRIPTION
May 1863 “Morgan Expedition”
Tues. 26th
Arrived at Columbia, overtaking the Regt. after an absence of a week and one day. Camp in the woods, a romantic and wild place on Green River.
Wedns. 27th
Busy all day, pitching tents in order. P.M. Came the order to move at 7 o’clk in light marching order with three days rations. Moved promptly at 7 with the 100th Penn[Sylvania] and four pieces of artillery etc., and 3 regt. large body of cavalry. Marched through a rough country, much of it in dense woods but a good morn. Halted about 2 a.m.
Thurs. 28th
Camped in a grass field. Had a refreshing sleep and awoke some before 5 o’clk, made coffee which I hardly drank, when we fell in and moved up a hill into the woods and halted. Made coffee again and after hunting about for water for some time, found and now “rest!” All quietly reposing in these beautiful woods with the morning sun shining thru the noble beech trees. Little past noon. Still waiting for Morgan as the expedition seems to be to have a ‘pop’ at him who is reported across the Cumberland and stealing horses and threatening a raid on the railroad to cut off our supplies. Have been napping and reading over my stack of papers.
One of the curiosities of the woods is the immense wild grape vines which start out of the ground like trees and then light into the tops of the big trees around, beech, oak and poplar, or as we at home call it “whitewood” much used in furniture, the noblest growth of timber I ever saw of the hardwood species.
Transcriber’s Note: This is the end of the letter. On the reverse side there is a note, written vertically, that seems to read as follows:
[???] 32
M.M. Howard
May 1863 “Morgan Expedition”
Tues. 26th
Arrived at Columbia, overtaking the Regt. after an absence of a week and one day. Camp in the woods, a romantic and wild place on Green River.
Wedns. 27th
Busy all day, pitching tents in order. P.M. Came the order to move at 7 o’clk in light marching order with three days rations. Moved promptly at 7 with the 100th Penn[Sylvania] and four pieces of artillery etc., and 3 regt. large body of cavalry. Marched through a rough country, much of it in dense woods but a good morn. Halted about 2 a.m.
Thurs. 28th
Camped in a grass field. Had a refreshing sleep and awoke some before 5 o’clk, made coffee which I hardly drank, when we fell in and moved up a hill into the woods and halted. Made coffee again and after hunting about for water for some time, found and now “rest!” All quietly reposing in these beautiful woods with the morning sun shining thru the noble beech trees. Little past noon. Still waiting for Morgan as the expedition seems to be to have a ‘pop’ at him who is reported across the Cumberland and stealing horses and threatening a raid on the railroad to cut off our supplies. Have been napping and reading over my stack of papers.
One of the curiosities of the woods is the immense wild grape vines which start out of the ground like trees and then light into the tops of the big trees around, beech, oak and poplar, or as we at home call it “whitewood” much used in furniture, the noblest growth of timber I ever saw of the hardwood species.
Transcriber’s Note: This is the end of the letter. On the reverse side there is a note, written vertically, that seems to read as follows:
[???] 32
M.M. Howard
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
NOTE 1: This letter does not show a location from where it was written. It also does not show a salutation or a closing, although most likely it was addressed to Allie. It appears to be a brief summary of the events that occurred day-by-day for three days in late May 1863.
NOTE 2: Morgan's Raid (or Expedition) was a diversionary incursion by Confederate cavalry into the northern U.S. states of Indiana and Ohio during the Civil War. The raid took place from June 11–July 26, 1863, and is named for the commander of the Confederates, Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan. Although it caused temporary alarm in the North, the raid was ultimately classed as a failure.
The raid covered more than 1,000 miles, beginning in Tennessee and ending in northern Ohio. It coincided with the Vicksburg Campaign and the Gettysburg Campaign, and it was meant to draw U.S. troops away from these fronts by frightening the North into demanding their troops return home. Despite his initial successes, Morgan was thwarted in his attempts to re-cross the Ohio River and eventually was forced to surrender what remained of his command in northeastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania border. Morgan and other senior officers were kept in the Ohio state penitentiary, but they tunneled their way out and took a train to Cincinnati, where they crossed the Ohio River to safety.
The activity described in this letter pertaining to Morgan’s “expedition” apparently preceded what is now considered to be the timeframe of the raid, i.e., June and July 1863, which Jerome would not have known about, of course, when he wrote this letter in late May of 1863.
NOTE 1: This letter does not show a location from where it was written. It also does not show a salutation or a closing, although most likely it was addressed to Allie. It appears to be a brief summary of the events that occurred day-by-day for three days in late May 1863.
NOTE 2: Morgan's Raid (or Expedition) was a diversionary incursion by Confederate cavalry into the northern U.S. states of Indiana and Ohio during the Civil War. The raid took place from June 11–July 26, 1863, and is named for the commander of the Confederates, Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan. Although it caused temporary alarm in the North, the raid was ultimately classed as a failure.
The raid covered more than 1,000 miles, beginning in Tennessee and ending in northern Ohio. It coincided with the Vicksburg Campaign and the Gettysburg Campaign, and it was meant to draw U.S. troops away from these fronts by frightening the North into demanding their troops return home. Despite his initial successes, Morgan was thwarted in his attempts to re-cross the Ohio River and eventually was forced to surrender what remained of his command in northeastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania border. Morgan and other senior officers were kept in the Ohio state penitentiary, but they tunneled their way out and took a train to Cincinnati, where they crossed the Ohio River to safety.
The activity described in this letter pertaining to Morgan’s “expedition” apparently preceded what is now considered to be the timeframe of the raid, i.e., June and July 1863, which Jerome would not have known about, of course, when he wrote this letter in late May of 1863.
Original Format
Letter/Paper
Files
Collection
Reference
Jerome Peirce 1863, From Jerome to probably Allie, May 28, 1863, HIST 428 (Spring 2020), University of Mary Washington
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