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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02831.09 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of William H. Alden, F Company, 6th Regiment, Iowa Cavalry |
| Title | William Alden to his mother with reports of battles with American Indians |
| Date | 14 September 1863 |
| Author | Alden, William H. (fl. 1844-1865) |
| Recipient | Alden, Charlotte |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | He does not like how the officers have them attack the Indians at night since that is their best hold. It gives the Indians a chance to get away from them. They do not know how many Indians they killed since the Indians dragged off their dead. Instead, they leave their wounded in the field. |
| Subjects | Soldier's Letter American Indian History Military History Battle Injury or Wound Death Health and Medical |
| People | Alden, William H. (fl. 1844-1865) |
| Place written | Fort Pierre |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Children & Family; Health & Medicine; Native Americans |
| 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 |