
John Pierson papers, 1862-1865
Using These Materials
- Restrictions:
- The collection is open to research.
Summary
- Creator:
- Pierson family
- Abstract:
- John Pierson, from Pontiac, Michigan, accepted a commission in the 10th Michigan Infantry during the Civil War. His letters home record the experiences of an observant officer during his two years of duty in the Union occupation army in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, and later, as he is stationed at Fort Harrison the north bank of the James River in Virginia.
- Extent:
- 113 items
- Language:
- English
- Sponsor:
- James S. Schoff Civil War Collection
- Authors:
- Collection processed and finding aid created by Rob S. Cox
Background
- Scope and Content:
-
Capt. (later Lt.Col.) John Pierson's letters record the experiences of an observant officer during his two years of duty in the Union occupation army in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, and later, as he is stationed at Fort Harrison the north bank of the James River in Virginia. There are nine letters written while Pierson was in the 109th U.S. Colored Infantry and two after his military service had expired, otherwise the remainder of the collection consists of letters from Pierson to his wife, Joanna, and daughter, Emma, written while a Captain in the 10th Michigan Infantry.
Cynical, yet patriotic, Pierson writes superb descriptions of Southern towns and cities, and provides detailed information on the military engagements at Corinth, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Dalton, Ga. (February 28th, 1864), and elsewhere. Pierson's letters also contain excellent commentary on army hospital facilities and personnel during the periods after battles when they are flooded with casualties.
Other experiences of interest in the Pierson papers are letters describing his management of a Mississippi plantation after its owner murdered a man in H Company; a tour of the Hermitage guided by Andrew Jackson Donelson, and the Confederate burning of a mail train near Chattanooga. Also noteworthy are two letters from Pierson's daughter, Emma, while visiting her father in Nashville in May, 1863. Emma was aghast that so many churches had been turned into hospitals.
- Biographical / Historical:
-
Pierson, John, 1813-1899
Rank: Captain; Lt. Colonel (1864)
Regiment: 10th Michigan Infantry Regiment. Co. H (1862-1865)United States. Army--Infantry Regiment (Colored), 109th (1864-1866)
Service: 1861 October 1-1864 December 30
John Pierson was born in Schoharie Co., N.Y., on February 13th, 1813, and moved to Michigan in 1834, to Flora, Ill. (1866), Atchison, Kans. (1876), and finally to Dayton, Ohio (1896). On May 4th, 1836, Pierson married Joanna Burlingham, with whom he had one daughter, Emma Juliet (b. 19 August, 1839). After Joanna Pierson's death at Pontiac, Mich., on April 10th, 1864, Pierson eventually remarried on January 9th, 1866, to Margaret A. Sharb. John and Margaret Pierson had three children, Charles (b. January 6th, 1867), Belle (b. December 28th, 1869), and Margaret (b. May 3rd, 1872).
For several years prior to the Civil War, Pierson had lived in Pontiac, Mich., working in the lumber manufacturing and mercantile business. On February 6th, 1862, he accepted a commission as Captain of Co. H, 10th Michigan Infantry. The 10th Michigan traveled down the Ohio River and overland to near the strategically important city of Corinth in northeastern Mississippi, where they were assigned as part of the occupying force, performing guard duty. The 10th were a typical line regiment in the Army of the Cumberland, seeing action during the Siege of Corinth, performing occupation duty in northern Alabama (where Pierson supervised the Winslow plantation near Tuscumbia), before being assigned to garrison the besieged city of Nashville in the late summer, 1862. The regiment saw action at Stones' River and in a number of small skirmishes, and were often posted in vulnerable positions, guarding supply lines, doing picket and guard duty, etc.
For most of 1863, the 10th Michigan were assigned to duty around Nashville and Murfreesboro, Tenn. In September, they took part in the Battle of Chickamauga, suffering some casualties, and were called into the Chattanooga Campaign at the end of the year, playing a major role in the charge on Missionary Ridge and the battles that followed, as they routed Confederate forces in Tennessee and neighboring Georgia.
