civil war letters of charles henry anderson: private in the tenth maine infantry regiment

8/9/2019 Civil War Letters of Charles Henry Anderson: Private in the Tenth Maine Infantry Regiment

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CIVIL WAR LETTERSOF

CHARLES HENRY ANDERSON,

PRIVATEINTHE TENTH MAINE INFANTRY REGIMENT

edited by

PRESTON WOOD SMITH, JR

2002


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CONTENTS

PrefaceIntroduction..................................................................................iii

Transcriptions...............................................................................iiiItinerary........................................................................................ivAcknowledgements.....................................................................vii

Part I: Andersons HistoryCHA 001:The History of the 10th Me....................c. 27 May 18621CHA 002:The rest of the 10th Maine history.......... c. 6 Aug 18623

Part II: Andersons LettersCHA 003: Portland, Me....................7 Oct 1861...........................5

CHA 004: Baltimore........................11 Oct 1861.........................5CHA 005: Baltimore........................18 Oct 1861.........................6CHA 006: Baltimore........................2 Nov 1861...........................7CHA 007: near Baltimore................Nov 1861..............................8CHA 008: Relay House....................Nov 1861..............................9CHA 009: Baltimore........................17 Nov 1861.........................9CHA 010: Baltimore........................20 Nov 1861.......................10CHA 011: Camp Beal......................22 Nov 1861.......................11CHA 012: Relay House ?.................4 Dec 1861.........................12CHA 013: Camp Beal, Relay House.7 Dec 1861.........................13CHA 014: Baltimore........................17 Dec 1861.......................14

CHA 015: Baltimore........................20 Dec 1861.......................15CHA 016: Baltimore........................7 Jan 1862..........................16CHA 017: Baltimore........................7 Jan 1862..........................17CHA 018: Baltimore........................17 Jan 1862........................18CHA 019: Hanover Switch...............4 Feb 1862.........................19CHA 020: Camp Beal......................6 Feb 1862.........................20CHA 021: Relay House....................11 Feb 1862.......................22CHA 022: Relay House....................12 Feb 1862.......................23CHA 023: Baltimore........................16 Feb 1862.......................25CHA 024: Relay House....................18 Feb 1862.......................26CHA 025: Relay House....................22 Feb 1862.......................27

CHA 026: Relay House....................25 Feb 1862.......................29CHA 027: near Harpers Ferry..........30 Mar 1862.......................30CHA 028: near Harpers Ferry..........c. 2 Apr 1862......................32

CONTENTS (continued)


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CHA 029: Halltown..........................3 Apr 1862.........................32CHA 030: Halltown..........................10 Apr 1862.......................34CHA 031: Halltown .........................15 Apr 1862.......................34CHA 032: Halltown..........................18 Apr 1862.......................36

CHA 033: Halltown..........................27 Apr 1862.......................36CHA 034: Halltown..........................28 Apr 1862.......................38CHA 035: Halltown..........................3 May 1862........................39CHA 036: Winchester......................10 May 1862......................40CHA 037: Winchester......................11 May 1862......................41CHA 038: Winchester......................c. 15 May 1862...................42CHA 039: Winchester......................15 May 1862......................42CHA 040: Winchester......................18 May 1862......................45CHA 041: Shenandoah Valley.........June 1862...........................46CHA 042: Martinsburg....................7 June 1862........................47CHA 043: Front Royal.....................13 June 1862......................48

CHA 044: Cedarville........................18 June 1862......................49CHA 045: near Warrenton...............11 July 1862.......................50CHA 046: near Washington, Va..... .18 July 1862.......................51CHA 047: near Culpeper Court House........................25 July 186252CHA 048: near Culpeper Court House.........................27 July 186254CHA 049: near Culpeper Court House.........................31 July 186256CHA 050: Culpeper Court House......c. 6 Aug 1862.....................57

Part III: CondolencesAND 001: to Mother, from E.F. Dearborn...................19 Aug 186258AND 002: to Sister, from James Nason........................c. Aug 186259

Part IV: AppendicesAppendix 1: Family of Charles Henry Anderson..........................60Appendix 2: Brief Family History.................................................61Appendix 3: Index of Place Names..............................................64Appendix 4: Index of Personal Names........................................65


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PREFACE 3

HARLES HENRY ANDERSON (1842-1862) [hereinafter abbreviated to

CHA] was brought up the eldest child of a large farming family in

the hamlet of Steep Falls in the town of Limington, about twenty-five

miles west of Portland in southern Maine. With the onset of the Civil

War, he volunteered for two years of service in Company E, Tenth

Maine Infantry Regiment, being enrolled for duty as a private on 30

September 1861 and entered in the muster-in rolls on 4 October, atCape Elizabeth near Portland. He was mortally wounded on 9 August

1862 in the battle of Cedar Mountain near Culpeper, Virginia, and died

in hospital at Culpeper three days later, at age twenty years and five

months.1

C

During his brief army service CHA regularly wrote chatty, informative

letters home to his father, CHARLES WADSWORTH ANDERSON (1812-1881), his

mother MARY ANN (HEATH) ANDERSON (1822-1901), and his sister, thesecond-born SARAH ANN ANDERSON (1844-1927). Some fifty letters were

saved by Sarah and passed on through her descendants. The present

collection contains edited transcripts of all of Andersons letters and of

a few others that are relevant to his short life.2

Transcription

Transcription of these letters faced the usual difficulties withhandwriting of the period. There is no punctuation (except periods or

commas bracketing numerals and some abbreviations).

Capitalization is frequent but follows no discernible rules. Sentence

and paragraph breaks are extremely rare.

1 See the Company Muster Rolls in the National Archives file of his mothers pensionclaim, #269,042.

2 Letters in the possession of the editor.


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PREFACE 5Andersons formation of letters generally follows rules of the time that

one soon learns to recognize. The lower case consonants c, k, and r

are elaborate, easily recognized, and almost always written with care.

Lower case t is always crossed and i is always dotted. However, the

vowels e, a, o, u, and w present great ambiguities when written in

haste. Thus, the wordyou may be clearly legible at the beginning of a

manuscript, appear later as [y, open-topped o, squiggle], and finally

emerge unambiguously as a hastyyu.

Andersons habit of spelling phonetically in a Maine country dialect is a

great problem. For example, we find the words wreaid (read), oner

(owner), ofly (awfully), eneyquinety (any quantity), bort (bought), to

(to, too, or two), etc. More difficult cases are Caignol (colonel),

Reconents (reconnaissance), the cerptill (the Capitol), and live like

ducks (live like dukes). His spelling has been preserved in literal

transcripts, but it severely hampers reading speed and comprehension.

The texts presented here are translations of those literal transcripts

into modern English spelling. Andersons choice of words is preserved

exactly, with few exceptions. (The verb hant is translated as aint; a

frequent interrogatory interjection hur is changed to hunh?) His bold

flouting of any rules for the agreement in number of related words is

also preserved. Otherwise, modern rules of spelling, punctuation, and

capitalization have been imposed, and sentence and paragraph breaks

have been introduced where they seem most appropriate and

necessary to clarity. Two long historical letters have been broken into

sections, with explanatory headings added in italics. Internal

references to people and places are identified in footnotes wherever

possible.

Itinerary

A detailed itinerary for CHA and Company E of the Tenth Maine

Regiment can be reconstructed from available publications3 and from

the letters themselves. Two long letters or memoranda, which he

3 See, for example: Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System [CWSS], on the NationalPark Service web site www.itd.nps.gov/cwss; The American Civil War web sitewww.swcivilwar.com; John Mead Gould, History of the First Tenth Twenty-ninth

Maine regiment(Portland, S. Berry, 1871).


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PREFACE 4entitled The history of the 10th Me and the wrest of the 10th Maine

history, are particularly valuable.4

From Portland, the Tenth Maine traveled to Baltimore, Maryland,

arriving in early November, 1861. There, they trained for a month and

were assigned to guard duty on the Baltimore & Washington Railroad.

This road branches from the Baltimore and Ohio at the town of Relay, a

few miles south of the city, where an old stage hotel, Relay House, was

used as headquarters for the troops. Many of CHAs early letters have

the Relay House address.

At the end of February 1862, the Tenth Maine was sent west on the

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad toward Harpers Ferry,5 According to the

letters, they were first droppedright in the woods about thirty miles

from Baltimore, where they served as railroad guards for about five

weeks.6 Then, at the end of March, they advanced to Harpers Ferry,

whence detached companies spread out in an arc toward Martinsburg,

now in West Virginia, with the objective of protecting from Confederate

attack this part of the railroad system and the Potomac river, both

important supply routes.7 CHAs company E was stationed at Halltown,

West Virginia, about four miles west of Harpers Ferry, until early May

1862.

