These letters were written to Sarah Nutt by her brother, Joseph Nutt (1836-1908) of Co. I, 114th Illinois Infantry. In the first letter, Joseph’s cousin, William J. Nutt (1841-1932), who served in the same company, adds a few lines. Joseph and William both mustered into the regiment at Springfield on 18 September 1862. Joseph was taken prisoner on 10 June 1864 at Brice’s Crossroads in Mississippi and was confined at Andersonville, Georgia, for a time. He survived the ordeal and was mustered out on 30 May 1865. William mustered out on 3 August 1865.
Joseph was the son of Lowry Nutt (1803-1880) and Sarah McQueelan (1802-1848) of Antrim county, Ireland. He married in December 1866 to Eliza Ann Bishop (1834-1902) and eventually settled in Christian county, Illinois, as a farmer.
The Nutt Family tree on Ancestry.com appears to be incomplete so I cannot trace Joseph’s sister, Sarah, to whom the letter was addressed but there appears to have been at least two siblings that settled in Newburgh, Orange county, New York—Thomas Scot Nutt (1833-1896) and Isabella Nutt (b. 1826). There must have been a brother named Lowry living in Newburgh as well as all three are mentioned in Joseph’s closing paragraph in the first letter.
William J. Nutt’s parents are not identified but he was born and raised in Orange county, New York, which explains why Joseph’s siblings would settle in that county after emigrating from Ireland. William married Mary Elizabeth McCune (1848-1903) after he returned from the war.
In the first letter, Joseph writes that he has not yet heard anything definitive to confirm the rumor of his brother John’s death from wounds received at the Battle of Stones River at Murfreesboro. John was a member of Co. A, 38th Illinois Infantry. He died at a Nashville hospital on 21 January 1863 and it would be more than a year before Joseph was able to confirm the sad news.
Letter 1
Camp near Vicksburg, Mississippi
October 27, 1863
Dear Sister,
I once more take my pen in hand to inform you of my whereabouts and to let you know that I am well and hope when this reaches you it will find you enjoying the same blessing. I have wrote you several letters but has not received no answer yet and I have been thinking you must either have forgotten me or is sick but I hope neither none.
Since I last heard from you, I have went through the siege of Vicksburg where the bullets flew as thick as hail but I came out safe so when the [rebels] surrendered the place, we were ordered to Jackson, Mississippi—a distance of forty-six miles—and there we had another hard fight with them and whipped them out of there. So now we are camped 8 miles from Vicksburg but how long we will remain here is more than I can say but I expect not long as the rest of our Corps is gone to Rosecrans in Tennessee.
I will tell you all I know concerning Brother John. I received a letter from the 38th Regiment—that was the regiment that he was in—stating that he was dead. He got wounded in the Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, last fall and died from the wound but I trust and pray that it is not so. But I have not heard from him since I left Tennessee and that was last February. I have wrote to his Captain to know someting concerning him and I expect to get an answer soon and I will let you know. And I hope it will be good news.
Cousin John is well and he has wrote to you and has not received no letters from you. Tell Thomas and Lowry and Isabelle that I would like to hear from them once in awhile. Well I must bring my letter to a close. So no more at present but remain your brother till death, — Joseph Nutt
Dear Cousin, by request of Joseph, your brother, I pen you a few lines to show you that I have not forgotten you, my old friend, although I have not received a trace of a pen from you for some time although I have written many letters to you. But I hope soon to hear from you for we are very anxious about you all. We know not but you may all be dead ere this but thank God we are well here and hope this may find you the same. But I hope you that are there do not have to contend with such hardships as us.
Well Sarah, as Joseph wants to finish this, you will excuse this short and poor letter. Hoping that ere long we may meet again and see better times. So goodbye, — W. J. Nutt
Joseph sends you a ring in this of his own making.
Letter 2
Memphis, Tennessee
March 3, 1864
Dear Sister
Your kind and welcome letter reached me safely by mail this morning and I was happy to hear that you are well but i was very sorry to hear of Lowry’s illness. But I hope that he will soon recover. I would like to come and see him if I could get a furlough but there is no use of trying to get none for I have seen so many try to get one and could not. But Sarah, I have only got eighteen months to serve and then—if I am living—I shall come and visit you all.
I am well at present. Jack has been very sick for a while. He has had the small pox and the sore eyes but he is getting well now.
Well, I suppose you would like to learn something of [brother] John. I seen one of his officers [in the 38th Illinois Infantry] and he told me that he was dead. He died from a wound he received at the Battle of Stone River. It was sad news to me when I learnt of his death. But just think how many brave men has fell in the same cause that he did.
We are now in Memphis as you will see by the heading of this letter and we are now doing provost duty here. But how long we will remain here is more than I can say. But i think that we will get to remain during the summer.
I will bring my letter to a close. Write soon. Give my love and best respects to all enquiring friends. I remain your brother till death, — Joseph Nutt
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