Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

This collection is made up of letters that Christopher H. Keller of the 124th Illinois Infantry Regiment and Albert C. Cleavland of the 42nd Illinois Infantry Regiment wrote to the Keller family and to Caroline M. Hall during the Civil War. The soldiers described their experiences in the South, including engagements with Confederate troops and guerillas, interactions with local civilians, travel between posts, and life in military camps. They occasionally discussed their feelings about the war and about political issues such as the presidential election of 1864.

This collection is made up of letters written that Christopher H. Keller of the 124th Illinois Infantry Regiment and Albert C. Cleavland of the 42nd Illinois Infantry Regiment wrote to the Keller family and to Caroline M. Hall during the Civil War. The soldiers discussed their experiences in the South throughout the war.

The bulk of the collection is letters that Christopher H. Keller wrote to his parents, George H. and Esther Keller of Batavia, Illinois, and to his future wife, Caroline Matilda Hall of St. Charles, Illinois, between September 2, 1862, and August 14, 1865. He described his travels between camps and other posts in Illinois, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana, commenting on the weather, the scenery, and destruction caused by the war. His letters provide detailed descriptions of everyday aspects of military life, such as camp conditions, rations and supplies, religious services, and medical care; in February 1863, he described his stay at Overton Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Keller occasionally expressed his opinions on military doctors, conscripted soldiers, and the war, and reflected on soldiers' deaths. He sometimes shared stories about his interactions with Confederate civilians.

Keller participated in skirmishes throughout his service. Two groups of letters concern his experiences during the Siege of Vicksburg in mid-1863 and the Union campaign for Mobile in the spring of 1865. In March 1865, he visited New Orleans. In 1864, he briefly commented on Abraham Lincoln's presidential nomination and noted his regiment's overwhelming support for Lincoln as they voted; in 1865, he reacted to news of Lincoln's assassination and the death of John Wilkes Booth. Keller's final letters, written from Mobile just after the end of the war, include mentions of freed Confederate prisoners and freedmen. Keller's enclosed a dogwood blossom in his letter of April 10, 1865.

A small number of items in the collection are incoming letters to Christopher H. Keller and, to a lesser extent, Caroline M. Hall. Keller received one letter from Albert N. Hall about Hall's experiences at Pittsburg, Tennessee (March 25, 1862). Albert C. Cleavland wrote letters about his service with the 42nd Illinois Infantry Regiment from 1861-1865. He served in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, and his letters include descriptions of skirmishes near Chattanooga, Tennessee, in October 1863, the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, and a visit to Atlanta after its destruction by Union troops. His later letters sometimes include comments about Confederate civilians, the fall of Richmond, and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Cleavland wrote his final letters from Port Lavaca, Texas, in late 1865. The final item in the collection is a letter that Mary Chind of St. Charles, Illinois, wrote to Caroline Hall Keller on December 31, 1865, congratulating Keller on her marriage and enclosing a pamphlet by Theodore L. Cuyler, "A Flaw in the Wedding Link."

The collection includes undated newspaper clippings from the Montgomery Daily Mail and an unknown paper, pertaining to troop movements and the restoration of telegraph services, respectively, and a tintype portrait of an unidentified Union soldier in uniform, posing beside a United States flag.

This collection is made up of typescripts and copies related to Lewis C. Mead's service in the 22nd Michigan Infantry Regiment, Company I, during the Civil War, including his time as a prisoner of war. He wrote letters home while serving in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia, and during his imprisonment in Libby Prison and other Confederate prisoner-of-war camps.

This volume (177 pages) contains typescripts and copies related to Lewis C. Mead's service in the 22nd Michigan Infantry Regiment, Company I, during the Civil War. The collection includes an introduction by Mead's youngest daughter.

Pages 1-148 largely consist of letters that Mead wrote to his parents and sister during his military service. He described camp life, marches, and scenery in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia (particularly in and around Lexington, where the regiment was stationed for much of the winter of 1862-1863). He mentioned Lexington's African American population, his African-American servant in Nashville (shared with his tent mates), promotions and officer elections within his company and regiment, executions of deserters, and a skirmish with Confederate forces. From October 1863 to November 1864, he wrote from Libby Prison and other Confederate prisoner-of-war camps. Mead discussed his health and his possible release or exchange. By the time he resumed his correspondence in March 1865, he had returned to the regiment. He remained with the unit until at least May 1865.

A small number of letters by other writers include an early order by J. W. Trueman authorizing Mead to raise a company for a regiment of lancers (October 3, 1861) and several written to the Mead family during the war. E. S. Woodman, an acquaintance, and other soldiers provided news about Lewis C. Mead's capture and imprisonment in October 1864. Postwar correspondence includes family letters and a letter from H. S. Dean to Lewis C. Mead regarding a visit to the Chickamauga battlefield by Michigan veterans (October 25, 1893).

The letters are followed by Mead's ca. 1886 reminiscences of his Civil War service, including his experiences during the Battle of Chickamauga and his subsequent imprisonment (pp. 149-164); a speech by Mead about the 22nd Michigan Infantry Regiment's Civil War service (pp. 165-172); and additional reminiscences written after a 50th anniversary visit to the Chickamauga battlefield, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and other locations related to Mead's wartime experiences (pp. 173-177).

The volume contains a photocopy of a newspaper obituary for Lewis C. Mead, published in The Daily Press. Photocopied photographs include Lewis C. Mead around the time of his enlistment and as an older adult; "Johnny Clem," a 12-year-old soldier who was embedded with Mead's regiment (pictured in uniform holding a gun); James Arthur Gallery wearing Mead's dress uniform; and Owen Carlisle Frost in a World War I-era army uniform.

A typescript copy of a letter by William Hayden Smith regarding his experiences with the 1st Michigan Infantry Regiment around the time of Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox is pasted into the volume's back cover (April 9, 1865).