Rufus Alonzo Cady Civil War ltr Jan 2, 1865
Darling Sister Stone Fort Md. Jan. 2, 65
With a heart full of love and 10,000 thanks do I sit down to tell you how much joy your presents brought to me. I received them tonight and over half an hour ago for which please accept my heart – felt thanks & please thank Hod for the tobacco for me. As soon as I found out there was tobacco in the stocking I had an all fired big chew in my face & it is there yet. I will send this in a paper to you.
So you must excuse me for not writing a longer letter this time. I am well and hearty as ever & I expect to go over in Virginia on picket tomorrow. The weather is very changeable here & that makes it very disagreeable. It is quite pleasant and mild & the snow flew like everything for a day or two past. I expect it will rain before I come from picket so very unsteady is the weather.
There was one Christian Commission in our camp the other day & he gave me the child’s paper. I will send it to Eva. Dear Darling Juty what a good letter you did write to me. Yes Darling my love for you is very strong & why should
It not be for you are my only, my darling my Idolized sister. O the hopes of
Meeting you once again this side of the grave goes for sometimes I do get very lonely but I never allow my feelings to get the upper hand of me if I can help it.
I am glad you like those verses and O how I wish I was a soldier in that other Army under the good & great Captain. But no as the verse says I have never been enrolled.
You do not know the trials & tribulations one of those soldiers have in this army for there is not an hour in the day but he hears the very worst blasphemies & curses that ever mortal lips uttered not withstanding all that here are some Christians in the army & some that strive to do what is right in our Co. I have been talked to long and earnestly by one of our Corporals on the great subject of religion & invited to their prayer meetings which they hold every Sunday evening but I have never been to them yet. Well sister I must close for want of room please accept lots of love & kisses for you and yours. And now may our heavenly father guide and guard you safely through the life and if it be his will may we meet again in this life. Write soon.
Farewell again. Always your loving Brother.
Lon to Juty
R. Alonzo Cady Civil WAR Letter January 17, 1865
Stone Fort Md. Hts. Jan. 17/65
My Precious Little Sister
It is with a heavy heart that I seat myself to answer your loving and ever welcome letter which was duly received last night but you will have to excuse me darling for not having to answer it sooner for I was on duty and did not get time, but I’m from the earliest opportunity as I always do for I know how anxious you will be till you hear from me again. My tent mates have nearly all gone to bed and the shanty is quiet so I will do the best I can to entertain you for a few moments. In the first place let me say a few words about my health. I am (thank God) quite well & hearty with the exception of a little cold which gives me a little touch of my old disease the Phthisic (you see I have not forgotten how to spell it) but it is not considered it that I have a cold for the weather is very changeable here, the sun will shine and be very pleasant all day & perhaps before the next morning it will snow and blow enough to take the hair off from ones head, but I think I shall come out all right in the spring, don’t you see. I am sorry darling to hear that you are so poorly but thankful that you are still spared to write such sheering letters to your soldier Bub. But keep up your heart my Sister and do not give way to your feelings but strive to bear up for my sake for oh Sister I must see you once again (???) we past forever.
I will try oh so hard to get a furlough sometime this winter in the beginning of spring for I do so want to see my darlings. It is now over a year since I saw Mother, Molly or the children and that is a long time for me to be away from home but it has passed very swiftly away to me.
Darling Juty you ask what I am doing over in Va. over on Bolivar Hts. to keep citizens who live inside from going out to give any information to the guerillas and also to keep the guerillas from moving into Bolivar or Harpers Ferry to spy out anything they had not ought to know, for I must tell you Sister these guerillas are peaceful farmers by day and they bush whack at night.
I send you a rough sketch to enable you to see were we go picketing. We have a line of pickets from the Potomac to Shenandoah River right on top of Bolivar Hts. You will see that the villagers of Bolivar & Harpers Ferry lie between the two rivers which form at this point a letter V and I assume you dear one there is not the least danger over there. All we have to do is let no citizen pass without a pass signed by the Provost Marshall or the Commanding General & no soldier without a pass from his Commanding Officer. So you see it would be a pretty hard matter for the Bush whackers to gather any information concerning our strength. Fort Duncan (our Head Quarters) Battery Sullivan. Stone Fort and several other Batteries of smaller dimensions are all garrisoned by the 3rd Battalion while the 1st & 2nd battalion of our Regt. are at Camp Hill which is just between Bolivar and the Ferry. The last time I was over on picket I went down to Camp Hill and had a good visit with Henry.
Now as to being well clothed this cold weather. Yes Sister I do not want for any kind of clothing for Uncle Sam had any quantity and he does not care if we get our whole pay in clothes. The worst of it is we have to buy our boots. Well Sister I am afraid this letter will be uninteresting for there is nothing going on here worth relating. Our Forces have again attacked Fort Fisher off Wilmington and I hope & pray they may this time be successful & then there is only one more seaport town of any importance to capture and that is Charleston & when that falls: How are you Confederacy? O there is one thing that I had almost forgotten. The reason is so many soldier boxes lost in this. We have so many dishonest teamsters in the service and they would as soon steal a box from a soldier as a citizen & then again there is generally a good many of the same name in a Regt.
Well I must close & go to bed, so good night darling & pleasant dreams. My love & kiss to you and yours. Good by darling from Lon to Juty. Please write soon.
Note: Phthisic is asthma.
Henry is his brother in-law, Henry Peterson.
