This is the first piece of the new project I recently mentioned regarding letters from Richard Stamper, a distant relative of mine who fought in the Civil War.
This letter, as I’m calling it, is just a single page, or at least an unsigned fragment of a page. I have checked and double checked the file but cannot find any other page that might match up with it, so these few lines are probably all that remain of this message.
Some of Richard’s letters were written by a soldier named Lewis Reynolds, who had enlisted and mustered in to the same company on the same days and places as Richard. I suspect he wrote this one on Richard’s behalf.
The story of Lewis Reynolds, unrelated to me, is intriguing itself and may require further investigation. At one point, Lewis was in a hospital at Young's Point, Louisiana, the same place where my great-great-great grandfather Nimrod McIntosh, a member of the same company, also visited before his discharge from the army.
One document in Lewis’ file states that he was discharged from the army due to his suffering from disease including smallpox in September of 1863, but another form claims he died due to chronic diarrhea a few weeks later in October while still in Louisiana. If this is true, that means that all three of the main soldiers whose names appear in this project perished during a period of about 18 months. I guess that’s not impossible given the huge number of casualties during the war, but it still strikes me as strange, or at least unfortunate.
The report of Lewis’ demise, however, is not accurate. A pension index card indicates that Lewis applied for a pension in 1864. Obviously, this would not happen if he were dead. The card made no mention of a date for his widow’s pension.
Additionally, public family trees on ancestry.com show that Lewis lived until 1875. Perhaps in the future I’ll get Lewis’ pension records and try to clarify what happened with him. The military records are simply mistaken in regard to his death, but further study of his life is now another topic to research. He may not have been my family, but his saga still intrigues me as he was clearly a trusted friend of my relative.
Here is my transcription followed by the actual letter fragment. I don’t believe Richard could write. He had comrades write these letters for him. I believe his brother-in-law Edward Turner wrote this one based on the handwriting and how it looks compared to letters signed by Edward.
The measles every day.
I had to go to the hospital one time 2 days. I was not able to drill. I expect we will start to Barbourville tomorrow or next day. The boys is all keen to start but if we don't go I expect to come home about the 15th of Oct if I am well.
We was mustered in to the service of the United States today.
Both Richard and Edward enlisted in company D of the 7th Kentucky on September 3, 1861, in Booneville, Ky., not far from their homes. This unit was originally called the 3rd Kentucky Infantry but officially switched its designation to the 7th in February of 1862. Some references still include a reference to the "Old 3rd" Infantry due to this change.)
Richard and Edward mustered in the service on September 22 at Camp Dick Robinson in Garrard County, Kentucky, so it seems that the letter was written that day from that camp. (The same dates apply to Lewis Reynolds as well.) This is the earliest note of those that still exist, written just days after Kentucky’s legislature had officially ended the state’s attempted neutrality on September 18. The men in the 7th (old 3rd) Kentucky, including these three, were among the earliest Kentucky recruits mustering in for the war. (The 1st and 2nd Kentucky Infantry both formed in Ohio due to Kentucky’s neutrality.)
At this camp, these men likely received training from then Brigadier General George H. Thomas, the future “Rock of Chickamauga.”
Neither of their files, however, contains any mention of measles or an early trip to the hospital.
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| Garrard County, KY, location of Camp Dick Robinson |
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