1862 August 22: “If Pierce Co. has raised so many more men than her quota why can she not give this company a lift—say 25 men? Is it true she has no interest in Co. A?”

The original letter is in the Edwin D. Levings Papers (River Falls Mss BO), in the University Archives and Area Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Humboldt [Tenn.], Friday Aug 22^nd/’62

Dear Parents;

                            Yours of the 15^th is just received, enclosing postage stamps; and be assured its receipt caused great satisfaction, looking, as we were, daily for a letter and wishing to learn more about the enlistments.

I have just been making bread and it is now baking in the oven—the first time I ever had any hands in dough. —I must go and look at it this moment.  Well! it is done, and with the exception of a slight burn on top, is tip top and good enough for anybody.  It has a most ludicrous look.  During baking the loaves burst open so much that they look like huge boulders, or like the peaks of Popocatapetl,¹ but like Mothers pound cake, they are soft to the touch and pleasant to the taste.  It illustrates the triumph of mind over matter as one of the boys has it, and when I get home, I will show you how I can make bread.

I am surprised at the success which has attended volunteering in old Pierce.  If Pierce Co. has raised so many more men than her quota why can she not give this company a lift—say 25 men?  Is it true she has no interest in Co. A?  I am provoked that so many up there are so partial minded as to still to court the idea that Norman [Norman McLeod] was all right.  I do not see why such injustice should yet be shown us, when we have vindicated our honor.  Because we asserted our rights & would have them and rid ourselves of a heartless, vengeful  man and imposter we must be treated regarded as having forfeited all claim to consideration.  We laid ourselves liable to court martial & severe punishment, every one of us and for our manly course our friends speak coldly & disparagingly of us.  If any of the boys wish to join our company I fear those recruiting officers are stuffing the idea into their heads that they can not enlist in an old Regt.  We shall have volunteers or conscripts — now which do  you desire to see in the company?  I know of but two who are intending to join us.  There are but 8 or 10 who have joined the Regt.

News of the battle at Baton Rouge has reached us.  The rebels were thoroughly whipped & the Arkansas is no more.  The 4th Regt. was engaged & lost had 10 or 12 wounded, killed unknown.  We are considered safe from the rebels at the Hatchee river,  a force of 2 or 3 Regts having gone down to Brownville 25 miles from here on the Memphis road.  That you may not be uneasy about us I will give you some idea of the number of our daily guard vigilence [sic] used here.  Our guard detail for picket camp & Provost guard is over 200 daily besides Cavalry.  An attack was expected 3 miles below here the other night, the rebels intending, as was thought, to have the long bridge.  A train & locomotive stays here every night ready for any emergency. [paragraph break added]

We have things comfortable about us and neat.  The whole camp is daily swept, & inspected by the Officer of the Day.  We have a nice large bower in front of our tents as shade.  Our bread is hereafter to be baked for us at the Bakery.  We have a short drill daily in the loading & firing exercise & a Dress Parade.  That is the sum of our duties, but harder things are doubtless in store for us & we shall meanwhile make ourselves as efficient as possible.  The rebels are in earnest & desperate,  but it is evident that these onsets are but the dying death struggles of the monster.  If the government & her officers do right, let the consequences be what they may, the rebellion will be over before a year from next fall.

Write us soon and tell us all the news.  When do you expect Grandmother home?  We are very thankful for those stamps.  Give our respects to those enquiring. — Yours in health & love, Edwin

Sunday the 24^th;

                                   We send you a paper showing you our exact condition and numerical deficiency which is about 30 men.  Quite a number of our boys are complaining of illness.  4 or 5 are in the Hospital—none from the Falls.  About a dozen others are suffering from physical debility, diarrhrea [sic] & bilious disorders.  Homer requests me to say he would write to-day but he is a little unwell, feeling weak & stupid.  He is not really sick, and will soon be as vigorous & lively as usual.  Is taking Cham & Puls.  Will you send us a bottle of Veratrum, which we omitted to send for the other time.  We feel as though we were proof to fevers &c while we have this medicine & Brandreth Pills.  There is talk of our leaving here sometime this week for some other place, as yet unknown others new trop being expected to take our place.  Direct as before.  I wish we could be with you to-day, but we can not & my prayer is that you may find peace & happiness in God alone who can sustain & cheer.

