Michigan in the Civil War
Buchanan family.
The papers of this Grand Rapids, Mich., family include eighty-nine letters(1861-1864) written by John C. Buchanan to his wife Sophia Bingham Buchanan, while he was serving as first lieutenant in Company D, 8th Michigan Infantry.Many of the letters are almost sermons and philosophical essays about his home and family, religion, his country and the war and its leaders. Others are detailed descriptions of camps and camp life, such as Seabrook plantation in South Carolina and its Negroes, James Island and its reptiles; his quarters and food; sea transports; marches, skirmishes and battles with the Army of the Potomac in the Maryland campaign and around Fredericksburg. Letters written to Buchanan are found in the Bingham family collection.
This collection is available on microfilm for interlibrary loan.