In May, Major General Nathaniel P. Banks, a dashing New England

politician of doubtful military competence, commander of the Union

forces in the Department of the Shenandoah, moved his troops south

into the Shenandoah valley as far as Strasburg and Front Royal,

Virginia, intending to counter the maneuvers of the Confederates

under General T. J. Stonewall Jackson. Many skirmishes and much

maneuvering followed in this southern part of the valley, but they did

not affect the Tenth Maine which was held in reserve at Winchester,

Virginia.8

4 Editors document file, # CHA 001 (c. 28 May 1862) and # CHA 002 (c. 6 August1862), respectively.5 See Regiments, Tenth Maine, on CWSS web site (note 3).6 See documents CHA 001 and CHA 027.7 See documents CHA 001, 027, and 029; regimental history (note 5).8 See N. P. Banks official report dated June 1862, in The War of the Rebellion, SeriesI, Vol. XII, Part I (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1885), pp. 545-552;transcribed as Banks Report of Jacksons Valley Campaign on the web site

www.swcivilwar.com.


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PREFACE 5After his forces at Front Royal had been severely routed, Banks

determined to withdraw northward from Strasburg to Winchester, with

a view to anticipate [the enemys] occupation of the town by seizing it

ourselves.9 The main Union army arrived in the evening of May 24

and the Confederates attacked before dawn. The consequent rout is

well described by CHA from the soldiers viewpoint in The history of

the 10th Me. The soldiers retreated precipitously toward the north,

through Martinsburg to the Potomac river, stopping only in

Williamsport on the Maryland side. The assessment from headquarters

is quite different; Banks boasted: My commandaccomplished a

premeditated march of near 60 miles in the face (sic) of the enemy,

defeating his plans and giving him battle wherever he was found. 10

Within a few days, Banks army and the Tenth Maine were back across

the Potomac, skirmishing with the enemy and probing again into the

Shenandoah valley and northwestern Virginia. During June, Company

E passed through Martinsburg, Winchester, Cedarville, and on to Front

Royal. While there, they made a two-day, fifty-mile reconnaissance

south to Luray and back, then marched 25 miles east to Warrenton,

back to the town of Washington (little Washington, 15 miles south of

Front Royal), and eventually in late July to the vicinity of Culpeper

Court House. On 9 August, some five miles south of Culpeper, Banksarmy was once again confronted by the Confederates under

Stonewall Jackson, and lost disastrously in the battle of Cedar

Mountain.11

The enemy troops were concealed in the wooded foothills of the

mountain, protected in front by open fields of grain stubble, some 300

yards wide, across which the Union infantry was ordered to charge with

fixed bayonets. The official report of General Crawford, commander ofthe brigade that included the Tenth Maine, comments: The slaughter

was fearful. The Tenth Maine Regiment of my brigade, acting under

direct orders from the commanding general [Banks], through one of his

staff, advanced to the middle of the open space, and sustained a most

9 Banks official report (note 8), p. 546.10 Banks official report (note 8), p. 551.11 Also known as Cedar Run or Slaughters Mountain The battle was certainlydisastrous for the Tenth Maine and other regiments of the First Brigade. The

outcome was more ambiguous from a strategic viewpoint.


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PREFACE 6severe and galling fire from the concealed enemy beyond. Of 461

officers and men present in the regiment at the start, 173 (three in

eight) were killed, wounded, or missing at the end.12 Anderson was

out in front, cheering, when he fell,13 shot in the left lung and leg.14

Mortally wounded, he died in hospital at Culpeper three days later.1

The Culpeper National Cemetery was established in 1867 as final

resting-place for those Union soldiers who fell in battle or died in

hospital, and thorough searches were made to gather all their remains.

Only twenty-two members of the Tenth Maine are identified on the

monument there, but the cemetery includes 912 graves of unidentified

soldiers, each marked by a small, numbered stone.15 Anderson is not

listed in the cemetery records but, having died in hospital in Culpeper

itself, his first grave could not have been overlooked. It is reasonably

presumed that he now lies in the National Cemetery among the

unidentified.

Acknowledgements

It is a pleasure to be able to acknowledge the pains taken by Sarah

Ann (Anderson) Wood, my great grandmother, and her daughter Lizzie

May (Wood) Smith to preserve and pass on the letters from Charles

Henry Anderson. The transcripts might never have been completed

without the more recent efforts of these other relatives of CHA: Diane

May (Diener) DSouza, Noel Prasad DSouza, Tara Concepta DSouza,

Mira Louise DSouza, and Ardis Louise (Smith) Messinger. I am grateful

to them all.

We are deeply indebted to my father, Preston Wood Smith, for

undertaking to organize the received family traditions and history, and

12 Pages 151, 153 in Brig. Gen. Samuel W Crawfords official report dated August 14,1862, in The War of the Rebellion (note 8), series I, vol. XII, part II, pp. 149-153.13 Letter fragment, James W. Nason to Sarah A. Anderson, undated (document #AND 002).14 Letter from E.F. Dearborn in Saco, Maine, to Mary Ann (Heath) Anderson, dated 19Aug 1862 (document # AND 001).

15 Information booklet, Culpeper National Cemetery, available on site in 1982.


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PREFACE 4to reinforce and extend them through many hours of archival research

in the late 1930s.16

Weymouth, Massachusetts Preston Wood

Smith, Jr.

9 August 2002

16 Preston Wood Smith [Sr.], Genealogical Notebook (manuscript, c.1940), in the

possession of the editor.


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PART I: ANDERSONS H ISTORY 1This part of the text presents modernized transcripts of two undatedmanuscripts in CHAs hand. The first describes activities from hisenlistment through the retreat from the Battle of Winchester, 25 May1862. The second continues the story without a break, up to the eveof the Battle of Cedar Mountain at which he was mortally wounded on9 August 1862.

CHA 001:17 The History of the 10th Me c. 27 May 1862

Portland, Maine, to Baltimore; 6 Oct 1861

When we first started from Portland, was some3 or 4 days in going to the city called Baltimore,Maryland. There we went into camp, drilled onemonth, then packed up and marched down into thecity and onto the depot, took the cars, went out theWashington railroad 12 miles. There we went intoCamp and went to guarding the Washington road,and built us new barracks18 Stayed there 3 or 4

months.Protecting the B&O Railroad; Feb and Mar 1862

Then we moved from there out on the Baltimore andOhio road. The order came for us to pack up; thisorder we was glad to hear for we was tired ofguarding that old road. They told us that we wasgoing to Harpers Ferry for they was fighting there.They put us onto the cars about 9 at night and thenwe started, as we supposed, for Harpers Ferry.

On we went until 2 in the morning when, at your

surprise, they dropped us right in the woods and itwas horrid dark and cold. Our Captain got us intoline and we stacked your guns. And then he told usto build up a fire, and you had ought to have seenhow the rail fence flew for a spell. We built up two orthree good fires and then took your blankets and laiddown to sleep, for sleepy we was indeed. I laid rightdown by the fire and fell asleep, and it was thecoldest night that we had for the winter. I sleep assound as a log, never waked until morn. Then wewas put on guard on the railroad; we stayed there 6

weeks.

Halltown, West Virginia; April to 9 May 1862

Then at 6 in the evening we took the cars for whatthey call Harpers Ferry. So we rode all that night andfirst of the next day, when we got to H.F. This wasHarpers Ferry that you have heard so much about.This is where they took John Brown. We stayed there

17 This initial code is the identifying document number of the letter in the editorsfiles.18 They were guarding the Baltimore & Washington Railroad, with their

headquarters at Relay House.


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PART I: ANDERSON S H ISTORY 23 days, then we marched on 4 miles farther to aplace called Halltown. Your Company stopped there,and the rest of the Regiment went on 4 miles fartherto a place called Charles Town. Here we stopped onthe railroad about 1 month.

The first Battle of Winchester, Virginia; 25 May 1862

We took the cars for the city of Winchester Gotthere just before night; stayed in a meeting house

that night; slept very well. The next morning webegan to do what they call provision duty.19 Stayedthere and heard the girls blow, for they had more tosay than the men for the plain reason that theydared not say anything.20

Well, everything went on grand until the last of thethird week. The news came that Banks was [goingto] leave down the valley Saturday.21 They got nearthe town and at night two of your companies wassent out on picket; they had to fight all night Went

to bed Saturday nightslept soundnever awokeuntil the roar of the cannon awoke me. Then I gotup; we all ate a good plateful of pork and beans.Then some of we boys went out where they wasfighting. Oh, what would you have thought if youhad been there, dear reader! We then went down toguard quarters; then we fell in to fight, as wethought. They was still fighting hard, having beenfighting some three or four hours.

The Union routed by Stonewall Jackson

Pretty soon the order came to retreat and that wedid, you had better believe. And some parts of theplace was on fire [illegible]. The booming of cannonsand the hustle of soldiers and everything elsecreates quite an excitement in any ones mind. Andyour horsemen going on the dead runthey wouldrun over you as soon as anyoneand some of therebels snug to their ass, and every man had all thathe could do to keep right side up. Well, theyfollowed us up very snug, I tell you. They made usthrow away your knapsacks. Some threw gun and

equipment away, but I did not lose anything butknapsack. They put the shells after us awfully22; one

19 Reading Provisdutey as provision duty, i.e. acquiring provisions from theneighborhood, foraging.20 Emphasis added. The literal word blo has been spelled blow. The citizens ofWinchester were understandably unhappy to see the Union army and have themforaging in town.21 Major General Nathaniel P. Banks, formerly governor of Massachusetts, nowcommanding the Department of the Shenandoah. He is already at Strasburg in thesouthern, upper part of the Shenandoah valley, and is about to return down toWinchester. See Banks report, (note 8).22 The word is clearly written afly, but the word afly, meaning on the fly, seems too

literary. We choose instead, as a probable interpretation, the adverb awfully,


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PART I: ANDERSON S H ISTORY 2of them came so near a fellows head that it took allof the hair from his head.