Stone Fort Md. Sunday Jan. 29, 65
My Darling & Beloved Sister
With love & gratitude do I seat myself to answer your loving and ever welcome letter which I received a day of two ago but I know you will excuse me for not writing sooner. When I tell you I had just come from picket the day your letter came & I had not slept a wink the night before & I could not compose my mind enough to write but I have had a good nights rest & am feeling pretty well so I will try to while away a few minutes in conversation with my darling Sister . And what better employment can I find than that of writing to one so well beloved. In the first place then let me say a word or two about my health. I am still well enough to do my duty every time I am called on either camp guard or picket and my cold is very much better than it has been, although I cough some yet but I assure you darling , that take it altogether I am enjoying first rate health. I think you are unnecessarily alarmed about my having Phthisic. for nothing ails me except a slight cold which I trust will soon leave me and I shall be myself again.
Darling Sister you spoke about your being under the Doctor care again. O how my heart yearns to see you especially while you are so feeble. I would give, I don’t know how much, if I could only get a furlough to come home this winter & see my darling little Sister. but a recruit in the Battalion & the old members must of course have the first chance , although they have only 7 or 8 months more to serve ere their time is out, but if there is the least shadow of a chance for me, I am in like a thousand of brick.
Now to answer your questions concerning Henry . No he did not have to do too much fighting for he was in the drum Corps. & had to help carry the wounded from the battle field, but he has told me that his Co. never went on picket while they were up the valley but what he was out with them. Yes he is in Infantry and for that matter the whole Regt. is. for if we were not we would not do picket duty & we are all under the command of Gen. Sheridan, though our immediate Commander is Brig. Gen. J.D. Stevenson, whose Hd. Qtrs. are not Harpers Ferry. but Sheridans Head quarters are out or near Winchester, about 25 miles from the Ferry. No Juty I do not get tired of answering your letters nor your questions. on the contrary it gives me great pleasure to tell you all you want to know about our affairs here, that is far as my poor ability will allow me to do so. I am pleased to know that my poor letters prove interesting to you for I never dreamed that I had enough blab to interest any one, although I try my best every time I sit down to write.
Dear Sister please give my very best respects to your Mother Howe & tell her your Soldier Brother thanks her very much for her kindness to my only and Idolized Sister and that just as soon as I can get hold of some verses that I think will suit her I will send them forthwith. So Juty they are going to move you again are they? Well I hope it will prove to be the best move of your life & may your life here after be a pleasant one. I should very much like to come down and see you after you get settled in the hollow. I hope Hod will stick to the old place & be contented to be his own boss. I shall try & be contented after I get to be a free man once more and not hire out for so long a term again. Well darling I will commence again for I had to break off and eat my dinner Now what do you think I had for dinner. Not hard tack surely but some raised biscuit & butter some Allegany Co. Pork, Coffee and some fried cakes. Now isn’t that a bully good dinner for a Soldier to have, I think so & how I thought of the loved ones at home (who sent it to me) while I was eating. Even my little twin boy had a share in the box for he sent his Pa his Christmas present a candy Lion. Well Sweet Sister there is so much confusion in our Shanty to day that I can scarcely write so you must excuse all blunders. Tell the little girls that Uncle Lony thanks them for the love & kisses from their pretty lips instead of the paper. I thank you darling of the picture of my old house in Elmira . How natural it looks & I can even pick out the Barrack that sheltered me from the storm for nearly six weeks. It is just one year ago today that I climbed the Heights for the first time & how short a year it has been to me. O how much has been done towards crushing the rebellion in that time. May god grant that as much & more if possible may be done ere another twelve months shall pass away. good bye Juty & may god bless you. Always your loving Brother Lon to Juty. please write as often as you can for I shall be very anxious till I hear from you again good bye Sweet little Sis good bye.
Rufus Alonzo Cady’ Letters from the Civil War (as written)to his sister Jerusha WINTER 1865
M.S. Christian Commission
Well little Sis, I have commenced on the second sheet but whether I can finish remains to be seen. In the first place I will answer your questions.
There are a few sick ones in our Hospital but none I believe from our Co. The general or division Hospital is at the Ferry and I think there are quite a number in it. Ours is only a one horse Hospital for the sick ones from our battalion, and as to the guard – house it is entirely empty. It has been so except now & then one gets in for missing role call or something of that sort since last July. O no I am mistaken we had one man in for stealing money from his comrads but he has been sent to the Dry Tortugas. You ask what we do with the big guns. Nothing, absolutely nothing except to drill on them once in a while but if you had been in hearing distance you would have thought that we were doing something with them for we kept them barking day and night while the Johnnies were within reach of us. Yes I have had a hand at all parts of the drill or loading as you call it and although I say it myself I am so good at it as most of the boys in Co. I except now and then one of the old members who had had 2 ½ years to learning and if our eyesight was good I had a hand in hurting some of the rebs last summer.
I believe I wrote in one of my letters from Elmira that Heavy Art. Was armed with short swords but I was partly mistaken and right in part. They were so armed before the breaking out of the rebellion but now we are armed precisely as Infantry will have to learn the Infantry drill.
