CIVIL WAR LETTER
Civil War Letter - George Messer - 107th Illinois InfantryGeorge Messer, ca. 1860. Enlistment records say he had dark hair and blue eyes.
George Messer of the 107th Illinois Infantry was “a good man and a man that I thought a heap of. He was liked in his company and regiment but he is now gone where there is no trouble, no war, nor no fighting. Tell his wife that he is buried nice and was well cared for whilst sick.” So wrote a fellow soldier following the discovery of George’s death from chronic diarrhea late in December 1863 at the Lamar House Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee.
There is nothing remarkable about George Messer to distinguish him from the thousandsof men who answered their country’s call for volunteers to put down the rebellion. He was a simple carpenter from rural Illinois who sought toacquirehis share of the American dream — a home to call his own and a loving family to love and support. Buthis sense of patriotic duty caused him toput those dreams on hold until the rebellion was ended. Unfortunately for George — and the family he left in Illinois — that day did not come before he succumbed to the disease that plagued him throughout most of his term of service. Though he never fired a gun at the enemy, he did not desert nor shirk his duty when he was capable of fulfilling it like several others in his regiment. Though he saw others less qualified than himself rise to positions of leadership in the regiment, he maintained his spirit and did his best to comfort and give hope to those he left behind in Illinois.
TRANSCRIPTION
George Messer of Co. F, 107th Illinois Infantry, writes from the regiment’s encampment near Woodsonville, Kentucky. He tells his wife he has taken a cold but is otherwise okay. He discusses the President’s Conscript Bill and strongly supports the feature allowing furloughs. He updates her with changes in camp life and mentions they had a negro concert.
Letter No 15
Camp of the 107th Illinois Volunteer Infantry
Near Woodsonville, Kentucky
March 7th A.D. 1863
My Dear Wife,
I seat myself today to write you a few lines to let you know that I am well and hearty except a bad cold — the first regular bad cold that I have had this winter. I can eat hearty and feel very well otherwise. I hope these few lines may find you all well and hearty. I did think that when I wrote to you last Thursday that I would wait until Sunday before I would write any more but I have nothing to do this afternoon and will try and put in part of my time in writing to you and finish my letter tomorrow if I can find anything to write about in which I never failed to do yet.
I have examined the late conscript bill that was passed by Congress and I find it is entirely different from what it was first represented to be and most of the features of the bill I like very well and one thing in particular is this — it allows captains and colonels of a regiment to grant furloughs to five percent of each company to go home at a time, not to exceed thirty days which will give all privates and non-commissioned officers a chance to get home for a short time when their turn comes. For my part, I don’t much expect to get to come first for there are some that have never been at home since they first went to Camp Butler. But I will come as soon as I can get a chance to come which may not be for sometime yet but never fear, I will step in some night when you are not looking for me. Try and keep up your spirits as well as you can for I still think sometimes there may be a bright side to our troubles that will yet turn up in the future all the brighter for the dark hours that we see now. But enough of this and I will try and write about something else.
There is one thing that consoles me very much and that is under the conscription bill some of those old Southern sympathizers will have to shoulder their musket or pay three hundred dollars and if they pay three hundred dollars, it does not exempt them the next time for if there is another draft, they will have to do the same thing over again so it will be very apt to catch some of them — and when they are not looking for it either. I think it it is the best thing that could be done.
The commander of this post has undertaken to make a wagon road across the railroad bridge at this place. The bridge is nine hundred feet long and one hundred and twenty-five feet high above the bottom of the river which will make it pretty high working. I expect that I will be detailed to help to do it. If I am, I will get forty cents per day extra. I shall now close for today and take all day tomorrow to finish in. I may get a pretty long letter written if I write all day but you can take your time to read it. So for this evening, my darling, goodbye. Hoping that I may soon return to you and my sweet little boy, — George
Sunday morning, March 8th, 10 o’clock
Dear wife — I again take up my pen to write some more to you. I have put on clean clothes, brushed up, and have just got in from inspection, and I now have the balance of the day to myself and I will try and put in most of my time in writing to you if I can think of enough to keep me writing so long for when I have nothing to my thoughts will always wander home to those dear ones that are far away. But such is human nature where the affections are centered on a loving wife and child. Without having the privilege of having their presence to cheer up the lonely hours in a cheerful and peaceful home, the mind will wander and wish for their happiness, comfort and welfare.
We have been having some pretty stormy weather here for several days and I don’t know whether it is over yet or not. It has rained a great deal but it has not got very muddy for here the water don’t have a chance to stand on the ground. It is so broken that it runs off as fast as it falls and the ground has not been froze more than one inch this winter and the grass begins to look green in some places.
The Paymaster has not come to pay us off yet and I have not heard anything about him for several days. He may come next week and if he don’t come then, I don’t look for him until the next payday which will be the first of May. There is no talk of leaving here yet and it is very hard to tell anything about the moving part of the business for that is seldom ever known until it is time to start. But there is a fair prospect of us staying here for awhile.
We heard from Captain Wismer the other day. He wants to get back to the company again but he has to wait until the authorities get ready to let him come and I don’t think he will be a very welcome guest when he does come although he was kind enough to send his best respects to me and several others.
I forgot in my other letters [to say something] about Henry Graham. He went to Louisville and they put him into the barracks where I was and he soon got tired of that and re-enlisted in the Marine Service for three years more. He draws all his back pay and gets extra wages. His part of the play will be to act as a sharpshooter on the gunboats & transports on the Mississippi River. I think that kind of business will suit him better than anything else that he could get into.
