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Start Over You searched for: Subjects Fair Oaks, Battle of, Va., 1862. Remove constraint Subjects: Fair Oaks, Battle of, Va., 1862. Subjects Williamsburg, Battle of, Williamsburg, Va., 1862. Remove constraint Subjects: Williamsburg, Battle of, Williamsburg, Va., 1862.
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Collection

Joseph Hooker collection, 1862-1865

22 letters

The Joseph Hooker Collection is comprised of 22 letters dating from May 10, 1862, to February 12, 1865. They describe Hooker's involvement in the Peninsula Campaign and the Western Theater. Additionally, this collection covers Hooker's leave from the army in Watertown, New York (September 1864), and administrative duty in Cincinnati, Ohio (1864-1865). Roughly half of the letters are addressed to Dr. Bela Nettleton Stevens, a physician at the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D. C.

Of twenty-two letters, nineteen were authored by Hooker. U.S. Senator of New Jersey John Conover Ten Eyck wrote the remaining three. Hooker sought Ten Eyck's help with repairing his reputation after the Battle of Williamsburg in May 1862.

The collection contains official battle reports, including two letters to Chauncey McKeever, one a report on the Battle of Williamsburg, and a report on the Battle of Fair Oaks. The collection includes one letter to L. Sherman and one to Samuel Wylie Crawford. Three letters to William Denison Whipple contain reports on Mill Gap and the Battle of Kolb's Farm.

A majority of the letters are of a personal nature, including one to William Pitt Fessenden and ten letters addressed to Dr. Bela N. Stevens, a physician at the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D.C.

Collection

Otis family papers, 1861-1862

40 items

The Otis family papers contain letters home from four members of the 57th Pennsylvania Infantry, describing camp life, the battles of Williamsburg and Fair Oaks, and the hardships of war.

The Otis family papers consist of 39 letters written home by several Civil War soldiers between November 30, 1861, and December 2, 1862. Louisa Otis and her parents are the most frequent recipients. Louisa's brothers, Ferdinand and Israel, wrote the majority of letters in the collection; her cousins, Dudley Otis and Mortimer S. Roberts, also contributed several letters each. The brothers sometimes collaborated in their letters, each writing a portion, thereby giving two perspectives on events.

Early letters repeatedly reference pay, health, and camp life. On January 3, 1862, Ferdinand wrote to his parents concerning the rapid spread of mumps through the camp and reported that he had been vaccinated, likely against smallpox, and was very sore. Both brothers frequently anticipated upcoming paydays and how much they would send home, and requested items such as mittens. On February 2, 1862, Ferdinand provided a detailed description of how soldiers laundered their clothes.

By mid-1862, the correspondence had become more focused on battles, injured and dead comrades, and the hardships of war. A letter from Israel, Ferdinand, and Otis gives a description of the Battle of Williamsburg, which Israel called a "long and bloody struggle," which lasted into the evening. He also recalled the Union band's performance of "Dixie," and the cheers of the soldiers, which "must have sounded anything but pleasant" to the Confederates (May 12, 1862). Another letter, dated June 7, 1862, references the Battle of Fair Oaks, in which the 57th Pennsylvania Infantry lost several officers, including Major Jeremiah Culp. Ferdinand described the morale of the soldiers, noted "we have got only our field officer left," and gave an account of the stench of rotting corpses in the woods. Israel noted that a bullet went through Ferdinand's coat and that his haversack was shot open, scattering his belongings. Other correspondence documents receiving family photographs (August 30, 1862), finding Southern cows to milk (November 28, 1862), and desiring more letters from home.