Ohio History Journal

edited by WILFRED W. BLACK The Fifty-First Ohio Volunteer Infantry, a Tuscarawas County regiment, was organized in September and October of 1861 at Camp Meigs, near Canal Dover. More than one-half of its members were citizens of the county, and Companies A, B, C, E, G, and K were composed almost ex- clusively of Tuscarawas County men. The Fifty-First had re-enlisted on January 1, 1864,1 and following a furlough it returned to the front at Blue Springs, near Cleveland, Tennessee where on April 10 it was connected with the Second Brigade, First Division, Fourth Army Corps.2 The regi-     NOTES ARE ON PAGES 95-100

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ORSON BRAINARD                                                    55

 

ment brought three hundred recruits, and the next three weeks were spent

in drilling for Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, which began on May 6 and

ended on September 2. During this campaign the Fifty-First was engaged

in battles at Rocky Face Ridge (May 7), Resaca (May 13-16), New Hope

Church (June 2), Big Shanty (June 11) and Kenesaw Mountain (June

9-30, including the Special Assault on June 20).3

The following letters written by Private Orson Brainard to his father,

Joel M. Brainard of Trenton, Ohio,4 embrace the period from February 1

through June 29, 1864. Strange as it may seem, however, the author's name

does not appear in the Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio

in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866.5 The muster rolls of Company K,

to which the youth was attached, are not on file in The Adjutant General's

office, either.⁶ Because of these omissions, the letters presented here serve

to contribute to the history of Company K as well as the Fifty-First

Regiment because at least sixteen other members of the company are

mentioned by Brainard. With the exception of a Joel Davis and James

Purvis (not mentioned in these letters) "the names of other members

of this company who died or were killed in service are not known, as the

public records have failed to preserve them."7

Orson Brainard came from a humble background. In all probability his

father was a day laborer or tenant farmer, since the records of the Pro-

bate Court at New Philadelphia (Tuscarawas County) do not indicate

that he owned any land. According to his descendants, Orson was either

seventeen or eighteen when he enlisted.⁸ As is readily seen in the letters,

his style, composition, grammatical construction, and spelling reflect his

youthfulness and only a meager education; nevertheless, they are a credit

to the Moravian community from which he came. In regard to the letters

themselves, reading and interpretation at times are difficult as Brainard

seldom employed any punctuation; therefore, for greater ease of read-

ing the editor has left a wider space than usual between sentences. For

the most part, the letters are well preserved; some in pencil, while others

are penned. The stationery is 5" x 8" when folded once, and a second fold

fitted them to a size of 5" x 4" for small envelopes. Apparently the young

soldier wrote home frequently, but so far as his descendants know, only

the following fifteen letters have been preserved. The letters have some

characteristics of many written by Civil War soldiers: descriptions of

life in the army, commentaries on the terrain traversed, expressions of

patriotism and dedication to a cause; occasional references to over-all strat-

egy and important episodes, and manifestations of loneliness and the long-

ing for word from home. Even though Brainard was an "unknown" who

never returned home from the war and record of when he died or where

his body rests has been lost, he will not remain an "unknown soldier."

His clearness of expression and the challenge of his deeds speak out from

the past more clearly to us today in our own time of turmoil than, per-

haps, they did to his family and friends more than one hundred years ago.

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56                                                OHIO HISTORY

 

February 1st 1864

Tod Barracks

Columbus. Ohio

Company. D.9

51st Regtiment

Dear father

I take my pen in hand to write you a few lines to let you know where

we are and how we are getting along   we are in columbus in the city

Barracks   it is a very comfortable place if it was not so mudy  the

mud is shoe top deep but is drying up fast  we have plenty to eat and

do not have to cook it as there is a set of cooks who cook for all  there

are about three thousand men in here now but some are leaving all the

time and some are coming in all the time  we are going to leave here

this evening  we will be paid this afternoon and we will either be sent

to the regtiment or stay at Camp Chase  you may go to Urichsville and

get my Clothes about Saturday   I expreesed them to day    you will

find A. D. Moors10 clothes in the same box  you make Ira. Moor pay

half the charges   did you get that money of John milone11   I will

not send any more money home just now as there is a poor chance to send

such things as that                     I will wait until I can get a chance to send it home

in some better way                     you will find my buck gloves in my coat pocket  I

did not want them                      you need not answer till I write again which I will

do as soon as I can get a chance to  so no more at present onley I forgot

to tell you that they have got the small pox in camp but it is not very

bad    we drawed our clothes as soon as we came in

yours as ever

Orson Brainard

Company K

51st Regtiment

O.V.I.