You are anxious about my sleeping I see so I will tell you just what kind of a bed I have. This is myself and bunk – mate. First & foremost we have a straw tick made of old coffee sacks and it was once filled with pretty good straw but we have never worn it out, top of the straw bed we have a tick without any straw in it which serves us for a sheet, then we have each a wollen blanket over us besides each of us has an India rubber blanket with one of our overcoats serves for a pillow and the other one in cold nights we lay across our feet. And when we undress at night (pardon my boldness) our pants and other clothes make a very good pillow. So you see I am very comfortable while I am in the Quarters but when I am in picket I do not fare quite so well. O Juty you would laugh till your sides ached if you could have seen us the last time our picket 26 privates one Corporal and Sergeant in one tent. I wish I could get a photograph of us sometime. I would send it to you. I shall get half a dozen photographs taken after pay day to send to my friends but they cost pretty dear only 3 dollars for 6 of them. You ask about socks & towels. I believe I have a supply now for I have 2 pairs of socks that I drew only a day or two ago which I haven’t worn as yet and Mate sent me a nice towel in the box of provisions which I have only used two or three times. Well Sis the sheet is most full & I haven’t said anything about my health but it is all the same. I am the toughest little sardine in the box and that’s whats the matter. Tell the little ones that uncle Loney thanks them for the love & kisses I sends them as much more. My old specks to Hodi and you O my darling except all the love you can imagine and all the kisses you can heap on your milk pail. Adieu sweet sister for a short time I pray God protect you till we meet again.
Yours ever
Love to Juty
Notes: Dry Tortuugas is a Fort off the Florida Keys. Juty is probably nick name for Jerusha .
Rufus A. Cady Civil War Ltrs. Winter 1865 # 2
Dear Juty it is Sunday and I have not sent my letters out so I will write a little more.
I got a letter from Molly this morning and she wanted I should write for her so here goes. She is well and so are the children and the reason she has not written to you is she is to work out for a living, (what do you think of that) and has so much to do that she scarcely gets time to write at all, but I have written her to write to you for you are such a good little Sister that I do not see how anyone can help writing to you.
Molly is at work at Larnards Tavern and gets 12 shillings a week. Debbie is up at her fathers and Eddy is at Susans and Lon* is in the army so you see she has nothing to hinder working out but I hate to have her do it but I cant help myself. Among other things that she writes she says she is coming down to see me if I cant get a furlough out bad as I want to see her I don’t want to have her come down in Dixie for it is no place for a woman in a Soldier Camp. Please write to her and try to talk her out of that notion.
I will have to stop writing for it is so blamed cold today that I can scarcely hold my pen so I must say good Bye and write soon.
From Lon the Rambling Soldier
160 more Johnnys came in today
Note: Molly is the nick name for Mary (Peterson) who is wife of writer Rufus Alonzo Cady.
Susan is Mary’s sister. * His reference to Lon is to himself. His nickname.
Stone Fort Md. March 13, 1865
My Dear Little Sister
It is with pleasure I seat myself to answer your lovely letter which came safe to hand this evening & you may bet I was rejoiced to get it for I had been looking for 2 or 3 days & I could not tell whether the papers went through safe or not. I wrote rather more than I should have done to put in the papers but when I feel like it & get to writing I run on with my nonsense & cannot tell when to stop. As to health I am enjoying that best of blessings to its fullest extent and am in the best of spirits for how cheering is the war knows from all quarters of our glorious army. We are having considerable extra duty to do just now in consequence of Sheridan's victory over Early for he sent a lot of prisoners here for us to take to some point farther North. The guard that went with them were taken from our Ist 82nd Battalion and we have to do the picketing in their place while they are gone. Consequentially the duty falls rather heavy on us, but we are good for it and I don’t know as it hurts me any. I have heard tonight that the 1st 82nd Battalion have got marching orders & are going up to guard the Rail Road near Cumberland Md. and as I am going on picket tomorrow I shall go down Camp hill & find out the truth of it.
O how I do rejoice to hear you say this warm weather improves your health. God grant that you may still keep improving till you regain somewhat of your wanted health. Be very careful Sister and do not expose yourself too much to the air for you know this Spring weather is very changeable at least it is here. But I think we are a little more forward here than you are at the North for there is no snow to be seen & the grass begins to start a little. I think we shall have an early Spring.
Yes Sister I can tell you where the Dry Tortugasis if you have a map of the United States you will find it is an Island on the coast of Florida , not a great many miles from Key West. I think it lies a little west of Key West. It is a dry sandy barren Island but it is in the hands of our Father Abrahams soldiers, and there are some fortifications there and the government was wont to send Military Prisoners there to work on those fortifications, and they send once in a while one there now but the most of them now are sent to the trenches in front of Petersburgh.
Yes Sister I go snacks in a frying pan. We have two of them in our Shanty one of them is sheet iron (and it once had a good handle but it is broken off now) and the other is one half of a canteen with a wire handle. “What do you think of that for kitchen furniture.”
Yes we have more than that for our Shanty (as the 12 men who are in it) owns jointly two Camp kettles, two wash tubs and two wash boards & we most of us do our own
washing. We have two good springs about 75 rods from camp and our wood is near by so you see we can wash cheaper than to hire it done for those that hire have to pay from 5 to 10 cents apiece. We get some rain water once in a while and then we all turn in & scrub up the parlor, kitchen, pantry, bed room & wood house all in one room, & the floor gets swept up once a day & no more. I have seen some of those tack with the fresh meat in them but as a general thing our tack is fresh & good (you know how good it is) and we have had some bacon that if you get a piece of it raw it would walk off our plate if you did not watch it “right smart.” But we have had no bacon for 4 or 5 months.
