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| A soldier's letters home. | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 26 2010, 12:52 PM (294 Views) | |
| Dewey | Apr 26 2010, 12:52 PM Post #1 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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The thread about the History Channel series made me think of some things that have been sitting in a drawer of mine for a long time. About thirty years ago, I bought a box of assorted stuff at an auction. At the time, I'd do that, then parcel up the stuff, throw out the real junk, and peddle the rest to antique dealers or at flea markets. In this one particular box - it was actually the reason I wanted to buy it - there were two letters written by a Civil War soldier to members of his family. Shows like the HC series show the big picture; letters like this put a more personal face on things. Just thought I'd share them, and then tell a little more about the writer. So, the first letter: May 2 1863 Dear Sister I am going to give you a summary of the news about town and I expect you to do the same in your next letter to me. Hooker is making that long expected move[.] He has successfully crossed the Rappahannock and has had several severe skirmishes with the Rebs and captured some prisoners[.] I saw about 160 brought in to wash the other day when I was down among them. One was a Brigadier Gen & two Lieutenants[.] They was put in the old Capitol Prisons for safe keeping. Sis have you church at Mingo this summer? We have two sermons preached to us on Sunday and Prayer meeting twice a week. The chaplain & Doctors have got their wives here[.] The chaplains wife has her melodion here and on Sunday's has it carried to the mess hall and their play's on it in time of service. You girls must be very lonesome this Summer[.] I don't believe their is a girl within 2 miles of Mingo that can boast of a single beaux, am I not correct? W. Kennedy wrote to me and said he had only promised to marry three so far; he must be a bigamist. Sis let me know of any changes that takes place[.] You can hardly imagine what an interest I take in every thing that coms from home[.] I would like to be their once more if this cursed rebellion was only put down. But it will be some time yet, I think[.] But if I live I shall procure a furlough and come and see you next fall, about the time peaches is ripe[.] I have not been home sick yet and do not intend to be, though their is any amount getting their discharges and nothing the matter but that their is one fellow here now named Black[.] John knows him[.] He had the fever and laid alongside of me at the time. He is the one that talked to John. Well he told me he would give me 20 dollars if I would get his discharge[.] I guess he is going to offer that amt. to the Head Surgeon[.] I would laugh if he would. Write to me soon and make it as long as possible. Your ever affectionate Brother Will P.S. Sis take good care of little Adalaide, Joseph & Gertrude. Tell them to write to me soon, tell Jose to let me know how them pig's is getting along. How old Mike, &&c. W.D. Lank 2d Excuse haste |
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"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685. "Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous "Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011 I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14 | |
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| Dewey | Apr 26 2010, 01:08 PM Post #2 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Piceting on the Rapidan Sept 22d 1863 Dear Brother - Your very interesting Letter dated the 13th has been recd. The contents came safe, for which I am very grateful to you for your kindness and et cetera. you will see by the heading of this that I am on picet. Our brigade goes on evry 3d day we was on last Sat for the first time since we came to this place. The rebs were very troublesome to us their firing on us continually. It has been stoped now. They would not have fired on us, but for some of our men shooting at their picets the day previous to our going on. We are now on the best of terms with them, five of them came and met us half away and exchanged newspapers with us this morning. John they have one of the strongest natural position on the south side of the river imaginable. Our men all agree in saying that it's a great deal stronger place than the height's of Fredericsburgh. I cannot form any idea of the number of men they have at this place as the greater portion lies behind the high hills they command but it is reported that A.P. Hill's and Ewell's Corps are both here[.] I think our forces will endeavor to flank them as it would be madness for our force to attempt to scale their heights in front. Wm Patten and Robt Herron were left in the rear[.] I think they are at Culpepper. W.P. had something like the Dysentery when I last saw him at Morrisville. R.H. has the ague[.] I lent him my overcoat to wear until I need it. He is a man you are perfectly right about John Barckley[.] I discovered that long ago. Frank Storer returned to Co E about 20 days ago. He looks well enough but continually complains about his Legs. I guess he used them so much at Chancellorsville. I am glad to know that your health is so good. Take good care of it for you know not the value of it until you lose it. it pleases me to know that you are enjoying yourself with the other members of the family. Be contented If you and Father was only out here in this God forsaken part of Uncle Sam's and Jeff's Dominions for about one year I am sure it would make you appreciate the Blesings of Such a Home. Your hay crop must have been very good considering the season and that is a mighty good price you are getting for it[.] I advise you to continue selling at that price. Let me know the amount of your other crops in your next Letter to me. You write to me often[.] Dr. and Mrs. Lank are behind one apiece please refresh their memories for me[.] Give my respects to all Your Affectionate Brother W.D. Lank P.S. I will send you some Letters for your safe keeping I will keep you posted in regard to my movements W.D. Lank |
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"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685. "Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous "Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011 I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14 | |
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| Dewey | Apr 26 2010, 01:22 PM Post #3 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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William D. Lank was a First Sergeant in Company E, 140th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, which was recruited in Washington County, Pennsylvania. Sergeant Lank was mustered into service on September 4, 1862. A short time after the Battle of Fredricksburg, the 140th Pennsylvania joined the Army of the Potomac as part of the First Brigade, First Division, Second Corps in winter quarters at Falmouth, Virginia, across the Rappahannock River from Fredricksburg. Sergeant Lank and the 140th Pennsylvania fought in the bloody Union disaster at Chancellorsville, which was fought from April 30-May 6, 1863 - in the midst of which he wrote the first letter, to his sister. Afterward, he went on to fight in some of the worst battles of the war - the battles of Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, and the siege of Petersburg, which began in June of 1864. During this time, on February 2, 1865, Sergeant Lank was promoted to First Lieutenant. When Confederate General Robert E. Lee decided to retreat from Petersburg and Richmond, he moved westward out of the city, which had been under siege from the east by U.S. Grant. Lee lost a full day's marching at Amelia Court House waiting for supplies for his battered troops, which allowed Federal troops to catch up with lee at a place known as Saylor's Creek. Except for the disastrous initial contact with the Rebels, the battle was a complete Union victory. The Rebels suffered terribly at Saylor's Creek, nearly the last straw for the now completely crushed Army of Northern Virginia. But the Confederate troops fought fiercely, especially at the beginning of the battle, inflicting heavy Union casualties. Among those killed was First Lieutenant William D. Lank. Three days later, Lee surrendered his troops at Appamattox Court House, several miles to the west, effectively ending the Civil War. Lt. Lank is buried in the Poplar Grove National Cemetery in Petersburg, Virgina, Division A, Section D, grave 14. |