Ever yours &c,
Edwin & Homer

1.  Popocatépetl is an active volcano located in Central Mexico.

Edwin Levings letter of August 22, 1862, from the Edwin D. Levings Papers (River Falls Mss BO) in the University Archives & Area Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls

1862 August 18: “Soon the government will have a million and a half of freemen in the field of mortal strife”

The original letter is in the Edwin D. Levings Papers (River Falls Mss BO), in the University Archives and Area Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Humboldt, Monday Aug 18^th/’62

Dear Father and Mother;

                                                   I think I will write you a little this morning as perhaps you are expecting to hear from us.  Writing is almost a daily business with me.  It seems as though I must write.  So much leasure [sic] calls for some enjoyment, and hence, when not on duty, I am writing, or reading, or rambling out in the country after eatables.  [paragraph break added]

To-day is muster-day, the object of muster being to ascertain where the men are, whether about or present; if absent a man loses his pay and perhaps is put down a deserter.  Three new recruits from Wis came on yesterday for C^o E.¹  They were sensible in joining an old Regt.  There is so much excitement up there in old Pierce [County] I wish you would write more about it.  Who else has enlisted?  Are there any recruits for Co A. 12^th Regt.  Probably not.  Norman² brought such disgrace on the Company, that it will not at present receive the consideration it deserves.³  We were not demoralized then as many thought nor are we now a poor company.  I see Pierce has furnished 216 men in all & has yet 42 to raise.  The State has furnished 23,000 for the war and  has got to raise 28,000 more.  41,000 in all, to put down this rebellion.  Soon the government will have a million and a half of freemen in the field of mortal strife.  As in the days of Moses, the first born of Egypt fell by the sword because she would not let the people go, so now, it seems the strength and pride of the nation must be sacrificed because of our refusal to let the people go.  Is not our sin the same and our punishment the same.  Pharaoh and all his host perished.   Shall we all perish?  Will it be said of America “She perished because she would not do justice to the slave?  We carry our life in our hands, and God has given us this last chance.  It seems as thought but two steps more need to be taken to insure the speedy & successful termination of the war, mainly a decision by the President to arm the slaves, and then the adoption of vigorous measures to oblige our generals to enforce the laws.

Our Cavalry had another battle with the guerrillas day before yesterday at the ferry on Obion River, 4 miles this side of Troy.  We crossed that river at that ferry when we marched down here.  There is a large, dense swamp this side. Our Cav. was C^o C of the Ill. 2^nd numbering about 60.  They pitched on to the rebels, (who were two to one,) as they were crossing the ferry, and whipped them soundly, killing a good many, taking 40 horses & 10 prisoners.  The fight was desperate.  Two of our Lieuts were killed & the Orderly had to take command.  The Cav. are fighting all the time.  They had another fight down on the Hatchee river where the rebels are in strong force, said to be 7 or 8,000.  3 or 4,000 of our men are on this side.  They can not get at each other the bridges & ferries being all destroyed.  When the fight came off but one ferry remained which was guarded by the rebels 100 strong.  Our boys did not know where it was.  They put on secesh clothes, went to the farm houses and played secesh, found out where the bridge was, by representing themselves as unable to get back to the rebels without discovery by the Federals.  The boys pitched into them, killed a good many & compelled the remainder to swim the river.  Another fight recently occured [sic] 27 miles back of Trenton which resulted in the total rout of the secesh numbering 93, of whom 25 or 30 were killed & wounded, 83 saddles taken & 85 horses & a large quantity of arms.  A negro going into the rebel camp with a load of melons conducted the boys, Ill. Cav., into the camp without discovery by the rebel pickets.  Bully for the negro.  A company of Tennessee boys is forming here & is now nearly full to be used as scouts & Cavalry.  They are from one or two counties east of here & composed of metal that has the right ring.  They have suffered a great deal from the secsh & now have sacrificed all to put down rebellion.  They know the country & people well & who is loyal, & who is not.  [paragraph break added]

Private Strong⁴ has received a Lieut’s commission to raise a company in the 25^th Regt.  He will leave here shortly for Lacrosse [sic] with some others of other companies.  [paragraph break added]

I will now close though I have not said what I intended.  Remember us Dear Parents at the altar & be assured we think of often & with deepest affection.  Will write again soon.  Write as soon as convenient & a long letter if possible, Edwin Levings.

1.  Samuel D. Burhaus (from Delton), Nathan D. Harrison (New Buffalo), and William H. Harrison (New Buffalo) joined Company E of the 12th Wisconsin Infantry in mid-August 1862. Several more men will join the company the end of August.
2.  Ed is referring to Norman McLeod, the former captain of Company A, 12th Wisconsin Infantry.   Ed, and many others in Company A, did not think much of Captain McLeod.
3.  Ed is correct in his assessment; Company A did not receive any new recruits in 1862.
4.  Ezra B. Strong was promoted to 2nd lieutenant of Company F, 30th Wisconsin Infantry (not the 25th) on August 5, 1862.  Company F of the 30th contained many Pierce County men.

Edwin Levings letter of August 18, 1862, from the Edwin D. Levings Papers (River Falls Mss BO) in the University Archives & Area Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls

1862 June 4: Recruiting for the 20th Wisconsin Infantry, and some “valuable relics of seceshdom”

Following are the short articles from The Hudson North Star and The Prescott Journal from their June 4, 1862, issues.

From The Hudson North Star:

NEWS BY TELEGRAPH.

By the telegraphic despatches, it will be seen that the grand armies of the Union have again been victorious, and the trifling repulse of Banks [Nathaniel P. Banks], at Front Royal, is already forgotten in the successes that have since crowned the Federal arms.

