Civil War Letter
Excellent descriptions of a GRAND REVIEW written in 1861 at Camp Dodge in the Washington DC area by a Pennsylvania Regiment band member. He includes a humorous description of how a band member managed to have an \"oops\" right in front of General McClellan - enjoyable letter indeed !.
FULL TRANSCRIPTION, SCANS and some RESEARCH NOTES below.
This letter was written bySilas Leach(1836-1902), the son ofIsaiah Leach(1786-1837) -- a life-long school teacher and a teacher of music -- andEliza Kelly. Being only a year old when his father died, Silas and his four siblings were taken by their mother to Wilkes-Barre where she resided until her death in 1878. Silas was raised, in part, by his much older brother,George W. Leach, to whom these letters were probably addressed. Not much is known about Silas prior to the war except that he traveled to the West in the 1850s and spent some time at Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1857.
When the war broke out, Silas was a member of theWyoming Coronet Bandwhich was absorbed into the52nd Pennsylvania(\"The Luzerne Regiment\") in 1861 when they were formed and mustered in as the regimental band.
TRANSCRIPTION
Camp Dodge
December 16, 1861
Dear Brother,
I wrote to you some time since and forwarded by hand of Mr. Hay. I suppose he delivered it. Very little of interest has transpired since then.
About half a mile from here is a large parade ground where most of the reviews on this side of the river take place. A few days ago I witnessed a review of Gen\'l [Erasmus Darwin] Keyes\' Division. It consisted of four brigades and was reviewed by Gen\'l McClellan and staff. It was a very favorable day for the purpose and quite a large number of the beauty and fashion of Washington was there to witness the scene. I stood quite near McClellan and had a good chance to see what he looked like. He is quite robust and appears as if he gets enough to eat. Wears a mustache and quite firm expression of countenance generally. Gov. [Edwin D.] Morgan of New York was there. Also Mrs. McClellan. Mrs. McClellan is quite young and quite good looking. She attracted great attention from its being her first appearance in public since her arrival from the West.
The only laughable incident that occurred was when the regiments were passing in review before the general, a drum major of one of the regiments was dressed up very finely and appeared as if he had a due sense of his own importance. When he got in front of McClellan, he gave his staff a pitch into the air intending to catch it when it came down. But unfortunately it fell in the mud and caused great laughter. And even McClellan relaxed his countenance enough to smile. The whole affair passed off in very good style.
Our regiment took part in quite a grand parade on Saturday last. There was two brigades out and were reviewed by Gen\'l [Silas] Casey, then marched down to the city, passed through the principal streets, and then back home.
Our regiment was paid off last Wednesday & Thursday. The band had to go down to the city with the officers to be paid. We only drew pay for the month of October. While in the city, [Charley] Sutton and I went to the Capitol expecting to see Congress in session. But as usual they had adjourned until Monday. We went into the President and Vice President\'s rooms. They were splendid rooms. I recognized the Vice President Mr. Hamlin having seen him in 1856. Charley and I had no pass and had to do some pretty tall dodging to keep out of the way of the patrol. We finally returned to camp. Very glad to get back. We have become so accustomed to walking on the ground that walking on pavements tires us out very quick.
Two or three of our members have been quite sick. Tony Brown was one. He is now getting along fine. Ed Mackin has been very sick but is now getting better. I believe the complaint is typhoid fever.
We have had quite a number of visitors from the [Wyoming] Valley in the last few days. Charles Parrish was here today. Byron Nicholson and Sheriff [G. W.] Palmer was here a few days ago. And Preacher [Reuben] Nelson & wife yesterday. Squire Bauer comes up almost every Sunday. The squire is looking very well. I have not been sick a day since I left home.
We got one new Horus on friday last. I forgot o mention that Col. [Hendrick Bradley] Wright was up here Sunday. Also Col. [Elisha B.] Harvey, Dad Speese and [Lt.] Charley Lane of the 7th [Reserve] Regt. They all look very well. Has Oliver got his pay from Speese yet?
With love to all. I remain your truly, -- Silas Leach
TERMS$2.00 postage in the United States and $3.00 elsewhere. We accept paypal. Postage combined for multiple purchases. We\'re members of the American Philatelic Society, the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, the Confederate Stamp Alliance and the Illinois Postal History Society.Some of our letters have been transcribed and nicely presented for futuregenealogists and history buffson the Spared & Shared blog. We\'ve been selling on since 1998. offer WITH CONFIDENCE.