They kept coming at us and we did at them. Wemade a straight line through woods and fields ofgrain. We went and went, never stopped onemoment22 miles22 miles beat us up toMartinsburg [West Virginia] and they was still afterus, but we had gained on them about 15 minutes

run. Got some water at Martinsburg, then started[again]. We then had come 22 miles from 8 in themorning to 12 at noon. Oh, how tired! It was go ordie; we dared not stop 5 minutes for nothing. It was14 miles from M[artinsburg] to where we had got togo [the Potomac river]. We went itand had tothewhole distance being 36 miles.

Horse Rustling

Oh. When I had got three miles the other side ofMartinsburg I was fast getting tired, for before we

started at all I was about sick, and I thought that Ishould have a fever. I just see Higgins23 and he toldme that he could not stand it two miles farther. I toldhim that I would have a horse if it cost me my life.

We went on about one mile, I see standing in a fielda nice looking barn. I started for it but before Istarted I took a bridle away from a Negro and startedfor the barn. Got theretried the door which waslocked. The owner came up from the chair. I toldhim that I wanted one of them horseshe had five. Itold him to unlock the door. He would not do it. I

told him that I would give him three minutes to do it,and if he did not I would stave it in. He would not.

I know that it was kind of tough. I took up a largerock and the second time I threw it I put it rightthrough the door. I then told him if he came into thepen that he would get my gun over his head. I putthe bridle on as good-looking horse as he had in thebarn, started to lead him out of the pen, and hestepped up and pulled the bridle off over his head. Ilet go of the horse and laid my gun over his head,

and he fell to the ground. I then got onto the horseand put after your regiment, and left him on behindme.

And we rode until dark. Then we stopped at theplace where we was going to stop.24 Slept in a frontyard that night.

pronounced in two syllables: aw=a, flly=fly. Another letter uses the spelling ofly.(See note 191.)23 Presumably, Pvt. Charles E. Higgins, Co. E, Tenth Maine Regiment, listed by theCWSS (note 3).24 They stopped at the Potomac river, across from Williamsport, Md.; as is explained

in the next paragraph.


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PART I: ANDERSONS H ISTORY 3

CHA 002: The rest of the 10 th Maine history c. 6 August 1862

Then in the morning, we crossed the river and wentinto camp in Williamsport [Maryland]. This is just alittle place, I tell you, and many of a good girl livestherein. We were a sore crew the next morning, but

we soon felt better and have continued to feel betterever since. We stayed there about one week.

During this time, your Regiment went out on areconnaissance cross the river, and went out fourmiles to a place called Falling Water and had askirmish with Col. Ashbey,25 and had to fall backabout two miles and stopped the night in the woods.And it rained all night, and we slept with nothing butyour blankets over us. And the next morning wewent back and crossed the riverstayed there two orthree days.

All of [Union General] Banks forces started forMartinsburg [West Virginia] which was ten milesdistance went there in one day, stayed there twoweeks. Then went on to Winchester [Virginia] ittook us two daysthen went right through the place.

They dared not stop us in the place for they wereafraid that we should raise the old Ned on account ofthe citizens shouting at us as they did from thewindows. So they marched us six miles the otherside before they dared stop us. And during the

march it rained all the time and the mud was cleanto your ass. And after we had been stopped aboutthirty minutes, they started us again. All of this timewe had your knapsacks on. We had to ford a streamwhich was up to your ass, and it still rained, and atthat we crossed the stream. It was almost night. Westopped and put up your tents, and stopped therethat night. I did not sleep much that night onaccount of being so wet that day.

The next morning we started for Front Royal

[Virginia] but did not go to the placestopped fourmiles this side. Stayed there at a place calledCedarville for two weeks,26 then moved across theriver to Front Royal. Stayed there three weeks and

25.There were many Ashbey/Ashby in the Confederate cavalry. (Jacksons cavalrycommander at the time was General Turner Ashby.) The identity of this particularone is unknown.26 The Tenth Maine was probably here on June 26, when Major General John Popewas appointed commander of the new Army of Virginia (of which Banks troopsformed the Second Corps) and promptly visited his forces. [See p. 21 in Popesofficial report dated 27 Jan 1863, in The War of the Rebellion, Series I, Vol. XII, Part II(Washington, Government Printing Office, 1885), pp. 20-50; transcribed as Popes

Report of 2nd Manassas on the web site www.swcivilwar.com.]


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PART I: ANDERSON S H ISTORY 2done any quantity of picket duty, and it was therethat I shot the grayback.

[Details of this encounter are given in the letter CHA045. A subsequent raid from Front Royal to the townof Luray, described in CHA 050, belongs here.]

Then the rest of the troops came across and wemoved again, to Warrenton27we were on the roadone week, then after we got there we stopped one

week in camp. During that last march it was so hotsome of the days that two and sometimes more wassunstruck and to fried by it being so hot.

After we had been in camp a week we moved to aplace called little Washington28this was a two daysmarch. Stayed there one week, then we moved tothis place where we now are.29

27 Warrenton is about ten miles west of Manassas and twenty-five miles southeastof Front Royal.28 Little Washington is about 15 miles south of Front Royal, on the road toCulpeper Court House.29 Probably Culpeper Court House. According to Popes official report (note 26),Banks corps was ordered to leave little Washington on 7 August for Culpeper CourtHouse (p. 24), but Crawfords brigade of it, including the Tenth Maine, had departed

previously, and occupied Culpeper about 6 August (p. 25).


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 3

CHA 003: Portland, Maine 7 October 1861

Oct the 7 /61Dear Sister,I am now in the old city hall; Charles Higgins30 and Iwas left. The regiment went Sunday morning [6 Oct]and they left about 250 men behind. I stopped tothe Elm House last night.31 There was about 50 thereand their men is scattered all over the country.

I had my picture taken this morning and shall send itup by Lane[?] today. I dont believe that I shall getout of Portland tomorrow but we was to go. Themthat has gone has gonetoo long gone, so. And Ithought that I would just seat myself to let you knowhow things stood.

Give my love to all of the folks.So goodby,

Yours truly,C H A Chas. H. Anderson

Limington

this picture is for motherhe paid 30 cts32

CHA 004: Baltimore, Maryland 11 October 1861

Oct the 11 /61Dear Father,I am at Baltimore city and am well and contented.This is a splendid place, I tell you. We was left, as Iwrote you in Portland, on Tuesday morning, andcould not hear from then until we got to Washingtonat Thursday morning. It is a gay old place, I tell you.We started from Portland Sunday morning and atThursday morning we was to Washington.33

I can tell you that it looks a little like war. There wasabout 200 Sick ones came from NH with us, and bymy side lay a fellow sick with the Measles. They[measles] have got into your regimentam well out,it is so[?].

30 Charles E. Higgins was a private in Co. E, 10 th Maine Infantry Regiment. See CivilWar Soldiers and Sailors System (note 3).31 According to a paper presented in 1915, the Elm House was a well-known tavernin Portland. Seehttp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/me/cumberland/freeport/tavern/jameson/sj3p169.txt.32 Presumably, the price of the photo.33 The chronology of this paragraph seems to conflict with that of his previous letterdated 7 October, a Monday. In that letter, most of the regiment had left on Sunday,6 October, but he and his detachment of 250 expected to leave on Tuesday, 8

October. This letter is dated the following Friday, October 11.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 4So goodbye,

C H AndersonBaltimore, Md.

Tenth Maine Regiment, Co. E

this my addressdont it look like it?

So goodbye

CHA 005: Baltimore 18 October 1861

Oct the 18, 61Dear Sister,I seat myself to let you know that my health is verygood and hope that these few lines will find you allthe same. I received your letter last night and wasglad to hear that you all was well. The weather is

muggy and very warm. This regiment is very well.The seventh Maine regiment is on the left of us andthe ninth regimentnew regimenton the right ofus.34They has been fighting near Harpers Ferry. TheNorth whipped them all hollow, but we expect tohave some fighting before we get through.Baltimore is a large place, I tell you. I got a pass outyesterday for the first time. They usually give 4passings a day. There has no one did yet in theregiment.It rains now but it is very warm. We have been outdrilling. Boys live pretty wellbeef and bread just asPortlandcoffee and teasugar and molasses.I saw a fellow shot yesterday; he ran the guard. Hebelonged to the 7th regiment; his Captain shot himand did not hurt him much. They make nothing ofshooting a man here. I have not seen anything thatlooked natural since I left Portland.I was to Washington and went into the Capitolit isquite a city I tell you. The little boys was fightingdown back of the parade groundthey was twopacks, you will understand. They fight like littleserpents.I was at fall river Tuesday[?] and inquired of 1 or twoteamsters if they know a fellow by the name of C HAnd.they did notthey said New Jersey is the worstplace that ever I sawstopped there nowhere [?].

