Part Four: "Oh My Bleeding Country"

     The spring and summer of 1862 brought some health concerns from home. James had obviously received a letter from Melissa in which she told him that their infant son was unwell. While we do not know the nature of his illness, it is interesting to note that Melissa sent a photograph of herself in the letter and she, too, showed signs of sickness or exhaustion. James expresses his concern for his little family and asks that Melissa update him immediately on their son’s health.
     In this letter James mentions his cavalry unit being sent out on a seven mile march with the brigade. No doubt that was a learning experience for the 1st Maryland Cavalry to spend several hours on foot!

Camp Carroll 

May 8 ‘62 

Dear wife, 

I received your letter yesterday. I was very sorry to hear that Leon was sick…. I am almost certain of being home within a month. There is great rejoicing among the boys of the late Victories. 

I don’t think you look near as well as you did when I left you. Have you been sick? 

You can look for me again next pay day if we do not get discharged. 

On last Saturday General Cooper’s Brigade (to which we are attached to) went out on a march a distance of seven miles to learn the men how to march in brigade form. 

Our new Captain has done very well so far. I think this kind of soldiering suits him first rate. 

Answer this right away and let me know how Leon is. Let me know in your next letter how all the folks are. I send my love to you and Leon. 

From Your Husband 

James F Price

     Leon’s illness was quickly over according to James’ letter of 18 May, although his anticipated furlough was prevented by the regiment’s movement south into Virginia (West Virginia today).  Through the remainder of May, through June and into July the 1st Maryland was kept busy around Winchester and Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia.
     The last two letters we will look at today are poignant in their simplicity and lack of worry. James and three others were set to guarding the company’s supply wagons and got separated from the rest of the regiment by a flooded river. While they scouted for a safe place to cross or waited for the floods to subside they stayed in the homes of slave owners where the Maryland cavalrymen held church services.
     The four men discovered that they were good singers and seemed to enjoy singing for appeared to be an appreciative audience. James’ language may seem shocking to our politically correct ears, but the words he used were common throughout the United States and did not have the same powerful implications that they do today.
     Once again James’ sense of humor is evident as he suggests that their nearly one-year-old son was at least as big as 5’9” James, or he talks about enormous pancakes.
     Today’s final letter is only partially legible but mentions James’ best friend, Robert Wilson, who recently returned from furlough with a new photograph of  Melissa and Leon who were both looking much healthier than in May. Robert will be a very important part of James’ next letter home.

Warrenton 

July 23 ‘62 

Dear wife, 

….We have had a pretty good time stopping at plantations to board. We get lots of slave masters. We generally sing three or four hymns before retiring to our beds of floor. We have three good singers with us Mr. Hall, Mr. Orem, and Mr. Wilson and me myself which forms quite an Opera Troupe. 

Mr. Hall preached to the colored individuals on last Sabbath at 10 o’clock. Mr. Orem led with a prayer after with the grand Excelsior Choir sent forth its melodious strains which sent the Niggers on their way rejoicing. 

The meeting was concluded by retiring to the house and refreshing ourselves by eating a hoe cake as large as a common size cheese.... 

I would like to see Leon. I suppose he is at least as big as I am. 

….I send my love to you and Leon. Write soon. I have good health at present. I hope you have the same. 

From Your Husband 

James F Price 
Camp Carroll Aug 5 1862 

Dear Wife, 

I received your three last letters the one Robert Wilson fetched and your likeness I am glad to see that you and Leon look so well.

Part 3 "Oh My Bleeding Country"

     1862 began on the same note as 1861 ended. James’ letters were cheerful and spoke of a desire to return home, his daily routine, and his concern that Melissa and Leon were well and have sufficient money.
     Sometimes the letters included unfamiliar names of men and women. In this one, the first of 1862, James mentioned seeing a man named Henry Ernest: 

Hancock 

Jan 31st ‘62 

Dear wife, 

I received your letter I was very glad to hear that you was all well. I have got good health also at present. I saw Henry Ernest this morning. He was well. …. I don’t think it will be long before we will be at home. Keep in good spirits. Give my respects to all the family. I send my love to you and Leon.... 

From Your Husband 

James F Price

     Some research provided the information that Henry B. Earnest, Co. B of the Pennsylvania 46th Infantry, was mustered in on 24 August 1861 and was discharged on 31 October 1862 on account of wounds he received in action.