• Corinth is evacuated!  General Halleck’s [Henry W. Halleck] army has driven the enemy from the stronghold, and taken two thousand prisoners.
• General McClellan [George B. McClellan] has achieved a glorious victory before Richmond, and is probably now in possession of the Rebel Capital.  We have no further particulars.
• General Banks has re-taken Front Royal, and driven the enemy before him, capturing a large number of prisoners and a large amount of plunder.
• The Mississippi fleet is doing good execution, and it is reported that Vicksburg has surrendered to our forces.

Hon. John Comstock has received a letter from Adj’t Gen’l Gaylord [Augustus Gaylord], offering a commission of Captain or Lieutenant to a person who can recruit 30 men in St. Croix County for the 20th Regiment, within the next 30 days.

COL. COBB AND HIS REGIMENT.—The war correspondent of the New York Herald, with Gen. McClellan’s army, in a letter from the White House on the 17th, says:

I have been mingling to night with the gallant fellows of Wisconsin whose camp adjoins the headquarters of their General.  Col. Cobb, who cheered on his men at the pitch of Williamsburg struggle, is a quiet gentleman, who speaks deliberately, frequently pausing, and whose whole demeanor indicates calm courage and thorough command.  Major Larabee, of the same regiment, is a thick set man, full of nerve and adventure, whose eyes are of an intense blackness, and whose genius is essentially of a military nature.  The men of the regiment are thorough backwoods men, and Col. Cobb says that they have forgotten the feeling of fear.¹

From The Prescott Journal:

Latest News.

We receive news, as we go to press, of a battle of two days duration near Richmond, in which the union forces were victorious.  The enemy suffered severely, and it is thought that Richmond will be ours without more fighting.

 — Capt. N. McLEOD [Norman McLeod] arrived home yesterday, on the noon boat.

— We are indebted to JOHN NEWTON,² of the Prescott Guards, for some valuable relics of seceshdom.

VOLUNTEERS.—W. H. YORK,³ of this place, is recruiting officer for the 4th Company of the 20th Regiment, now forming in this state.

1.  The regiment the correspondent is talking about is the 5th Wisconsin Infantry (original organization). The colonel was Amasa Cobb, from Mineral Point, and the major was Charles H. Larrabee of Horicon. Both men will resign before the end of the year.
2.  John Newton, from Prescott, was a corporal in Company B of the 6th Wisconsin Infantry. He will be discharged on December 18, 1862, for a disability.
3.  William H. York, from Prescott, will be the 1st lieutenant of the 20th Wisconsin Infantry’s Company A. On October 14, 1862, he will become the regiment’s Quartermaster.

1862 May 10: Homer Levings Writes Home from Fort Riley, Kansas

The original letter is in the Edwin D. Levings Papers (River Falls Mss BO), in the University Archives and Area Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Fort Riley, Kansas, May 10^th, 1[8]62.

Dear Father, and Mother.

After a long silence, I take my pen in hand again, to write you a letter.  I commenced to write in Eds last letter, but he got in a hurry and sent it off before I had finished.  We are living rather an easy life for soldiers.  We have been practicing target shooting for a few days past.  Higbee¹ has gone to Leavenworth City to get his new clothes as he could not get them here.  We had a letter from David Burr² this after-noon, he is in Tennessee, they were not in fight at Corrinth [sic], were about 50 or 60 miles from there, their boys are all well.  There was a man died in Co. B. of this Regt. the other day.³  We can get plenty of bufalo [sic] meet [sic] for 2 and 3 cts a pound.  Some of the boys have had letters from Prescot [sic], stating that Norman,⁴ had got home, and had a commission, either as Lieut. Col., or Major in the 18th Wisconsin Regt.  I should not be surprised, if it was true, for he had a recomendation [sic], signed by all the commissioned officers in the Regt, except Co. A’s officers.

May 11^th.
                     We just received your letter dated, May 2^nd.  were glad to hear from you again, you asked Mother, about our Chaplain, where he was, and if he ever preached.  He is here now, he was taken sick when we were at Ft Scott.  I have never heard him preach but once, that was at Camp Randall last Thanks-giving day.  he preached once or twice in Weston, since then I beleive [sic] he not has not preached I guess about all he does is to get the mail for the Regt.  His name is L B Mason.⁵  We expect to leave here next the week for New Mexico, but we do not know, as the privates generaly [sic] get the orders about a week before the Col. does.  We ha[v]e the best kind of bread now, we draw our flour and take it to the bakers and get it baked, pound for pound.  We have been signing the pay-roll, this evening, we shall be paid off to-morrow morning, to the Amt. of $26, we shall send part of it home.  Lieut. Higbee arrived this evening, from Leavenworth, the boys are getting better, he said Louis Reynolds, and Mr. Gibson, had gone home, and George Goodwin would go soon.⁶  The health of the Co. and Regt. is better now than ever it has been since we left Madison.  There is only one of our Co. in the Hospital.  As the Tattoo is beating for roll call, I shall have to stop writing.