34 According to the regimental histories in the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System(note 3), the Seventh Maine was organized at Augusta on 21 August and was atBaltimore until 25 October; the Ninth Maine was organized at Augusta on 24September and was at Bladensburg, Maryland, (on the railroad near the northeast

edge of the District of Columbia) until 8 October, when it moved to Annapolis.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 5There, I have wrote you all I knew and more. Pleasewrite soon. Give my love to all of the folks, will you?

Your HenryC H AndSteep Falls

CHA 006: Baltimore 2 November 1861

Nov the 2 61

I was very glad to hear that you all was well for I wasand am fattening up fast, but it is not cakes and piesthat does it, I tell you. It is beef braising and porkand coffee, to be sure.

It rains very hard today, I tell you.

I hear the little boys crying the morning Clipper35 andanother battle. I would buy one but you had not halfthat I sent you. The boys says that half the papersdont get home.

We do not expect to go off until after electionthatis the 6 of this monthfor we have got to guard thepolls.36

The wind blows hard now, I tell you.

Wanted that I should let you know how we laidnights, and so I will. We have a sack stuffed withstraw and then we lay the sack down and spread the

blanket on top of the straw, put your knapsack underyour headsand overcoat tooand then spread yourblanket over us, and then tell stories and sing songsuntil the drum beats. That is at 9 oclock, and thenwe blow the lamps out and go to sleep.

And then in the morning we hear some one cry out,Turn out to the roll call! And then after the roll iscalled we make a grand rush for the cook tent andget your breakfast. And then at 7 in the morning wedrill 4 hours; then we loaf around until dinner time.And then at 3 in the afternoon we go on to drill

again, and come off at half past 5.Then for supper wego.

This is the whole of the world that we have to do.About every other day the Colonel takes us outthrough town and march to and fro sawly[?]. This isall that I can write you today, so goodbye,

C H Anderson

35 Literally, cliper. CHA apparently refers to a newspaper, either generically or byproper name. For example, see American Republican and Baltimore Daily Clipper(1844-1846), Library of Congress call number: Newspaper 8074.

36 Literally,poles.


18/80

PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 6CHA 007: near Baltimore November 1861

This manuscript has been mislaid, and only anincomplete literal transcript has been preserved.The result can only be considered as a rough draft.

Headquarters, Tenth Maine Regiment, Co. E

1861Dear Sister,

I seat myself to let you know that my health isfirst rate and I hope that that these few lines will findyou all the same. It is Wednesday morning and I amon guard today. It is a pleasant day I tell you.

I wrote to William Anderson37 yesterday to seeif I could not get some letters. I do not get any fromhome. I wrote one just as soon as I got that one ofyours and have not got any answer yet, and this is

the last letter that I shall write until I get 3 or 4 more!

We are nine miles from Baltimore, 31 milesfrom Washington to what they call the [RelayHouse?], to guard the railroad. We do not know howlong that we will stay here but I guess all winter.

I say it do not seem much like winter here as itwas to Maine 2 month ago. Everything is odd to meI am turned right around.

We have not been paid off yet but I guess thatwe shall be paid off today. That is the talk now, and Iam getting hard up to be [paid]. The Captain tells usthat it will not be safe to send any money home[illegible] so I shall let him have some of it to keepfor me if he will. Anyhow I can manage to take careof it.

Tell George38 there is many boys not so largeas he is here, and they are as fat as pigs with a shorttail. I go on guard at 11 oclock and until 1, then goon off until 5; stay on 2 hours, then off 4 hours, thengo on once more and that is all. The boys all went a-

drilling.Now we get out in the woods to get nuts. Any

quantity of Chestnuts here to be got. The growth isnot a mite like yours at Maine; I do not know whatthey call any of it..

Tell Willey to keep my bench for me. TellFrank39 that .

37 Probably his young brother William H. Anderson, age six, named later as Will.,Willey, etc.38 Probably his brother George Parker Anderson, age 15.

39 Probably his brother Frank Anderson, age 12.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 7[Transcription incomplete]

CHA 008: Relay House40 November 1861

[Fragment, 4.5 in. by 5 in.]

Tell Chas A A41 to take good care of his little girl forme.Oh, if you want to send me a box you will send it toPortland to:G.. K. DavenExchange St.He is the man that carries the free boxes.Direct [to:]the Relay House, 10 Me. Rgt., Co. E,and it will come.

[reverse][sketch of a hand pointing at a head]four miles to him

Tell Will42 to stop scratchinghis head. Goodbye, tobed I go.

Last night I had to get up I was so cold, and set up towarm me by the stove.


Headquarters Tenth Maine Regiment, Co. E

Baltimore Nov the 17 1861

It is Sunday afternoon and the boys are just again ondress parade.43 It is just 11 oclock. I am on guardtoday. We are not again to have any guard aftertoday, for the Colonel says that we shall go toWashington before long. This Washington I saidto Annapolis I mean. That is about 16 miles from

here where we do expect to be picked off one by oneon guard.

We have got a nice little stove, I tell you, and it is notso warm as it might be, I tell you. The folk has justgot done getting in their corn here. They husk it inthe fall. The Portland folks is going to send us out a

40 See note 3, and Itineraryin the Preface.41 Presumably, CHAs father, Charles Wadsworth Anderson, but given the wrongmiddle initial.42 William H. Anderson, (1855-1880), CHAs young brother.43 Literally, vesperraid. We assume that the letters vesperonly accidentally form a

word, and that CHA mispronounced dress parade.


20/80

PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 8thanksgiving, and that will be nice I tell you. Wehave not settled yet. I am well and like [it] first rate.This is the place for all such boys as I am.

I saw H. Smith in the 11th Regiment.44 Theypassed with[in] 1 rod of the camp on the cars.

I am in a hurry.

Tell Sarah A Anderson45 that I have not got anypicture yetno letters neither. Here goes anotherregiment by; I did not get up to see it for they arevery common here, I tell you.

Give my love to all of the little ones.46 You willplease write soon if ever, and direct [it] to Baltimore,10 Maine Regiment, Co. E.

Charles H Anderson

Limington

Maine

Write soon


Baltimore November 20, 1861

Dear Mother,

I seat myself to let you know that I am well and hope

that these few lines will find you all the same. Theboys are all well too. We have not lost any boys yet.One of your boys is sick nowhis name is Simpsonfrom Canada. He was a reporter for three papers.

We have settled now and was paid off 9 dollars, onlythey keep back some. We shall get something worthsettling for next month, if nothing happens26dollars, so they tell me.

I have bought me a razor today, for 35 centsandstrap and shears. I went 35 cents, this for cutting

hair and shaving. The boys have any quantity ofmoney now, I tell you, but it dont last long.

I sent some pictures to some of youto all, I mean. Ishall not write you again until I get about 6 lettersfrom you.

Your

44 Private Henry Smith is listed by CWSS (note 3) in company E, 11th Maine InfantryRegiment.45 Sarah is his closest sister.46 The children included 5 who were age ten to nineteen, and 4 age eight or

younger. See Appendix 1.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 9Chs. H Anderson

Limington, Maine

Charles W AndersonSarah A AndersonMe.

CHA 011: Camp Beal 22 November 1861

Addressee: C W Anderson of Limington,Maine

Return Address: Headquarters, Maine 10Regt, Co. E

Camp Beal, 1861

Dear Mother, Baltimore: the 22

I received your letter and was very gladto hear that you all was well, and that you thoughtthat you had got all of my letters I have written toyou, and [I] have received two from you.

And about that money that is due to me.I do know that I told Father that there was sevendollars and some old cents that Sunday that I was uphome. I was there and got 3 dollars of Danell C.47and he is owing me 4 dollars and some old cents.This is just as I tell you. And you tell Father that if hegoes and asks Danell that he will tell him the same.

You wanted me to send you five or 10 and here youhave it. I would have sent more if you had asked ofme.

Tell the boys of the neighborhood thatWilber F Chase48 was on guard to the curved bridge49and he got a-fooling with his gun, and it went off andshot him through the hand. I was on guard about mile from him; I heard the report of the gun. Theytook him to the hospital. I am going out targetshooting pretty soon.

The officers of your regiment has beencleaning out the rum-shops here, I tell you. They goright into the shops and empty it into the road.They damaged one man 300 dollars worth. The folkshere are getting down on us, I tell you, for this.

47 Possibly the neighbor, Daniel Crockett [See Robert L. Taylor, Early Families ofLimington, Maine (privately published, Danville, Maine, 1984), p.88.]48 Pvt. Wilbur F. Chase is listed by CWSS (note 3) in Co. E, 10 th Maine, and later inboth the 16th and 20th Maine Regiments.49 The curved bridge is probably the impressive, curved, eight-arched ThomasViaduct, that spans the Patapsco river at Relay House, where the B&W RR branches

from the B&O. See www.trainweb.org/oldmainline .


