Letters from a Civil War Relative #8: May 11, 1862 from Camp Cumberland

 Richard Stamper sends another message home, again on patriotic stationery. I suspect Lewis Reynolds wrote this one for him. 

 I hope this was not the family’s first notice of Edward Turner’s death.     

Camp Cumberland Knox Co Ky May the 11 1862

Dear father I seet myself once more to drop you a few lines to let you no that I am well at this time hoping when these few lines comes to hand they may find you all well.

I have nothing verry strang (strange) to rite to you at this time.

I rote you a letter about the 14 of April but I don’t know whether you got it or not.

I hant received manny letter from you sens Mr. Reynolds was rit hear and I have throat (thought) long of the of the time I throat you had forgot me but I am hope not. 

                                         Turn over

Edward P Turner died the 9 of April and I want you to come out and take his things home. The captain has put them lock up in his trunk a waiting the opportunity to send them home and I want you to bring brother John with you for his discharge has come on. It was sinned (signed) the 26 of April and not fail to deo so father. (Sic)

I would like to see you all but no I am deprived of that opportunity at this tiem but I think I will get home before long if I have good luck for luck is a fortune but a man be where he may.

So turn over and read the rest.

At this point, I have uncertainty if the next page goes with this one, but I am including it here. The message fits well enough with the previous paragraphs and I think the handwriting is similar enough as well. If it is not part of this letter, his words still give insight into the spiritual side of his life, especially in light of his brother-in-law’s death.

I do not see any other page that might end this missive, so it is another cliffhanger of sorts.

I have had many troubles and trials to encounter with sens (since) I have bin in the servis and expect to see a great many more if I live long in this troublesome world. I want to deo (do) as my rite as I can I put my trust in god for I no he is the only savior and I want all of my brothers and sisters to deo the same for I no life is uncertain and death is sure.  The(re) is several sick her(e) and one died to day. That will make a man come to his (illegible - sadness?) to see soldiers die in the servis.

Location of Knox County, Ky.

An AI generated report noted: “There is no specific historical site known as “Camp Cumberland” from the Civil War era; instead the name likely refers to Cumberland Gap , a crucial strategic pass where Union and Confederates forces fought for control, or Camp Wildcat (near London, Ky, an early Union encampment and battle site. Alternatively, it could refer to Camp Marrowbone in Cumbetland County, Kentucky, which saw usage by both Confederate  and Union troops.

I am skeptical about these  suggestions. The unit had been at Camp Wildcat previously, with letters using that name. Camp Marrowbone appears to be an 1863 site, likely not around at this time. Also, Cumbetland Gap is not in Knox County. Maybe this was a small temporary site near Barbourville, where an earlier letter had said the men were going. 

Letters from a Civil War Near Relative #7: Undated from Edward Turner

This time it is Edward Turner's turn to write and let Joel Stamper know how he is doing. It is interesting to see that Joel had been allowed (and able) to visit the unit's camp. 

Edward did mention he was fighting a “just cause.” I wish he had specified what he considered “the cause” to be. Was it keeping the nation united or did he think of other issues such as slavery?

This one is undated, but Edward died in April of 1862, so I'm guessing at where it belongs chronologically in this series. 

A few lines from Edward P. Turner to Joel Stamper and family to let you know that I am well at this time and hopes that when these few lines come to hand that they will find you all well and well doing.

I can inform you that we are at the same place now that we was when you was here. I would be glad to see you all one time more but it appears that I am deprived of the privalege at this time but hopes that the time will soon come when the Rebels will have to lay down the weapons of war and we can again be permitted to see each other and converse with one another but if I never am permitted to return I wish you to know that if I die in this cause I die in a just cause.

I want you to write to me as soon as you can and come and see us as soon as you can.

So no more at present but remain your affectionate son in law until death.

Write to me how David Sebastian and Hampton Turner and families is doing and tell them to write to me.

From Edward P. Turner to Joel Stamper and family

As mentioned in a previous entry, Hampton Turner was another of Richard’s brothers-in-law, and my 3 times great-grand uncle.  

David Sebastian was one of my 4 times great-grandfathers, yet another intersection of this story with my genealogy.  

Letters from a Civil War Relative #6: February 1862, from Camp Carter

One of the pleasant surprises of this collection of letters was the letterhead on this letter. I really like it and wonder where Richard or Edward got it from. Was it harder to get or more expensive than plain paper?

This is another one in the handwriting of Edward Turner.

Camp Carter February 1862

Dear Father and family, I one time more take the pleasure of writing you a few lines to let you know that I am well at present, hoping that (when) these few lines comes to hand, they may find you injoying the same blessings.