Yours Affectionately,
                                   Homer

1.  Chester B. Higbee, from Hudson, had been the 1st sergeant with Company A and was promoted to 2nd lieutenant of Company B on March 19, 1862. His “new clothes” that he needed would have been an officer’s uniform.
2.  David C. Burr, from River Falls, was in Company F of the 1st Wisconsin Infantry (3 years)—the Saint Croix Rifles.
3.  Henry Dearhold, in Company B, died at Fort Riley, Kansas, on May 6, 1862. He was from Westfield, Wisconsin.
4.  Norman McLeod did not join the 18th Wisconsin Infantry.  The 18th was one of the Wisconsin regiments at the Battle of Shiloh and its colonel, James S. Alban, was killed at Shiloh; its lieutenant colonel, Samuel W. Beal, was wounded at Shiloh; and its major, Josiah W. Crane, was killed at Shiloh, so perhaps this report is just the result of speculation that the 18th needed both a lieutenant colonel and a major.
5.  Lemuel B. Mason, from Madison, was the chaplain of the 12th Wisconsin Infantry.
6.  Lewis Reynolds and Sergeant Arrington Gibson,  both from River Falls, were both discharged April 29, 1862. George H. D. Goodwin, also from River Falls, was discharged June 7, 1862.

Homer Levings letter of May 10, 1862, from the Edwin D. Levings Papers (River Falls Mss BO) in the University Archives & Area Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls

 

1862 April 23: The Resignation of Norman McLeod

From the front page of The Prescott Journal of April 23, 1862, comes this on the resignation of Captain Norman McLeod of the Lyon Light Guards (12th Wisconsin Infantry).  Noticeably conspicuous by their absence on the list is any officer from Company A, and the captains of companies C and I.

From the Wisconsin State Journal.

RESIGNATION OF CAPTAIN McLEOD.

Capt. NORMAN McLEOD, of Company A, in the 12th Wisconsin Regiment (Col. BRYANT’s) having resigned his commission, and when about to leave the regiment, the commissioned officers presented him with the following testimonials of their respect for him as a man and as an officer:

FORT SCOTT, KANSAS,
March 23, 1862.

CAPT. N. McLEOD.

My True Friend:—I cannot permit you to leave me, quitting a listless camp life for the endearments of home, and exchanging the presence of rough soldiers for the society of friends, without expressing to you my entire good will towards you and the great regret I have felt at the causes that have induced you to terminate your association with my regiment.  As an officer and gentleman, I have found in you all that was noble and manly.  It will ever be a source of pride for me to look back upon the time I have been associated with you, and be assured, while life lasts, you will not be forgotten.  You take with you my kindest thoughts and best wishes, “and may the Great God protect you ever,” is the prayer of my heart.

Yours, most truly,
               GEO. E. BRYANT,
                           Col. 12th Wis. Regt.

FORT SCOTT, March 21, 1862

We, the undersigned, Commissioned Officers of the 12th Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers, in view of the resignation of Captain Norman McLeod, of Company A, herefy adopt the following as expressive of our sentiments towards him, now that he is about to resign his command and again retire to private life.  For the past five months our association with him has been of the most friendly character.  His urbanity of manners, moral deportment, and activity in the duties assigned to him, have, and will continue to be worthy of imitation; and from the time of enlisting the United States service at Madison, to the present, he has always been foremost in adopting those measures that are calculated to advance the interest and cement friendly feelings between the different commands of our regiment.  Although he has had no opportunity to display his bravery on the battle field [sic], still we have no doubt, had the 12th regiment been called to face the rebel fire, he would not have faltered, but at the head of Company A would have cheered on his command to victory or death.  As he leaves us and returns to the endearments of home, he will take with him our best wishes that his future life may be cloudless, and that retrospection will at all times render pleasant the past associations of camp ife that by his resignation are closed.  And when this war shall come to an end, our broad land freed from the grasp of rebels, may we be permitted to return to our own Wisconsin, and in civil life cement the bands of friendship that have been so harmonious during the past five months.

OFFICERS.

George E. Bryant, Colonel.
D. C. Poole, Lieut. Colonel.
Wm. E. Strong, Major.
James K. Proudfit, Adjutant.
Andrew Sexton, Quartermaster.
L. H. Cary, Surgeon.
E. A. Woodward, Assistant Surgeon.
G. Stevens, Captain Company B.
B. F. Blackman, 1st Lieutenant Co. B.
J. W. Lusk,           2d            ”                 ”
Frs. Wilson,         1st Lieut. Co. C.
M. J. Cantwell,    2d       ”
J. Martin Price,  Captain Co. D.
Thomas Farmer, 1st Lieut. Co. D.
W. J. Norton,        2d     ”              ”
Abraham Vanderpool, Captain Co. E.
John Gillispie,                 1st Lieut.     ”
Lewis T. Linnell,              2d      ”           ”
George C. Norton,           Captain Co. F.
Levi L. Odel,                     1st Lieut.      ”
Henry Tourtilott,            2d      ”            ”
D. Howell,                            Captain Co. G
W. W. Botkin,                     2d     ”             ”
Milo E. Palmeh                   Captain Co. H.
Nathan A. C. Smith,         1st Lieut.     ”
C. C. Lovett,                        2d        ”          ”
B. S. Cennett,                       1st Lieut, Co. I,
J. S. Tinker,                          2d       ”           ”
D. R. Sylvester,                   Captain Co. K.
A. N. Chandler,                   1st Lieut.     ”
Isac Waltker,                        2d      ”           “

