The collection includes correspondence between Charles and his wife and their friends. Charles’ diary and four Civil War era letters describe the weather, military drills, skirmishes with the enemy, the failures of Gen. A. E. Burnside, heavy federal losses, many prisoners being taken, Negro troops, fighting, and marches to Bardston, Lebanon, Jamestown, and Memphis, Tennessee.
Also included is a 2003 CMU student term paper (74 pages) by Kathryn S. Anderson entitled “The 1863 Civil War Journal of Charles Horace Hodskin, 1836-1905,” which is a transcription of his diary.
Biography:
George Washington Butterfield was born on June 7, 1843 in Utica, Macomb County, Michigan, the son of Ira Howard and Rachel McNeil Butterfield. He enlisted in Michigan’s Company B, 22nd Infantry on August 7, 1862 in Utica, Michigan, and was mustered out on August 14, 1862. On October 18, 1863, Butterfield transferred to the U.S. Signal Corps.
After the Civil War, he lived in Bay City, Michigan. Butterfield married twice. His first wife was Alice Edith Banks, whom he married on March 21, 1866 in Lapeer, Michigan. With Alice he had seven children: John Arvin, Caroline “Carrie” Hannah, Margaret Alice, J. H., Kate Meritta, Ira William (1915-), and George Ernest. After Alice [died?], Butterfield married Elizabeth on September 13, 1887 in East Saginaw, Michigan. With Elizabeth he had two more children: Henry Howard and Olive Lyle.
George W. Butterfield died on October 7, 1919 in Bay City, and was buried in Elm Lawn Cemetery in Bay City, Michigan.
Captain Robert A. Butterfield, who is mentioned in the collection, was killed in a plane crash in Thailand on April 24, 1965. He was the great-grandson of George W. Butterfield. (This information is from the collection.)
