154th Ohio Infantry

Item LTR-7195

Description

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


Greenland Gap, West Virginia
Sunday eve., June 19, 1864

My Dearest Mary,
Your very welcomed letter was received while at New Creek, from which place I sent you a short note promising to give you the trouble of reading a longer one in a day or two. I returned here (Greenland) in safety and without any very special adventures.

So you have a “cold spell” in Xenia similar to the one felt by sundry Buckeyes now upon a visit to Greenland, which aforesaid visit is not yet quite half out. Many of them were grumbling “a good deal” at the weather, but the “subscriber” got along very comfortably. We now have a promise of the other extreme of temperature, which promise will probably be fulfilled unless it should be decided that a little more rain would suit the case better. I wrote home on last night, sending the letter by Jim Thirkfield who has a pass to go to Piedmont and return within three days, but intends to go to Xenia and be absent an indefinite length of time. I should not be surprised if he and Maury Miller (who has gone home in the same way) were arrested and sent back here, perhaps in irons. I would have written to Jim by him but feared that he wouldn’t be entirely “safe”. There is a report in camp that Mr. Thirkfield’s store was robbed of a large amount of merchandize during this past week. It is true? Jim says that he received a letter from Marm F., stating the loss of about $3,000.

We received news from our absent boys last night. Some of them got back to camp about eleven o’clock and report that the remainder are encamped about sixteen miles from here on the Moorfield Road. The detachment was in a skirmish but suffered no loss whatever. The cavalry captured two rebel soldiers or bushwhackers four mules, and sundry stuff, &c., which later were put into immediate use.

Lieutenant Trader attempted to capture some hams but concluded that pork was not very healthy before loading them in the wagon train. He was aided very much in arriving at this conclusion by the view of a few Rebels. He really had quite a narrow escape from being captured. He was here last night but started out with a provision train again this morning. I expect Xenia people will be favored with frightful reports about the 154th Regiment being cut up badly. Many losses in killed, wounded and missing &c. Not a single man has been lost up to yesterday afternoon. Also, please remember when hearing of battles in Virginia that that state is frequently able to have two or three towns of the same name, thus we have our Piedmont on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and another one quite distant from here and another south of Richmond (General Butler has thought of making a call at the latter one sometime soon).

I would give a good deal to be in Xenia for a little while, but eight weeks more will soon pass by and I would not go home in the style that “some” fellas have, even if I had ten times eight weeks yet to serve.

This “document” I expect will reach you just in the burry of commencement exercises which I hope will pass off pleasantly. Do you have an Alumnae Party this year? Don’t forget that I have been writing you about two times per week for some time past.
Yours truly, S. Newton