 

Camp Chase Ohio

March 11th 186412

Dear Father

and Mother

I sit myself down to write a few lines to let you know where

we are and how we are getting along     we left Urichsville yesterday

about half past one o'clock and we arrived at Columbus about 10 o'clock

and we slept in the cars untill morning when we got out and staid in town

a couple of hours when we were ordered in to line and that done we marched

out to camp Chase four miles from town and the mud shoe top deep  I

got along very well and now while I write  i am sitting by the fire and

I feel very good   we have just drawed our rations  they are of the

best kind   they consist of Coffe shugar beans molases potatoes hominy

bread and sow belly and shoulders  there is six of us in a mess and there

is five messes in our company  30 men in all  we had a good time at

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ORSON BRAINARD                                                   57

 

dover on the 9th    at dover we had a good dinner and then we went

back to New Philadelphia and the next morning at eight o'clock we started

for urichsville and it rained all the time [we] were on the road and it

just soaked us through and through                             Camp Chase is a nice place  they

keep no gaurds around the camp                                we can get out and go where we

please   we are going to stay here I think about ten days if not longer

the prisons here are very large and just filled to overflowing13  there was

a squad of rebs came in this morning    they are hard looking fellows

dirty and ragged and lousy   I have not much more to write just now

so I think I will close for the present so no more at present

yours truly

Orson Brainard

[same address as February 1, 1864]

put on the end of the envelop:   please forward to the Regtiment and

it will Come

 

Louisville Ky

March 18th 186414

Dear Father

I seat myself to write you a few lines to let you know how I

am getting along   we left Camp Chase on last wedensday and arrived

in Cincinatia in the evening and we stayed in the Barracks on fifth street

untill next morning (Thursday) when we started for louisville on the

steamer Briliant a large boat and a good one    we started from the

wharf at cincinatia at 3 p.m.  arrived in louisville at 3 o'clock this (friday)

morning    the distance (165) miles   we are laying here waiting for

Transportation   I do not know how soon we will move  I have not got

any letter since I started but we will be in a place soon where we can

get a mail   I have not much to write now so I must Close as I must go

up town and put this in the office or my pass will run out  I can get a

pass most any time I want it though  so it does not make much difference

yours truly

Orson Brainard

[Written on reverse side of last page of letter]: Direct your letter To

Chattenooga Tenn

 

Nashville Tennesee

Barracks No 1

March. 23d. 1864.

