The private correspondences of Joshua E Byram

[Roger Neilson II]

August 1861

My dearest parents

Following the treachery of the Rebels I have gone and enlisted in the 14th PA Militia. This will come as a shock to you I know as I was en route to a position in the Horace Parksfield College to lecture in Latin. Such things are of little consequence given the momentous events of our nation.

Rest assured I am well, and the men I am with, whilst being of an assorted type, are pleasant enough and to date the war seems to consist of finding out which leg is right and which leg is left. There is a lot of stumbling round, and we are all having what feels like a vacation at the moment. Our commander, General Baker seems a stern and upright Christian man. I have not yet heard anything bad of him.

Around us there is much bustle, but little activity yet.

Take care, I do not feel that it will be long before I can return, the ‘conquering hero’ and be able to regale you with tales of camp life.

Your somewhat less obedient son

Joshua E Byram

[Roger Neilson II]

September 1861

My dearest parents

I am sure I can tell you little you do not already now about the grand scope of the war. There seems, since that fateful firing on Sumter to have been little happened. I assume it is because on both sides of the lines we are all getting used to the ways of soldiering. We spend every day in camp, drilling, doing camp duties and learning how to use our muskets. At night we stand guard, though quite why I have no idea…. There are no Rebels for hundreds of miles.

I must say the uniform takes some getting used to, it is not as finely tailored as the clothes you, dear Mother, have sewn for me in the past. The food also is not the same as your wonderful cooking. Some soldiers are now receiving parcels sent from home with wonderful foodstuffs – it cheers the men up immensely, and sharing them with our fellows makes everyone feel part of a big family.

We are camped near a turnpike and daily men or wagons pass by heading towards Washington. Sometimes the troops stop for a break and it is interesting to listen to their different ways of speaking – some I must admit are rough hewn fellows.

I have been helping Captain Reynolds with some of the administration, he seems very happy to use my learning in keeping the records up to date of the unit.

Joshua E Byram

[FeurerKrieg]

Nice AAR Roger.

[Roger Neilson II]

September 1861

My dearest parents

I must thank you for the food parcel that arrived the other day. It was most welcome and we sat around the campfire and gave thanks to the lord, and of course to yourselves for the great bounty.

Little changes here, though we are more on our guard as there are reports of audacious greycoat cavalry riding around and burning or stealing supplies. The sooner we restore order and eliminate these lawless rebels the better we all say.

We have marched and then moved by rail to Grafton. The General commanding our forces is General E Baker, I have not yet set eyes on him and await the pleasure of seeing what a real General looks like. All our men are from PA. which is pleasant, as when we encounter other units they seem an outlandish and often coarse set of men.

I gather our forces have boldly entered Kentucky and northern Tennessee to begin to remove the rebellion as fast as possible. I do hope that I get to see some action before they surrender.

Take care both of you, I will write again when I have the opportunity.

Your son and ‘brave soldier’

Joshua E Byram.

[Roger Neilson II]

October 1861

My dear Parents

Can anyone doubt the superiority of our forces? General Price invaded Springfield and with even numbers we beat them off apparently. I understand it is a very different place over there, very hot, with little rain. Here already we see the season changing. Our forces in Kentucky have remained in place, unchallenged by the rebels, who seem unable to do anything but ride round committing acts of plunder and burning, like veritable Vikings of the past! They are not civilised people.

You will be proud to be informed that I am no longer part of a militia unit. General Baker reviewed our forces the other day and pronounced our unit to be the best on the field. We are now a proper infantry unit and may look down on the others as mere trainees!

Your dutiful son

Joshua E Byram

[Roger Neilson II]

November 1861

My dear Parents

You will know now of the first great battle of the war. I take back what I said about the enemy being not able to fight. I gather General Beauregard responded to our invasion of Kentucky by striking back at a place called Paducah and with twice the forces that General Halleck had was able to oust us from our position. This has to be seen as a major loss to our forces, and there is perhaps a sense amongst us men that things may not be as easy as we thought.

We still sit in our camp, we think that it may be spring before we move again. Our time now might be best spent making the place as comfortable as possible. Some rumours are that both sides will sign an agreement for the winter and we can all go home, to start again in Spring. If not I am not convinced that the canvas sides of a tent will be as warm as our house back where you two live such a quiet and untroubled life.

We are on a grand mission though, and some privations are to be shrugged off in the line of duty.