1862 April 3: “I exceedingly regret to chronicle the death of two more members of Co. A”

From the April 16, 1862, issue of The Prescott Journal comes this letter from “Private D” (Wilber Dale), but only excerpts.

CAMP CORRESPONDENCE.

FROM THE LYON GUARDS.

[We make the following extract from a letter from our correspondent D.  It is dated Lawrence, April 3rd, to which place the company had just returned.]

 As I cannot relate warlike news, perhaps a few lines about the country, may not be amiss.  Having marched nearly the entire width of Kansas twice, and by different routes, and having often questioned the inhabitants concerning it climate, health and productiveness, I have no hesitation in pronouncing Eastern Kansas the finest agricultural and grazing country I ever saw.  There is in some places a scarcity of wood, but this is generally compensated for by vast coal deposits of easy access.  It is also well adapted to fruit growing, and should the war soon end, and Missouri become a free state, the future prosperity and greatness of Kansas will be secure.

Lawrence, at present, is by no means a pretty place.  The streets are muddy, the buildings display but little taste, and the general aspect of the town is uninviting ;  but worse than all, its luxuries are beyond the reach of us monniless [sic] soldiers.

I exceedingly regret to chronicle the death of two more members of Co A, Charles Deyarmond¹ and Jacob Patterson.²  They were both in the hospital at Weston, but the former accompanied us to Leavenworth, where a relapse occurring, he was again sent to the hospital, which he never left alive.  We had little hope of again seeing Patterson when we left Weston, but afterwards heard that he was rapidly recovering.  This morning we heard that one night he was taken suddenly worse and died before morning.

Capt. McLeod having resigned, the command of the company now devolves upon Lt. Maxson, who discharges its duties creditably to himself and satisfactorily to the men.  I believe it is the unanimous wish of the company that he should fill the vacancy now existing.

1.  Charles Deyarmond, from River Falls, had enlisted September 23, 1861, and died March 7, 1862, in Lawrence, Kansas.
2.  Jacob B. Patterson, also from River Falls, had enlisted on September 18, 1862, and died April 1, 1862, in Weston, Missouri.

1862 March 23: “His folks keep writing him discouraging letters”

Ed Levings writes a whole paragraph on a soldier—Lewis A. Reynolds—who is sick and whose parents want him discharged so he can come home.  Not unreasonable from the parents’ point of view, but Ed doesn’t like it at all.

Ed also has just a little bit more to say about Norman McLeod, before he leaves.  And he gives us a short description of the village at Fort Scott, Kansas.

The original letter is in the Edwin D. Levings Papers (River Falls Mss BO), in the University Archives and Area Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

1862
Fort Scott, Sunday morning, Mar 23^rd,

Dear Father and Mother;
                                                   I think I must write you a little this morning, though I have nothing new to relate.  There is a lull in our movements now and we are in complete ignorance as to what we are going to do or when we shall leave for other parts, but there are many conjectures, some thinking we are to go on south, some, back to St. Louis, others, that we shall remain here till ordered home.  The latter idea I do not entertain at all.  There is a rumor among us to the effect that government is about to discharge a large number of Regts.  I guess not yet.  There have been no new arrivals of troops, of late, at this point, and there is nothing to indicate the arrival of any more.  A large, heavy, provision train came in yesterday.  The high stage of water in the stream, there being no bridges, is a great obstacle to the trains coming from Leavenworth.  A strong force is now at work building a bridge over the stream at this point.  This out-of-the-way place you will be surprised to learn, has a gristmill and sawmill, several stores, saloons, and quite a number of dwelling houses.  Withal the place is larger than I had supposed.  There is no regularity in the mails at present — no postage stamps at post office for sale — a stamp sells for 10 cts here and I am nearly out and would be glad to have you send in a letter 50 cts worth.  [Ed put a large space here, probably his way of indicating a new paragraph without wasting too much space.]