Dear Father

I take the present oppertunity of seating myself to write you a

few lines to let you know that I am well  we are quartered in a very

good place    it is in one of the largest houses in the City  Gen Toli-

coffer¹⁵ had it built for a Hotel but when the war broke out it was left

unfinished and when the City was taken it fell into the hands of unchle

sam    I have been all over the City since we Came     every day we

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get out and stay as long as we please  we are going to leave here today at twelve o'clock for Chattanooga  we have to march as we cannot get transportation  we have twenty days to go in and the distance is one hundread and fifty two miles   we will not go more than ten miles a day    we do not have any guns to carry so it will not go so hard  I think I can go as far as any one else if we get plenty to eat and I think the prospects are prety good just now  we will have it if it is to be had in Tennesee                  so far we have plenty to eat   we have been here now three days                    we left Louisville on sunday afternoon at three o'clock and we got here on monday morning about 3 o'clock   it is prety warm here now and dusty as I ever seen it in Ohio  I have not got any letter from you yet    I got two in louisville but Bob Carnes16 if you could have seen him you could have sent one to me and I would have been very glad but the next letter you write Direct to Chattanooga Tennesee and if you write as soon as you get this it will be there as soon as I get there  you may send me some stamps if you will   I am prety near out and stamps are scarce here                  I must Close this letter for this time as I have no more to write now                 direct as I told you and put on end of the envelop please to forward to the regtiment and if I do not get it at Chattanooga it will follow   so no more at present but more anon yours truly Orson Brainard   Murfreesbouro Tennesee March 27th 1864 Dear Father I seat myself to write you a few lines to let you know how I am getting along               I am well at present and feel very good considering the circumstances              we left Nashville on the 23d about one o'clock in the afternoon and we marched 7 miles and camped for the night and early in the morning we resumed our march and that day we went 13 miles and camped at a place near stewarts Creek and early on the third day we again started and on this day (26th) we passed over the Battlefield of Stone River17   the marks of the battle are still fresh  trees half cut off and marks of musket balls  some trees with the tops cut off and the bones of plenty of horses and the graves of hundreads of our soldiers  there has been a monument erected on the field   it is made of stone picked

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ORSON BRAINARD                                                    59   up off of the field  there is large stones all over the field  the stone is just like this piece in this letter but this did not come from there  it is from the rock I am writing on    we are camped about a mile from Murfreesboro near a large spring of good water  we start again in the morning    we have 120 miles to go yet in twelve more days and will go it   two weeks from to day we will be in Chattanooga   direct your letter there and I will get it  I get letters most every mail we get but I have got none from you yet but I look for one every evening  I wish you would send me some papers to read as we cannot get any down here as there is no need of printing any papers here for there is no white people to read them if there was any printed  where there is one white person there is 15 black devils                       such is the south  it is very warm   I am writing in my shirt sieves                    I have been bare footed nearly all day  in the day time it is warm and part of the night but in the morning it is enough to freeze one   Mother I have been washing today   I washed a shirt and my towel and a pair of socks and it is done up right  done in cold water but I must close for this time  so no more at present yours truly Orson Brainard if there is any letters comes to trenton for me send them on as soon as you can    when you write tell me all the news

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62                                                 OHIO HISTORY

 

Brigade Headquarters

Cleveland Tennesee

April 10th 1864

Dear Father

I seat myself to write you a few lines to let you know that I am

well as usual   here we are at the end of our March from Nashville

to Cleveland a distance of one hundread and eighty miles  I am proud

to say I marched as far as any one else  we rode from Stevenson Alabama

to Chattanooga onley 35 miles and that on top of frieght cars  at Chat-

tanooga I seen Abraham Glasbrook and all of the boys that went with

Jake Babst18   he is well and is driving a post team  onley two mules

I got your letters today  two of them    I got four letters  we have

not had any mail since we left Murfreesbooro but now as we are at

our brigade we will get our mail regular  our brigadier Gen's name is

whitaker19 and our brigade has now the name of Iron Brigade  There is

some talk of our going to Cleveland as provost gaurds²⁰  we are now

four miles from town   the Enemy lay within twelve miles on friday af-

ternoon    heavy Canonading but there has been no forward movement

yet    you said you wanted to know what new things I have seen  well

I have seen a great many things that are new to me  I seen old lookout

mountain²¹   that is of itsself a good sight and to day sunday as it is I

seen a sight not soon to be forgotten for a while  a soldier of the 40th

Ohio one of the regiments of our Brigade was tried on a Charge of Derser-

tion   found guilty    sentenced to forfiet all pay due him and all for

his terme of service to come which is yet 10 months 20 days and his head

shaved and to be drumed around the brigade formed in a hollow square

we were marched up and presently the prisoner made his appearence sur-

rounded by a strong gaurd and accompanied by a barber and the sheep-

skin band of the 40th and they marched him to the center and then his

sentence was read to him and after put in excution but he bore it like a

man     I have not much more to write so I will close

write soon

yours truly

Orson Brainard

 