Never mind the mistakes Darling for I can make out a suitable letter of every one you write. Mate has come to the conclusion that she will stay at home. I had a letter from her Saturday night & she gives up with good grace like a good girl. O I do want to see her & you all so bad but not for worlds would I have any of you come here could I help it unless I was badly wounded or was dangerously sick which I trust will not be the case while I am in the army, if I am destined to have either one of those misfortunes here it has got to come pretty quick for I don’t believe the war is going to last long. The rebels have at last come to the conclusion to arm 300,000 slaves & put them into the field but
They never will make a fight like freemen and another thing is this, half of the rebel soldiers will not fight beside them.
Another sheet
That was a pretty large chew to cost an extra stamp and I have chewed on it all this evening and it is not all gone yet. Accept my thanks. Lon
Rufus A. Cady Ltr. March 17, 1865
Stone Fort Md. March 17, 1865
St. Patricks day in the morning
Darling Little Sister
I will try and answer your kind and loving letter of Feb 12th which came in due time. I was over joyed to receive it but sorry oh so sorry to hear of the sickness in your family but hope & trust it will soon pass away. I myself am not very well for I have quite a cold and my face is swollen some so that I could not get my picture taken for you for it would not look natural, but I think it will be alright in a few days & as soon as it is you may look out for a picture. I will try to do as you desire and have the forehead all in view but if it should take just as I am you would not know me for I am awfully tanned. I hardly know myself when I look in a glass. I will try & not look scared or green but just as I am in reality a bould Soldier boy. I hardly know what to write as you not ask any questions this time. How I do love to answer your questions for then I can think of enough to fill up a letter but today my thinking cap is gone and I am afraid you will think me dull. My face & throat hurts me some, and when anything bothers me I cannot write worth a snap so you will have to excuse me this time if this letter is disjointed and mixed up for it cannot be helped. So there is oil to be had in Hog Hollow is there? Well may be I will have a hand in the pie when I come home that is if they give wages enough, for if I have to work for a living I must get a good price for my work, for a soldiers life is such a lazy life that I am thinking of going into some kind of humbug business for I tell you, I don’t like work at all at all.
So you keep a kind of half way house do you? For all that are a mind to come and partake. I know just how that goes for I kept such an hotel while I lived in Scio Village I worked in the grist mill. I never want to do so anymore, as it cost me more to feed visitors than it did to feed and clothe my family. Well there is no news going on here worth relating, except this and I suppose you heard it by now. Sheridan has been completely successful in his raid for he has cut the Richmond & Lynchburg Railroad in several places & destroyed a very large acqueduct on the James River Canal besides destroying a number of boats loaded with ammunition and he has joined Grants forces on the north of the James and soon Sherman will join him on the south of Petersburg when Mr. Reb will have to dig out of that which indeed there is a rumor to the effect that they are preparing to evacuate already but where will they go to is more than I can tell. O it is not going to be many months ere they are whipped to their hearts content, for how can they keep it up when there are so many of their men deserting every day is a mystery to me. Time alone can tell & I think it will be a short time too, if it would only keep dry weather so that artillery could be moved . We would soon see what Grant can do, but as long as it rains every day or two the army cannot move nor do much else than to smoke its pipe. I am thinking sister that this letter will be as a cool spring for the parched traveler, for I cannot write today there is no use talking .
Don’t worry about this jaw of mine for it will be all right in a day or two at least I hope so. I Cant think of anything to write in answer to those few lines of Hods only this, I hope he will have a little more peace when he gets out of hunda but I am afraid he will have just as much company, for I am coming home some time next fall & I will bring my whole family along and make you twice glad “don’t you see.”
Well sister I cant fill more than this sheet & I reckon you will be glad when I stop so I will close by sending a lot of love & kisses to you and yours. Hoping to hear from you soon I remain as ever your loving brother
Alonzo to Juty.
Note: written upside down on last page “ & I wrote a good many more.
R. Alonzo Cady Winter or Spring 1865 (Feb. 3 to April)
I am very happy to hear that my poor letters seem to do you so much good. If they are so precious to you , I will write as often as you do and perhaps a little oftener Yes darling it has been a long time since I saw you last, since I parted with you at my gate. It seems but yesterday, but twas nearly two years ago and O Sister how much have we all undergone since that time. Our darling Sister has passed away. You have seen a great deal of trouble, Mothers health is very poor. Mate mourns for her Hub who is so far away. While I have nothing at all to trouble me except when I hear of some of my dear relatives being out of health. O may God grant that all our lives be spared to meet again this side of the tomb.
You ask if the oil fever reaches into Md. but to tell the truth I can hardly tell for I do not have much conversation with the citizens here and as to soldiers we only look a day ahead to see perhaps if we will come on picket the next day or if the teams will come up & bring us our rations of fresh beef and soft bread. I think I might possibly go into the oil regions after I get out of this that is if there is any money to be made I shouldnt wonder if it would be good for your health to live where the oil grows and do not at all doubt if you should get some of the crude oil & take it you will benefit by it. The greatest ary here is about the peace commissioners who have come from Rebeldom to confer with uncle Abe.
