Letters, 1864.

  1. Resources
  2. View Resource

ArchivalResource

Letters, 1864.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/122498388

Letters, 1864 June 14 - Sept. 18, nine in number, from Van Vlack, in Decatur, Madison Co., Ala., to his parents in Mich., in which he vividly describes conditions and duties at the camp in Decatur, such as drilling, maintenance, and scouting and the other activities in which his unit, the 18th Mich. Infantry Regiment, was involved. He describes terrain and weather conditions well, and also details Confederate soldiers voluntarily surrenduring to the Union sentries every day. He also details the amount and types of food given to the troops, the destruction of Decatur, his low opinion of Copperhead Clement L. Vallandigham, whom Van Vlack felt was much more treacherous than Jefferson Davis; his high opinion of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant (the political opinions are in the June 27 letter), the good fortune of being able to swim and fish in the Tennessee River, his low opinion of John C. Fremont as a presidential candidate and his racism (the last two in the Aug. 11 letter), his diatribe against the Copperheads as cowards whom he hated because they would not fight (in the Aug. 27 letter), while the Confederates at least would fight, and his desire to end the war so he could get home.

1 folder.

Alabama Department of Archives and History

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6736361

Alabama Department of Archives and History

Related Entities

There are 9 Entities related to this resource.

Vallandigham, Clement Laird, 1820-1871

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tc20b9 (person)

Clement Laird Vallandigham was born July 29, 1820, in New Lisbon, Ohio (now Lisbon, Ohio), to Clement and Rebecca Laird Vallandigham. His father, a Presbyterian minister, educated his son at home. In 1841, Vallandigham had a dispute with the college president at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. He was honorably dismissed, but he never received a degree. Edwin M. Stanton, the future Secretary of War under President Lincoln, was Vallandigham's close friend before the Civil War....

Grant, Ulysses Simpson, 1822-1885

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r60gqx (person)

Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant, April 27, 1822, Point Pleasant, Ohio-died July 23, 1885, Wilton, New York) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. As president, Grant was an effective civil rights executive who worked with the Radical Republicans during Reconstruction to protect African Americans, created the Justice Department, and reestablish the public credit. Promoted lieutenant-general, in 1864, Grant led the Union Army in winning the American Civ...

Frémont, John Charles, 1813-1890

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zt3kwm (person)

John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813 – July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a US Senator from California, and in 1856 was the first Republican nominee for President of the United States. A native of Georgia, Frémont acquired male protectors after his father's death, and became proficient in mathematics, science, and surveying. During the 1840s, he led five expeditions into the Western United States and became known as "The Pathfinder". During the...

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tz44c1 (person)

Abraham Lincoln (born February 12, 1809, Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky-died April 15, 1865, Washington, D.C.) was the sixteenth President of the United States from 1861 until his death by assassination. He was the son of a Kentucky frontiersman, Thomas Lincoln, and Nancy Hanks. In 1816, Lincoln moved to Pigeon Creek, Indiana, where he worked on his family's farm. Following his mother's death two years later, he continued working on farms until moving with his father to New Sa...

Van Vlack, Alonzo A., d.1896.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6156qrp (person)

Van Vlack fought for the U.S. in the Civil War as a member of the 18th Mich. Infantry Regiment, Co. F. He was captured 1864 Sept. 24 at the skirmish at Athens, Limestone Co., Ala., and sent to Cahawba Prison in Dallas Co., Ala. After surviving the war, he died in Cambria, Mich., on 1896 Apr. 8. From the description of Letters, 1864. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122498388 ...

United States. Army. Michigan Infantry Regiment, 18th. Company F

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pk66d1 (corporateBody)

Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xk8d2z (person)

Mary Ann Lamar Cobb (1818-1889), wife of Gen. Howell Cobb (1815-1868). From the description of Letter to Mary Ann Lamar Cobb, 1888 Oct. 2. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 38476494 Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) was born in Kentucky. He attended Transylvania University for a short time before enrolling at West Point in 1824, at the age of 16. He graduated in 1828 and immediately joined the First Infantry. His regiment was engaged in the Blackhawk War of 1831. In 1833, he became a...

Democratic Party (United States).

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z346gt (person)

Copperheads.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6548cmd (corporateBody)