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 10This is all of the news. Oh, tell Cttey[?]

that I was glad to receive itit, I said; her Card, Imean. You will please write soon, wont you. From

C H Anderson

Steep Falls

Tell George that I will write just as soon as he writes.

CHA 012: Relay House ?4 December 1861

Co E Dec the 4, 1861

Dear Sister,

I seat myself to let you know that I am well and hopethat these few lines will find you all the same. I wasvery glad to hear from you, and to hear that you hadnot forgotten your old kicksgoing to the Falls50but

was very mad when I came to read what you saidabout Mary Wood. I can take my oath that I have notwritten to her for more then 1 year, and more thanall that I never want you to mention Mary Wood tome again while I am alive, for I have seen enough ofher, that is so!51

Your Colonel has just said, before I write, that weshall be down South, so we can smell gunpowder. Itis very warm today. I am quite well and [hope] youall are the same.

I wrote yesterday to Mother and sent it inFathers name; it was because I had one backed tohim that I wanted to send.52

The boys of my tent are all writing this morning. Wehave some gay old times, I tell you. Your tent is 12feet across it, and it is round and we have 12 men init. And after we get in bed, we cant turn overnomore then a wedge can when it is drove into a log.

Your barracks is built in this way: 2 stories high, andit looks like a barn. We write downstairs and sleep

upstairsone bunk with 2 men in it and 2 bunks, 1on the top of the other, and so on.

We have three cooks, and I can go into the cook tentand shit 3 piles that will make better cooks than theyare, by putting a cap on them.

ThereI have written you all the news, so goodbye,

50 The falls of the Saco river at Steep Falls, Maine.51 In family stories, there is a suggestion that Mary Wood (neighbor, and sister to theman Sarah later married) claimed to be engaged to CHA and wore mourning at hisdeath.

52 An apparent reference to CHA 011, dated 22 Nov. 1861, ten days earlier.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 11C. H. Andersonof Limington, Maine.

They have no towns here. It is all counties and tollbridges or nothing. Give my love to alland to Will,53to be sure. So goodbye,

Chas H

CHA 013: Camp Beal, Relay House 7 December 1861

Return address, in part: Camp Beal,54 to the ray(sic)house.

Dear Mother, Dec the 7,1861

I seat myself to let you know that my health is verygood, and I hope that these few lines will find you all

the same. The boys are talking very loud about thefights that the northern boys has had this week.

The weather is kind of rainy today. Tomorrow yourcompany goes back to headquartersthis is twomilesand then we shall get rid of doing guard duty.But we shall have to come back in 2 weeks onto therailroad. There is 10 companies in the regiment andthey have got to guard the road, and so they taketurns guarding. Five companies guard it 2 weeksand then other five companies takes it; this is theway we have to work it.

Tell Father that I shall send him a paper with thisletterone that I got today, and I will tell you how Igot it. When we see the [railroad] cars coming, takea old paper and swing it; this is the way the boysgets the papers. Swinging the paper puts thepassengers in mind of the paper which they arereading and they throw them out, and then you hadought to see the jumping for them. This is the way Igot this paper that I send you.

Tell Willey55 that I should like to see him and all of

the folks, but I like here better if we did not havenothing but salt pork and dry bread. This we havefor two or three days in a week. I hear someone saythat they are heaving the bread out like the devilthis means from the track. The bread is brought upon the cars to you, and they throw it off as you would

53 Young brother, William H. Anderson, age six.54 CHA seems to use Camp Beal, or Beale, interchangeably with Relay House. Sincethe commander of the Tenth Maine Regiment was named Col. George L. Beal, it mayhave been a colloquial usage.

55 Young brother, William H. Anderson, age six.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 12to a passel of hungry dogs. And then who wouldntgo for a soldier? This is the war.

Tell Mother (sic) that I dreamt that she had made mea nice shirt and was going to send it out next week,but when I came to myself it was false, to be sure.

Take Notice: The news has just come that GeneralWoolf is going to discharge the third division and letthem go home, and pay them their monthly wages

up until they found out whether they should wantyou. This is all of the news, so goodbye. CHA

Inserts: Write soon. I have got to drill now for theorderly is hollering Fall in to drill!

CHA 014: Baltimore 17 December 1861

Adressee: Charles W. Anderson56

Dear Father, Baltimore Decthe .17. /61

I take my pen in hand to let you know that I am welland hope that these few lines will find you all thesame. The boys and Captains is building barracks;they will have them done shortly. It is very pleasanthere now, I tell you. It is just like summer here andthe boys like it first rate, I tell you.

The folks here think that our Northern troops will

have England to contend with, and if we do it will gohard with us. So the folks think, and so it may.

We have all the News that is going, I tell you. We getthe news from Washington. I suppose that you areposted in what is going on. I want you to write somenews the next time that you write.

Take notice57

Five of your companies is with [the] railroad. Theyhave 9 miles to guard; they stay there two weeksand then the other five companies take the road.

This is the main road from Baltimore to Washingtonevery regiment that goes South, and all theprovisions that keeps the armies alive, for it cant goany other way. There is 3 regiments on this roadfrom Baltimore to Wash. It is 43 miles.

56 Charles Wadsworth Anderson is Charles Henrys father.57 The following description places CHA on guard on the Baltimore & WashingtonRailroad, near the junction with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at Relay House (a hotelon the stage road in the town of Relay). The Maryland Historical Society has anetching of the fort overlooking the junction, with Relay House in the distance. See

image no. Z24.1320 at www.mdhs.org/library/Z24CivilWar.html. See also note 49.


25/80

PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 13We live like dukes to what the folks does here, I tellyou. For they come and beg the pieces of bread thatwe have left after we are done eating. That is theway with the Souththe poor is poor, and they areplenty too, I tell you.

There, I must draw to a close for I am in theCaptains tent and it is almost supper time too. I willsend this under the care of Sarah A Anderson for she

give me warning of that sheet of paper that you sentme.

They have just fired the evening gun over to thefort.57 This fort is about mile from us. This gun isfired at sunrise and set.

So now good by,C C C C

Chas H Anderson

CHA 015: Baltimore 20 December 1861

Dear Mother, Baltimore, December20, 1861

I received your letter last night and two more withthem, and I have received everything that you havesent me. Tell Willie58 that I got his lock of hair and Ialmost thought that it was him when I saw the net on

it. Tell him that he must not be mad with me, and tokeep my bed for me. (Turn over! You, I mean, notthe paper.)

You wrote that Father wanted me to let him knowwhether we was on the right or left; we are on theright; or, there is 1 company on the right before us.The companies is racing on the barracks [to finishthem?]. Company C is ahead of us and that is all,today. It is very warm here today. It will take 2 or 3days longer.

You wanted me to write whether I had beenhomesickthat I can do. I have not and, more thanall of that, I shall never be while I am on this shore. Ihad a letter from James Anderson59 and E. Wood60and you, one nightthat was last night too. YourLieutenant has just come in here and he makes methink of Father every time I see him; he is a niceman. I tell you it is pleasant here.

58 William H. Anderson, (1855-1880), CHAs young brother.59 James Anderson is a second cousin and neighbor.

60 Enoch Wood is a neighbor who, in 1865, married sister Sarah.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 14You wanted me to write what had became of C.Higgins61 and Bijah62. Well, I will tell you. C. Higginshas been sick now about 2 weeks with the measles;Bijah is well and likes [it] first rate. It is the blackmeasles that C. Higgins has got; he is getting wellnow. W. F. Chase is coming home with his handsoon.63

We live first rate here I tell you; if you could see the

beef that they haul here it would make your eyesstick out. I guess that I shall hire a team Sundayand come down home. I can get home in 2 days anda night It would cost me 12 dollars. The folks thinkhere that we shall have trouble with other nationsbefore it is settled.

Tell Sarah that I got her letter and have answered it,tooand a slip for Sarah Ann [?]. Tell George that hehad ought to hear the men drive their old muleshar!gee! long! [?]they are right smart, I tellyou. I like to read your letters, for you write so

plain.

So now goodbye,

C H Anderson

Write soon. I do not have to wait until Sunday beforeI can write.Write what has become of the colt.This is all backed, so I will send it in Fathers name.

CHA 016: Baltimore 7 January 1862

Baltimore January the 7, 1862

My Dear Mother,

I seat myself to let you know that my health is goodand hope that these few lines will find you all thesame. I received your letter last night and was gladto hear that you all was well. It is quite cold here

we have 2 inches of snow. I am in the Chaplainsoffice and cannot stop to write much. Tell the oldman that I am glad that he has got something to do.I have sent 10 dollars [in] a letter to him and shallsend six in this: 5 for you, 1 for Sarah A Anderson.

61 Charles E Higgins is listed by the CWSS (note 3) as a private in Co. E, Tenth MaineInf. Regt.62 Literally, Bigar, but pronounced with a long i and a soft g; an abbreviation of

Abijah. Compare note 65 below.63 Wilbur F. Chase is listed by the CWSS (note 3) as a private in Co. E, Tenth MaineInf. Regt., and also (same man but later?) in the 16th and 20th Maine Regiments.