Pierson remained with the regiment during the early stages of the Atlanta Campaign, and may have left to attend to family matters following the death of his wife in April. On July 12th, 1864, Pierson resigned his commission in the 10th Michigan to accept the Lieutenant Colonelcy of the 109th U.S. Colored Infantry, though he remained only until December 30th of that year, when he resigned for "personal reasons." The 109th had been stationed near Dutch Gap Canal, outside of Richmond.
- Acquisition Information:
- 1974. M-1687 .
- Rules or Conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
Related
- Additional Descriptive Data:
-
Bibliography
Hewes, Fletcher Willis. History of the Formation, Movements, Camps, Scouts and Battles of the Tenth Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry. (Detroit, 1864)
Partial Subject Index
African American soldiers. - 1863 September 13
African Americans. - 1864 November 23
Alabama--Description and travel. - 1863 September 8
Ammunition--Accidents. - 1863 October 1
Atlanta Campaign, 1864. - 1864 May 7
- 1864 May 11
- 1864 May 21
- 1864 May 23
Bridgeport (Ala.) - 1863 September 23
Camps (Military)--Alabama. - 1862 June 29
- 1863 September 13
Camps (Military)--Virginia. - 1864 November 4
Cemeteries. - 1863 May 4
Chattanooga (Tenn.), Skirmish near, 1863. - 1863 October 8
Chattanooga Campaign, 1863. - 1863 November 22
- 1863 December 20
Chickamauga, Battle of, 1863. - 1863 September 24
Christmas. - 1864 December 25
Civilians--Alabama--Civil War, 1861-1865. - 1862 July 29
- 1862 August 8
- 1863 September 3
- 1862 August 15
- 1862 August 25
Civilians--Tennessee--Civil War, 1861-1865. - 1863 February 1
- 1863 August 16
- 1863 August 24
- 1864 May 1
Cobb, W. R. W. - 1863 September 8
Confederate States of America. Army. - 1863 March 15
Copperhead (Nickname)--Michigan. - 1863 March 10
- 1863 March 22
- 1863 March 26
Corinth (Miss.) - 1862 June 21
Corinth Campaign, 1862. - 1862 June 5
- 1862 June 10
Courage. - 1862 September 13
Courtland (Ala.), Skirmish at, 1862. - 1862 July 29
Cowardice. - 1863 March 15
- 1863 March 26
Dalton (Ga.), Skirmish at, 1864. - 1864 February 28
Draft. - 1863 March 15
Dutch Gap Canal (Va.) - 1864 December 5
Duty. - 1862 September 13
Enemy--Relations. - 1865 January 1
Explosions. - 1863 October 1
Explosives, Military--Accidents. - 1863 October 1
Fathers and daughters. - 1862 November 19
- 1863 February 5
Finance, Personal. - 1863 July 15
Food. - 1863 September 15
Foraging--Tennessee. - 1862 August 11
- 1862 October 9
Fort Harrison (Va.) - 1864 December 5
Fort Henry (Tenn.) - 1862April 27-28
Funeral rites and ceremonies. - 1863 November 19
Guard duty. - 1862 December 18
Guerrillas--Tennessee. - 1862 October 9
Hatcher's Run, Battle of, 1864. - 1864 October 30
Hermitage, The (Hermitage, Tenn.) - 1862 November 15
Husband and wife. - 1863 February 5
- 1863 February 21
Jackson, Andrew, Jr. - 1862 November 15
Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875. - 1862 October 9
Lavergne (Tenn.), Skirmish near, 1862. - 1862 October 9
Marches--Alabama. - 1862 July 26
Marches--Mississippi. - 1862 July 26
Marches--Tennessee. - 1862 September 12
- 1863 August 24
- 1862 September 13?
