Michigan in the Civil War

Butler, Charles.

The papers of this resident of Paw Paw, Mich., include typescripts and handwritten transcripts of letters received from a number of men serving in the military, most of them from Paw Paw. They include:

Joseph H. Bardwell. Six letters (1863-65). Chief items mentioned: he favors conscription; the men busy themselves cutting brush for shade while the battery is waiting for guns and horses, and also attend a play; they build a board shanty and do their own cooking; they have a hard march following the enemy after the battle of Nashville. A brief letter (Feb. 12, 1865)from Eastport, Miss., tells of fighting around Nashville and of winter quarters. Bardwell was in Battery I, 1st Illinois Artillery, 1862-1865.

Horace Charles. Four letters (1862-64). He comments on recreations and amusements in camp; tells of a raid against guerrillas and the burning of their homes; expresses his attitude towards the formation of Negro regiments, and describes the presentation of a saber to the captain taking charge of one of these regiments. He also describes the funeral of a soldier and the salute on Washington's birthday. Charles was in Battery I, 1st Illinois Artillery.

Heman S. Parrish of Lawton, Mich. Seven letters (1862-64). He speaks of smallpox in camp, tells of gathering oysters and going fishing, complains of being sick of war yet expresses his patriotic feelings. Parrish was in Company C, 70th New York Infantry.

Hiram G. Saxton. Two letters (Dec. 1864-Jan. 1865) written from Chattanooga. They concern picket duty, half-rations because Hood's army has cut railroad facilities, his feelings about Copperheads, and his faith in Lincoln. Saxton enlisted in Company C, 70th New York Infantry in 1861. Wounded in action at Williamsburg and again at Gettysburg, he then was discharged. In 1864 he re-enlisted in Company H, 9th Michigan Infantry, as a substitute for Edwin M. Eaton, who had been drafted.

Milo Webb. Three letters (1863-64) written about the campaign around Vicksburg. He also watched a horse race inside the Rebel picket lines under a flag of truce. He was in Company D, 11th Illinois Infantry.

Edson Woodman. Four letters (1864-65) in which he tells of a march from Chattanooga to Lookout Mountain, his promotion to orderly, and his wound and hospital life. He enlisted in Company H, 13th Michigan Infantry in 1864, and was discharged after being wounded in action at Bentonville,N. C.

This collection is available on microfilm for interlibrary loan.