The wounding of his hand is described in CHA 011.


27/80

PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 15It is about 8 oclock in the morning now and the sunshines beautiful, I tell you. Tell Sarah that she mustnot dance too hard [illegible]. Tell Wille64 that I willsend him something one of these days.

So, goodbye,

C H Anderson

[page 3 of the same document, CHA 016]Dear Sister,

To you these lines I do direct for knowing the truththat your ships were not wrecked (this is a bywordwith the boys). I have sent Father $10 and sent 5more to Mother and 1 to you, making 16 in all. Thismoney you may do what you please with.

This is from your Brother,

Chas H Anderson


Baltimore January the 7 /62

My Dear Father,

It is now near bedtime and I lay in my bunk and havejust been up to the Chaplains office and mailed 6

papers for all the neighbors. And I have mailed aletter to you with 6 dollars in it, and one to Motherwith $10 in it, and I want you to write and let meknow whether you get them or not. And I wrote thatI should send stamps and forgot it, but send them inthis.

The letters has just come and I shall go and see if Ihave one.

I have been and seen, but I had none, so I will finish.

I shall send you $100 more in this letter, and then if I

get out I shall send home for some, and want you tosend it to me. I full well know that this money comeseasy and will go easy if I keep it here, for this is theworst place to spend money that ever I got into. Andtherefore I shall send it home and let you have it.

Bijah Abbott65 has just come along and says that heis a good [illegible]; write him again. I sent a paperto Watson [illegible] and C. Warren of the Clipper.

64 William H. Anderson, (1855-1880), CHAs young brother.65 Literally, bigar Abot, who is probably theAbijah W. [or, U.] Abbottwho is listed by

the CWSS (note 3) as a private in Co. E, Tenth Maine Infantry Regiment.


28/80

PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 16Write soon. Yours truly,

C H Anderson of Limington Maine

Give Will66 this 5 cents in this letter, and tell him tokeep my bed.


Baltimore Jan. the17 /62

[No addressee is named.]

It is Friday afternoon and I have just come off fromguard. I received your letter last night and was veryglad to hear from you and also my money.67 Theweather is quite cold here.

And we have considerable to contend with too, forthe folks is picking the guard off in the road. They

shot a boy on the next bed to me the other night; Iwill tell you how it was done. Your beats is 1/3 milelong, one on a beat, and the fellow that got shot wasto one end of the beat, and the rebel came up on theother end, stood behind a tree; and, when he comeup off against him, he let shoot at the chappy,68 andthe ball went into his legtore the flesh, I tell you.And as soon as he fired, he turned and run. Thesoldier snapped his gun and it did not go, and thenhe had to put another cap on his gun. And then helet strip [sic] at the rebel but did not hit him, for by

this time he had got out of the way.

And when I heard him fire, I went up where the fellowwas. His leg bled pretty bad, I tell you. And then hewent to the camp which is an eighth of a mile. TheCaptain and Lieutenant took 10 or 20 men and theyput chase to them, but they could not find them, andthey dont know how it was, but they think it was aNegro and I guess it was.

And then last night they was seen two men creepingaround in the woods. Still later News: the boys has

got the fellow and he is half Negro, and he says thathe meant to kill him. And he says that he wasnt theonly one that will tap them off.

And they say that we shall have something to do ifwe guard this railroad longOh! News is that Maineis going to make a move soon!and they want to get

66 William H. Anderson, (1855-1880), CHAs young brother.67 Literally, the word appears to be mney. Note that the last two letters home, CHA016 and CHA 017, had enclosed significant sums of money, about whose receipt onemight worry. See Appendix 2 about the familys need for money.

68 Literally, Shapidey.


29/80

PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 17at this road so they can rip it up, so that your armycannot get any supplies. But they cant this year anyold how.

This shooting makes the boys all mad, and they raisethe very devil. When they want any bread and milkthey go into a house and, if they dont give it tothem, they will pass them right outdoors. They make[nothing of] going right into a hen coop and take a

hen or two.They have got down on the citizens here, and tired ofthe railroad, too. And so am I. For, to get up nightafter night and go on guard when it rains like Timeand the wind blows so that you cant hardly stand upthis makes the boys think of home. But I do notfind much fault.

ThereI have written you all the news.

I was to see George Gage,69 and he was just open abox from home full of cakes and pies and apples.

Give my love to Will70 and Band,71

Ch/A

CHA 019: Hanover Switch 4 February 1862

Hanover Switch72 Feb the .4. /62

Dear Father,

It is with much pleasure that I seat myself to let youknow that I have not forgot you, and that it - - [thewriting style changes here] I have just writtendown to where you see this difference in the writing,for there is difference.

Chas73 said in a letter that I have just got from himthat he had a good mind to come [to war]. Tell himthat all that glistens is not silver here, by any means.They is no mistake but we have got to take it some.We cant get out of it, and we do not want [to]. It isnot the getting out of it that we wantit is to get intoit. This is the way with a soldier.

69 George W. Gage is listed in the CWSS (note 3) as a private in Co. F, 10 th MaineInfantry Regiment.70 William H. Anderson, (1855-1880), CHAs young brother.71 The reading Bandis reasonably clear but the reference is obscure. The word doesnot seem to fit a family member, but may refer to all of them together; ten childrenwere living at the time.72 Probably, this is near the town of Hanover, Maryland, which is on the railroad,about two miles south of Relay House..

73 Probably his first cousin, Charles Abel Anderson. See notes 85, 104.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 18It is kind of strange what makes the boys want tofight so bad. Well, I do. If I have come to fight, Iwant to do it and have it done, which I guess weshall, soon too. And if we come out crooked-legged,so let it be. Oh! I could tell you news if I thought itbest.

The folks say that it is almost enough to astonishanybody to see the troops cross over the long bridge

into Virginia.

74

This is not far from where we soonshall be. Well, I will tell you what these thirty-daysmen are going to do.75 They are to be sent on therailroad to guard, while we do the fighting. This isthe way of it, and this is right smart, as the old mansaid.

Tuesday I and 3 of the boys went down to a manshouse and had a nice diner, I tell you. Out of yourcompany, we have only 4 men sickthis is not badfor 100 men, is it? Pap[?], this may tousle you toread this,76 but never mind. Will you please snuff

the candle and go and set down. M[other] and Will:77I wish you had to write herethe boys is dancing andsinging, and it is almost impossible to write here, andI write this right by the jamb[?].

Please turn

C W And

[continued, over]

It has snowed all day today and we have 4 inches ofthe stuffI call it [stuff], for the stuff it is, I tell you.

The mud and snow is clear to your ass here.I have got to go on guard at 4 this morning and stand4 hours; I have earned 8. Im standing extra guardfor the other boys, and we all had your guns tobrighten, and I fixed two for the corporals78 and theygave me 50 [cents?] apiece.

It is snow9 at nightSo goodbye, write soon.

Charls H And

74 The Long Bridge over the Potomac was built in 1808 in the present location of therailroad bridge from, roughly, the Tidal Basin to the Pentagon. See AlexandriaCounty on www.arlingtonhistoricalsociety.com.75 Some troops were enlisting for only thirty days of service.76 Literally, Tusle. Tousle is a colloquialism meaning to disarrange or disorder, as intousle someones hair.77 William H. Anderson, (1855-1880), CHAs young brother.

78 Literally, Caperills.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 19CHA 020: Camp Beal 6 February 1862

This letter having been written in great haste (lyingon my belly) with very faint ink, the transcription issomewhat conjectural in part.

Camp Beale Feb the 6,1862

My Dear Brother,79

I now take my pen in hand to let you know that I amwell tonight and hope that these few lines will findyou all the same. It is about 8 in the evening nowand I am in my bunk on my belly while I pen thesefew lines to you.

One of your company that had been on guard hadjust come off and was cleaning his gun and it wentoff and shot him. This makes 2 of your company thathas been shot. The ball went through his forefingers,and went up into the barracks and went through a

five-inch joist, and then it came down and struck himin the neck; and he took it out and has got it. He willprobably get his discharge. He was in your sectionhe was married and lived in Portlandhis name isChas. R Green.80 This is the whole of it.

We have some gay times shooting at target, I tellyou. They will shoot one thousand yard and hit thebigness of a man. I did it 2 out of 3 times with mine.They are certain [to] tell to the rebels every time,that is so; right smart, I reckon.

[illegible passage, apparently about local, Mdlandish money] This is all right here, and the boysnow all talk like a passle of Solomons.81 There! Youhave some more of the right smart stuff, dont you?

We have got 1 week more to stay out here, and thenwe shall be up our time outwhich is five weeks. Itis either rain or snow all the time; it rains today and,oh, the mud is clean to your ass. Take care, younasty creatures! My turn is to go on guard at 4 in themorning. Bijah Abbot82 and I is on together all thetime. On guard last night, I went on at 4 in themorning; this is a good relief.