The sick boys in our company are most all well except Tillman Martin and he is better.
I must tell you something about the cook that we have now. He is about forty-five years old and has been all over the South. He belonged to a man in old Bragg’s army and by the way, he is a splendid cook. He is quiet and peaceable.
It has commenced to rain again. There is no telling when it will stop.
We had another man to desert the other day that belongs to this company. His name is Thomas Maburn. He is from Marion. He was detailed in Boyle’s Battery & deserted from there.
Wesley is still well and hearty and gets letters almost every day. He gets letters regular from Miss E. Williams in Sangamon County, Illinois. There are some members that don’t get letters from their wives for a month at a time. If you would not write to me oftener than that, I would think that you did not care for me much.
I have nearly run out of something to write about and if I should write about some foolishness, you must not think hard of me for I get tired of writing about one or two things all the time. There is a probability that David Willis won’t get a commission as Second Lieutenant after all. It is reported by the chaplain that the Governor Dick Yates days that he will not commission anyone unless it is by rank and in that case, William D. Catterlin will be our Second Lieutenant after all although Willis deserves the office more than any other man in the company for he has drilled them all they ever have been drilled since they went to Camp Butler and has never got anything for his trouble. If that be the case, I will if there is any chance run for Orderly Sergeant. Then there may be a chance for promotion.
I must close for a little while and eat my dinner. It is now ready & it consists of beans, pickled pork, sugar, and coffee and sugar coffee, pork & beans.
Well, my darling, I have had my dinner and dined sumptuously, ate hearty, & feel well. And it is raining very hard just now & Green River is up high enough for steamboats to run up this far, but there are too many snags and drift for that.
We had quite a negro concert here the other night. We formed a circle and a lot of them got inside with a banjo and sung and danced for awhile and they put themselves through on the double quick while they was at it. Our sutlers have got being reasonable in their charges since they found they would have to leave in a few days. We are looking for Jacob Zanger [?] back here to set up pretty soon now. Tomorrow we will have to go on picket and if it keeps on raining, we will have rather a disagreeable time of it. But we will have to stand it — let it be good or bad — for such things must be done down here in the land of Dixie. And that is the way with the soldier’s life. They have to do a great many things that are very disagreeable and sometimes appears very hard & difficult to perform.
I will now tell you what kind of a place I have to stand when on picket. The post is just opposite a man’s house and we have a buggy shed to stand in when it is stormy weather and a corn crib well covered and plenty of straw in it to sleep on. The coldest nights we had we could keep as warm and comfortable as we could in camp. We generally have a fire built up in front of the buggy shed to keep warm by and if we see proper, we can go in the house and get a very good dinner for twenty-five cents and it is generally different fare from what we get from Uncle Samuel — that is, a little better variety.
We draw plenty of provisions now. The mess that I am in has about 50 lbs. of crackers and 40 lbs. of flour which we drew this morning. We have that much ahead. We now propose to have some fresh bread and our cook says that he can bake as good as any woman. He says he has followed cooking most all his life. We draw the best of pickled pork and sometimes some beef but the beeves that they kill for soldiers is rather of the lean kind — just kill them in time to save them from dying a natural death. Some of them has not tallow enough to make two candles, crackling & all.
I will stop writing now for a little while and see if i get any letter from you today. It is time the mail was in now and I think I certainly will hear from you again today or tomorrow at farthest for your letters never has failed to come through regular and I know if you are well that you will write to me. I would like for you to tell me how long it takes my letters to come through to Clinton for yours most always gets here in about two days & a half and I have got several that could not have been longer than 42 hours on the way. So for a little while, my darling, goodbye.
Well darling, the mail has come and no letters for me today but it has not been very long time since I got a letter from you and I can’t expect to get letters from you everyday. I generally get about two every week.
I don’t know what to write about anymore for I have wrote everything I can think of and have not very much wrote yet. My likeness I started to you last Monday and I sent you a letter by Mrs. Cross which I am almost sure you will get.
If I was at home to talk to you, I know that I would have more to say than I have wrote to you this time, but then you would be there to ask me questions about everything besides, and I would feel better satisfied for I long to come home to you but there is something says to me wait until the time comes for there is yet a duty to perform here that is binding on every patriot and lover of this country. You must not think me coming at any particular time yet. I will come for I have a duty to perform at home to those that I love as well as a duty to my country which I think I shall yet be able to accomplish satisfactorily to all. I should like very much to come home just at this particular time for I know that I am needed there but I will have to wait my time and above all things, don’t neglect to write to me thinking I may be coming home. If I should know to a certainty when I was coming, I should write to you & tell you. There is a great many that wants to go home and there are many that should have the chance.
I have some notion of digging up a lot of little cedars and sending them home to your Father. There is some as nice ones here as I ever saw. They are growing through the timber every place. All they would cost would be the expressage from here to Clinton which would not be more than a couple of dollars for twelve or fifteen trees — small ones.
I will now stop writing for this evening for it is pretty near night and raining yet. I will have a little while to finish writing in the morning. This is, I think, the longest letter that I ever have wrote to you and you may not get so long a letter when I write again nextThursday. Sundays & Thursdays are the days that I have selected to write to you and something will have to happen if I should neglect it. So for this evening, my darling, goodbye. With the hope of that we may soon have the pleasure of meeting where I can fold my darling wife and child to my heart again, goodbye. — George
Monday morning, March 9th — My dear wife — a line or two more this morning. I am well and hearty & it has stopped raining and the sun shines as bright as ever. We are going to have a nice day for picket as we are always.
TERMS
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