From Jerome to Allie, February 14, 1864

From Jerome to Allie, February 14, 1864

Peirce, Jerome

Allie

[Location not indicated. The envelope is postmarked Knoxville, Tenn. The previous letter was written at Erin's Station, E. Tenn. near Knoxville, Tenn.]

From Jerome to Allie

Jerome Peirce

Jerome Peirce Collection, National Park Service

HIST 428 (Spring 2020), University of Mary Washington

1864-02-14

NPS, Civil War Study Group, Josef Rokus (Transcriber)

For educational purposes with no commercial use. Courtesy of National Park Service, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP, FRSP 16095-16102 (FRSP-00904).

English

Text

Letter #196

[Location not indicated. The envelope is postmarked Knoxville, Tenn. The previous letter was written at Erin's Station, E. Tenn. near Knoxville, Tenn.]

Sunday Morn 14th Feb/64
A few words more, dear Allie and then this goes to mail. Capt. A will not leave before tomorrow night and I send this forward immediately as he could have to remail it and on the whole I thought best.
No letters today and I am disappointed but I must still keep cool. Cloudy and some little rain this a.m. No service. After breakfast of desecated [desiccated (dried)] vegetables which J.H. gave me and which cooked up tip-top, had a good wash with cloth, nice soap etc., warm water, quite like home. Retired to my tent and read Army Rules and Regulations till dinner time which consisted of fresh beef stake [steak] with a little pork fat and soft bread, a piece of a loaf from K. [Knoxville]. So that today I have fared well indeed. Our rations are somewhat improved with a few pennies from our own funds.
I thus give you these little items to show you how things move in camp and I feel a corresponding improvement in feelings, stronger and more like work. Took a stroll last eve with Ben to the 35th [Massachusetts Infantry Regiment] where a relative of Mr. Abram Cutter of C [Company C] is Q.M. [Quartermaster] Sergeant.
Came back to B’s tent and by the light of a candle which he had, read a few pages from “Pencillings by the Way” by N.P. Willis which Mr. Cutter of the 35th loaned him. Got to bed after awhile and again I thought of home and recalled some snatches of hymns, etc. of church memory “God moves in a mysterious way” (Cowper), “While thee I seek, protecting Power” etc. So pass the moments, hours. Am so glad the time when the “camp and field” are exchanged for the endearments of home!
How and where are you today? Is it mild or cold? And little Lulu. Abbie tells me she loves her little primer and you have mentioned and is learning little pieces.
I wonder if there are any little birds that sing as pretty as they do here? I hear two different ones today, very sweet sounds some little like our robin tho I should think they must be smaller but it sounds so spring-like! Tell Lulu I saw, as we went to town the other day, a poor little bird, looked like a robin, dead beside the road and I wondered how it happened. We have had some frosty nights and possibly it perished from cold. There are many roosters at the farm houses near by which start us early and one of the fellows is “holding forth” now. But my neck aches, but not broke yet and I am at the end of my paper.
So accept again love and a kiss from your husband
Jerome

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

NOTE 1: This letter does not indicate Jerome’s location when he wrote it. However, the envelope is postmarked Knoxville, Tennessee. His previous letter, written on February 13, 1864, the day before this letter, was written at Erins Station, Tennessee, near Knoxville.

NOTE 2: “Capt. A” was T. Edward Ames, from Charlestown, Massachusetts, who enlisted at age 24 as a First Lieutenant in the 34th Massachusetts Volunteers. He was promoted to First Lieutenant on August 12, 1862. He was then transferred to Company B of the 36th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment on August 22, 1862. Ames was promoted to Captain on August 2, 1863, and commanded Co. F of the 36th Massachusetts before serving in a number of staff positions for the balance of the War. He was mustered out with the regiment on June 8, 1865, and he was promoted to the rank of Brevet Major for “gallant and meritorious conduct before Petersburg, Virginia, April 2, 1865.”

NOTE 3: His “No service.” undoubtedly refers to the fact that there was no religious service held that day, even though it was a Sunday.

NOTE 4: “Pencillings by the Way” was written by Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806 – 1867), an American author, poet and editor.

NOTE 5: “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” is a hymn, written in 1773. The words were composed by Englishman William Cowper (1731–1800). Comprising six verses, the hymn was first published by Cowper's friend, John Henry Newton, in his “Twenty-six Letters on Religious Subjects; to which are added Hymns in 1774”. It was later published in “Olney Hymns” which Cowper co-wrote with Newton.

NOTE 6: The 35th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was organized at Boston and Chelsea, Massachusetts, and was mustered in for three-year service on August 28, 1862, under the command of Colonel Edward A. Wild. The regiment was attached to the, IX Corps, the Army of the Potomac, the Department of the Ohio and the Army of the Tennessee at various times. The 35th Massachusetts mustered out of service on June 9, 1865, and it was discharged on June 27, 1865. The regiment lost a total of 249 men during its service. Ten officers and 138 enlisted men were killed or mortally wounded, and one officer and 100 enlisted men died of disease.

NOTE 7: “While Thee I Seek, Protecting Power” was written in 1789 by Helen Maria Williams (1759 – 1827) in her work titled “Poems” in which it was titled “Hymn.”

Letter / Paper