Alva Sinks letter, 1864.

ArchivalResource

Alva Sinks letter, 1864.

This collection consists of a letter from Alva Sinks to his father, George Sinks, written from a camp near Atlanta, Georgia, in 1864. In the letter, Sinks writes of fighting from Dalton to Jonesboro, Georgia, of the destruction of the countryside, and of the defenses of Atlanta and impending battle. The letter gives a first-hand account of the Union Army in the Atlanta area. Sinks praises the movements of William T. Sherman's troops and tells of Sherman's orders for all civilians to be removed from Atlanta and the city's transformation into a military encampment. He also mentions General Hood and the Confederate's fortifications. He describes magnificent houses riddles with bullets and how the countryside has been devastated, with no food or supplies left for the Confederate troops and civilians. Sinks also mentions his dislike for the "copperheads," Union men who were against the Civil War and wanted "peace at any cost." The collection also includes an envelope containing a woodcut of Gen. Winfield Scott is enclosed with the letter, as well as another envelope postmarked at Chattanooga.

1 folder (.05 cubic feet)

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6822306

Georgia Historical Society

Related Entities

There are 4 Entities related to this resource.

Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ck93n8 (person)

Sherman was born in 1820 in Lancaster, Ohio, near the banks of the Hocking River. His father, Charles Robert Sherman, a successful lawyer who sat on the Ohio Supreme Court, died unexpectedly in 1829. He left his widow, Mary Hoyt Sherman, with eleven children and no inheritance. After his father's death, the nine-year-old Sherman was raised by a Lancaster neighbor and family friend, attorney Thomas Ewing, Sr., a prominent member of the Whig Party who served as senator from Ohio and as the first S...

Hood, John Bell, 1831-1879

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65q4trx (person)

Commander of the 4th Texas Regiment. From the description of Letter, 1862 Jan. 26. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70973320 Army officer. From the description of Note of John Bell Hood, 1870. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79450985 Confederate Army officer, stationed at Nashville (Davidson Co.), Tenn. From the description of Papers, 1862-1865. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 19793299 John Bell Hood (b. June 1, 1831, Bat...

United States. Army. Ohio Infantry Regiment, 71st. Company B.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6km5mjt (corporateBody)

Sinks, Alva, 1847-1881.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rn6n0b (person)

Alva Sinks (1847-1881) was born in Ohio. During the Civil War, he served as a Union soldier in Company B of the 71st Ohio Infantry. He married Ann Macy on January 9, 1867. Sinks died on January 3, 1881. From the description of Alva Sinks letter, 1864. (Georgia Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 137281877 ...