Your dutiful son
Joshua E Byram

[Roger Neilson II]

December 1861

My dear Parents

Whilst we sit shivering in our encampments out west things remain hot enough it would seem for actions to take place. General Polk, aggrieved at the loss of Louisville must have deemed it proper to eject us from that area and came with that intent. Our own General Hurlbut met him with superior numbers and ‘hurled’ him back from whence he had ventured. Another stunning example of our superiority in the field. At the same time another Confederate force under General Ewell attempted to eject us from Glasgow. A new General, having just taken over the forces there met him with significantly superior numbers. And ‘granted’ him leave to retire to his southern base…. Sometimes I amuse myself with these whimsies. General Grant has a somewhat ‘chequered’ past, but his first taste of command has been a good one.

A small engagement between one of our gunboats at Paducah and a recently established artillery position resulted, I gather, in the gunboat sinking due to technical difficulties. I gather that Lebanon has been liberated by our forces also. I gather that the Rebels have resorted to piracy on the high seas – is there no end to their dastardly behaviour?

You may wonder how I am in possession of so much news, stuck away in this backwoods area. I have kept my best news for last. You son is now a Sergeant. In recognition of my obvious martial air I have been selected by the General himself to be part of his HQ staff. I spend much of my time in the HQ tent area, reading despatches, writing orders and keeping tally on what is going on here. I gather that the General, whilst being of good military stock is not himself too ‘bookish’ and was delighted to find a man of my calibre who could take some of the burden of command from him.

Who would have believed it, a Latin master now a sergeant in the United States Army!

Take care parents, have no fear for me.

Joshua

[Roger Neilson II]

January 1862

My Dear Parents

I do hope the new year finds you well and in good spirits. There is little of note happening here, indeed this soldiering does become a trifle tedious. I did ask if I might have some leave to go into Washington to purchase some books to further my studies, but Captain O’Hara was less than encouraging in his denials of my request. I put a lot of his bad temper down to his Irish ancestry , he can at times be an irreverent fellow.
Your somewhat listless son,

Joshua

[Roger Neilson II]

February 1862

My Dearest Parents

Throughout the camps we stand on guard frequently, as the weather begins to ameliorate there are constant alarums reporting the presence of the grey clad cavalry. They become a ‘will ‘o the wisp’ indeed. Much of their motivation seems to be to steal as to acquire military information. No wonder we are fighting to return the other states to a condition of peace and lawfulness with such brigands as these currently in command.

As the days get warmer and the nights shorter we shake off our winter habits and begin to drill for what surely must be the Spring of settlement, where we put this insane rebellion down and return to normality.

Your hopeful son

Joshua

[Roger Neilson II]

March 1862

Dear Parents

I gather Gen’l Grant was recently opposed in Livingston and has made a careful and calculated retreat in the face of superior numbers. Spring comes earlier there I feel.

Still we sit tight in camp, waiting for orders to move. I would be happy were they to come, both because it might mean I was to be aprt of the great adventure, and also that we might move away from a camp that now, after months, is somewhat oppressive and somewhat dirty.

Your hopeful son

Joshua

[Roger Neilson II]

April 1862
Dear Parents

You know me to be a loyal and respectful man of honour. I try to defer to my betters and acknowledge that they are there because they know more than I do. I must however report that there is much disquiet in the camp over the lack of any movement on our part. The months roll by, the rebels seem stronger and less inclined to behave, and our leaders are content to leave us in camps which are becoming pestilential and foul.

Should you have any opportunity to talk to other families of standing in our community I would ask that you convey the message from the camps that we, the loyal troops, are ready and eager to do our duty, but the General seems somewhat tardy in their efforts.

Your somewhat impatient son

Joshua

[Roger Neilson II]

May 1862

Dearest parents

I consider myself a mild mannered, and well behaved gentleman, as much as anything this is due to your influence in my bringing up. I must confess to having had a transformation of character in recent times. You will doubtless have heard of the battle at Harper’s Ferry recently? You will have also heard of the death of Gen’l Patterson in that battle? They were attacked by double their number under Gen’l Johnston and in order to attack the Rebels will have moved directly across the front of our location. I am no military expert, but we sat in our campsite and did nothing. Our forces, fine men all, could have tipped the battle in our favour, but no, our commanders prefer to let a brother officer and his troops make the sacrifice. I despair of ever getting any action under this general!

At the same time I gather a battle at Springfield went against us, though strangely we inflicted more casualties on the enemy.