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"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685. "Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous "Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011 I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14 | |
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| John Galt | Apr 26 2010, 01:29 PM Post #4 |
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Fulla-Carp
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Thanks for posting these. Those that fought and died were not only soldiers; they were people with lives and families. I think that gets missed a lot. It's not much, but I stop and watch the photos and names of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan at the end of the PBS Newshour broadcast when they show them. Just curious, have you traced his family to current generations? |
| Let us begin anew, remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness. | |
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| John D'Oh | Apr 26 2010, 01:36 PM Post #5 |
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MAMIL
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I find these kind of letters fascinating, as well as rather moving. When I went home last month we were talking about my dad's hoarding habits - my mum laughingly complained that when his Aunt died he'd saved all this 'family rubbish' - including all these letters home from his Uncle to my Grandmother, a girl at the time, from the war in 1917-1918. The uncle had been a pilot or navigator in the fledgling RFC and RAF, but was killed in August 1918, breaking his younger sister's heart. My mother, who hasn't got a sentimental bone in her body, couldn't figure out why on earth my dad would want to hang onto all this rubbish. Next time I visit, I'm going to be doing some serious de-archiving. I suspect there might be quite a bit of fascinating and emotional material to uncover. |
| What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket? | |
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| Dewey | Apr 26 2010, 01:38 PM Post #6 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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No, I never did. I did all that research back when I was in college - Pattee Library at Penn State was a gold mine for that kind of thing. After tracing his movements throughout the war, I remember sitting in the Rare Books Room there, going through some reference book, when I learned that he had been killed, after surviving all those major battles and making it to within days of the end of the war. By that time, I had really felt a bond with him (I grew up in the same neck of the woods as him). I remember just yelling, "Oh no!!" and getting shushed by the curator in the room. I still welled up just typing those out just now, knowing that he never made it home, when the peaches were ripe or otherwise. If anyone here happens to live near Petersburg and you have a few extra moments, put a flower on his grave and let him know he isn't forgotten. |
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"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685. "Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous "Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011 I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14 | |
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| LWpianistin | Apr 26 2010, 02:33 PM Post #7 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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I was just thinking - I might take a trip there one day before I leave. It would be an interesting day trip. I'll let you know if I do. I'll take a camera. |
| And how are you today? | |
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| Dewey | Apr 26 2010, 02:58 PM Post #8 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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I hope you do - and if you do, please take a picture and get it to me. I'll keep it with his letters. Thanks! Well, here's something interesting - I just found the muster roll of that unit online, and they list him as William D. Lauk - not Lank. Maybe all these years, I've misread his handwriting. But I think I'd have noticed it when I did the research back in college. Hmm, a mystery... Edited by Dewey, Apr 26 2010, 03:09 PM.
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"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685. "Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous "Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011 I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14 | |
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| ivorythumper | Apr 26 2010, 03:37 PM Post #9 |
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
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"W. Kennedy wrote to me and said he had only promised to marry three so far; he must be a bigamist." haha |
| The dogma lives loudly within me. | |
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| LWpianistin | Apr 26 2010, 04:04 PM Post #10 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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I thought that was the best part! |
| And how are you today? | |
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| taiwan_girl | Apr 27 2010, 06:55 AM Post #11 |
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Fulla-Carp
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That is very neat. An interesting slice of history. Thank you for sharing that with us. |
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| Red Rice | Apr 27 2010, 07:07 AM Post #12 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Awesome. I love stuff like that. |
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Civilisation, I vaguely realized then - and subsequent observation has confirmed the view - could not progress that way. It must have a greater guiding principle to survive. To treat it as a carcase off which each man tears as much as he can for himself, is to stand convicted a brute, fit for nothing better than a jungle existence, which is a death-struggle, leading nowhither. I did not believe that was the human destiny, for Man individually was sane and reasonable, only collectively a fool. I hope the gunner of that Hun two-seater shot him clean, bullet to heart, and that his plane, on fire, fell like a meteor through the sky he loved. Since he had to end, I hope he ended so. But, oh, the waste! The loss! - Cecil Lewis | |
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| jon-nyc | Apr 27 2010, 07:36 AM Post #13 |
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Cheers
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Way cool. Talk about bad luck. |
| In my defense, I was left unsupervised. | |
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| jon-nyc | Apr 27 2010, 07:36 AM Post #14 |
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Cheers
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*double post* |
| In my defense, I was left unsupervised. | |
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