I suppose that you all are waiting for the fight tocome off; it will soon if nothing happens. All theyrewaiting for is for it to come fair weather herefor

79 CHA had three brothers out of infancy at this time: George, age 14; Frank, age 12;and William, age 6. The maturity of this letter suggests it was sent to George.80 Charles R. Green is listed in the CWSS (note 3) as a private in Co. E, 10 th MaineInfantry Regiment.81 Literally,pasle ofSolims. We use the modern colloquial spellingpassle, meaninga group.

82 Literally, B Abot; see note 65.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 20when it storms, the weeks of the coming would goclean to the chlaters[?]. And let it be as fair as it will,we have got something to do to wipe them out. Butthey shall take it, if nothing happens. What I mean isif the officers approve good; they have. But as tomove extra trains onto the Washington road, this isnot for nothing, I tell you.

Give me a drink of water, Will,83 and I will give you a

centif I can borrow one. So goodbyeThe rest is to Will on Mother[s] sheet.

CHA 021: Relay House 11 February 1862

Relay House Feb the 11/62

My Dear and beloved Said 84

It is with pleasure that I seat myself to let youknow that I have not forgotten you all, though

it has been a long time since you wrote to me.It was because you was so busy going toDances, I suppose. Therefore I shall have toexcuse you.

I know not when any of you will get a letterfrom me again, for we shall soon go down toKentucky or Tennessee. This is sure. We havegot everything that your regiment needs now,and the Colonel says that he will shove us asfar as we want to go. The boys has long beenwanting to go down South and now they willgo, to their sorrow. I can hardly say that I amglad that we are going down South to see the[illegible] and help too.

You tell Charles A A85 that we can pick thebigness of a man 500 yards off every time now,and that is hard to beat. Tell him that I andanother fellow went gunning yesterday andcould not find anything to shoot, so we went tomoving the bricks on the top of a manschimney. We was mile off, and he did not

know where they came from! This is the waythe boys plays with the folks of Marylandtotheir pleasure; and they cant help it neither.

[A new letter is started on the same sheet ofpaper]

83 William H. Anderson, CHAs six-year old brother.84 Probably directed to CHAs sister, Sarah Ann Anderson. In the original, the wordSaid is the first word of the second line but there is not space for it at the end of thesalutation; it does not make sense as the first word of the message. Therefore, wetake Saidto be Sarahs nickname, and place it in the salutation.

85Charles Abel Anderson (1835-1917), CHAs first cousin.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 21My Dear Aunt86,

It is with pleasure and leisure87 that I seatmyself to let you know what you know (twoknows!)88 and what has been made known tome by 5 or 6 letters: That He that takest hasgivest to you Ellen. (This is kind of grand, aintit Sall, hunh?89) What sayest thou to one afaroff?

Oh!, may the little one that I speak of know lifeanyhowanyhow, I say; I mean right the otherway!and may she ever live, I say, to enjoythe good of the day. Oh, tell her that I wouldgladly see her but cannot for a year.

Know I am a poet but the world does not knowit. There, this is all, and more too. I write somuch that I have nothing to write.

I had a letter from Mareayel(sic) And[erson]90on last night, and from you and Sarah. Give

my love to all.Yours truly,

Charles H Anderson

[in a different ink] Mifs Sarah A Anderson: Iwant you to tell Miss Annette Bach91 that shehas not wrote to me for a long time.


From the 10th Maine, Company ERelay House Feb. the

12 /62

Dear Father,

It is with pleasure that I seat myself to let you know Iam well. I am so to be about, these times, and this isas much as can be expected from Thee, aint it? Oh,I wish that you could see with what pleasure the sun

shines this morning! It looks very nice, I tell you.

86 This section is probably directed to his mothers young half-sister, Sarah H.(Walker) Anderson [Sall ?], age 32, who married CHAs first cousin, Charles Abel

Anderson, andgave birth on 27 January 1862 to their first child, a daughter, Nellie[Ellen?], according to family records.87 Literally, the rhymed words Plasure and lasure.88 Literally, to knows, without parentheses or exclamation point.89 Literally, hur, without punctuation.90 Possibly CHAs first cousin, Maria (Anderson) Lane (1833-1889), or his secondcousin, Mary Lucinda Anderson (1846-?), both of whom lived in the neighborhood.

91 Person unidentified.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 22And to hear the guns, which you can anytime thisweek. They are having heavy fighting down Souththis week, so the papers say. And I hope that theywill get something worth seceding for now, which Iguess they will, dont you? (I cant help speakingabout how white my hands is; they dont look as everthey saw a sapling in the world.) The boys is nowgetting ready to go out to drill. We are going topractice Skirmishing. This is a pretty drill, I tell you;

it is to learn to handle the gun and how to charge[with] bayonet.

It snowed yesterday here, and today it is verypleasant indeed. Oh, I wish that you was here to goand take a walk over the country to see what holesthere has been dug to get iron here. They has beenany quantity of it dug in Maryland. I was down to seethem make mills the other day; they will make themfaster than you could count them. They come out alldone, too. They take the iron right from the ground

and in a little while they will have it into mills. Theyemploy 100 hands in this shop.

Charles W Anderson92 of Limington, Maine, Esq.. (Turn over [to the next page], will

you.)

(This is my backing on this letter.)Perhaps you would like to know how I live and how Isleep; well, I will tell you. For breakfast we hadstrong coffee and a piece of bread and a piece ofporkthis is your chief living. And how I sleepyour

bunk is 3 feet wide, and with me sleeps Charles MBragdon of Portland.93 He is about such a man forlooks as you arefull as large and older, I guess,than you. He is a good old fellow too. He is my fileleader; he is number 11 and I am number 12 in thecompany. Captain Esters, that came from Portlandwith us, has resigned and gone home and the FirstLieutenant is in command now, and he is a goodman. Your orderly sergeant is sick, and I think thathe has got the consumption on him; this is too badfor he is the best of them all. The cooks, which is

three, is grinding coffee for dinner.By losing our first Captain, you will see it beat us[down to] the third company from the left of theregiment, when before we was the second from theright. The oldest Captains takes their post on theright and our Captain is youngbut good. TheColonel [has] given him the name of being the best-drilled Captain in the whole lot, and our company,

92 CHAs father, who is the addressee.93 Charles W. M. Bragdon is listed in the CWSS (note 3) as a private in Co. E, 10th

Maine Infantry Regiment. It is surprising that a private soldier would be older than

CHAs father, forty-nine.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 23too. Our company will have the Colors to carrythiswe do not like anyhow, for they are just what theenemies will aim at, so they say. But let it come; Irepeat it, sir.

I want you to tell me how it happens thatyoure in the stove business with Wood to the Falls94;and was that you make out to stay to see otherpaloks[?] live there. I have written you all that I

knew, and more too, so I must scrabble a little.[There follow several lines, each in a differentcalligraphic stylehence, scrabbling.]

Send the box if you please; soon, too.We have got the war bugle95, and if nothing happenswe shall have our chance right soon.Tennessee or Kentucky, the Colonel says.Give my love to Will, and tell him to cling to thebed.96

From your affectionate son,Charles H Anderson Esq.

Steep Falls, Maine

CHA 023: Baltimore 16 February 1862

Dear Sister,

It is Sunday eve and I find myself seated to let youknow that I am still alive, but not well for I have got avery bad coldthis is a bad place for colds. I and the

rest of the company went to funeral this afternoon.Two boys died quite sudden with their colds; theybelonged to Co. F.

There has been great rejoicing over the victory thatthe North has gained within 2 weeks.97 They havebegun to talk about coming home and, of all thebetting that ever you saw on it, some has got up 5 or10 or 20 that we shall be at home the fourth of July,and I think that it is not far from the right, as far as Ican learn.

It rained last night, and a fellow gave me $100 totake his place on guard, and of all the holes to stand

94 Stephen Washington Wood (1810-1880), later father-in-law to Sarah AnnAnderson, lived and operated a mill at Steep Falls, Limington.95, The word appears literally as beowgle.96 Perhaps unsurprisingly in a family of ten at home at this time, bed space is aproblem. Will, age six, seems to have laid claim to CHAs former bed.97 Even minor Union victories were rare until early 1862, when Gen. Ulysses S.Grant, in Tennessee, captured Fort Henry (6 Feb.) and, especially, Fort Donelson (11-16 Feb.) where the 12,000-man Confederate garrison surrendered unconditionally.When the telegrams arrived, Washington and the North rejoiced. We date this letterto that event (on a Sunday), as it is alluded to in the letter. See

www2.cr.nps.gov/abpp/battles.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 24guard it is the worst. I will try to tell you how it is.The mud is from 4 to 8 inches deep and it wasraining, and so dark that you could [not] seeanything.

Now while I think of it, I will tell you [that] you are, asyou all know, a set of intelligent people in Limington,and probably think that you seen most as much asanyone; but not so far when you come to the subject

of crows. Here you will have it, within a full rod ofyour encampment, there is any quantity of woodsand I have seen them all black with crows. Thisseems to be their hanging place. We went down thisforenoon and it was a sight to behold. There was anyquantity of them, so old that they could not see, andwe caught any quantity of themhundreds andhundreds of them there.

