Civil War Letter, April 7, 1864



JAMES DUNHAM, JR.
Civil War Letter to his wife, Margaret Elizabeth (nee Slonaker) Dunham
of April 7, 1864


Courtesy of:
Wayne & Donna Hunt of New Lebanon, Ohio
and their son, Marshall Hunt
September, 2001
from the momentos of Don Miller of Indianapolis, Indiana ca 1998




Transcriptions appear under the original letters.
If anyone can supply additional words where some are missing, please advise.




This appears to be Private James Dunham, Jr.'s first letter home to his wife, Margaret, who resided in Darke County, Ohio. Within nine months from his recruitment, James would be dead. This journey would take him from his home in Greenville Township, Darke County, Ohio to Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio to Xenia, Greene County, Ohio and apparently via train to Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio where he trained with Co. M of the 8th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry for duty in the Civil War. From there they were perhaps sent off via train or marched to Charleston, West Virginia where they were stationed before heading into battle near Liberty, Virginia. In Liberty, Virginia he would be wounded in the thigh by a missile ball and taken as a P.O.W. to the Confederate prison at Andersonsville, Georgia. Here he would meet his fate according to an affidavit on file.

In the letter below James mentioned French furloughs. This refers to the enlistees taking an unauthorized time away from camp (absent without leave) and not returning to duty. This appears to have been a common practice during this war and previous wars, and thus absences were subject to penalty.

James mentions Margaret's father, Abdel Slonaker, and Aunt Sal(l)y. Aunt Sal(l)y's family connection has not been determined at this time, although she may have been his father's sister, Sarah Dunham b abt. 1829 who married Daniel Waltz, or she may have been an aunt to Margaret (Slonaker) Dunham. He mentions a Franck Scribner who was probably Franklin Scribner who resided in Darke County, Ohio at the time of the 1850 United States Federal Census.   [ASH]




 


 




 


 




Created: 31 October 2001
Revised: 06 January 2010







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