     I assumed that Henry was a friend of James and searched for him in the 1860 U.S. Census. Unable to find him there, I broadened my search and made an amazing discovery: there in the 1850 US Census was Henry Ernest with his wife Lucinda, sons William and James, and daughter Melissa. I knew that Melissa Clark (James’ wife) had two brothers and that her mother was named Lucinda. I also knew that Lucinda had remarried after divorcing her first husband, the father of her children.

     Census enumerators often assumed everyone in the family shared the surname of the head of the household, so it made sense that Lucinda’s children were listed as Henry’s children. Additional research verified my hypothesis and another brick wall in my research came tumbling down.
     James’ letters continued. Sometimes they exhibited a sense of humor: 

Halls Farm 

February 25th ‘62 

Maliss I will take a letter home myself some of these days and see if I can get an answer for it. 

     Other letters remind us that during the first part of the Civil War company level officers were not appointed by the military establishment but were elected by the men of their company and the people they knew from the neighborhood:

Camp Carroll Patterson 

April 22 ‘62 

Dear wife, 

…. I don’t think it will be four weeks before we are at home our Captain has resigned and we keep drumming men out of camp every day which will soon break the regiment up we have no captain yet. Lt. Steward wanted to be Captain but the men would not agree. 

     Benjamin Johnston said if he had a boy like Leon he would not go to out to war Meliss I am tired of soldiering the way we are soldiering now …. give my respects to William and Rachel I send my love to you and Leon first….

     The following letter highlights the dilemma faced, no doubt, by many soldiers: whether or not to use some of the money they normally sent home to purchase train fare to travel home while on furlough. This letter also explains the perilous journey made by letters from the front to home and demonstrates the importance of photographs to soldiers of the Civil War.

Camp Carroll 

April 30 ‘62 

Dear wife, 

I received both of your letters. I was very glad to hear that you and Leon was well. I could get a furlough but it costs so much to go home that I would rather wait awhile and see if we get discharged for I do not think they will keep us here much longer. 

     ….We is lazing about two miles from the Post Office and we have to leave our letters in the Adjutant’s office then there is a man engaged to take the letters down, which through carelessness these are either lost or mislaid. My likeness was laying upwards of two months in the likeness wagon and is not very good.  I will get another taken and send it to you. I want you to send yours and Leon’s with Robert Wilson. 

     I am agetting very tired of lazing around camp I would rather be home for I am so tired of soldiering this way. I have nothing this time to write particularly. …. 

     James was finally engaged in his first real fight in the spring of 1862. In this letter he describes the retreat from Winchester, West Virginia and the rigors he endured as his company was dispatched to cover the rear of the retreating army. I appreciated the display of humor that James included and his reassurances to Melissa of his health and safety.

Williamsport 

May 2 ‘62 

Dear wife, 

     …. Henry has arrived - so far I have not seen him yet but the regiment is in Williamsport. I have not had time to go to his camp. 

     We have been very busy since we left Balt[imore] and have had hard times. It was for four days and three nights without anything to eat and was in our saddles all the time. The women in Winchester shot at our men as they were leaving town and the Rebels, from what we can hear, killed all our sick that we left …. 

     On Saturday night we left our camp at midnight. We had been out no more than an hour before the Rebels fired volleys into our camp - they thought we was sleeping in our tents. Some men of company C & Bs men could not be waked [and] up the Rebels killed them. One man escaped - he said he heard one man begging for his life but they shot him …. 

     The retreat was no very good order. Some of the men would give out and lay down as soon as the Rebels would come up they would shoot them all. 

     I got hurt. I got my big nose hurt in the woods by some brush. 

     It will take some time before the division can be formed again. I think we will lay here until they get them fixed up again. The Rebels killed a great many of our men but I think we killed as many of them. 

     I send my love to you and Leon. You need not worry about me. I think I will get through yet. 

     I am going down to see Henry tonight. Write immediately. I have good health. 

     From Your Husband 

     James F Price

     Sadly for James, this was not the worst fight he would experience this year.

Oh My Bleeding Country: Part Two

     In the first real action that James saw, he and the rest of Union forces began to advance at midnight and quietly drew within four miles of the Confederate forces by daylight. It amazes me to think that 5000 men and several hundred horses could move so quietly that no one was alerted to the presence. The Confederate pickets left their posts at 8:00 and the Union forces actually entered the Rebel camp, surprising them at breakfast.

