AUGUST 14, 1864 CIVIL WAR LETTER FROM CAMP COLLIERSVILLE TENNESSEE FROM WILLIAM R WILDER

AUGUST 14, 1864 CIVIL WAR LETTER FROM CAMP COLLIERSVILLE TENNESSEE FROM WILLIAM R WILDER


THIS IS A GREAT ORIGINAL CIVIL WAR LETTER. UNIQUE IN ITS LOCATION AT COLLIERSVILLE THIS LETTER DISCUSSES THE LAST BATTLE THEY HAD IN MEMPHIS AS WELL AS AN UPCOMING RAID EXPECTED. IT ALSO SPEAKS OF WHAT THEY ARE DOING IN GETTING RATIONS READY AND HOW THEY ARE STORING UP FOR THE COMING MONTHS. IT IS REALLY JUST A WONDERFUL LETTER THAT COMBINES WAR AND TROOP INFORMATION WITH WHAT A SOLDIERS LIFE WAS LIKE AT THE TIME. PEN WRITTEN ON A FOLDED SHEET OF PAPER THAT UNFOLDED MEASURES 7 7/8 X 10 INCHES. LETTER IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION - COMPLETELY LEGIBLE AND CLEAN. COMPLETELY TRANSCRIBED BELOW THIS LETTER READS:

CLEVELAND, O FEB 28TH DEAR SISTER, I RECEIVED YOUR LETTER ONE WEEK AGO THIS AFTERNOON AND SHOULD HAVE ANSWERED IT AT ONCE HAD I NOT BEEN WAITING FOR NEWS FROM HOME BEFORE I WROTE. I HAVE JUST GOT A LETTER FROM ABBY BUT I THINK BY THIS TIME YOU MUST KNOW THE DREADFUL NEWS OR THE PARTICULARS OF FRANKS DEATH THAT IT CONTAINED, FOR I THINK PROBABLY THEY HAVE WRITTEN TO YOU ALL ABOUT IT, TWO WEEKS AGO. TODAY I RECEIVED A LETTER FROM ABBY SAYING THAT WILLIAM HOPKINS HAD WRITTEN HOME THAT HE HAD HEARD THAT FRANK WAS DEAD BUT DID NOT THE TRUTH OF IT. I HAD HEARD FRANK WAS IN THE HOSPITAL BUT DID NOT THINK OF HIS DYING. O IT SEEMS AS THOUGH I COULD NOT HEAR IT AT ALL, I NEVER FELT SO ABOUT ANYTHING IN MY LIFE, IT SEEMS SO DREADFUL TO THINK OF POOR FRANK DYING AWAY THERE AMONG STRANGERS NO ONE TO TALK TO HIM AND SPEAK KINDLY TO HIM. O, I WOULD HAVE WILLINGLY GIVEN UP LIFE TO HAVE SAVED HIM. IT SEEMS AS ABBY SAYS AS THOUGH HE WAS MURDERED, I WILL SEND YOU THE LETTER GIVING THE PARTICULARS FOR I CANNOT BEAR TO WRITE THEM, AND PERHAPS THEY HAVE NOT HAD TIME TO WRITE TO YOU. IT IS HARD TO SAY GODS WILL BE DONE, O IF HE HAD BEEN PREPARED TO DIE I COULD GIVE HIM UP, BUT IT DOES SEEM TERRIBLE, O WHAT CAN THIS BE FOR, THIS TERRIBLE AFFLICTION, WHY WAS HE TAKEN, HOW LITTLE WE REALIZE THE WORTH OF THE SOUL, WHEN ALL THINGS SEE TO GO ON WELL WITH US, IT SEEMS TO ME I NEVER BEGAN TO REALIZE IT THEREFORE, O THAT I HAD LIVED BEFORE HIM AS A CHRISTIAN SHOULD BE ???? HAVE BEEN ???? CHRISTIAN LONG AGO, BUT HE HAS GONE, AND I WHO HAVE BEEN MORE TO BLAME PERHAPS THAN HE WAS AM LEFT. DO WRITE SOON, I CANT WRITE ANY MORE I FEEL SO DREADFULLY. YOUR SISTER JANE