Wilbur Bradley papers, 1862-1865.

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Wilbur Bradley papers, 1862-1865.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/190824828

Letters, 1862-1865, of Wilbur Bradley contain information about Union army camp life at Folly Island and Hilton Head, S.C. After Col. Robert Shaw's assault on Ft. Wagner failed in 1863, Bradley's infantry regiment, the 144th New York Volunteers, was shipped from Virginia to reinforce the Union troops besieging Charleston. Nine letters in the collection were written from Virginia; thirteen describe duty in South Carolina. Bradley's letters suggest that he enjoyed his new surroundings with its mild winter weather. In contrast to many eyewitnesses, Bradley was optimistic. He marveled at his first South Carolina winter and his unit had relocated to Hilton Head Island by the next. In the 1864 presidential election, New York allowed its troops to cast absentee ballots. "I think Old Abe will be elected, Bradley commented, "hip hip Hurah for the Old Rail Spliter he is the [man] for us." During that time, the captain of Co. D ordered Bradley and two other soldiers to, as they interpreted it, fraternize with black troops. After they all refused to obey it, the captain had them arrested and court-martialed. Later back on his feet, Bradley managed to open a shop. He served until the end of the war and mustered out on 25 June 1865. In 1903, he was still alive and was residing in Oneonta, N.Y.

22 items.

University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries

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SNAC Resource ID: 6955542

University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries

Related Entities

There are 4 Entities related to this resource.

United States. Army African American troops.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xd9g84 (corporateBody)

United States. Army. New York Infantry Regiment, 144th

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gr5c97 (corporateBody)

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...

Bradley, Wilbur

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qr82n9 (person)

U.S. Army officer, serving as corporal in the 144th Infantry Regiment, New York Volunteers. Bradley sent these letters to an address in Meredith, N.Y., although he had joined a company raised in nearby Franklin, N.Y., by Col. Samuel F. Miller, who used anti-secession meetings for recruitment. Following his enlistment enlisted on 29 Aug. 1862, the U.S. Army sent Bradley and his fellow recruits to South Carolina's sea islands from 1863 to 1865. From the description of Wilbur Bradley pa...