     The Confederate guns proved difficult to fire – perhaps the habit of literally sleeping on their arms to prevent the rifled muskets from collecting dew in the night had not been ingrained in them. 
     The firefight continued well past noon until General Reynolds ordered the Union forces to break off the fight. Both sides claimed a great victory, inflating the size of the enemy forces and the number of enemy killed. In reality each side lost fewer than fifty killed and wounded. 
     We do not have James’ letter to Melissa following the 3 October 1861 Battle of Greenbrier, West Virginia. But a few weeks later he wrote complaining that while he had sent her five letters he had only received one from her. He also explained what happened to his civilian clothes after his mustering-in.

     James continues with the traditional soldiers’ complaints: severe officers and miserable weather. Although he report having a “very good time” he tells Melissa to warn off his two brothers, Will and Adam, from volunteering.

     This single line helped me to locate James in the 1860 U.S. Census. I could now look for William Price and Adam Price living in the same household and found them all, including the young glass blower, James.

     His letter concluded with James asking about Melissa’s daily activities and a new glass work that he assumed was about to open. He asks her to have baby Leon’s photograph made in tin and sent to him and then closes his letter in what came to be his signature sign-off for the next year: “My love to you and Leon.”

Williamsport 

Oct 15 [1861] 

Dear Melissa 

      I received your letter on Sabbath evening from Charles McCoy. This makes the fifth letter I have wrote to you and have only received one answer.

     You asked me what became of my clothes. I concluded I would not send them home and therefore I gave them to our cook…. 

     We have a pretty hard time of it at present on account of our officers is so severe but we can live. Yet I would like to see you and Leon and I hope the time will not be long before I shall.

     While I was at Hancock I had one hard night The rain while I was asleep run down my back. It was a terrible night, the worst we have had yet. I stayed six days in Hancock and had a very good time considering that night. 

     Tell Will and Adam to not think of coming out….Get Leon’s likeness on tin and send it in your letter. Write and tell me all about the times and also all about the Glass Work and if they are started yet. Write as soon as you get this letter. 

     I send my love to you and to all the folks and to little Leon and tell him to be sure and be a good little boy. 

     From Your Husband 

     James F Price 

     James’ next letter was written almost a month later. He recounts being “plagued” but Rebels but there were no casualties to the Union forces. The tables were turned when a cannon was delivered, scattering the Rebel pickets from the other side of the river. 
     Payday was an important day in the army. A private received $13 per month, or about $4400 in today’s money. But they were usually paid every quarter. The system was no doubt devised to minimize the work of the paymasters, but it also provided an enormous amount of money in a large number of young men’s hands all at once. Since the military provided the troopers with food, clothing, and housing, there wasn’t much money needed on a day-to-day basis. Most of the soldiers’ pay was spent on gambling, liquor, and the purchase of more tasty foods. 

     But James had a wife and child to support, and sent home $25 ($8500) via Lt. John Stewart. The paragraph in which James explains to Melissa how and where to collect her money was an eye-opening one. With no ATMs, no direct deposit, and no branch banks, James and the other men were forced to send someone home with the money. But then what to do with it? It would be unreasonable to expect someone on furlough to spend his leave time visiting from house to house to deliver the money.

     In James and Melissa’s case the solution was elegantly simple: Lt. Stewart would carry the money to a local Pittsburgh storekeeper who agreed to hold the money for the wives and mothers. James told Melissa which store, where it was located, and what day to go pick it up. The storekeeper was willing to be the go-between in hopes that the ladies would in turn shop in his store. A good deal for everyone.

     At the end of his letter James noted that time was passing quickly. He had been in the cavalry for three months. He had two years and nine months left to serve. 

Nov 24/61
Dear wife, 

     I have sent a letter to you two weeks ago and have never received any answer yet. We have been plagued by the Rebels a great deal within the last few days. We had a fight with them across the river the other day there was from three to four hundred Rebels to one hundred of us. We fought about six hours steady. Our loss was none killed or wounded although pretty narrow escapes by some of the men. The Rebels lost six killed and seventeen wounded all this from noon. 