To days paper states that they have arrived at city Point and that Lincoln had gone down to meet them. God grant that peace (an honorable peace) may be obtained, but time alone can tell. One of the peace commissioners is Stevens the Rebel Vice – President. Well Juty I fear I shall weary your patience if I write any more so I will wind up my ‘little whistle:
Give my love to Hod & the girls & accept as many kisses & all the love you wish
Please write often and take care of No. 1. From your ever loving Brother to his far distant yet ever near & dear Sister
Lon to Juty
Stone Fort Md. April 2/65
My Darling Little Sister
It is with the greatest pleasure that I seat myself to pen you a few lines informing you that the writer hereof is still in the best of health & in good spirits as usual and hope when you receive these few miserably written composed sentences it will find you enjoying yourself in the most agreeable manner. I received the magazine & “good news” which you were so kind as to send me (for which you will please accept my most heartfelt thanks) and also the long sheet of paper well filled. Tell Hod if he loved to read long letters as well as I do he would get some paper made on purpose for you at least 2 feet square for I know you love to write as well as I love to read. Do not be alarmed dear Sister about these poor old teeth of mine for they are doing finely. the first of the business is if I should get them drawn (all that are decayed) I would have none left to eat my tack with don’t you see. So I shall try to get along with them till the war is over , which will be mighty soon or I’m no prophet. What cheering news we do get from all parts of our noble army Everything goes finely and it is rumored that Lee, Longstreet & some other Reb Gen’s have come over into Grants lines with a flag of truce, to confer with our Lieut, Gens s to some terms of peace. They have at last seen the folly of any longer continuing to hold out against the soldiers of truth & right. and it seems are willing to make peace on almost any terms.
I was over on picket a few days ago & I was talking with a man from Co. L. of our Battalion & he offered to bet from 25 to 100 dollars that peace would be declared in less than 30 days. I think he has got the figures rather too low, but still he may be right. If his words come true & we have peace during this month I shall be with you by the 4th of July. (I will all feel gay when &c) but don’t let us place too much confidence in these peace rumors. For my part I don’t believe in them. the best way to obtain a permanent peace is to whip them into submission, & that will be done long before I serve my 3 years. Grant is on the move. Sheridan is on a raid south of Petersburgh with his Cavelry. Sherman and Schofield are moving up from North Carolina. Thomas with 40 thousand horseman (Cavelry & mounted Infantry) is moving from Tennessee towards the doomed Capitol of the so called C.S.A. & Hancock (now in command of the forces in the valley) is preparing to move up the valley towards the same point . So you see the fate of Richmond is inevitable. She must come down , & with it goes the Rebellion. The cowards at home must not be alarmed for those who are drafted will not see much fighting. So I must direct this letter to the noted village of Hunts Meadow, shall I. Yes darling the place is noted for more than skedadlers. it is noted as the birth place of one little Soldier who volunteered to escape the draft. & also of his sister Jute, one of the best little Sisters in the U.S. or any other country I expect you have had some tall waters up in your part of the country by all the accounts I see in the papers & otherwise. Mary has written me that she and Susan were alone the night the water was the highest and they had to carry their goods all out of the house and into another mans premises, and they staid away all night & the water washed the banks all away and undermined one corner of their house. That was rather a close call for the Shanty, I should think. I have not heard a word from George since the flood & cannot tell whether they are all gone down stream or not. I was worried a good deal about my family for I know there must be a very heavy flood but thank God they are safe and Mate wrote that she was going to house keeping this week. then there will have to be a regular Noah’s flood to do her any harm. I shall have to finish on another half sheet
R. Alonzo Cady Spring of 1865 (specific date unknown)
Well little Sis I have made a mark on this sheet but whether I fill it remains to be seen. I have not received a letter either from Uncle Fred or Cousin Emily but I always crowed in when I hear the orderly Sergeant reading off the mail for I do love to get a letter from the North and more than all that I love to answer them.
There is no use talking any more about a furlough this spring for they are “played out” in this department. But perhaps it is just as well only the disappointment it causes both with me & you all at home for it would only be for 10 or 13 days and that is too short a time for me & then it cost so much that I am really too poor to afford it & then again we would all feel so much worse than we come to part again that I reckon it will be better to wait till I am a free man. I don’t know how it is that joe could get a furlough at any time unless it is on account of his officers being of a different stamp than mine but I do not wish to have or to serve under a better officer than Capt. Johnny Clark of Co. I. I never asked him for a pass or any other favor but what I got it except the furlough and there were too many names ahead of mine that they “played out” before it came my turn. But if any of you had been dangerously ill I would have got home & should too if I had to take a “French leave” Well darling we have got our Church done and a very imposing edifice it is too. The sides and ends are built of split chestnut logs set up and wise and the roof is canvas. The floor table and benches are pine boards and they have a nice blue flag about 8 feet long by 5 feet wide with these words inscribed upon it in white U.S. Christian Commission. I believe they are going to have a flag staff raised in front of the Chapel to raise it upon. We had meeting yesterday but I did not attend for I came off picket and was very sleepy and I also had two letters to answer consequently I did not go but I hope to have the opportunity to attend next Sabbath. There is no news in to days papers only the report of deserters from the enemy that Sheridan has taken 1000 more prisioners. I have clipped a little piece from to days paper that will show you how they come into our lines. In front of Richmond, Petersburg the rebs give any of their men 50 dollars & 30 days furlough if they only shoot any of their comrads who attempt to desert to our lines. But that does not hinder a great many of them coming over. Not long ago a rebel sergeant was sent out with a 6 mule team & wagon driver (black of course) and 5 men after wood. They had just got outside their line when the mules were seen to strike into a gallop & were apparently running away but as soon as they got out of musket range of their picket lines the mules were checked easily enough and they all came safe into our lines. The mules were bought by Uncle Sam and the money was equally divided among the men, who immediately took the oath of Allegiance and started for the north.
