TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog

Category: Letters

  • Can YOU Identify This Signature?

    Another historical mystery found its way into my little corner of Civil War cyberspace recently.  Gary Skinner sent along a beautifully preserved letter recently for use on my Siege of Petersburg site.  The letter, written on August 4, 1864 and describing the Battle of the Crater, is a lengthy one.  The mystery concerns exactly WHO […]

  • Who Was C[harles] C. Ackels?: Help Needed!

    Recently Kathryn Lerch (who so generously donated a large number of items from her 8th New York Heavy Artillery collection to me for use on my Siege of Petersburg site) contacted me via email with a mystery: Brett, I decided I have exhausted my usual search lines on Ancestry and Fold3, and still keep coming […]

  • Civil War Book Preview: New Siege of Petersburg Diary from the 36th Wisconsin

    Editor’s Note: This preview has been cross-posted at The Siege of Petersburg Online.  Also be sure to check out the book’s permanent bibliography page. Taylor, Guy C. & Alderson, Kevin (ed) & Alderson, Patsy (ed). Letters Home to Sarah: The Civil War Letters of Guy C. Taylor, Thirty-Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers. (University of Wisconsin Press: November […]

  • William Holden at Corinth

    I have posted two of Iowa soldier William Holden letters before, one at the end of the war and one from Atlanta. This one is a detailed description of the Second Battle of Corinth fought on October 3-4, 1862 at Corinth, MS between the Confederates under generals Earl Van Dorn and Sterling Price, and the […]

  • On the Skirmish Line Outside Atlanta With William Holden

    Sorry for the gap in posting—I have been down with a nasty G-I bug most of the week. I’ve been wanting to post parts of another William Holden letter I acquired, one of which I have posted already. Holden, an Iowa farm boy, was by 1864 and experienced soldier and held the rank of first […]

  • An Engineer talks Fredericksburg

    As forewarned I will make my first blog on my pet project; engineers. This little seen letter comes from Captain Ira Spaulding of the 50th New York Engineers. It describes his experiences at Fredericksburg. Head quarters Detachment of the 50th NY Engineers Opposite Fredericksburg, December 20th (?), 1862 My dear Dunklee, I have just received […]