     The hills opposite us was pretty full of pickets from the Rebels this morning. We received a cannon this morning which open out on them this forenoon and made them scatter. There is none to be seen now…. I can’t come home until we drive the Rebels out of this district which will soon be done. 

     We got paid on Sunday Lieut Stewart [eventually Capt. John H Stewart] is taking charge of the money which he is a goin to Bradley’s where you can get it – Bradley’s store warehouse … you can go and get it on Tuesday. I gave in his charge twenty five dollars. And let me know what’s agoing on in Pittsburgh and vicinity. 

     Malis I want you to write and let me know how you and Leon is agetting along I send my love to you and Leon and to the rest of the folks. Hoping to see you soon. Write and let me know if you received the money. 

     Time passes away pretty fast now on account of having so much to do with the Rebels. 

     From Your Husband 

     James F. Price

Oh My Bleeding Country: The Story of James F. Price, Part 1

“I have some old letters from my Civil War ancestor. They aren’t much. Mostly he talks about money and how he wants to go home.”

     This comment made by one of my students began a fascinating odyssey for me. The student was taking “Discovering Your Civil War Ancestor” a community education course I teach at the local community college. Her casual comment made me salivate. While I have plenty of Civil War ancestors, and a fair number of mementos from one of them, I do not have any Civil War-era letters.
     Eventually we embarked on a project to preserve her letters and share their contents with her entire family. As I read and transcribed the letters I discovered the letter writer, James F. Price of Co. G, 1st Regiment Maryland Cavalry, was a loving and devoted husband, father, and friend. 
     He began the war as a private and ended as a sergeant, proving his devotion to his cause and his leadership abilities. Along the way he saw terrible slaughter and endured devastating losses. Yet James continued on steadfastly in spite of his loss and privation:

“It is all for our blessed country and must be endured without murmuring….Oh my bleeding country, it is for thee I suffer and endure the hardships and privations of a soldier.”

     James Price was born in October of 1838 in Pennsylvania. His beloved wife, Melissa Jane Clark, was born ten years later. James became an apprentice glass blower in Pittsburgh, where the two met and married at the First Reformed Presbyterian Church on 7 February 1861. Later that year their first son, Leon, was born. 
     On 5 August 1861 James F Price and a number of his friends and neighbors answered a Maryland recruiter’s call and, as was customary during the Civil War, all were enlisted in the same company, G, of the 1st Maryland Cavalry.
     It is interesting that James, a city boy who could not have had many opportunities to ride horses, ended up in the cavalry. Particularly because, according to the company’s Descriptive Book, James was five feet nine inches tall, much taller than the average cavalry trooper. The Descriptive Book also tells us that James had a fair complexion, blue eyes, and light colored hair.

     On 25 August 1861 James was mustered into service, kissed Melissa and Leon goodbye, and headed off to war. All of James’ letters have not survived to today, but the first letter we have was written just a month later from Williamsport, Maryland. In his letter James sounds like he is on an adventure, laments that he has not yet killed a Rebel, and, in a delightful display of his sense of humor, reports that he is optimistic that he will be home before Christmas. 
     

Williamsport, Maryland 

Sept 28th/61 

Dear Malissa,

We left Washington on last Wednesday a week and traveled only fifteen miles the first day. We had our wagons with us and had to ride slow which made it so wearisome. We travelled three days afterwards before we arrived at Williamsport….

     There is one company of cavalry and one of infantry. Also a mile from us is the first Maryland Regiment. We have to go out skirmishing each day. There was a boy shot by the Rebels the other day while he was driving along the tow path. 

     Some of our men while out on picket the other day captured a wagon full of boots, shoes and saddles.And also our lieutenant took four of our men and a captain of another cavalry company took the same they … went to a town name Hancock Town. They stayed there three days and captured three men. The ladies treated them very nice. 

     We expect to go again very soon. I think I shall go this time. I have been out on picket but did not have the luck to kill any Rebels yet. I hope I shall. 

     You may get a large turkey for Christmas for I think we will all be home that time. I have got plenty to eat here and good health and food found. … 

     I will tell you more the next time. I would like to see Leon and see if he has growed any since I left. Write and tell me how you are agetting along…. 

     I send my love to you all and hope to find you all well. Write soon. 

     From your husband 

     James F Price

James F, Price in uniform, There is a small hole caused by an imperfection in the glass
in the  center of the glass plate. I wonder what James the glassblower thought of that?