Received letters from cousins Louisa and Emma the other day, enclosing their pictures which, are truly fine ones & well taken — they have the Levings look.  They Their letters can not be beat, that’s so, no particular news.  Ten of our boys came on from Leavenworth the other day.  Louis [sic] Reynolds¹ is still in the Hospital at  Weston has been sick ever since we went to that place.  His folks keep writing him discouraging letters, wanting him to get his discharge and come home &c, making him homesick and dispireted [sic].  He is no sicker than many others have been who have recovered, but I do not believe he will get much better as long as his folks keep writing such letters.  A more jubilant, enthusiastic boy than he was, at his enlistment, never went to War.  than he was at his enlistment.   Let them write to him letters of cheer and hope, if they desire to save him from despondency and, perhaps, death.  For his sake I wish you would tell them to stop such practice at once, and talk to them in good earnest.  It is just like them exactly and all they know.  [Another large space instead of a new paragraph.]

The weather is cold to-day and of late there has been considerable rain and foul, stormy, disagreeable weather.  How do things prosper up there and what prospect is there of business and good times?  What are you doing now, both of you?  I want to know very much.  You must write often for it takes about 18 or 20 days for letters from you to get here.  I wish they would do something with us.  Norman McLeod leaves us to go home, to-morrow I think, having received his discharge.  Letters received from Prescott state he wrote home to his wife that his leg was lame and troubled him so he did not know but he should be obliged to resign and go home.  His leg has not been lame at all and he can march as far as any of the company in a day.  Poor man!  “The way of transgressors is hard.”  I wish you would send us occasionally the Rural, or the Prescott Journal regularly, if convenient and if you take it.  Mail goes to-morrow and I must close.  Homer thinks he will not write this time — is well as usal [sic] — have both good health — wish you would write immediately and tell all there is to write.  The Rebels are getting it thick and fast and they will have to succumb soon or be destroyed.  I would write more had I time, but for the present I close.

Yours affectionately — Edwin.

1.  Lewis A. Reynolds, from River Falls, enlisted in the Lyon Light Guards on September 23, 1861.  His parents will get their wish and he will be discharged on April 29, 1862.  He will then re-enlist on September 24, 1863, and will be placed in Company A of the 30th Infantry.

Edwin Levings letter of March 23, 1862, from the Edwin D. Levings Papers (River Falls Mss BO) in the University Archives & Area Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls

1862 March 12: Some of This and Some of That

Some of the small stories from the March 12, 1862, issue of The Prescott Journal.

News Items.

— Military restrictions on trade between northern ports and Nashville have been removed.

— A joint resolution was offered in the Senate, on the 28^th ult., by Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, which proposes, in effect, to pay loyal persons in Maryland and Deleware [sic] an amount equal to $250 for each person discharged and freed from service or labor, in case those States will free all persons of African descent held to service within their boundaries.¹

— Cotton to the value of one hundred thousand dollars has fallen into the hands of the Union forces at Nashville. The Treasury Department has made arrangements for having it sent to New York city.

— From official documents it appears that the uniform of the rebel navy is the same as ours, save color, which is steel gray instead of blue; but as most of the officers were formerly in the national navy, they retain their old clothes and relative rank.

— The Chicago Tribune’s special Washington dispatches state that the passage of the homestead bill by one hundred majority, is an achievement due to the efforts of Messrs. Potter of Wisconsin, and Aldrich and Windom of Minnessota [sic].²

— All the Democratic papers of Indiana, with one or two exceptions, oppose and denounce the expulsion of Senator Bright [Jesse D. Bright] from the U.S. Senate. Some of them propose to re-elect him next winter, to serve out his unexpired term in order to rebuke the act.

— Among the first welcomes to the news of the victory at Ford Donelson, was the chiming of the peal of bells at Christ Church, in Old Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Monday evening, from the same tower from which was rung the first alarm of the march of the British troops to Lexington, in 1792.

— Col. Murphy,³ of the Eighth Wisconsin, has been appointed Military Inspector of the district of Cairo.

— The 2d Wisconsin Cavalry, Washburn’s Regiment, were to leave Milwaukee yesterday for St. Louis.⁴

— A correspondent of the State Journal, from the 12th Regiment, says that Capt. McLeod, of company A, has resigned, and that his resignation will be accepted.

— We learn from the State Journal that the 12^th Regiment has gone to Fort Scott, Bourbon county, Kansas, at which place all letters should be addressed.

— The Hudson Times says A.D. Gray has been commissioned as Captain of Company H, 16^th Regiment, vice H. G. Noble resigned.⁵

— The 16^th Regiment, at Camp Randall, have organized a lodge of Good Templars,⁶ which is increasing rapidly. —We wish every regiment of the State would imitate their example.

—Nashville is the great factory and store house of the rebellion in the west. At the latest accounts there were millions of pounds of Confederate bacon stored there. Cannon, powder, and percussion caps are manufactured at Nashville. It is the center of the railroad system of the State, and commands all the roads.

