
Disosway family letters, 1861-1864
Using These Materials
- Restrictions:
- The collection is open for research.
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)
Related
- Additional Descriptive Data:
-
Related Materials
The following collections also hold material from members of the 1st New York Mounted Rifles:The following books relate to the history of the 1st New York Cavalry Regiment and 1st New York Mounted Rifles:- Beach, William Harrison. The First New York (Lincoln) Cavalry From April 19, 1861 to July 7, 1865. New York: The Lincoln cavalry association, 1902.
- Roback, Henry. The Veteran Volunteers of Herkimer And Otsego Counties In the War of the Rebellion: Being a History of the 152d N.Y.V. With Scenes, Incidents, Etc., Which Occurred In the Ranks, of the 34th N.Y., 97th N.Y., 121st N.Y., 2d N.Y. Heavy Artillery, And 1st And 2d N.Y. Mounted Rifles; Also the Active Part Performed by the Boys In Blue Who Were Associated With the 152d N.Y.V. In Gen. Hancock's Second Army Corps During Grant's Campaign. [Utica, N.Y.: Press of L.C. Childs & son, 1888.]
- Stevenson, James Hunter. "Boots And Saddles": A History of the First Volunteer Cavalry of the War, Known As the First New York (Lincoln) Cavalry, And Also As the Sabre Regiment. Its Organization, Campaigns And Battles. Harrisburg: Patriot publishing company, 1879.
Bibliography
"Cornelius Ryerss Disosway." New York Times 21 November 1889.
"Died." New York Times 10 September 1921.
"Married." New York Times 21 September 1871.
"Mrs. Henry Kingsland Adams." New York Times 13 November 1927.
Additional information about the collection, including brief item-level descriptions and additional information about the Disosway family, is available in the Manuscripts Division.
Partial Subject Index
Amputation. - 1862 July 6
Antislavery movements. - 1862 May
- 1862 May 15
Arrest. - 1862 January 28
Baltimore (Md.) - 1863 June 23
- 1864 July 15
Battle Casualties. - 1861 October 19
- 1863 January 19
- 1863 February 10
Blackwater River (Va.) - 1862 November 22
Boots. - 1862 April 30
Burnside’s Division. - 1862 September 25
Civil war. - 1861 January 2
- 1863 February 2
Dissenters. - 1861 November 11
- 1861 November 12
- 1862 January 13
- 1862 September 25
- 1862 October 27
- 1863 July 13
Edward’s Ferry (Va.) - 1861 October 28
Episcopal Church. - 1862 May
Forgiveness. - Undated
Fort Sumter (Charleston, S. C.) - 1861 April 11
Fredericksburg (Va.) - 1862 August 14
Horses. - 1862 June 16
- 1862 September 17
- 1863 November 29
Hospitals. - 1862 July 6
Leave of Absence. - 1861 October 23
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865. - 1862 April 24
Martial law. - 1863 June 23
Mexico—European intervention, 1861-1867. - 1863 March 30
Military deserters. - 1863 May 23
Military Service, Voluntary—New York. - 1862 August 14
- 1863 August 18
Mormon Church. - 1862 May
Murder. - 1863 November 11
Ojibwa Indians. - 1863 September 11
Operational Rations—Military Supplies. - 1862 September 17
- 1862 September 25
Religious Life. - 1861 October 9
Resignation. - 1862 August 14
Savage’s Station (Va.) - 1862 July 6
Secession. - 1861 January 23
Sick Leave. - 1861 November 20
- 1863 April 14
Soldiers. - 1863 February 17
Soldiers—Education, Non-military. - 1863 June 17
Soldiers—Language. - 1862 June 2
Sympathy. - 1863 October 14
- 1863 October 15
- 1863 October 18
- 1863 October 19
- 1863 October 20
- 1863 October 22
- 1863 October 25
- 1863 October 28
- 1863 October 29
- 1863 October 30
- 1863 November 2
- 1863 November 9
- 1863 December 6
- 1863 December 11
- 1863 December 17
Temperance. - 1861 September 10
- 1861 October 9
- 1861 October 28
Torpedoes. - 1862 May 6
Travel. - 1863 May 15
- 1863 November 15
Trials (Military Offenses) - 1861 December 22
- 1862 October 11
United States. Army—Promotions. - 1862 December 14
- 1863 March 10
- 1863 May 23
- 1863 June 17
War songs. - Undated
War victims. - 1862 June 29
Weather. - 1862 June 16
Yankee Raid. - 1863 August 4
Yorktown (Va.) - 1862 May 6
Index of Correspondents.