Camp Near Cleveland

Tennesee

April 12th 1864

Dear Father

I seat my self on[c]e more to write a few lines to let you know

that I am well and recieved your letter of the 3d yesterday and the papers

allso   I was very glad you sent them as I have nothing to read and the

time passes off very slowly as you may imagine   if you will you may

send me the Ledger and the advocate every week as long as we stay here

and I think we will stay some time    I recieved your letter that had

the stamps in    I was very glad to get them as I was very near out

and those will not last long if I write as often as I have been doing for

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ORSON BRAINARD                                                 63

 

the last few days  I wish you would send me some more if you will

send me one dollars worth and when I get payed I will send you all you

expend for me and send me a dollar in money  we will get no pay till

July and maybe not then and I am about out of money  I will pay you

all back²² I feel very well just now better I believe than I ever did in my

life  we have plenty to eat such as it is                                           it consists of hard tact and

piceled meat potatoes beans shugar & Coffee                               Benjiman Walton²³ messes

with me              we have a Coffee pot and frying pan and we can cook our meals

in style               you wanted to know wether my feet got sore or not on the

march                no they did not and I wore my boots all the time & Isiac

Emfield²⁴ got through safe  he came back to the company just before we

left Columbus    he marched clear through    I sent a shirt home in

Josephs Keffers²⁵ box  I have two so I thought I would send that one

home    I have not much more to write just now and I am tired  we

drilled some to day²⁶ and I have wrote two letters to day and have one

more to write   so no more at present

yours truly

Orson Brainard

Direct your letter to Cleveland Tennesee

do not fail to send me them stamps and money

O.B

 

Blue Springs Tennesee

April. 25, 1864

Dear father

I take up my pen to write you a few lines to let you know that I am

well as usual and hope those few lines may find you all well  I received

your letter of the 18th a few minutes ago and was very glad to hear from

home once more     I am very thankfull for the stamps and money it

contained as I am just out of stamps and if I had not got them soon I

would have had to quit writing  I also got the papers you sent  they

come very good as I can pass away the time now for a few days in read-

ing    the time passes away very slowly  we get up in the morning

at half past four o'clock and have roll call and then we have to stand in

line of Battle till day light and then at 7 o.clock company drill for one

hour and then from nine till eleven we have targret practice  we shoot

five rounds apiece  I can hit the targaret about 3 times out of five at

150 yards and when that is over we dont have any more drill till 3 oclock

and then Battalion drill till five and at six Dress parade27  it is very

warm here now as warm nearly as I ever saw it in Ohio and the nights cold

and chilly  we have a nice camp plenty to eat and good water to drink

this camp is named from the springs it is situated on  we are 23. miles

from Dalton and 87 from Knoxville    the rebles are not far [from]

here   their pickets fired on our's on the morning of 23.d but did

no harm    there is not much danger of an attact very soon and if they

would attact us they would be repulsed  we are repairing the railroad

from dalton to knoxville now  some of our men are cutting ties  we

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64                                                OHIO HISTORY

 

will soon have to move further down the rail road to protect the work-

men     I expect you may look for the news soon of dalton falling in

our hands and that to[o] with out any fighting²⁸ but I dare not write

any more news as we are forbidden to write any thing conc[e]rning any

movements    there is not much more to write so I will close for the pres-

ent    answer soon

you say mother wanted to know wether my arm got sore  well I should

think it did

but no more

yours truly

Orson Brainard

direct as before

THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN

The Atlanta Campaign, one of the hardest fought struggles of the

war, commenced on May 3, 1864 and ended with the fall of Atlanta on

September 1. The Fifty-First Regiment, upon leaving Blue Springs, was

attached to the Second Brigade, First Division, Fourth Corps, Army of

the Cumberland.29 Sherman's army of 99,000 men consisted of Major Gen-

erals George H. Thomas' Army of the Cumberland, James B. McPherson's

Army of the Tennessee, and John M. Schofield's Army of the Ohio. Sher-

man's opponent, General Joseph E. Johnston, was strongly entrenched

at Dalton, Georgia, with a force of 53,000. The constant extending of Sher-

man's line of communication and the subsequent assignment of detach-

ments to protect this line required an army twice the size of Johnston's

in order to achieve the main objective of the campaign, either the destruc-

tion or the surrender of Johnston--neither alternative was achieved. Sher-

man endeavored to make the campaign one of maneuver with a series of

wide flanking movements, but Johnston, an able strategist in his own

right, matched paces with him all the way. At Kenesaw Mountain, Sherman,

tired of his flanking operations, tried to crack the center of the Confeder-

ate line but was repulsed with substantial losses; it was there he learned

that well-entrenched Confederates were impervious to frontal attack.

