Letters from a Civil War (Near) Relative #5: February 19, 1862, from Edward Turner

One of the more frustrating letters of this project is the focus of this post. It’s a cliffhanger with no conclusion. Uggh.

At least I can be confident that Edward Turner authored this one since it was addressed “Dear Wife.” He was married and Richard Stamper was not. Edward passed away in April of 1862, so it is conceivable that this was the last letter he sent home, though that is far from certain. These were at least among the last words his family heard from him. 

                             Camp Cumberland Knox Co February the 19 1862

Dear wife I am again permitted by the kind mercies of God to write you a few lines to let you know that I am well at present and hopes that these few lines will find you enjoying the same blessing. I sent you a letter by Joh Johnson a few days ago but since that time we have made another move towards the gap. I received your letter on the 11th of February which was dated the 3d and I sent you one by Johnson on the 13th of the same month.

I wrote to you in that all the things I had sent but one pair of socks and them I want you to save for me till I come home if I live to get the chance.

I will tell you of all the moves we have made and when I left home on the 3rd of September 1861 and got to Camp Dick Robinson on the7th and was mustered into service of the United States on the 23rd of the same month and on the 25th we left there and got to Camp Wild Cat on the 29th of September 1861 and on the 21st of October the battle of Wild Cat was fought and on the 28th we left there and came to London and the name of our camp at first was Jackson and then the name  was changed to Camp Calvert and left there on the 7th of December 1861 and and (sic) went within 3 miles of Barbourville and then turned... 

The top edge of the letter includes the words "Take care," "all the," "that I," and "till" but the other words were cut off the page when it was scanned. This was likely meant as a closing, asking to his wife to care for the family and/or their children.

Unfortunately, that is all that remains of this letter. It would have been truly interesting to see how he recounted the other movements the regiment made and any other thoughts that crossed his mind. 

This is incredibly frustrating, but that is an unfortunate part of studying history at times.