You ask what has become of those who so narrowly escaped death. The last I heard of them they are in the prison at the Ferry heavily ironed. That was a couple of weeks ago. I cannot say whether their sentence was revoked or not but I should not be surprised if they were at liberty ere this. That was very nicely done by the detective in trapping that jumper so easily. I think he was rather green to be caught so slick but drink will make a fool of man any day. Do not be alarmed Sister about you Soldier brother getting into such habits. I confess I do take a drink now and then but I know enough to keep my senses. & the stuff is so plaguely high that I could not if I would it is only 2 ½ to 3 dollars a canteen which is 3 pints so if I wanted to drink ever so much I could not afford it for I have a little family at home who are dependent on my wages for their support and more than all that I have no desire to make a fool of myself for I see to much of it in the army.
Well Darling here I am at the last end of the last page so I shall have to come to a close. Horace is perfectly excusable for not writing give him my best respects & my love & kisses to you my sweet Sister & the little girls. it is nine o’clock and the drum just beat for “out lights” and I must put out my candles. good night. write soon Lon to Juty
Camp Hill Harpers Ferry, Va. April 28th, 65
My Sweet Little Sister
With a heart full of love do I now attempt to write to you informing you that your loving letter of the 10th came safe to hand the 21st but being on duty that day I could not get a chance to answer it then. But today is the Sabbath and as all our Sunday work is done I cannot employ any time better than in writing my Idolized Sister.
My health is good. Never enjoyed myself any better than I do at present but I hope soon to have the full enjoyment of the blessing of Freedom and the society of my little family, my Mother, my Sister & my Friends. O how happy we will be
when peace once more hovers over our once prosperous nation and those who have gone forth to fight for God & the right can return to their homes, their wives & their Sweet-hearts. Yes Darling we are on the very eve of Peace, but o at what a sacrifice! What a cost to the nation! Abraham the Beloved has gone from us.
Words cannot express my sorrow for who among men better deserved the right of governing this nation than Abraham Lincoln. O the anguish that rocks? every Loyal heart is intolerable. Never since the days of Washington was a man so beloved by all classes high & low, Civil & Military. And now he is gone- gone to that bourne from whence no traveler ever returns. May his soul rest in peace.
Now the cry goes up for vengeance: and just as sure as there is a God in Heaven, justice will overtake the guilty ones & just as sure as there is law in the land, they shall suffer for it. Yes suffer the extreme penalty of the Law if it twenty years hence.
We have heard scarcely any war news since the President was assassinated
but what little we do hear is cheering. Mobile is in our hands and the Rebel
Gen. Johnston still continues to retreat before the advance of Sherman. The
State of Virginia has no rebel troops within her borders of any consequence. The guerilla Mosby has surrendered himself and his forces (about 700) on the same terms that were granted to Lee, and before the first of June the Rebel Army will be no more, & then the work to bringing the Seceded States back to their allegiance. And that will not take long. Here let me state that the papers which you sent came to hand safe and you may believe they were welcome visitors.
Yes they did pass away an hour or so of my time most pleasantly. Well Sis, what
Do you think of our move that we have made from Md. to Va. For my part I like it first rate so long there is no use of our going to the front , for where is the front? “That’s whats the matter.” The troops that were up the valley have all
moved down from there & gone to Washington. In one day I saw about 5000 Calvary, 25 or 30 pieces of Artillery, besides three long rail – road trains of Infantry pass through Harpers Ferry on their way to Washington. Their reasons for evacuating the valley as near as I can learn were these. Firstly there is no more fighting to be done there, and secondly to give the citizens a chance to plow and sow and raise something to live upon for how could they do so while so many of the blue coats were there to take what little they did raise for I tell you Juty a soldier don’t care whose corn or potatoes he gets so long as he is hungry and gets his belly full. (excuse if you please)
Well Deary Deacon Hinman told you the truth when he said a good and well filled letter does a soldier more good than an extra ration for I would soon live on half ration & get good long letters than the best of grub & no letters at all. And he is right about our folks going to pitch in to the French in Mexico. And it would scare you to hear the rumors that are afloat in our camp, for if I should
believe them & they were to come true you would never see your little brother again. For they would have to divide me into about a dozen parts to have me in as many different places at once. One rumor is we are going to Texas another to Mexico, another Baltimore and another New York, Elmira and almost every other place you can think of. But I don’t let any of them affect me in the least, but just keep as cool as a cucumber & let them all talk. But there is one thing certain we will not stay here a great while . “how long is impossible to tell” But where we are going and what they are going to do with us is only a matter of conjecture.
You will find the rest on another sheet.
Charlestown, Va. May 8th, 1865 (#2)
My Darling Little Sister
I have just received your gift in the shape of a paper but I have read but very little in it for I wish to answer the little note which I found inside from you my dear & only Sister.
I thank you kindly for your gifts and as you say they do help to pass away my time in this little village of Charlestown.
You have probably heard by my letter to Mother that I have taken up my quarters in this little Secesh* hole and all I think about it so I will not be tedious & tell it over again.
Suffice it to say I am in the best of health & in good spirits for if we can believe all newspaper reports we shall not be in the service of “Samuel” very long. But Sister mine do not place too much dependence on seeing me right away. But when you see that blue cap & cross cannons, then it will be time to be on the lookout for your Soldier brother.