Sergeant Samuel Welch of Company E, Fifty-First Regiment, recorded

that "there was no time during these long four months that we were not

within hearing of the booming cannon, the bursting shell, or the whizzing

minie ball." His Company had left Blue Springs with forty-two men, "and

when we marched through the deserted streets of Atlanta we had fourteen.^"30

Kingston Georgia

May 20th 1864 ³¹

Dear Father

I seat myself down to write you a few lines to let you know that I

am well and hope when this reaches you it will find you all well  all of

the boys are well and in good spirits  we have passed through a couple

of prety hard skirmishes and we were engaged in the battle at Resaca

on saturday and sunday    on saturday evening we had a prety hard

fight for about three quarters of an hour  the rebles came around on

our left flank and our regiment and two others were thrown out to pro-

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ORSON BRAINARD                                                  65

 

tect our flank  our line when it was formed was only two men deep

well we went to our left and formed in line and layed down and we lay

in this position about fifteen minutes when the rebs run our skirmishers

in on the double quick and thier main force advanced till they were within

two hundread yards of us   thier line was four men deep  when they

got as I said before about two hundread yards we let them have [it]

and then our regtiment was ordered to fall back but it did not get back

in good order   some of the men ran one way and some another but

we got out in an open field where our battery lay and the rebs came out

to the edge of the woods and our battery shelled them and the three

regtiments that were in the woods got together or a part of them  our

regiment had part of six companies rally and then two of gen Hookers

brigades formed on our left and we opend fire and in a very few minutes

rebs were hard to see³²  they run for their lives when they [we] made

thier [our] stand.  after the fight our men piled up 260 dead ones as

the fruits of our labor  our loss was very slight one killed and two or

three wounded                  Ben walton³³ my mess mate was wounded in the leg

near the knee                    he will be apt to loose his leg but thank God so far I

have escaped prety well but several times I came near getting my scalp

taken            the balls came so near several times as to make me feel un-

easy              bullets came as thick and fast as hail  on sunday the battle was

severe           our loss was heavy the rebs loss heav[i]er still³⁴  our regt

was not in a very warm place  on sunday we onley had two wounded

on sunday night the rebs put out and early monday morning we pursued

them    twice since then they have tried to stand but whenever we come

up they will run    we have chased them from tunnell hill rocky face

dalton Resaca Kingston, and rome    all of those they boasted of as

strongholds and they were strongholds and now we are onley about 60

miles from Atlanta and that is bound to come before very long but I

must close   the reason I did not write sooner was we had orders to

send no letters for fifteen days  I Recieved two letters from you since

I wrote    I got the one that had the 25 cents in    I received two

papers this morning   when you answer send me about 50 or 75 cents

so I can buy papers to read   it is so very loansome to not hear any

news    we can get all kinds of newspapers here but they cost southern

prices for them

yours truly

Orson Brainard

Direct your letter to

Kingston Georgia

 

Camp 6. Miles from

Davenport Ga

May 30th 186435

Dear Father

I take the present oppertunity of writing you a few lines to let

you know that I am well and enjoying myself prety well Considering cir-

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66                                                 OHIO HISTORY