We have got new pants and new caps. They are niceones, I tell you. The other Maine regiments call thisthe Petticoat Regiment, and this is the right name for

it, for every officer has got his wife out here. Andthis is the best-dressed regiment there is in the fieldand the best drilled, too. I tell you that your caps isbeauties, black dress coat, blue pants, broadclothcap, brasses on your shoulders, and on your handswhite gloves, and everything so nice. The barrels ofyour rifles is so bright that you can see your face inthe barrels of them. All this belongs to the 10th

Maine. On the front of your cap is the figure E andthe number of your regiment, which is 10.

Now I will tell you all I know about going away. YourColonel said tonight on Dress Parade that he wantedus to drill right smart this week, for we should notstay here long. Here you have it as cheap as I do:We shall go somewhere soon, I think, for the boysgrumble so doing guard duty. I hope that we shall.

The boys is all upstairs to go to bed and they arelifting each other at stiff heels[?]. So goodbye,

Dance well for me.

C H A

Give my love to all my brothers and sisters, and toWill of course.


Relay House Feb the 18 /62

My Dear Mother,


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 25It is with pleasure that I seat myself to let you knowthat I am well and hope that these poor lines will findyou all the same in Limington. It is now 5 oclock inthe morning and I have just got off from guard. I gotyour letters before I went on guard but did not haveany candles to read them by. So after I got quit onguard I was anxious to know how they was fewer,and so I opened themthem, I say, because I hadone fewer when done.

And the moon shone so bright that I could see toread some of them; I could see. But anyhow youwrote just as if you thought that I was home sick.No, not I, I tell you. My tongue is very sore with thecankerand lips, too. This is a old complaint withme; you know, dont you, hunh98, Marm?

The news is today that the 10th Maine was going toFort Henrythis is in Tennessee.99 And I guess thatthis will be a go, and perhaps to your sorrow too.

Say! Cant you see that I have learned to write sinceI came into the Army of the U.S. service? I feel justlike writing tonight. Your Capriell100 is writing withme now, and I have just asked him how to spellCorprall. (Turn over[the page] now, Marm.) Thetrouble with me is, when I sit down to write, I cantthink of anything to write, and so I will look to yourletter.

You said that that picture of mine had been therounds. I am very sorry, [but] it was not a good oneat all, for it was too white and it did not look any like

me. I should have not known it if I had not sat for itmyself, this is so. I want you to have yours andWillies taken and sent to me, wont you?

Oh. George Gage101 was down to your companyyesterday; he is all well and is not forgetting ofhome, neither.

I should die If I had to go into the wood this winterand chop wood. The boys have got so lazy now thatout of 103 men they cant chop wood enough to keepone fire going in the stove; this is a fact. They will

run and hide to get rid of drilling.While I was on guard, there was 150 cars went by toBaltimore. You do not know anything about what atrain of cars is, in Maine. The track is covered withthem all the time now, loaded with supplies for thearmy.

98 Literally hur, but we substitute a modern interrogatory interjection.99 See note 97.100 I have here retained the literal spellings, Capriell and Corprall, so as not to spoilthe jest, that the Corporal was not much better at spelling than CHA.

101 See note 69.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 26There, I have wrote you all that I knew, and moretoo. This you will see when you come to see it. For itis right smart, aint it? Give my love to all the folkto Will of course.The boys is just beginning to turn out now, sogoodbye. From your affectionate songoodbye,Mother.

Tell Ctey102 not to think hard of me for notwriting to her. Tell her that She must write again.

Tell Father that I cannot make out what he is a-doingto the Steep Falls.


Relay House Feb the 22/62

My Dear Mother,

It is with pleasure that I seat myself to let you knowthat I got your kind letter and was very sorry that mybox would not come, but that is the way withsoldiering, anyhow; you cant do as you would thisyear, I tell you. But never mind; I never shall knowthe difference in 100 years, shall I?

I have got a bad cold tonight. I was on guard lastnight and the guard-tent where the guard has tosleepit is lousy! It has been full of prisoners of the10th Mainenot rebels, to be sureand the lice isgrown to the enormous size of a coon. Last night,

about 12 in the night, one waked me up. He had gota piece of beef and was up in the corner of the roomeating it.

Those prisoners was drummed out of your regimentthis morning and sent to Washington to stay theremainder of their 18 months; this is hard labor too,without any pay. One has a family in Portlandallthis is for eating Prunk[?]103this is hard.

You wrote me that C.A.A.104 has enlisted for acorporals berth [illegible] I would ask you, how

much a private is above a corporal;105

well, I will tellyou the difference. A corporal has to be up all nightlongdoes not sleep at all, while a private can, whenthey aint on guard. This is the way with a corporal.And if any deviltry is done, the officers pounce ontothe corporal for allowing them to do it. And all the

102 Could this be a nickname derived from a childs attempt to pronounce Sister?Exactly that (usually spelled Citey) happened to Carol (Bates) Smith (1899-1997).103 This appears to be the literal spelling, whatever may have been intended.104 Probably, Charles Abel Anderson (1835-1917), CHAs first cousin. Charles A.Anderson is listed in the CWSS (note 3) in Co. G, 13th Maine Infantry Regiment.

105 The word corporal is literally written at first as Capriell, later abbreviated to Cap.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 27difference in the dress is two stripes of blue braid onthe sleeves of the coat. They do not get one centmore than I do. And tell Charles that the army doesnot want any more corporals, for this thing wouldnever been if hadnt been for officers, who is gettingtheir $200 dollars a month while we do the work, ifwork you may call it. We have grand times, I tellyou.

When Sarah A Anderson [is] weak of dancing, tell herthat fiddlers 3 we have gotfiddle, 1; fife, 1;clappers, 1 pair; 2 drums; one banjoand they canplay them, too, and they do do it. We have got agrand chance to dance in the Chantey, I tell you.

The corporal that is reading the letters over tonight isbigger than Charles; he is 6 feet and 3 inches tall.They have just handed me one letter; I do not knowhow it is [so] few. It is from Steep Falls; I see on theback, the letter is from S A Anderson. She writes methat Ed B. is dead.106 This is bad, but they make

nothing of dropping off out here, I tell you.

I have to write very fast for my light is almost gone.And I am not sleepy tonight, for when I got off fromguard and eat my breakfast, I went upstairs and laidmyself up on a board, and laid until 5 at night, andthis is the [way] to soldier, aint it? Hunh? Hold ontothis stickmake [illegible]:107

Charles H And

If C A A is in the 13th regiment,108 I shall seehim, I think, for that is a green regiment and the talkis that they are going to take our place, and if that sohe will wish himself in Limington, I tell you.

Give my love to all of the folks. To Will, tell him tohop up and lick his hand.

I should like for you to happen in some night andtake a look.


This letter was written on CHAs twentieth birthday.

Head Quarters Relay House Feb the 25 /62

Dear Father,

106 Person unidentified.107 The word appears roughly to be limacearm, which may possibly denote the fancycalligraphic style with which he wrote his signature. Could he have intended theFrench word limaon for a certain geometric figure?

108 See note 104.


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PART II: ANDERSON S LETTERS 28To you now I seat myself to let you know what youdo know, or what you ought to know, that is, that thisis the 20th year that I have been in this world ofTrouble, Sin, and Carebecause it is nothing else butthatand Suffering,109 in the town of Limington andbig snowstorms; aint it about so, hunh?110 Well, Ireckon, right smart lot.

It froze quite hard here last night, but it was nothing

to what it was in the daytime. It did rain very hard,and the wind blew so hard that they had to prop uptheir barracks to keep them from blowing down. Butit is quite pleasant today.

The Northern folks think that they are all right andwill see their friends home before long, but I will tellyou that they will be more men die in the armywithin 3 months than there has been in all the rest ofthe time that the troops has been out here. For it isbad weather, I tell you. For I guess there is not onein the company but has got a bad cough, and cold

too. But we have not got one man in the hospital.

They had a knapsack drill this forenoon and thesedrills is what takes a fellow down, I tell you. One ofyour boys fainted and had to come in. Well, I will tellyou what it is: It will make you think of home to haveyour knapsack on your back with about 50 or 60pounds in it, and a cartridge box full of cartridgesthat will weigh 20 pounds more, and then your rifleswhich will weigh 10 more pounds, and drill 3 or 4hours, double quickthis is what makes a fellow

think of home, if anything will. And it is not likebeing alone with your lad, for you are in the midst ofthem all, jamming and hollering, to and fro. But it isnothing after you get used to it, as the old womansaid when she was skinning the eels.

When you write to me, tell me all the news and whatyou are doing, will you? Well, I have written all thenews, so goodbye, from C H

Know, some of the Maine regiments wants to knowwhy the 10th Maine down south does not go to fight

the rebels, and let them know that the 10

th

Maine isnot afraid to go wherever duty calls her, and

When in battle or in ray,She her science will display.111

Yours truly, C HAnderson

109 Literally, Saplerin, but the l may be a mistake for h.110 Literally hur, but we substitute a modern interrogatory interjection.111 This is a nice rhymed couplet and we display it here as verse, although it wasoriginally written into the text. The word literally written ray

civil war letters of charles henry anderson: private in the tenth maine infantry regiment

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