You ask what I & my companions think about the assassination of our beloved Abraham.
Why Sister what a question. What should a good Union Soldier think but that it was the most cold blooded murder of the whole war & what should be our feelings but those of the most indescribable horror. But the perpetrator of the horrid act has met with his just deserts, no not that for his death was too easy. He should have been turned over to the most savage race of Indians on the face of the globe for torture. Any death that could be inflicted upon him would have been too easy for the villain. His accomplices
in the cold blooded act have nearly all been captured except some of the plotters of the scheme who are either in Canada or flying for their lives, with Jefferson Davis Esq. Ex President of the so called Confederate States of America. And now there is a price on his head. What do you think of that Sister? A President of a great Confederacy (as he professed to be) flying from justice like a convicted felon with a reward offered for his capture, and no matter what Country Shelters him (if he is indicted)will have to give him up or suffer the consequences. The gallows shall not be cheated of its dues nor the
D____** of his subject. Does not President Johnson prompt action in this matter prove to the world that he will do all for his Country that lies in his power. I rather think it does.
Well Juty Dear now to a little every day matter. We have been here two weeks and the boys all say I am growing fat and I believe them for I have nothing scarcely to do and we have plenty to eat. In fact I have not lived so well since I have been a Soldier as I have since we have been in Charlestown for we do our own cooking (every man for himself) and my rations of course are well cooked. But we do not expect to stay here long. Can’t tell how soon we may get marching orders but in my belief we shall not go any farther up the valley but the next move I think we shall go towards Baltimore or Washington .
There is a talk of our Battalion going home as minute men. That is take our arms &
accoutrements home with us & be ready to march at a moments notice. If we do we will get half pay, money for half rations & half clothing. And it will not be many weeks ere we shall start for our homes, but I place no confidence in such rumors. I think when the war department gets around to it we shall all get a little bit of yellow paper headed with these words “ To all whom it may concern.” And very soon after I get one of them I shall take my foot in my hand & travel for Allegany, N.Y. (don’ you see) The weather is very fine here and the farmers are improving it by plowing and sowing all around us , and there will be more grain raised in the Shenandoah valley this summer than there has been for 3 or 4 years.
Well Sister give my love & kisses to all the family (Mother included) and be sure & give a “right good chance “ for yourself . Write soon.
Lon to Juty
* Secesh means seccession
** D______ means devil. In those days some people refused to use profanity.
Even the use of the word devil was considered impolite.
R. Alonzo Cady Civil War Letter Spring, 1865
:Here it is,: I make no doubt Sister mine that when that little blue coat comes to see you he will be shown every attention. But you forget he is not used to sitting
in an arm chair, nor of having anyone to wait upon him. For if he wanted to sit down, a bench made of fine boards with the soft side up, or a rock, or log of wood, or anything that came handy was his seat. And if he wanted anything he must need get it himself. No loving Wife or Sister to wait upon him, and I reckon
he could not sit still in an arm chair especially if it were cushioned. I wonder how I should feel to have a good soft feather bed to lie on and nice clean sheets and plenty of warm quilts over me for declare I have forgotten how such things do look. I had to give up my straw bed when we came to leave the Heights but I have got used to pine blank now & do very well. I have not taken off my clothes except to put on a clean shirt since we came here and that is something I have not been used to since I came to the Regt. but it will not be long ere I ban be where I cant sleep in my clothes every night, and the sooner the better.
O Juty what a nice description you gave me of your present home. I did not know till I read your letter where you were to live. I thought it might be on that street somewhere above Slaters old Tavern stand, but for the life of me I can not bring the place to remembrance . Has the house been built since we lived there or has it been always standing there. I am sure I can not tell. You will soon become reconciled to your home I hope for tis home where the heart is. But how did you find out what year the house was built if it was cut in the Hebrew language for I never heard of your studying Hebrew.
Now about flowers. The wild flowers such as I have seen first up north have been in bloom these two weeks and the peach and plum trees are covered with blossoms but I have seen no flowers in anyones door yard this Spring for the people of Harpers Ferry do not appear to think as much of flowers as some folks
I wot of. And why should they. Every summer since the war broke out have they heard the thunder of cannon, the shrieking of shell & the rattling of small arms in the hands of men eager for each others blood, every summer for four years have the Loyal people of H. Ferry been obliged to leave their homes, and in many cases, their all, & flee for their lives. But isn’t the farmers yards of Pleasant Valley, Md. they live in quiet or have done so since the summer of ’62,
when they had to suffer a great many hardships with the rest of mankind for first Lee’s invading army camped near them & after the battle of Antietam & Sharpsburgh McClellan went into camp there & reorganized his army. But how my thoughts do run for no sooner do I get to writing about one thing then I get right off on another subject. Well, Well, you will have to put up with it for it is the best I can do.
we are having some of the most disagreeable weather I ever saw for one day it will be so hot that we can scarcely breather in our tents & the next day we are so cold that we have to put on our over coats. I reckon it will not last long I mean this changeable weather for I don’t fancy it at all; at all;
Well Sis here I am at the last page and have not made out much of a letter after all. how somever it will have to answer as my thoughts are all tother side up. Tell our mother not to worry about her soldier boy for if he is not home by the 4th it will not be long after. Perhaps about the time she will be picking black berries with Molly, but if we should be sent to New York city I should see home & my loved ones shortly after we arrived for if I could not get leave of my officers I should take, French leave. My love & kisses to all. Write soon & direct to Harpers Ferry Va. your Brother Lon to Juty
The picture is not forthcoming yet but do not get discouraged little is you shall see that or else the original soon. Yours &c. Lon
Note: &c means “etc.” wot means “to know”
R.Alonzo Cady May 21, 1865 # 2
Well little Sis I have made a mark on this sheet but whether I fill it remains to be seen. I have not received a letter either from Uncle Fred or Cousin Emily but I always crowed in when I hear the orderly Sergeant reading off the mail for I do love to get a letter from the North and more than all that I love to answer them.