1.  Henry Wilson (1812-1875) was a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts from 1855-1873. When the southern states seceded, Wilson assumed chairmanship of the Senate Military Affairs Committee. Following the First Battle of Bull Run, Wilson raised a regiment of infantry in Massachusetts and was its first colonel. While a Senator, he introduced bills that freed slaves in the District of Columbia, permitted African Americans to join the Union army, provided equal pay to black and white soldiers, and pressed President Lincoln to issue an emancipation proclamation.  After the War, Wilson was elected as Ulysses S. Grant’s second vice president (18th Vice President of the United States, 1873-1875). The U.S. Senate’s Historical Office said of Wilson, “throughout his long political career, Wilson remained remarkably consistent in his support for human freedom and equality of rights for all men and women regardless of their color or class.”  
2.  The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed anyone who had never taken up arms against the U.S. government (including freed slaves) to file an application to claim a federal land grant.  
     —John Fox Potter (1817-1899) was a U.S. Representative from Wisconsin from 1857 to 1863, and served as chairman of the Committee on Public Lands from 1861 to 1863.
     —Cyrus Aldrich (1808-1871) was a U.S. Representative from Minnesota from 1859 to 1863.
     —William Windom (1827-1891) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota, 1859-1869; a U.S. Senator from Minnesota, 1870-1883; and the 33rd and 39th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
3.  Robert Creighton Murphy (1827-1888) made his home in Saint Croix Falls from 1860-1862, during which time he was in charge of the Caleb Cushing’s interests and property. He left that position to become the colonel of the 8th Wisconsin Infantry.
4.  The 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry will leave Wisonsin for Saint Louis on March 24, 1862.
5.  Almon D. Gray (1830-1912), from Hudson, became captain of Company H as of February 25, 1862. 
6.  The Good Templars were founded in 1851 as a fraternal temperance society. A letter on January 21, 1862, from “Add” said that the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry had started a Good Templars organization, too.

1862 March 13: Edwin Levings Receives a Letter from River Falls

This is a rare letter to Ed Levings from a friend in River Falls, the Reverend William R. Stevens.  Ed obviously had written to him about the problems with Captain McLeod in the letter Stevens mentions receiving from Ed.  It would seem from the way that Stevens writes that he was probably Ed’s pastor. 

At the end of the letter, Stevens provides details of the various local teachers because Ed was a teacher before joining Company A of the 12th Wisconsin Infantry.

The original letter is in the Edwin D. Levings Papers (River Falls Mss BO), in the University Archives and Area Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

River Falls     March 13, 1862.

My Dear Friend and Bro in Christ,
                                                         I was very glad indeed to receive from you a letter.  Though it was long expected I was very much gratified when it came and and thought I could reply to it at once but I have delayed on account of many importunate chores and duties.  Things at the Falls move on in the even tenor of their way for the most part or at least the changes that occur come with such premonitory intimations  and with such gradual naturalness that we are hardly sensible of them as one would be who had been absent & learns these things all at once on his return.  Is it not a curious and interesting fact that the most wonderful events imaginable are continually occurring without striking our minds as wonderful or startling. The terrible events of the past year in our country have come along almost as a matter of course.  To us who have been away from the immediate¹  scenes of warfare the stirring events probably seem quite as unworkable as they do to those who are actors in them.  In ordinary times a disaster in which a dozen men loose their lives startles us, but now as many hundreds may fall in battle and we almost feel that it is a matter of course.  I have some times felt that in this capacity of so adapting ourselves to circumstances as to loose in a great measure the impression of any things being strange or unusual, we have a dangerous power.  It is dangerous if it is the occasion of our failing to make special preparation & taking special care for peculiar emergencies and responsibilities.  The minister of the gospel who comes to look upon his calling as only an ordinary occupation & seeks no special aid from above has become reckless of the most sacred interests.  The soldier who feels that his calling is so much a matter of course, as to neglect to keep his weapons & amunition [sic] in order has found this self adapting power a great evil.  But now how is it with the sense of need with regard to the souls safety in times & circumstances of special trial & temptation?  Does this sense of the need of help become less urgent with us as we become familiar with the necessities for it?  This is our danger.  You are in the camp as I suppose.  You are away from the endearments of home and the scenes of friendship, and there you are deprived of the privileges of the Sanctuary and the prayer meeting.  The positive influences around you are probably not most favorable to religious improvement.  How do you find your spiritual enjoyment effected [sic] by circumstances in which you are placed.  As God protected Daniel in the lions den and the three in the furnance of fire,² so by his grace and spirit he can surround you & keep you unharmed by the fire, trials of the army.  These trials will be blessed to the production of a stronger religious character and a more vigorous & manly piety if we seek the grace we need & use the means God gives us.  But in circumstances of great trial we must not alow [sic] ourselves to become insensible to our need of aid nor neglect to seek it by prayer.  I hear that many unfavorable circumstances have arisen between your company & the captain.  I am sorry to hear of this.  I had great confidence that company A. would be a model company in every respect and that the blessing of God would rest upon it.  I hope that there are some whom Christ acknowledges as his soldiers in it.  [paragraph break added]

Your friends here I presume keep you informed of the news that is to be reported here.  Mr. N. N. Powell³ I presume you have heard has gone to his final home.  On the evening of March 10th I married Wm. Green to Miss Isabel Collins.⁴  She is quite a beauty.  That is all I know of her.  Mr. Wilcox closed his winter term of school on the 7th March.  The Trustees of the Academy⁵ have engaged a Mr. Merriman to teach.  He will begin next Monday I suppose.  Mr. W. will commence another term in his house.  Three weeks later according to the notice given to his school at the close.  Miss Emma Nichols is engaged to teach our district school at 4 dollars a month week.  This chapter of items is all that occurs to me and my letter is already too long by far, too dull, obscure & prosy.  May the Lord’s blessing be yours.  Very truly, W. R. Stevens.

