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Disosway family letters, 1861-1864

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Summary

Creator:
Disosway, Annie R., d. 1927
Abstract:
This collection contains 77 letters that members of the Disosway and Wilkins families of New York, Maryland, and Virginia wrote and received between 1861 and 1864. Correspondents include several Union soldiers who wrote about their military experiences, women who commented on wartime life in Maryland and Virginia, and southern sympathizers.
Extent:
80 items
Language:
English
Sponsor:
James S. Schoff Civil War Collection
Authors:
Collection processed and finding aid created by Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, June 2004; Maura Seale, April 2006; and Meg Hixon, March 2012

Background

Scope and Content:

This collection contains 77 letters that members of the Disosway and Wilkins families of New York, Maryland, and Virginia wrote and received between 1861 and 1864. Correspondents include several Union soldiers who wrote about their military experiences, women who commented on wartime life in Maryland and Virginia, and southern sympathizers. The collection also includes 2 reflections on the death of William W. Disosway and the lyrics to a military song.

The bulk of the Correspondence series is made up of letters that Annie R. Disosway received from her brother, First Lieutenant William Wilkins Disosway of the 1st New York Cavalry Regiment and 1st New York Mounted Rifles; from a friend, Captain Richard H. Lee of the 1st New York Cavalry Regiment and 16th Independent Battery of the New York Light Artillery; and from several aunts and cousins living in Baltimore, Maryland, and in Virginia. In his 16 letters (13 to Annie R. Disosway and 3 to Eliza Disosway), William Disosway described camp life, particularly at Camp Kearney, Virginia, and related his experiences in the army; he occasionally mentioned participating in skirmishes or other actions in southern Virginia, such as the Union Army's move into Yorktown, Virginia (May 6, 1862), an action at Blackwater, Virginia (December 14, 1862), and "Spear's Raid" (August 4, 1863). On March 30, 1863, he mentioned his intent to join the French invasion of Mexico.

Richard Lee's 8 letters concern similar military topics and details about camp life, including his vow to remain temperate while in the Army (September 29, 1861). Lee enclosed a carte-de-visite portrait in one letter (August 14, 1862). Another Union soldier, Russell P. Forkey, wrote 2 letters in late 1861; in one, he mentioned the case of a fellow soldier charged with an intention to defect (December 22, 1861).

Most civilians' letters pertain to the impact of the war on daily life, particularly in Maryland and Virginia, where several members of the Wilkins family lived. Annie and Eliza Disosway also received letters from Annie's aunts, Achsa and Louise, and from Annie's cousin Rebecca C. ("Beck") Davis, a Southern sympathizer. In addition to providing family news, the women discussed the impact of the fighting on local churches, noted their personal interactions with the armies, and shared their opinions on the war. Davis described an encounter with Burnside's army and reported the soldiers' apparent dissatisfaction with military life (September 25, 1862), and others mentioned Baltimore's struggles under martial law. Other letters refer to Fort Sumter (April 11, 1861) and to Union supporters living among Confederate supporters in Virginia (October 27, 1862).

The Disosway family also received approximately 20 condolence letters following William Wilkins Disosway's death, including Captain L. W. Bates's description of the man who shot Wilkins (November 11, 1863) and a letter from Isabella Hurry, who enclosed a newspaper obituary (December 17, 1863). The collection also contains a letter from congressmen Harrison Gray Otis Blake, Benjamin Franklin Wade, and John Hutchins, asking President Abraham Lincoln to appoint Reverend J. W. McFarland of Wooster, Ohio, as a chaplain for contrabands at Port Royal (April 24, 1862).

The Writings series includes 2 reflections and resolutions respecting the death of William W. Disosway: 1 by Annie R. Disosway, offering sympathy and forgiveness for her brother's killer, and 1 by officers of the First Regiment Mounted Rifles, New York. The series also contains manuscript lyrics to "Punch 'em in the Eye," a song of the 45th Regulators.

Biographical / Historical:

Cornelius Ryerss Disosway was born on Staten Island, New York, in 1801, and graduated from Columbia College (now Columbia University) in 1820. He received a master's degree from Wesleyan College in 1838, and worked as a lawyer until his retirement in 1873. He died on November 20, 1889. He and his wife, Eliza Wilkins of Baltimore, Maryland, married on May 8, 1832, and had four children: Annie R., Sarah Louisa (d. September 8, 1921), William Wilkins, and Mary.

Eliza Wilkins had at least two sisters, Louisa and Achsa, who lived in Maryland and Virginia during the Civil War. Annie R. Disosway married Henry Kingsland Adams of Bloomingdale, New York, on September 4, 1871, and had at least two daughters. She died on November 12, 1927, at the age of 91.

William Wilkins Disosway was born on October 9, 1843, and worked as a clerk before enlisting in the 1st New York ("Lincoln") Cavalry Regiment in 1861. He served in Virginia and later moved to Company C of the 1st New York Mounted Rifles, of which he became a first lieutenant in December 1862. He served as provost martial of Williamsburg, Virginia, in the fall of 1863, and died on October 13 after he was shot by a fellow soldier named Boyle.

Richard H. Lee served as a lieutenant in Company B of the 1st New York ("Lincoln") Cavalry Regiment until 1862, when he resigned his commission and joined the 16th Independent Battery of the New York Light Artillery. He was later promoted to captain.

Acquisition Information:
1995. M-3156 .
Processing information:

Cataloging funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). This collection has been processed according to minimal processing procedures and may be revised, expanded, or updated in the future.

Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in two series:
  • Series I: Correspondence
  • Series II: Writings

The Correspondence series is arranged chronologically.

Rules or Conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open for research.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Copyright status is unknown

PREFERRED CITATION:

Disosway Family Letters, James S. Schoff Civil War Collection, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan

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Collection

Disosway family letters, 1861-1864
Total components 82
Last indexed 2025-02-09