I have nothing strange to write to you but I would be very glad to see you all one time more, but I am deprived of the privilege at this time and don’t know when I can get to come to see you. 

I would be glad you would come and see me.

I can inform you that we have left London and we are now stationed nine miles from London on the old state road that leads to Cumberland gap and the name of our camp is Carter. I can inform you there was a great battle fought at Somerset in which our men gained a complete victory. They killed 500 of the Rebels amongst which was found General Zollicofer and our men took 150 prisoners and 1500 small arms, 12 cannons.

I have been noculated from the small pox on the 30th of January but it has not operated yet but the small pox is not here but they say the are at Somerset.

I can inform you that we are looking for reinforcements every day. The Tennesseans and Ohioans. 

I can inform you that the health is better in this regiment than it has ever been since we come to Wild Cat. I want you to read this to all my brothers and sisters for I want to see them the worst I ever did in my life. Tell them that I have not forgotten them if they have me.

Lewis Reynolds and Edward Stapleton has come in the informed me that you had not got home before they left home and that you was sick at doctor name illegible - Lacy's?) in Clay County which made me a little (illegible.) 

Mother if he has not got home yet, I want you to write to me as soon as this   comes to hand and let me have all the news going on in the country.

So no more at present but remains your affection son until death.  From Richard Stamper to Joel Stamper and family.      

      

The battle he mentioned was the Union triumph on January 19 at Mill Springs, which cracked the eastern end of the Confederate defensive line through Kentucky. Confederate General Felix Zollicofer died in the contest. The Union commander was the same George H. Thomas who had trained men, including the 7th Kentucky Infantry,  at Camp Dick Robinson the previous September.

I find it interesting that soldiers got and so willingly shared such news. Even a previous entry showed Richard sharing information he had heard about the Battle of Wildcat Mountain. I’ve read such reports before, of course, but I guess the family connection in this series magnifies everything to me. They were, after all, just ordinary men like most soldiers were, wanting to let friends and families know of their well-being and experiences.

London was a city in Laurel County, not far from the Wildcat Mountain battlefield. This area suffered a devastating tornado in May of 2025 

Edward Stapleton was a corporal in the same company D of the 7th Kentucky as were Richard and Edward. Stapleton was born in Owsley County, so he may have been a neighbor or friend of at least Lewis Reynolds, if not the others.

Lewis Reynolds' name will appear more in future entries. Richard trusted him enough to let him write the letters that Richard wished to send home once Edward, who had penned Richard’s previous letters, passed away. That may be a sign of a close friendship between the two.

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.

Letters from a Civil War Relative #4: December 16, 1861, from Camp Calvert

Today’s letter is the fourth I’ve published here.I believe there will be 14 or 15 total depending on how I decide to handle a couple of undated and unsigned  pages. 

This one appears to be in Edward Turner’s handwriting. 

Camp Calvert December 16, 1861 

Dear Father mother brothers and sisters.

I again take the pleasure of writing you a few lines to let you know that I am well at present. Hoping that these few lines will find you enjoying the same blessing.

I received your letter dated Dec. 13th, come to hand last night, which gave me great satisfaction to hear that you was all well. I would be glad to see you but I don’t know when I shall get to come home for a young man has a bad chance to get a furlough but I would be glad you would come and see us.

I want you to try to bring John here again the first of January for that is pay day and Colonel Garrard says he wants all of the soldiers to be here on that day.

Tell Hampton Turner and his wife and all the rest of my connection that I would be powerful glad to see them all.

So no more at present but remains yours truly.

From Richard Stamper to Joel Stamper and family

The "John" mentioned in the text is probably a cousin of Richard and a member of the same unit. He was home on sick furlough at this time. Since it reports that Colonel Theophilus Garrard wants all the soldiers there for pay day, this was probably the man to whom Richard referred. John was eventually discharged from the service on April 26, 1862, due to “feeble muscular development & health.”

Hampton Turner was probably another of Richard's brothers-in-law, having married Richard's sister Marta (Patsy) Stamper, though it is curious that Richard referred to “Hampton and his wife" instead of something like "my sister and her family." Was he just conditioned to refer to the male head of the household even when talking about his own family? “The rest of my connection” surely refers to his sister and her children, his nieces and nephews.  

Hampton Turner was also one of my 3-great grand uncles, as this project continues to tie in my soldier cousin Richard Stamper with other members of my family tree.  

I also have not found any other information on “Camp Calvert," other than it was "in the Cumberland Gap area, location undetermined,” per this list. I did find an archived New York Times article that included a report frim this camp, but it did not provide other details on the camp’s location.