Two things are written on the back of the letter, each in a different hand.  We have no idea at this point what piece of wire Ed is talking about.

“Letter of Rev. W. R. Stevens”

“That wire is a piece of the wire which the rebels intended to explode their torpedoes with & blow us up.
                        Edwin Levings
                                   Co A. 12 R
                                           W. Volunteers”

1.  We had problems figuring out this word, but one of our readers didn’t have any trouble at all and supplied “immediate,” which is now so obvious once you know it. 
2.  The story of Daniel in the lions’ den is found in the 6th chapter of the Book of Daniel in the Bible, and the story of the three men in the fiery furnace is found in the 3rd chapter of the Book of Daniel.
3.  Nathaniel N. Powell (1826-1862), one of the first pioneers of the River Falls area, had died on February 12, 1862, in River Falls at the age of 34, from consumption.
4.  William M. Greene and Isabella Collins, according to the newspaper at the time.
5.  The Academy, a college preparatory school, opened in River Falls in 1856.

1862 February 28: The 12th Wisconsin Infantry is Marching to Fort Scott

This letter from Ed Levings to his parents announces the imminent departure of the 12th Wisconsin Infantry from Fort Leavenworth.  It is written in pencil, perhaps because of Ed’s haste in writing it.  Wish we had access to the letter Ed writes to a “Mr. Wilcox,” because he tells him the details on finally getting rid of Captain Norman McLeod.

The original letter is in the Edwin D. Levings Papers (River Falls Mss BO), in the University Archives and Area Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Leavenworth City, Feb 28^th, 1862.

Dear Father and Mother;
                                                    We received your letter of the 15^th night before last.  I will now write in reply, though I have but a few moments.  The order to march to Fort Scott was announced this afternoon at Dress Parade and we leave to-morrow morning with the 9^th Wis and, perhaps, with the 2^nd Ohio Cavalry.  We are all in a bustle and are flying round at a great rate, cooking two day’s rations & packing our knapsacks which are to be carried for us in teams.  Our blankets, & overcoats too, if they shall be to [sic] warm to wear, are to be worn over our shoulders, rolled up compactly in the shape of a huge rope, so that we shall carry besides, but our guns & accoutrements.  Shall march from 20 to 25 miles per day.  You must not worry about us.—we can do it every time and sometimes twice.  We are in high spirits and are glad we are going to march, which is far better for our health than lying around doing nothing.  All who can not march the above number of miles per day must stay behind for the present, of who are Dickenson, Goodwin, McMillen, McIntyre, C. Deyarmond, Johnson, Garth, Ottman, Gibbs, Hyatt, Wilson & Jay & Beebee¹ besides those who are in the Hospital at Weston, whose names you will learn in a letter I have just written Mr. Wilcox.  Please ask him for it as it contains some news  which I have not time to write you now.  The Capt has resigned.²  Hurrah.  Got rid of him easier & sooner than we expected.  You will learn how in the letter to Mr. Wilcox.  I must stop.  Direct to the Fort Leavenworth.  Are glad to learn about those bandages, though don’t know as we shall ever need them.  We had to laugh, of course.  Write without delay, and while we are tripping towards Dixie, think of the “good time coming.”  May God bless and protect you.  Good bye.
                                                             Yours most affectionatly [sic],
                                                                           Edwin and Homer.

1.  Samuel W. Dickinson (from River Falls), George H. D. Goodwin (River Falls), John McMillan (Prescott), Dougald McIntyre (Cottage Grove), Charles Deyarmond (River Falls), John J. Johnson (New Centreville), Andrew F. Ottman (Trimbelle), James Gibbs (River Falls), Bruner D. Hyatt (Prescott; Sydney G. Hyatt did not enlist until 1863) Robert Wilson (Prescott), William S. Jay (Trimbelle), and Charles A. Beebe (New Richmond).  There wasn’t a “Garth” in Company A of the 12th Wisconsin, but there was Frederick Garit (from Martell).
2.  Captain McLeod will resign officially as of March 20, 1862.  First Lieutenant Orrin F. Maxson will become the new captain of Company A as of March 19, 1862.

Edwin Levings letter of February 28, 1862, from the Edwin D. Levings Papers (River Falls Mss BO) in the University Archives & Area Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls