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 (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.

Report of the Battle of Camp Wild Cat

Courtesy Civilwarwiki.net

The Covington Journal of October 26, 1861 includes this story about the Battle of Camp Wild Cat in Laurel County, Kentucky. It is a reprint of an article from the October 23 Lexington Observer.

Information about Colonel, later Brigadier General, Theophilius T. Garrard. can be found at the enclosed link.

Here is also a brief biography on Confederate General Felix Zollicofer, leader of Confederate troops in the region.


FIRST KENTUCKY BATTLE
Zollicofer with 7,500 Rebels Twice Repulsed
On Monday last, at 11 o'clock, the rebel troops, under command of Gen. Zollicofer, 6,000 infantry and 1,500 cavarly, attacked Col. Garrard at Camp Wild Cat, in Laurel County, and were twice severely repulsed. 

Col. Garrard's loss was four killed and twenty-one wounded. The loss of the rebels could not be ascertained. Garrard's forces consisted of his own (KY) regiment, and 33d Indiana, under Col. Colburn, and a portion of Woodruff's Kentucky Cavalry. Zollicofer twice attacked Garrard's entrenched position and each time was repulsed, it is supposed with considerable loss. The messenger from Camp Wild Cat reached Camp Dick Robinson at 4 o'clock yesterday morning with news of the fight.

Garrard's re-enforcements, the Ohio 14th, Col. Steadman, the Ohio 17th, Col. Connell, 1,600 Tennesseans and one battery reached Camp Wild Cat just as the engagement closed.


These re-enforcements were met by the first messenger who left Camp Wild Cat going at double-quick for the scene of the action.


The following is from the Commonwealth of the 23rd: 

Battle in the Mountains
News came by the train from Lexington last evening that Garrard's and Zollicofer's forces had had a battle and Zollicofer had been twice repulsed when the messenger left. The news was brought by an Indiana soldier who was wounded in the arm when on picket duty. He said that when he left there was heavy firing of cannon and it was the belief that a general engagement was going on.


The following is from the Frankfort Yeoman Thursday October 24. 

The latest intelligence we have from the mountains contradicts the report of an attack upon Camp Wild Cat. Our informant states that there has been several skirmishes, but no general engagement. 
 ---

In this instance, the report from Frankfort was incorrect, as there had been a battle on the 21st, with Union forces maintaining control of the field. Combined casualties were fewer than one hundred.  Here is a report Colonel Garrard made to General George Thomas on October 25.