Annie L. (friend of Sarah Louise Disosway) - 1863 October 15
- 1863 October 29
Bartlett, Chaplain P. W. - 1863 November 11
Blake, H. G. - 1862 April 24
Buckwalter, M. Virginia. - 1862 October 27
Cox, William. - 1861 November 12
Davis, H. A. - 1863 November 2
Davis, Mary. - 1863 May 15
Davis, Rebecca D. - 1861 November 11
- 1862 January 13
- 1862 September 25
- 1863 May 15
- 1863 July 13
- 1863 September 11
- 1863 October 20
Deems, Charles F. - 1861 January 2
Disosway, Annie R. - 1861 October 22
- 1863 January 19
- 1863 February 10
- 3 undated
Disosway, Cornelius R. - 1861 September 10
Disosway, Sarah Louise. - Undated
Disosway, William W. - 1862 January 28
- 1862 February 19
- 1862 April 30
- 1862 May 6
- 1862 June 16
- 1862 July 6
- 1862 September 17
- 1862 October 11
- 1862 November 22
- 1862 December 14
- 1863 March 10
- 1863 March 30
- 1863 May 23
- 1863 June 17
- 1863 July 15
- 1863 August 4
Ella (Friend of Annie Disosway) - 1861 January 23
- 1861 April 11
- 1863 October 14
- 1863 October 25
- 1863 November 15
Forkey, Russell P. - 1861 October 23
- 1861 December 22
Hill, Capt. Samuel. - 1863 November 29
Hurry, Isabella. - 1863 December 17
Hutchins, John. - 1862 April 24
Kidder, E. - 1863 October 28
Kidder, J. B. - 1863 October 28
Lee, Lt. R. H. - 1861 October 9
- 1861 October 19
- 1861 October 28
- 1861 November 20
- 1861 November 28
- 1862 August 14
- 1863 February 17
- 1863 April 14
Lewis, Lt. T. E. - 1862 June 2
Masten, C. S. - 1863 December 6
Masten, Mrs. C. S. - 1863 October 19
- 1863 December 11
Mott, E. - 1863 October 18
Platt, E. A. - 1863 October 15
- 1863 October 30
Sloane, G. C. - 1863 February 2
Stevenson, Sara Cecelia. - 1863 October 22
Unknown. - Undated
- 1863 October 18
Wade, B. F. - 1862 April 24
Wilkins, Achsa. - 1862 May
- 1862 June 29
- 1863 May 15
- 1863 June 23
- 1863 October 14
- 1863 October 18
- 1864 July 15
- Undated
Wilkins, Louise. - 1862 May 5
- 1863 August 18
- 1863 October 14
- 1863 October 20
- 1863 November 9
- 1864 July 1
Subjects
Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.
- Subjects:
- Condolence notes.
- Formats:
-
Cartes-de-visite (card photographs)
Clippings (information artifacts)
Letters (correspondence)
Songs (document genre) - Names:
-
United States. Army--Military life.
United States. Army. New York Cavalry. Mounted Rifles, 1st (1861-1865)
United States. Army. New York Cavalry Regiment, 1st (1861-1865)
Lee, Richard H.
Blake, Harrison G. (Harrison Gray), 1818-1876.
Davis, Rebecca C.
Deems, Charles F. (Charles Force), 1820-1893.
Disosway, William Wilkins, 1843-1863.
Disosway, Cornelius Ryerss, 1801-1889.
Forkey, Russell P.
Hutchins, John, 1812-1891.
Wade, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1800-1878.
Wilkins, Asche.
Wilkins, Louisa. - Places:
-
Baltimore (Md.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Public opinion.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Social aspects.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Women.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Songs and music.
Virginia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
Contents
Using These Materials
- 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