19th Ohio Infantry

Item LTR-10696

Description

Original Civil War soldier's letter. 4 pages, written in period ink.


Chattanooga, Tennessee
September the 2nd 1864

Dear Mary,

I will try and write some more this morning. I have nothing to do today and I will spend the time writing. I am well this morning and hope this will find you enjoying the same and all the rest at home well. There is no news today from the Army. But there is a good deal of excitement along the rail road between here and Nashville. The report this morning is that Forrest and Old Wheeler are on the road with 17,000 cavalry and are tearing up track between here and Nashville. The troops here at this place have left and gone down that way. There was a report that there was a fight last evening down at Bridge Port and some said they could hear artillery but I could not hear anything of the kind and I think it’s all false report.

There has been no train in here from Nashville for two days and we have had no mail and no papers from the north. I am very anxious to get some papers from the north to get the particulars of the Copperhead Convention. All we have heard is a Telegraph Dispatch that McClellan was the candidate for President and Pendleton the Vice. I hope they will be defeated but enough of this for the present and I will try and write something else.

I suppose you are getting lonesome and wish that I had not reenlisted so I could come home now. Soon it will not be long till vets will come back here to muster out and go home. I would like to go out when they do very well. But I am not sorry that I reenlisted for I do not believe we will have to stay a great while longer for I think this war will play out this fall. There is one of two things going to happen this fall after the election is over. The war will end or there will be war in the north. If the Rebels in the north would not have made so much fuss, this war would have been over before this time. All they are waiting for is to see if there will not be another man elected and see if he will do something in their favor. We have been driving the Rebs all this summer with the Army we have in the field and all we want now is to elect Abe and bring out the men he has called for and the war will soon close.

I wrote a letter to Abram some time ago but have not had any word from him. I wrote a letter to Gabriel soon after I came here but he has not written any answer yet. I am going to write to him today again and see if I cannot hear from him. I have written you a long letter and now I will close but it may be a good while before you will get this letter for the Rebs have tore up the Rail Road.

Tell father to write to me and you tell John Diehl if he does not answer that letter I wrote to him, I will not write to him again.

My love to you,

William J. Helsley

Hooray for Abe and Andy. Write soon.