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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02831.25 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of William H. Alden, F Company, 6th Regiment, Iowa Cavalry |
| Title | William Alden to his mother thanking her for the papers |
| Date | 3 April 1864 |
| Author | Alden, William H. (fl. 1844-1865) |
| Recipient | Alden, Charlotte |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | He has been enjoying the papers he receives. He is trying to grow a moustache and beard. He plans to send her a gold pen for which the holder is broken. |
| Subjects | Soldier's Letter Military History Military Camp Children and Family Health and Medical |
| People | Alden, William H. (fl. 1844-1865) |
| Place written | Tacketts Station |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Children & Family; Health & Medicine; Arts & Literature |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | The collection comprises forty eight long letters written while on the Sully Expedition to put down the Sioux uprising, under the orders of Abraham Lincoln. Private Alden, a seventeen year old Iowan, wrote this first-hand account mostly to his family. He discusses hand to hand combat with Indians, rescuing immigrants on the overland trail, gold mining, the capture of a Sioux chief's feathered head dress, and the wounding and death of a soldier. The Sully Expedition, led by Alfred Sully (son of the famous painter Thomas Sully), was the largest military campaign against the Plains Indians up to this date, and marked an expansion of warfare with the Sioux. Includes 1 postwar photograph. Most letters written to his mother while on the Sully expedition against the Sioux. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |
| Civil War: Recipient Relationship | Mother |
| Civil War: Unit | 6th Regiment Iowa Cavalry, F Company |