Letters, 1865.

ArchivalResource

Thompson, Joseph S. Letters, 1865.

Letters, 1865.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/84741973

Letters written by Joseph S. Thompson, a sergeant with Company K, 160th New York Infantry Regiment, to his family during the final year of the Civil War. Seven original letters are accompanied by preservation photocopies, exact transcriptions, and "corrected" transcriptions that correct spelling and grammatical errors. Five letters were written to his sister, Mrs. E. McEvoy of Mauston, Wisconsin, one to her husband, and one to his father and brother. The first five letters, written from Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area, provide a summary of his previous service in Louisiana, request additional news from the home front, and following the end of the war, express his sense of boredom and an anxiousness to be discharged from service. In the final two letters, written from Georgia, Thompson mention his bout with fever, his excitement at the thought of returning home, his intention to divorce his current wife, and the prospect of marrying a woman he met in Savannah. One letter is written on patriotic stationary printed with the lyrics to the song "Who Will Care for Mother Now." Also included with the letters is a flyer with the lyrics to a song, "Sheridan's March up the Valley."

0.1 linear ft. (5 folders)

Wisconsin Veterans Museum Research Center