There is no use talking any more about a furlough this spring for they are “played out” in this ???? . But perhaps it is just as well only the disappointment it causes both with me & you all at home for it would only be for 10 or 13 days and that is too short a time for me & then it cost so much that I am really too poor to afford it & then again we would all feel so much worse than we come to part again that I reckon it will be better to wait till I am a free man. I don’t know how it is that poe could get a furlough at any time unless it is on account of his officers being of a different (stamp???) than mine but I do not wish to have or to serve under a better officer than Capt. (Johnny ??) ____of Co. I. I never asked him for a pass or any other favor but what I got it except the furlough and there were too many names ahead of mine that they “played out” before it came my turn. But if any of you had been dangerously ill I would have got home & should too if I had to take a “French leave” Well darling we have got our Church done and a very imposing edifice it is too. The sides and ends are built of split chestnut logs set up and wise and the roof is canvas. The floor table and benches are pine boards and they have a nice blue flag about 8 feet long by 5 feet wide with these words inscribed upon it in white U.S. Christian Commission. I believe they are going to have a flag staff raised in front of the Chapel to raise it upon. We had meeting yesterday but I did not attend for I came off picket and was very sleepy and I also had two letters to answer consequently I did not go but I hope to have the opportunity to attend next Sabbath. There is no news in to days papers only the report of deserters from the enemy that Sheridan has taken 1000 more prisioners. I have clipped a little piece from to days paper that will show you how they come into our lines. In front of Richmond, Petersburg the rebs give any of their men 50 dollars & 30 days furlough if they only shoot any of their comrads who attempt to desert to our lines. But that does not hinder a great many of them coming over. Not long ago a rebel sergeant was sent out with a 6 mule team & wagon driver (black of course) and 5 men after wood. They had just got outside their line when the mules were seen to strike into a gallop & were apparently running away but as soon as they got out of musket range of their picket lines the mules were checked easily enough and they all came safe into our lines. The mules were bought by Uncle Sam and the money was equally divided among the men, who immediately took the oath of Allegiance and started for the north.
You ask what has become of those who so narrowly escaped death. The last I heard of them they are in the prison at the Ferry heavily ironed. That was a couple of weeks ago. I cannot say whether their sentence was __________?? or not but I should not be surprised if they were at liberty ere this. That was very nicely done by the detective in trapping that jumper so easily. I think he was rather green to be caught so slick but drink will make a fool of man any day. Do not be alarmed Sister about you Soldier brother getting into such habits. I confess I do take a drink now and then but I know enough to keep my senses. & the stuff is so (playing ???) high that I could not if I would it is only 2 ½ to 3 dollars a canteen which is 3 pints so if I wanted to drink ever so much I could not afford it for I have a little family at home who are dependent on my wages for their support and more than all that I have no desire to make a fool of myself for I see to much of it in the army.
Well Darling here I am at the last end of the last page so I shall have to come to a close. Horace is perfectly excusable for not writing give him my best respects & my love & kisses to you my sweet Sister & the little girls. it is nine o’clock and the drum just beat for “out lights” and I must put out my candles. good night. write soon Lon to Juty
June 1, 1865
Well Juty Dear I don’t know as I can fill this sheet but I will try my best .
Hods old account book leaves are perfectly excusable, so long as they are filled up with interesting reading matter from my Sister. Now to your question. No Darling Minute Men are not regulars. So do not be alarmed on that account. Regulars are enlisted into the United States regular (or standing ) Army. They are generally enlisted for five years although at the breaking out of the Rebellion there was a great many enlisted for 3 years. None for a shorter turn than 3 . years being accepted as Regulars. They are always where they are wanted, that is they are always under arms, but the Minute Men that has been talked of this Spring were to be the Volunteers to be sent home on half pay but were liable to be called on at any moment until their term of service expired. But I believe that is played out for I have heard nothing about it for some time and now that Jeff is captured we have no need to go to the expense of keeping such a large Army.
And after the Grand Review they will commence to muster out & pay off the
Army. First of those old heroes of Grants & Shermans who have stood the brunt of many a battle. I am willing they should have the first chance much as I want to get home but it will not be long ere you & little Ella can sing Lone comes marching home & leave off the When.
The paroled men and officers of the Johnstons Army begin to arrive in this section. Last Friday I saw four who had just come in. One was a Surgeon. He brought with him an Army wagon and was 15 days coming through, but they are quiet orderly men & we have no trouble with them. They all have to pull off their Stars, gold lace buttons & etc. but they do it with as good grace as possible.
I have seen 3 or 4 who have laid aside their uniform entirely and go dressed in plain Citizens clothing. But the most of them have no other clothing than their
Confederate Gray and have not the means to buy others for Jeff lugged off all the gold & forgot to pay his subjects. Good by Sis. My love & kisses to all.
God bless & keep you. Lon to Juty