 

cumstances    we are laying here in sight and reach of the rebs  we have

to lay low in our entrenchments   we are keeping them in check here

in front while our flanks work around  we are all prety safe.                                           yes-

terday Captain slade36 of Co. G. had a piece shot out of his hat rim                             we

had one man wounded in our Company    one man in Co. I. killed                                one

in Co. H. wounded and one in Co G wounded    in all since we left Blue

springs in killed and wounded and missing our Regt has lost 20 men  3

killed  2 missing and 15 wounded  this is another Vicksburgh  we lay in

our works and pick away at them and our Artilery plays on them when they

get a chance    the cussed rebs shell us every day but so far they have

onley killed one man and wounded one    those little balls do the most

damage     the sharp shooters wach us and if we show our heads they

peck away at us³7    yesterday I came prety near getting my last  I

was down in the hollow behind our works at the spring and I was going

back and a ball came whizzing past me and struck in the bank just ahead

of me but I dont scare worth any any [sic] thing  we are going to be

in Atlanta on the fourth of July  if I was to come home now I would

be perfectly lost  I have got so used to the crack of muskets from morn-

ing till night and from night till morning  when you answer I want you

to tell me all of the news   I want mother to send me another silk

pocket hankerchief one like the one I took away with me  I lost that

one and I can not get any here    you can send it in a letter with 6

cents postage   be sure and send it as I am in need of it                                                  well I must

close for this time or I will not get my letter in the mail                                                   so no more at

present   but remain

your son

Orson Brainard

Direct your letter to Kingston Georgia Via Chattanooga

 

Camp in the field

29 miles from

Atlanta

June 5th /64

Dear Father

I once more take up my pen to write you a few Hurried lines to

let you know that I am well at present and I have so far been lucky in

all of the fights and skirmishes I have been in  perhaps before you

read this you have heard of the rebs making a stand here in this place and of

thier evacuation of thier works  well I am glad that they left  we

have been here in the breast works Eleven days38 and every day some

part of our line would have a fight  several times in the Night have the

rebs charged and recharged our Breast Works and as many times were

they drove back with a heavy loss and many of our poor boys fell in

this siege  our Regt has lost 10. or 12 killed and wounded but I seen

this morning that there were some fresh graves on thier side  also they

had better breast works than we had³⁹   thier works faced in all di-

rections but when men leave such works as thiers it is no use for them

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ORSON BRAINARD                                                  67

 

to try to do any more    Atlanta must come by the fourth of July if

not sooner   when we enter Atlanta our campaign I think will be over

for this summer    we moved to day from our breast works on toards

Atlanta about 9 miles  we do not get any Mail now but we daily expect

our Mail and I hope I will get a letter from home once more but I can not

write many more letters till I get some paper Envelops and stamps  will

you send me some if you posibiably can as we cannot get any down here

and I must have some   take and get the small size paper and envelops and

then take two pieces of pasteboard and put the paper in between them

and then it will come safe   when we get in camp once more I want

you to send me a box with something to eat in it and a pair of socks and

several other things  if I had some of Mothers good bread to eat now

it would come good not because I am tired of hard tact but because we

do not get enough of it some times  since we left blue springs I have

not had a bite to eat but parched corn   you may think of that for

your self but I have stood it patiently for I know that it is for my country

that I suffer                     I can do any thing for it   I am well and as fat and

hearty as ever                 the boys in my Mess have just been out and got a

hog     well I must close

So good bye

for the present

from

Orson Brainard

Direct to Kingston

Georgia

 

Camp in the field in front of the enemy [Pine Mountain]

15 miles from Atlanta

June 13th 1864

Dear Father    It is with much pleasure that I take up my pen to an-

swer your letter of (June 1st) which came to hand on the eleventh inst

I am glad to hear you are all well  I for myself cannot complain                                                     my

health has been good considering the hardships we have to endure                                               for

