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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02831.26 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of William H. Alden, F Company, 6th Regiment, Iowa Cavalry |
| Title | William Alden to his mother with details of his life in camp and seeing gold miners travelling up the Missouri river |
| Date | 24 April 1864 |
| Author | Alden, William H. (fl. 1844-1865) |
| Recipient | Alden, Charlotte |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | The weather is wonderful. He complains about his old horse and says he is a poor boy. He imagines he will make his fortune one day in the gold mines of Idaho. |
| Subjects | Soldier's Letter Military History Immigration and Migration Westward Expansion Gold Rush Mining |
| People | Alden, William H. (fl. 1844-1865) |
| Place written | Yankton, Dakota |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Children & Family; Health & Medicine; Westward Expansion |
| 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 |