Description

Civil War Letter We could not find an image of John Kinder but here is a tintype of James T. Small who served in Co. D, 131st Infantry, Ohio National Guard. (Sold by the Union Drummer Boy - featured on Spared & Shared.) This Civil War soldier letter was written by 34 year-old John (“Jack”) Evans Kinder (1830-1877), a miller and the Mayor of Miamisburg, Montgomery county, Ohio, when he served in the 131st Ohio National Guard during the summer of 1864. John was the son of George Kinder (1799-1862) and Eliza Schnorf (1806-1882). He married first Martha J. Reece, but after her death in 1853, he took Elizabeth Ford Clark (1832-1911) as his second wife in 1855 and together they had several children: Anna (b. 1856), Charles (b. 1859), Mary (b. 1862), Sallie (b. 1864) and Bertha (b. 1867). The 131st ONG was mustered into the service at Camp Chase in Columbus on May 14, 1864, as an Ohio National Guard unit. It was a part of the Hundred Days Regiments commissioned by Ohio Governor John Brough as rear guard troops in an effort to free up veteran regiments for front-line combat duty in an all-out effort to seize Richmond, Virginia, and hasten the end of the war. Its commander was Col. John G. Lowe. On May 15, 1864, authorities dispatched the 131st to Baltimore, Maryland via the Central Ohio Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Due to a washed-out bridge at Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, the 131st experienced a delay at North Mountain. Upon reaching Baltimore, the regiment spent its term of service performing garrison duty at Forts Marshall, Federal Hill, and McHenry, including during Confederate General Jubal Early’s raid on Washington, DC during early July 1864. On August 19, 1864, the 131st departed for Camp Chase, traveling via Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The regiment arrived at Camp Chase on August 21, 1864 and mustered out of service on August 25, 1864. The 131st Regiment lost two enlisted men by disease during its service, though others would succumb to complications of malaria in the years following. [Wikipedia] TRANSCRIPTION Fort Federal Hill Thursday morning, July 14th 1864 Dear Wife & Children, I know that there is at present great excitement at the North & I suppose at home in regard to the invasion of this state by a strong force of Rebs. Consequently I take advantage of every mail to let you know that I am well and thoughtful of your uneasiness in regard to my safety. I will state in this that although we were small in numbers here at the outset, we have now been reinforced and feel perfectly secure. We have at all times felt able to hold the forts notwithstanding the City might be taken. But the Rebels know of all our arrangements to receive them and have left the vicinity. The loss of men has not been great on either side but as the Rebs were the attacking party, they suffered the most. After making raids around this city and burning a few railroad bridges, they worked down toward Washington hoping to find it poorly guarded, but although there were but a small number of our soldiers, they were good ones and repulsed the attack handsomely. The latest intelligence is that they are working themselves out of the state as they came in. The excitement is all over here and things will soon take their usual course. The cars came in last night from Washington and I expect in a day or two they will be running on the other roads. Our mails now go to Philadelphia by water but they are only kept back about a day longer. I have nothing more to write this morning, but remain your husband & father, — J. E. Kinder TERMS: Postage combined for multiple purchases. Please wait for me to send the invoice, otherwise you will pay a higher rate. We are members of the American Philatelic Society, the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, the Manuscript Society and the Civil War Philatelic Society. We only sell genuine, original letters (no copies or reproductions). Some of our letters have been transcribed and nicely presented for future genealogists and history buffs on the Spared & Shared blog. We have been selling on eBay since 1998. BID WITH CONFIDENCE !