This book is a compilation of the letters around the Civil War by Edmond D Potter and his wife Emiline S Bernard Potter. . . . American loyalty leaped into instant action. Little did the country know that this war would be a tragedy in American history, yet it was a war that had to be fought. My grandfather was one of the men who responded to President Lincoln's call to defend the Union. - Helen Mead BlakesleeEdmond's letters were more dramatic, as in the one he sent from Harper's Ferry, Virginia, after the ferocious battle there. "About the time that I was grabbing for my pistol a ball struck me on my left hip and knocked me out of my saddle. But I happened to grab my horse with one hand by the main (sic) and was soon in my saddle again. I then put spurs to my horse and yelled to him to get out of this! - Edmond Potter In one of the letters Edmond speaks of seeing the White House as it was being built. He was impressed with the size and magnitude of this great undertaking.

The Civil War Adventures of Edmond D. Potter & His Three Companions

From Edmond D. Potter's Letters to His Wife Emeline, Her Letters to HimBy Helen Mead Blakeslee

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 Helen Mead Blakeslee
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4389-3921-6

Contents

The stage is set..................................................................3The civil war letters of my grandparents..........................................5The family tree of the four soliders..............................................6Edmond and his three companions go to war.........................................7Examples of the original letters..................................................11The civil war letters of Edmond and Emeline.......................................18A short history of the three families and their relationships.....................139References........................................................................149Photos............................................................................151

Chapter One

The Stage Is Set Prologue

The year 1860 was a tumultuous time for the United States of America. There was great division between the North and the South. Most people in the North were united about the need to preserve the Union while others insisted that the abolition of slavery was equally if not more important. It soon became apparent that the viewpoints of the two sides were irreconcilable and rumbles of war grew louder.

On November 6, 1860, the Republican National Convention adopted a platform that pledged opposition to any further extension of slavery in surrounding territories. Then Abraham Lincoln was elected.

The people in the South were furious and their leaders reacted strongly against the restraints on expanding slavery outside the current boundaries. They knew that although Lincoln was not an abolitionist, he was not interested in preserving slavery. The editor of the Virginia Gazette wrote: "It makes little difference whether we are governed by a gentleman or ruled by a baboon, but with Lincoln comes something worse."

On March 4, 1861, President Lincoln gave his first inaugural address with the central theme embracing the preservation of the Union. In this approach he showed his statesmanship as he tried to persuade the South against breaking up the Union.

Despite his plea, Lincoln's hand was soon forced to defend his stand.

Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, was held by a small detachment of the United States Army, a tempting target for the South. Those in the Confederacy took the position that its presence was an intolerable aggression and should be surrendered to them.

After much argument, President Lincoln decided to send supplies, including food and ammunition, to the fort. When soldiers of the Confederacy demanded that the officer in charge of Fort Sumter surrender to them, he refused. A bombardment began which lasted a day and a half. One soldier was killed and ten injured in this first battle.

And so in April of 1861, this firing on Fort Sumter forced Lincoln to take action. As Congress would not be in session for three months, Lincoln had to make the decision by himself. He decided that the firing was an act of war. He called out 75,000 troops and authorized the enlistment of 40,000 three-year volunteers. He made it very clear that the North was going to fight the war and planned to fight it on southern territory.

American loyalty leaped into instant action. Little did the country know that this war would be a tragedy in American history, yet it was a war that had to be fought.

My grandfather was one of the men who responded to President Lincoln's call to defend the Union.

Complied by Helen Mead Blakeslee

The Civil War Letters of My Grandparents My mother, Rosetta Potter Mead, gave me the letters written during the Civil War by my grandparents, Edmond D. and Emeline S. Bernard Potter. My older sisters were not as interested in the Civil War memorabilia as I was.

Shortly after my husband Clare and I were married in 1941, we moved to Washington, D.C. where he served in the Navy. During that time I became more and more intrigued by Civil War history as I visited the famous battlegrounds of Gettysburg, Harper's Ferry, and Manassas.

As I never knew either Edmond or Emeline, their letters offered me a way to become acquainted with them and to give me a glimpse into their lives.

They became quite real to me as I read about Edmond and Emeline during this period in their lives. At the time Edmond joined the Union Army he was accompanied by his three brothers-in-law: Levi and George Bernard (Emeline's brothers) and Sheldon Curtiss who was married to Emeline's sister Abigail.

Helen Mead Blakeslee

Edmond and His Three Companions Go to War

The Potters, Barnards, and Curtiss' all settled on farmland in Berlin Township in Ionia County, Michigan from other states in the mid-1800s. The three families were neighbors and friends and eventually became related to each other through the marriages of their children. (More about these families in the last section: History of the Potter, Barnard, and Curtiss Families with family trees and photos.)

The four men who went to war were:

Edmond D. Potter married Emeline S. Barnard December 31, 1859. At the time Edmond enlisted they had one son, Mahlon, and had just lost their second son Emory on September 16, 1862, shortly after his birth.

Sheldon Curtiss married Emeline's sister Abigail Barnard on May 10, 1860. They had a two-year-old daughter, Rosa, when he went off to war. While he was gone another child was born.

George Barnard, Emeline's brother, married Maria L Curtiss, Sheldon's sister, on the same day as Edmond and Emeline, December 31, 1859. Their daughter died on the day he left for war.

Levi Barnard, Emeline's brother, was single and did not marry until after he returned from the Civil War. On May 5, 1866, he married Delia T. Hubbard.

The four men enlisted in the Army in September, 1862. They became part of Company M in the 6th Michigan Cavalry, led by General George Custer. For two months Company M, along with the 5th and 7th Cavalry was stationed in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for training. They were known as Custer's famous Michigan Cavalry Brigade.

The Federal Government provided the horses for the Union troop (while the Confederate men had to furnish their own). After the men were assigned their mounts, they were trained together to make right and left swings, to jump fences and ditches, to heed bugle calls and to stand guard duty.

After this training the entire outfit was ordered to go to Washington. By October 1862 over a quarter of a million soldiers were encamped on both sides of the Potomac, giving the city a martial character with all the marching troops, military weapons, and galloping cavalry. Congress authorized an army of 50,000 to be stationed in Washington as Lincoln was worried about the safety of the city.

The soldiers and their horses from the 6th Cavalry were transported there on the train, part of the transcontinental railroad recently completed. After two long days and nights they reached the Capitol the third morning, tired and hungry. A bugle called them to breakfast which consisted of black coffee with brown sugar, hard tack, and beans.

Here they were attached to the Army of the Potomac and were stationed there for most of the winter. The four patriots were concerned with the Union's failure to win at Bull Run and Fredericksburg. Many soldiers had been shocked at learning about the weaknesses and failures of the commanders.

The Army of the Potomac's commander, General McClellan was very well liked by all the men. He had toiled ceaselessly, whipping recruits into shape, calling the army "his army" as if it was a personal possession. He gave it shape and color and was called "the young Napoleon on his big black horse," by Daniel Webster.

General McClellan, however, was a defensive commander. He camped in front of Richmond with 105,000 fighting men, his infantry as close as eight miles to the Capitol itself. Before Custer's 6th Cavalry arrival there, McClellan met Lee for the great Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862.

The Union Army lost 13,000 men between dawn and dusk. The Confederate Army, much smaller, lost more than 10,000. That night Lee went back to Virginia in full retreat. This was probably the bloodiest single day's battle in the entire Civil War. McClellan was very slow trying to resume an offensive against General Lee. Consequently, he was relieved of his command in November.

Lincoln considered the Battle of Antietam a strategic victory. He issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation on September 22. This proclamation declared that "all slaves in states or districts in rebellion against the United States on January 1, 1863, will be thence forward and forever free".

Lincoln's move was a bold one, and had much propaganda value. Up to this point the war had not been explicitly fought to free the slaves. Now, "freeing the slaves" was the North's battle cry.

As 1862 was ending, the war was expanding. The three arms of the Union Army lay in their camps, in Virginia, in Tennessee, and along the Mississippi, and nothing seemed to be going right for them. During the Battle of Fredericksburg fought on December 13, there were another 25,000 casualties. General Burnside, described as bumbling by many historians, was now in charge.

It was also in December that Edmond's Company M became part of the Army of the Potomac which would be moving around the Virginia countryside. They eventually became encamped on Meridian Hill to guard the city of Washington.

According to historians the Army of the Potomac was a great army, capable of great deeds, but unfortunately no commander ever learned how to use it to its full advantage. The Army's failures were blamed on those at the top. In the years of l862 and 1863, many soldiers were forced to spend as many as 20 days in continual combat. (A more detailed description of their enlistment and travel to Washington may be found in the section: A Short History of the Three Families.)

Edmond's first letter we have to Emeline describes visiting the wounded soldiers from the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Note: The letters of Edmond and Emeline are almost 150 years old. Not only was the delivery of mail uncertain, paper was scarce so that every white space was used including between lines and along the sides. In addition the ink is fading. Consequently the transcriptions may not always be entirely accurate as some words were spelled differently and some language is no longer used. In some places modern spelling is substituted for easier reading and stars (***) are inserted where a word could not be read.