Missionary Ridge, Battle of, 1863. - 1863 December 20
Morgan, John Hunt, 1825-1864. - 1863 July 15
Murder. - 1862 August 8
Murfreesboro (Tenn.) - 1863 July 23
- 1863 July 26
Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Battlefield. - 1863 April 1
- 1863 July 29
Murfreesboro (Tenn.), Skirmish near, 1863. - 1863 April 12
- 1863 April 13
- 1863 April 15
Murfreesboro, Battle of, 1862-1863. - 1862 December 28
- 1863 January 2
- 1863 January 4-5
- 1863 January 9
- 1863 January 10
- 1863 January 21
Mutiny. - 1862 August 22
Nashville (Tenn.) - 1862 September 30
- 1862 October 9
- 1862 November 12
- 1863 February 1
- 1863 May 4
- 1864 April 26
Nashville (Tenn.), Skirmish at, 1862. - 1862 November 15
Plantation overseers. - 1862 August 8
- 1862 August 11
- 1862 August 15
Plantations--Alabama. - 1862 August 8
- 1862 August 11
- 1862 August 15
- 1862 August 22
Plantations--Tennessee. - 1864 July 29
Presidents--United States--Election--1864. - 1864 November 20
- 1864 November 23
Prisoners of War--Confederate States of America. - 1864 May 21
Racism. - 1864 October 30
- 1864 November 4
Raids (Military Science) - 1863 October 8
Railroads--Destruction--Georgia. - 1864 January 30
Resaca, Battle of, 1864. - 1864 May 19
Resignation. - 1862 September 13
- 1864 December 2
Ringgold (Ga.) Battlefield. - 1863 December 20
Ringgold (Ga.), Skirmish near, 1864. - 1864 January 30
Rocky Face Ridge, Battle of, 1864. - 1864 May 11
Rome (Ga.) - 1864 May 21
Rosecrans, William Starke, 1819-1898. - 1862 December 28
- 1863 January 4-5
- 1863 January 9
Sabotage. - 1862 August 25
Shelbyville (Tenn.) - 1864 May 1
Slavery. - 1862 August 15
- 1863 February 1
- 1863 March 15
Slaves--Alabama. - 1862 August 8
- 1862 August 11
- 1862 August 15
- 1862 August 22
- 1862 September 1
- 1862 September 13
Slaves--Dwellings. - 1862 July 29
- 1862 August 11
Socks. - 1862 November 19
Soldiers' bodies, Disposition of. - 1863 January 30
Tennessee--Description and travel. - 1862 September 13
Thompson's Station, Battle of, 1863. - 1863 March 15
Tuscumbia (Ala.), Skirmish at, 1862. - 1862 August 4
- 1862 September 12
Union sympathizers--Alabama. - 1863 September 13
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--African Americans. - 1862 July 29
- 1862 August 4
- 1862 August 22
- 1863 March 10
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Artillery operations. - 1863 January 9
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Causes. - 1862 August 15
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Health aspects. - 1862 August 22
- 1863 February 5
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Hospitals. - 1862 June 5
- 1863 January 10
- 1863 September 28
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Medical care. - 1862 June 5
- 1863 January 10
- 1863 September 24
- 1863 September 28
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Participation, African American. - 1863 March 15
- 1863 September 13
- 1864 October 30
- 1864 November 4
- 1864 November 23
- 1864 December 5
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Railroads. - 1863 April 12
- 1863 April1 13
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Women. - 1862 December 18
United States. Army--African American troops--Officers. - 1863 September 3
- 1864 January 19
United States. Army--Supplies and stores. - 1863 October 11
- 1863 October 14
United States. Army--Surgeons. - 1863 September 28
White slaves. - 1862 August 8
Wounded soldiers. - 1863 January 10
- 1863 December 20
Wounded soldiers--Confederate States of America. - 1863 January 10
- 1863 April 12
Subjects
Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.
- Subjects:
-
Stones River, Battle of, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 1862-1863.
Plantations--Alabama.
Slaves--Alabama. - Names:
-
United States. Army. Michigan Infantry Regiment, 10th (1862-1865)
United States. Army. Colored Infantry Regiment, 109th (1864-1866) Atlanta Campaign, 1864.
Pierson, John, 1813-1899.
Pierson, Emma. - Places:
-
Alabama--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
Tennessee--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Medical care.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--African Americans.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Participation, African American.
Contents
Using These Materials
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
The collection is open to research.
- USE & PERMISSIONS:
-
Copyright status is unknown.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
John Pierson Papers, James S. Schoff Civil War Collection, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan