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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC03523.31.08 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of Ira Blanchard, H company, 20th regiment, Illinois, infantry |
| Title | Ira Blanchard to Mary (Wright) Kellogg discussing camp life, visiting women and his opinion on African Americans |
| Date | 24 July 1861 |
| Author | Blanchard, Ira (b. 1835) |
| Recipient | Kellogg, Mary Wright |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Blanchard writes to Mary Wright from Camp Tremont outside St. Louis. Mentions cooking for the soldiers when he has nothing else to do even though there are five cooks for each company. Says they just received their uniforms and bayonets. Explains in great detail several expeditions and marches. Remarks the rebels were hiding in swamps and fleeing. Comments the local women visit their camp and many had never seen the "stars and stripes." States the local women are very pretty, but doesn't know if "...it goes more than skin deep or not." Discusses the friendliness of the "darkies" and their awareness that the war "...will ultimately result in their freedom and manhood." Letter is faded in sections and has two Union emblems. |
| Subjects | Civil War Military History Union Forces Soldier's Letter Union Soldier's Letter Military Camp Military Provisions Military Uniforms Weaponry Confederate States of America American Flag Women's History Slavery Emancipation African American History Patriotic Stationery and Postal Covers Freedom and Independence |
| People | Blanchard, Ira (b. 1835) Kellogg, Mary Wright (1844-1912) |
| Place written | Cape Girardeau, Missouri |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Women in American History; African Americans; Slavery & Abolition |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | Folder Information: This collection consists chiefly of correspondence from Ira Blanchard, Lieutenant, Company H, 29th Illinois Infantry, to Mary (Wright) Kellogg. These letters document Blanchard's service at Forts Henry and Donelson, Tennessee; Vicksburg, Mississippi; and other areas throughout Missouri, Tennessee and Louisiana from 1861-1863. Sometime after August 1863, Mary (Wright) Kellogg married Captain Henry Kellogg, and the letters from Blanchard ceased. In addition to the correspondence from Blanchard, this collection also includes a letter from Jason D. Wright to his niece Mary (Wright) Kellogg (1864), two obituaries for Mary (Wright) Kellogg (ca. 1912), a newspaper article mentioning Mary Kellogg's daughter, Mrs. L. E. Dodson (ca. 1927), and a collateral envelope. Blanchard enlisted 13 June 1861 in Illinois as a Sargeant. He mustered into "H" Co., Illinois, Infantry. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |
| Civil War: Theater of War | Main Western Theater |
| Civil War: Unit | 20th Illinois infantry, H Company |