the last two weeks it has rained allmost every day⁴⁰  the mud is shoe

top deep but it is not cold or we would suffer more than we do  if the

weather is fair it is comfortablal to lay down on a blanket in the open

air and sleep without any cover  such is the climate of Georgia  in

Tennesee a man roasts to death in the day time and at night he will

freeze to death   we have plenty of good water here   water can be

found most any place    I wrote to you a few days ago and I stated in

my letter that we onley got half rations  now we have commenced to

get full rations once more that is of hard tact pork and beef and sugar

and coffee   we do not get any beans or potatoes now as we have no

way of cooking them    I am very well satisfied if I get enough of hard

bread pork and sugar and coffee but after the rebs are whiped out from

here and we get to atlanta and get camped right once more we will get

all necessary things  we lay in sight of the rebs  we can see them

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as they walk along on thier works but I do not think there will be much fighting              if there is it will be on the flanks  our corp[s] is in the center           well I think that the war is comeing to a close some of those days             in Chattanooga they have commenced to enlist regulars for five years            David Fry41 came to the Regiment a couple of days ago    he was back at Nashville part of the time and part of the time he was at Chattanooga    he looked prety well when he came up but now he is give [giving] out again as bad as ever  Hiriam Romig is a mere skele- ton    if he is not cared for prety well he will die before another month42 A. D. Moor is at Ringold in Hospital I [saac] emfield is well  I got the money you sent    when you write again send me some stamps as I am out    well I must close for this time so no more at present yours truly Orson Brainard   Lost Mountain Georgia June 15th 186443 Dear Father I once more take up my pen to write you a few lines to let you know that I am well at present and hope you are all well at home  we have prety hard times but we stand it cheerfully  I see by some letters re-

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ORSON BRAINARD                                                   69

 

cieved here that those 100-day men⁴⁴ have wrote home that they had hard

times   if they want to see hard times let the sneaking pups come down

here to the front and face rebel bullets and live on half rations  As for

some of those Northren COPPERHEADS down here we could break

them in or break thier necks for them  we would not be very peticular

I assure you    if we ever get home they had better lay low*    well

we have got the rebs treed again on Lost mountain and I think if they

dont get up and dust all will be lost to them  I suppose before this time

you have heard of the rebel General Pope [Lieutenant General Leonidas

Polk] being killed                   he was killed on the 13th⁴5 by a shell  one more

rebel General less                   Sherman still presses on cautiously  before many

days we will be in Atlanta    1 got some paper and Envelops but I

had to pay two prices for them   dont fail to send me some   do the

paper up like a newspaper  onley roll it up and send me some stamps  I

have to borrow a stamp to send this

so no more at present

Orson Brainard

* See Thomas Smith's study of the Copperheads above, pp. 50.

 

Kennesaw Mountain Georgia

June 22nd 186446

Dear Father

I now seat myself to write you a few lines in answer to your let-

ter which I recieved today   I was glad to get a letter from you at

this time   we have not had any mail for several days  I recieved the

pocket Hankierchief mother sent me and I was glad to get it as the

weather is so warm here to day the sweat just run[s] off me                                                we have

had some hard fighting since I wrote last on sunday (19th)                                                 we ad-

vanced about one mile and our skirmishers came up to the rebs skirm-

ishers and of course we had to stop and in the evening Companies K. G. B.

were sent out to skirmish and we were on all night  early monday morn-

ing we were ordered to advance the line   luitenant Lowe had charge

of one half of co K. and Luitenant Purvis had charge of the rest of the

company⁴⁷    we were to support the advance skirmishers  about eight

o'clock the advance began    we onley got about one hundread yards

further up the hill  Fredrick Winsenreed⁴⁸ sargent of our company was

shot dead    Co.G. lost 5 Co.B. 7. men Co.K. 1.    we kept up a fire

on the rebs all day till about four o'clock when the 21st Kentucky regt and the

51st were ordered to charge the hill⁴⁹  the 21st Ky came up with fixed

Bayonets and colors flying followed closely by the 51st  on up the hill

they go as our regt passed  we fell in  we connected in line with the

21st    when we got about half way up the hill we rasised [raised] the

yell and up we went  our regt lost on monday 7 killed and 161 wounded

as soon as we got posesion of the top of the hill we went to work and

put up works    we had hardley got our works up till the rebs made a

charge on us and we repulsed them with a slight loss on our side but

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70                                                 OHIO HISTORY