Helen Mead Blakeslee whose Mother was Edmond Potter's daughter deciphered some of the letters and researched the history around many of them. She was assisted in deciphering the often illegible letters by a dedicated cousin, Lois Curtiss, who also put all the pieces together into this manuscript. Charles Neller of Positive Images merged computer programs and provided detailing; Harry Borgman designed the front and back covers. The manuscript was edited by Gloria B Slykhouse. Paragraphs have been inserted for easier reading.

Reproductions of three original letters may be found on the following six pages.

The first image is a partial letter from Edmond Potter to Emeline. The second letter is 4 pages in length to Emeline from Edmond.

Many of Edmond's letters were often too large or too long to reproduce in this book. However these two letters are good examples of this writing and those written by many during the Civil War.

The third partial letter is from Emeline to Edmond. It is very small and apparently the only scrap of paper that Emeline could find.

Some of the letters are now so faded it is almost impossible to read them.

An actual example of an envelope is used in the cover design.

The Civil War Letters of Edmond and Emeline

Washington, D.C. 6 Mich. Calvary Company December 21, 1862

Absent Companion

As I have time and a chance I will begin a letter to you. First I am well except a hard cold and that is the main complaint through the camp. We are stationed once more on what is cold Meridian Hill about 2 miles from Washington City. They talk that we will stay here this winter to guard the City, but we don't know as it is so for certain yet. We have to wash our own dishes. We have a little more then we did where we first landed in Washington but it is not as good as it was at Camp Celusy. I was in a hospital yesterday close by here where there is 200 wounded soldiers. It looked hard to see them, some shot through the head, some through the legs, arms and feet. In fact in all places that a man could be and live. They were wounded in the Battle of Fredricksburg. They felt well considering their circumstances. They was glad to have us come in and talk with them. They said that they had got enough of the war that we had got something to do before we whip the South. They said it was awful to see the wounded on the battlefields. I must stop now and go to church.

Well Ema a little more to you. I have been to church. We had a prayer meeting in our tent last night. There was one appointed today at 10 o'clock but did not have any. I presume there will be one tonight. Ema, what shall I write? I can not think of any thing to write. I'm sorry I had to leave the Rapids (Grand Rapids) so unexpected. I knew nothing about going with the horses until the night before about 7 o'clock but I am determined to do my duty, let what will come, friend or foe, to serve my divine Master. If I die here or at home, all I ask is to be prepared to go in peace, will you go with me? There was a guard shot the other night in a camp about half a mile from here. He was shot two times. I heard the guns just as we was going to bed. I don't know what it was for. Some say or think a rebel shot him while he was standing guard while we were in the City. There was a man run over by the cars (train). He lived a few hours. I have written all the news I believe. I must stop now and tend meeting.

Monday Morning - Well Ema this morning finds me in good health. We had a good meeting last night. I have wrote all that I can think of now. I want to say to you to be a good girl and do your duty and meet me in another world if not in this, but I feel as though we should meet again on earth. Ema do you get lonesome? I can say that I see many lonesome hours since I left Michigan but when I think of the past hours we have spent together but Ema be of good cheer. I can look for better days to come, only be faithful. Emeline please write soon and often. So now I will say goodbye from your true husband Edmond Potter

Emeline I will direct my letters to your father, shant I and direct your letters like this.

Washington, D.C. 6th Mich. Cavalry, Company M. Edmond Potter

In this following letter Edmond writes his camp and even in his tent men have measles

Washington February 8th, 1863

Well Emeline a little time I will spend in writing to you. I am well as usual. The other boys are well as common but there are quite a number in the regiment that are in the hospital sick-some with the measles and some with bad colds. I have been tough and able for duty so far. I don't feel very well today - my head aches so you must excuse all mistakes.

I have not had any letter only a piece in Levi's for a week or more. We got some more pay last night about 9 o'clock. We drawed 26 dollars. I want to send the most of it to you but I guess I won't send any in this. Levi thinks we had better get a draft for it will be safer way so I will wait a day or 2. I don't think that we shall stay here a great while. They say that we, Edmond P, have had march-ing orders, but we may stay here for all that awhile. Anyhow Emeline now don't let what I have wrote make you feel any more lonely. But have faith in God and put your whole trust in Him and we shall meet again if not on earth we will above if we are only faithful until the end. I am afraid that the prayer meetings are going down. There has not been any for 2 weeks. It has been very muddy and a very nasty time to have so many in the tent. Made a very nasty place and that is one reason why there has not been any.

Ema how do you and Melie get along out there in Michigan and I a way down here in D.C.? I tell you if I could only see you and him it would do me more good than any other thing on this earth. I have some lonely hours but never mind look to the time ahead. There is a time coming that we shall meet again.

(Continues...)

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