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Took to a Camp/ First Letter
Camp Anderson Link Absolom A. Harrison and his brother where taken to Camp Anderson in Jefferson County, Kentucky, a border state. He wrote to his wife about how he was not feeling so well. He also mentioned that the boys from their neighborhood are there. He tells his wife that he wants to come home soon, and to tell his father to do the best he can do with his corn. -
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Absolom A. Harrison; Civil War
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Second Letter/ Unknown Date or Place
Civil War FoodsAbsolom is writing to his wife in this letter. He is telling his wife to go ahead and sell the corn for money. He tells his wife that the Lord has spaired his life, and he is very thankful for it. He wants his wife to write to him often and loves reading them. He wants her to find a person who will guide them to the right path, and keep them safe. Like a mentor and a body guard. -
Third Letter
Camp MortonAbsolom A. Harrison was at Camp Morton, Indiana. He was writting to his wife in this letter. He tells his wife that he is well but about 2/5 of the men are sick and lying on the wet ground. Absolom says that there is some talk of being disbanded, and if so he can't wait to come home and see his children and his wife. -
Fourth Letter
Provost GuardAbsolom Harrison was at Bardstown, Kentucky when he wrote this letter to his wife. Him and a couple of other soldiers were being provost guards. He was fine with doing the job as long as he had his friends there along side him. He said that he has made a few more friends, but is getting along with everyone just fine. Him and his brother Joe have another job, and that job he describes as the worst one ever. They had the job of burying the soldiers. He describes it as the worst experience. -
Fifth Letter
Civil War HospitalAbsolom A. Harrison was at Munfordville, Kentucky. He wrote this letter to his wife. He starts off saying about the 45 mile walk they had to do to get to Munfordville. He said that he wishes that by the time that they get to Nashville it will be peaceful so that they can all go home. He says that they need new arms/ weapons, and he will not attack with out a new weapon. He said that he is not afraid of anything but sickness. Also afraid of the bad weather. -
Sixth Letter
tansportation in civil warAbsolom Harrison was at Nashville, Tennessee when he wrote to his wife. At first he talks about how they got there. He talks about the terrible march they had to make to get to Tennesssee. He says that this is a nice country and it will pay off being there. He says that he sees a lot of African Americans, and the nicest house that he has ever seen. Tennessee was a Confederate state, but provided both sides with plenty of supplies. He said that his company took the lead on the way over here. -
Seventh Letter
Quartermaster Sergeant infoAbsolom was still at Nashville, Tennessee when he wrote this letter to his wife. He starts off saying that he is well and so are the boys from Hardin are also well. He hasn't recieved new arms yet, and so he is disapointed, but he has the old ones. He talks about the battle at Corinth, and that the South got beat and lost 40 thousand men and the North lost 15- 20 thousand men. He was appointed quartermaster sergeant. His wages are now 21 a month.He is excited because he is mostly passed on jobs. -
Eighth Letter/ no date givin
Weather infoAbsolom was at Wartrace when he wrote this to his wife. He said that there are Confederates within 12 to 15 miles of them, about 2 thousand Confederates. He says that they have caught about a dozen Confederate scouts, and are keeping them as prisoners. He said that some of the men are afraid to fight if need be, because they are afraid of what happen due to that. He says that the weather has not been nice to them as it has rained for 4 days on them. Some of the mens tents are in 4inch. of mud. -
Ninth Letter
WartraceAbsolom was at Wartrace, Bedford County Tennessee when he wrote this to his wife. He said that he is doing well, and can't wait to come home. He said that one of the men got poisened and died from eating something. He was a friend of Absolom's. He wants her to name his soon to be daughter, but only a pretty name. -
Tenth Letter
LebanonAbsolom was at Wartrace when he wrote this letter to his wife. He said that they captured 200 men and 155 horses. He was counting up the Confederate's men, saying that they had about 800 while they had only about 600. There is a battle at Lebanon. He said that he would have wrote sooner, but wanted to wait for his friends to get back so he could tell her what happened. -
Eleventh Letter
Union flagesAbsolom A. Harrison was at Wartrace, Tennessee when he wrote this letter to his wife. He talks about the hot weather that they are having. He seems to always write about how he hasn't heared from his wife. He wrote about the sick, and how he is so very thankful for being healthy. He also wrote about one of the men that got shot in the arm carrying the colors, and then almost shot in the head. He talks about the battle of Corinth coming up. -
Twelfth Letter
Being Discharged From WarAbsolom A. Harrison was at Wartrace when he wrote this letter, to his wife. He starts off saying that he is well and so are the boys from Hardin, except for two of them. Those two are Jo and Hugh Patterson, and they have been discharged and are going to come home in about two or three weeks. He also talks about the terribly hot weather. Absolom also mentions that some of his friends are sick and dieing. He wishes that there is something he could do for his friends, but he said that he can't. -
Thirteenth Letter
Murfreesboro infoAbsolom Harrison was at Nashville, Tennessee when he wrote this to his wife. He had gone there from Murfreesboro to get the mail. While he was there the rebels attacked and took Murfreesboro. He wasn't going to be able to get back to his regiment until they took Murfreesboro back. He told her that he thinks the war will last a long time, so he begs her to write more often. -
Fifteenth Letter
PaymentsAbsolom was at Manchester, Tennessee when he wrote the fifteenth letter to his wife. He told her he had been in dangerous places before but he never wanted to take a trip like this again. He was upset because their pay because it was to dangerous for the paymaster to be seen. He was still concerned that he was not recieving mail/ letters from her. -
Fourteenth Letter
Women in the Civil WarAbsolom Harrison was at Manchester, Tennessee when he wrote this very short letter to his wife. He was telling her to get along the best she could until he got home. He also said to her, that if she needed to, to get out of where she was and to write to him immediately. Absolom told her that she plays a very big role in his families every life. -
Sixteenth Letter
Civil War Recruitments and SignsAbsolom A. Harrison was at Tullahoma, Tennessee when he wrote his last letter to his wife. He starts out extremely concerned because he hasn't heared from her. He warned her that if Lt. Barrett came to Hardin to recruit people, ignore him, he had gotten so proud he didn't recognize his any more. Where Absolom is at, is about 15 miles from Wartrace. He wasn't sure how much longer he would be there. Absolom wasn't aware but, he was actually on his way home!