An AI generated report says it was in London, Laurel County, which would be close to Wildcat Mountain.  It would make sense for it and these men to be in the same region still, but I hesitate to rely on such a source. 

Letters from a Civil War (Near) Relative #3: Oct. 27, 1861, Ed. Turner from Camp Wildcat

 Here is a short letter from Richard Stamper's brother-in-law, Edward Turner. I have left a couple of misspellings in as he wrote them. I like the authenticity of the actual spelling since their meaning is fairly obvious.

Camp Wild Cat October the 27^th 1861

Dear Wife, mother, child, brothers and sisters and all inquiring friends

I take my pen in hand to inform you that I am well at this time, hoping that these few lines will find you injoying the same blessing. 

I have nothing strang to write to you more than is wrote on the first page, only I would be very glad to see you all. I intend as soon as we station to try to get a furlough and come home and see you.

So, no more at present but remaining your affectionate friend until death. Farewell from Edward S. Turner. To Talitha Turner and all of my friends

Talitha was Edward's wife and Richard's sister.

“More than is wrote on the first page” may mean that he wrote this on the back of the letter to the Stampers that appeared in the previous entry. It was written on the same day from the same place, so that ,makes sense. It also would have been an efficient use of paper, which may have been hard to obtain. 

Photo of the Camp Wildcat area from https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g39598-d3400286-Reviews-Camp_Wildcat_Battlefield-London_Kentucky.html

Previous entries are available on this page.

Letters from a Civil War Relative #2: October 27, 1861 from Camp Wildcat

Here is part two in this series of letters from the pension file of my 5 times great-granduncle Joel Stamper, whose son Richard and son-in-law Edward Turner both sent letters that ended up in that file. Both of them also died in the war. 

This letter is the closest to a battle report or military overview as exists in these letters, though other mentions of the enemy occur later. Edward penned this one for Richard.

Camp Wild Cat October the 27^th 1861

Dear Father, I take the opportunity of writing to you to let you know that I am well at this time, hoping that these few lines will find you all injoying these same blessings.

I have something vary interesting to write to you.

I can inform you that on Monday last the 21 of October we had a battle at Camp Wild Cat and we lost 3 killed and 8 wounded and the loss of the Rebels was about 200 on upwards.

On the day before the battle 1,000 men came from Indiana and 1,000 from Ohio and on the day of the battle 1,000 more came from Ohio and brought 6 cannons and on the next day come 1000 more from Ohio and 1600 from East Tennessee. Our strength the day before the battle was about 700 of Garrard’s regiment and about 700 cavalry.

The strength of the enemy was about 7200.

We are a going to start after them on the morning.

John Stamper is gone back to Mt. Vernon but he is on the mend.

I would be glad to see you but am deprived of the privalege at this time but I intend to come home as soon as I can get a furlough.

It is not worth while for you to write to me until I send you another letter when we stop.

So no more at present but remains your affectionate son until death from Richard Stamper to Joel Stamper and family.

The American Battlefield Trust provides more information about this Union victory, and here is some archaeological information about the remains of Camp Wildcat.

Here is one soldier’s view of this contest. 

Photo from Laurel County Historical Society, stored at https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62812b2c3b43106df0e623a5/b1e5caf1-78d1-499b-a722-a4f434f677ca/1-157.jpg, 

"Garrard" referred to Kentucky politician and Colonel Theophilus T. Garrard, a future Brigadier General.

                                                           Theophilus Garrard, photo from Wikipedia

The John Stamper that Richard mentioned was likely his cousin who was in the same company. Perhaps they both had Richard Stamper Sr. as a grandfather, but I have not yet been able to confirm John's parentage, so that is uncertain. If they were cousins via Richard Sr., that of course means that John is another distant relative for me, so I will have to add him to my list if I verify that tie. John was discharged from the army in April of 1862 for being too weak physically for military duty, so his time "on the mend" apparently did not go too well.

Mt. Vernon, where John had gone, is a city in Rockcastle County, Kentucky, near Garrard County where these men had mustered in at Camp Dick Robinson and not far from Breathitt County, where Richard had been born and lived.

The next entry in this series will be a brief letter from Edward Turner to his family, written on the same day and at the same place as this one.

Letters from a Civil War Relative #1: "All Keen to Start"

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.

Garrard County, KY, location of Camp Dick Robinson

                                         

These movements were a continuation of the contest for control of the Cumberland Gap as the American Battlefield Trust describes. It included a skirmish at Barbourville that had occurred September 19.

Location of Barbourville, Ky

These men would soon see and write more about this period in their home state. Upcoming letters generally focus on the soldier's welfare and inquisitions about their family and friends, but the next one actually discusses the numbers of troops in a battle this regiment fought.