This Civil War yankee letter was written by Thomas Horsefield Wentworth (1837-1917). Thomas was the son of Sina Wentworth (1799-1873) and Sarah Ann Horsefield (1808-1886) of Orneville, Maine. Thomas was educated at East Corinth Academy. He helped his father with the farming, hired out as a house carpenter, and taught school during the winter months before the call to become a Civil War yankee. When he was 24, he enlisted as a sergeant in Company H, 15th Maine Infantry, in December 1861. He was promoted to First Lieutenant in November 1863 and was discharged in March 1865. He was with his regiment through all their campaigns in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Arkansas, Texas, and finally in Virginia. He was remembered by his fellow soldiers as “a fine looking officer and as straight as an arrow.” …show more content…
Abigail was the daughter of Nelson Wheeler (1807-1890) and Abigail B. Hill (1815-1868). Thomas and Abigail were married on January 30th 1865 while Lt. Wentworth was home on furlough. It was with much pleasure that I perused two letters from you which I received yesterday. One was mailed the 29th of June and the other August 11th so I got news old and new. I am glad to hear that you are well [and] that you have closed your school and are having a rest. I hope that you will not be too anxious about a school for the winter for I hardly think that it will be profitable to you. I think that Mrs. Prescott’s report of myself is pretty flattering but I am not prepared to contradict or confirm just now. Since I last wrote, our regiment has moved from Camp Parapet to New Orleans. We are stationed at the base levee Cotton Press which is the base end of the city. It is a fine place and we are well situated but I do not know how long we may stay here. I think, however, that we shall not spend a very long time for we have orders to be ready to march at a moment’s
At the age of nineteen, Ellis enlisted in the Civil War. He served in Company “A”, Forty-Ninth Indiana Volunteers, beginning on September 25, 1861. For two-and-a-half years, Ellis fought in many battles until harshly wounded at Champion Hill in mid-1863. Although he would suffer from these wounds for the rest of his life, Ellis readmitted himself to military service in early 1864. He fought until the conclusion of the war a year later. (History 759) As
on 7 December 1775, at the outbreak of the American Revolution, Jones was commissioned first lieutenant in the Continental Navy, where he was serving aboard the Alfred. After proving himself as a worthy leader, he was then sent to France where he was captain of the Ranger.
On April 13, 1861, the Confederate troops had started a fight at Fort Sumter. During that time, Grant was bored with his life. So he volunteered to be apart of the military once again. He then started to do more work with the military to train again. When Kentucky fell apart, Grant went to a small town known as Paducah to offer his skill to fight. After the war was over, he was promoted to “Unconditional Surrender Grant.”
(Ulysses S. Grant) Although Grant just started out as a volunteer when the war started in 1861, he was quickly promoted to brigadier general, and then lieutenant. He also served in the Mexican War, earning himself two citations for gallantry and one for meritorious conduct. (Ulysses S. Grant)
* Abigail was born to Reverend William Smith and his wife Elizabeth in Weymouth parsonage in Massachusetts.
He was promoted to colonel and in 1863 his troops helped stop Morgan's raiders at Buffington, Ohio. During the Battle of Winchester, Virginia, 1864, his unit's flags were the first to enter the town.
General George Meade, Ulysses S. Grant, General William Tecumseh Sherman, William Farrar Smith, and George Thomas were five of the most important men in 1864 during the Civil War. General George Meade was born in Cadiz, Spain on December 31, 1815. He was the commander of the Army of the Potomac in Virginia, where he met Ulysses S. Grant. In the Battle of Cold Harbor, George Mead is defeated on June 12, 1864, by Robert E. Lee. Then in the Battle of Sayler’s Creek, George defeats John Gordon, Dick Ewell, and R.H. Anderson. He died on November 6, 1872 at the age of 57. Ulysses S. Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Clairemont County, Ohio on April 27, 1822. On March 2, 1864 the U.S. Senate confirms Ulysses S. Grant as a Lieutenant General. In the Battle of the Wilderness on May 7, 1864 Ulysses is beaten badly by Robert E. Lee, but rather than retreat Ulysses
Along with this he also asked the chief to punish the man for the offense. He later went on in saying, “the woman is mine and I have worked very hard and painfully for her. My in laws made me pay through hard labor hence I request that you charge the gentleman in question Phuhi [a fine].”
An 1835 Graduate of West Point, a Mexican War veteran, he had a solid antebellum record as a military engineer and had commanded at the brigade, division and corps level (Gottlieb pg 57). The guns and infantry men were the leading edge of Robert Rodes’ Division of five brigades, numbering 8,500 veteran (Gottlieb pg 63).
During this time he was appointed to the position of superintendent for the Louisiana Military Academy in 1859. However, after the onset of the Civil War Sherman left his post as the Superintendent and went north where he became a Colonel in the 13th United States Infantry . General Sherman later experienced combat at the first Battle of Bull Run, where he led a division of General Tyler’s men. Unfortunately, he lost the battle, but President Abraham Lincoln saw his promise and promoted him to Brigadier General on August seventh, 1861.
Displayed extreme heroism in assault on Fort Wagner on Morris Island, South Carolina, in July 1863
To the people, John and Abigail was known to be a power couple due to how frequently they exchanged letters. In all, they sent over 1,100 letters from 1762 until 1801. But in 1813, her eldest daughter Nabby died from breast cancer. She had suffered of poor health in her later years and eventually died of typhoid fever in her home in Quincy, Massachusetts on October 28, 1818 when she was 73 years old. Her son John Quincy Adams became the 6th president at 57 years old at his inauguration on March 4,
McClellan started his military profession by entering the United States Military Academy in 1842. He graduated second in a class of 59 in 1846. He was selected as a brevet second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers and served under General Winfield Scott during the Mexican-American War. Upon the flare-up of the Civil War, Ohio Governor William Dennison selected McClellan significant general of Ohio Volunteers on April 23, 1861. This advancement, alongside the backing of Governor Denison, urged Lincoln to commission McClellan a noteworthy general in the Regular Army, making him one of the most astounding positioned personal in the administration under just Winfield Scott.
The nation’s communication system was cut in two when the civil war began in 1861.
After the Civil War ended, Custer was offered the rank of Lieutenant Colonel with the command of the 7TH Cavalry Regiment4. Custer served in many campaigns the U.S. Cavalry conducted including Major General Hancock’s campaign against the Cheyenne and the Battle of Washita River against the Black Kettle5.