Your despairing son


Joshua

[Roger Neilson II]

June 1862

Dearest parents

I gather I am not alone in my annoyance, indeed one General has resigned in protest, I have not heard of him before, but General Sherman is supposedly somewhat hot headed. He has been operating out in Kentucky, but apparently became totally disgusted with the way the war was ‘not being fought’.

I gather an attempt to wrest Bowling Green from the enemy has failed with significant losses. It also appears that the enemy is thrusting northwards towards St Louis, having now taken Rolla.


Your despairing son

Joshua

[Roger Neilson II]

July 1862

Dearest parents

Ring the victory bells, proclaim aloud how wonderful our righteous forces are! The Rebels attacked Fort Monroe in massive strength, but we proved equal to their endeavours. We have triumphed and they have been badly beaten. I gather that the casualty list on our side is heavy, we have no real idea of theirs as we were in our entrenchments and did not venture from them. At one stage it could have been their victory, but fresh troops embarking from transports were rushed straight to the lines and threw them back. We gather that one of their most promising Generals, A P Hill, fell in the battle.

We have also now an island off the coast, at Roanoake, we are seeing some movement at last. The Rebels fall back from Rolla, and we retake the area. In Eastern Tennessee we are burning up the areas with unopposed cavalry raids.

Best news of all is that the other day we marched away from t hat pestilential camp and boarded a train which took us to Washington. As yet we are too busy settling into a new campsite, but I would hope within the next few days I will get a chance to look around and perhaps have a chat with Mr Lincoln if he can spare me the time of day!

Your loyal son

Joshua

[Roger Neilson II]

August 1862

Dearest parents

The fortunes of war…. The fortunes of war. Gen’l Grant has been beaten back at Livingston and the Rebels are exultant.

I have been to Washington, it is a fine city. The defences are awe inspiring, so much so that perhaps I wonder if too much attention has been given to defence and it has daunted our offensive actions?

Your philosophical son

Joshua

[Roger Neilson II]

There will be a fortnight's halt while I am on holiday.....

Roger

[Roger Neilson II]

September 1862

Dearest Parents

There has been a momentous battle in Glasgow, Ky. I do wonder however if Gen’l Grant is really up to the job. We have lost upwards of 20 thousand souls and he has again been beaten. The enemy is triumphant and advancing upon Louisville.

There is some consolation in that a rebel invasion of Springfield was beaten back.

I fear for the course of the war unless we take some decisive action soon, and yet the onset of another winter is looming and I still have yet to fire a shot in anger!

Your gloomy son

Joshua

[Roger Neilson II]

October 1862

Dearest Parents

Our commanders are wonderful! They have been so clever.

I am no longer in Washington. My move there was but a brief halt while the greater scheme of things was played out. Your son has been on board one of our ships being transported down the coast and a few days ago we made landing at New Bern in North Carolina.

It is a swampy place, but we have thrown up defences and await the onslaught of the rebels who will, surely, attempt to remove us from this place.

There was a small battle to eject the enemy militia I gather, but I was still aboard the ship at the time and when I reached dry land it was all over.

I am not party to our grander designs, but surely if the enemy do not immediately eject us then we have the whole of the winter to fortify, to reinforce, and to prepare for the spring offensives.

On to victory!


Joshua

[Roger Neilson II]

November 1862
Dearest Parents

As we look towards the Christmastide rest assured your son is well and awaiting the spring. There has been no enemy movement against us in this place and daily new supplies and troops arrive and disembark.

I gather there was an attempt to attack some of our supply ships by Confederate warships off Norfolk, but they were beaten back and at least on was sunk. On sea we triumph. I do wonder if I should have joined the navy.

I gather our cavalry have learned the ‘art’ of raiding and have been causing disruption far and wide along the front lines.

On to victory!


Joshua

[Roger Neilson II]

December 1862

Dearest Parents

We continue to wreak havoc on the enemy! More naval landings have secured another island, this time off South Carolina, this should shut off two ports there and make the southern fineries even harder to come by! I have not yet been to the front lines, my important clerical duties prohibit me from leaving the HQ area, but gather from friends who have stood on ‘picket duty’ that they frequently have discussion with the southerners, who will often ask to trade and the feeling is that things are not as happy as they were in the South…..

I wish you a good Christmas, rest assured we had a merry celebration here and did not want for any comforts. I maintain my strict temperance, but must confess that some of my comrades had no such compunction and were certainly full of more than the Christmas spirit!

On to victory!

Joshua