 

they were not so lucky     they lost heavy   we could see the dead

and wounded from our works      the rebs formed again and made an-

other charge but were repulsed again                                 they tried it twice more with-

in an hour but they could not make it                                  we worked all night and threw

up the dirt    about midnight the rebs made another charge but were

drove back again    teusday we done but little                     a shell went through

the works and wounded five men in Co. G.                        on wedensday nothing

done but strengthning the works  in the morning as Luitenant wirtman50

of Co.H. was hanging his overcoat on a bush to dry a rebel sharpshooter

shot him dead    the ball went in back of the ear and came [out] on

the other side of the throat cutting the artiries  he was a good officer

on wendesday night we moved to the right about 3 miles and we are

laying here this morning taking our ease    well I will close for the

present

so no more

write soon

Orson Brainard

Direct to

Kingston Georgia

Just as I have finished writing

Reason Poole51 of our company was

shot dead   the ball went in at

the right shoulder and went

to the heart causing instant death

 

SPECIAL ASSAULT ON KENESAW MOUNTAIN -- JUNE 27, 1864

Following the loss of Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk at Pine Moun-

tain, General Joseph E. Johnston had withdrawn to Kenesaw Mountain

where Sherman resolved to attack him on June 27. Some critics contend

that this decision was a flaw in an unusually well-conceived and admir-

ably executed campaign. Sherman was soon to learn what General Grant

had discovered at Cold Harbor three weeks earlier -- that frontal attack

against strong Confederate entrenchments would be costly.

With great courage, Sherman's veteran soldiers made the assault at

two points south of Kenesaw, but they soon discovered that one rifle

in the trench was worth five in front of it. The Union forces were repulsed

with an aggregate loss of approximately three thousand men, while the

Confederates, who lay behind their breastworks, lost about eight hundred.

Satisfied that the enemy's works would be carried only by great sacrifice

of life, Sherman abandoned the attack. Under a flag of truce on June

28, soldiers from both the North and South met on the gory field at

Kenesaw to bury their dead and to minister unto the wounded. Sherman

not only assumed full responsibility for the costly assault at Kenesaw

Mountain, but he justified it on the ground that an army must not rely

solely on systematic flanking maneuvers and skirmishing, with the enemy

merely withdrawing to assume newly fortified positions.

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72                                                  OHIO HISTORY

 

7 miles south of Big Shanty52 Ga

June 29th 1864

Dear Father

I take the present oppertunity of pening you a few lines to let you

know that I am well at present and hope those few lines may find you

all well at home   we have had some real hard times but I think there

is a better day comeing not far distant  we have had some prety hard

fighting within a few days back     day before yesterday (27th) our

troops made a charge on the Rebel works but were compelled to fall Back

but we got our works closer to the enemys works    last night the rebs

brought in a flag of truce⁵³ and it was agreed to that both sides should

bury their dead   on the evening of the charge the woods took fire and

burnt numbers of the dead   as luck would have it near all of the wounded

had been removed    When they comenced to burn the smell was horribial

I was out near the skirmish line and I could hardly stand it but last night

all were removed and burried   today all is quiet in front                                                 we were re-

lieved from the front line and are now in the rear resting                                                 if this cam-

paign does not soon close the half of the army will be sick and half of

those will die54  when we left Blue Springs our company drawed rations

for 34 men     now we draw for 24 oficers and [in] all we have onley

15 privates for duty  Ike Emfield gets along very well  John Strayer55

got a letter last night and it said that at home they heard I was killed

and they wanted to know if it was so or not   well I guess it is not as

I can eat hard tact and pork yet    we now get full rations and I am

as fat as can be    I suppose I weigh 160 pounds now     well I must

close for the present   write soon    if you have not sent me some

stamp[s] send me some right away as I am out and have to Borrow a

stamp to send this    I seen Billy peeters and John Blatter56  the other

day    they are both well and hearty

well no more

yours truly

Orson Brainard

Direct to Kingston

Georgia

I have had no letter from you for two weeks nor

no papers for more than three weeks

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE EDITOR: Wilfred W. Black is

Professor of History at Findlay College.

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