This letter was written by Thomas W. Callahan (1840-1879) who was 21 years old when he enlisted at Dunkirk, New York, on 3 October 1861 to serve in Co. G of the 9th New York Cavalry. He mustered out of the regiment on 22 February 1864 at Culpeper, Virginia.
Thomas was the son of Irish emigrants John and Mary Callahan of Dunkirk, Chautauqua county, New York. Prior to the war, Thomas worked as a grocery clerk in Dunkirk.
Thomas was known to have fought at the Battle of Gettysburg, some members of the regiment claiming they fired the first shots at the Rebs on the Chambersburg Pike on Day 1.
Transcription
Alcock, Virginia
Thursday, January 30th 1863
Dear Father & Mother,
I take this opportunity to address you these few lines hoping to find you all in the enjoyment of good health as this leaves me in at present—thank God for His kind mercies to us all.
Dear Sir, I received your kind letter in due time and I was glad to hear from you. I wrote a few lines in answer to let you know I received your letter. I also received your paper and I am much obliged to you for your kindness. It is now winter here. We had a big snow storm. It snowed for 18 hours. It fell about one foot deep. We all encamped near the Warrenton & Fredericksburg Pike and on the extreme right of our army. We are about 36 miles from Crab Orchard and about 8 miles from the Rappahannock river.
We was out scouting 3 days ago and run into about one hundred rebel cavalry and had a short fight. We had one man killed. His name was Mike Hogan. We had 5 wounded. We lost no men taken prisoners. We killed two rebs and took one prisoner. He belongs to the 4th Virginia Cavalry, better known as the famous Black Horse Cavalry. We drove them across the river. Our horses suffer badly for the want of forage. The roads is very bad. The mud is axle deep.
I am glad to hear that you have got a job but I think that your pay ain’t enough considering the times.
We have received the satisfying news that General George B. McClellan—all true men honor his far-fame and hard-earned name—is to be commander of the United States Army. You ought to have heard the boys cheer and hurrah when we heard the news, I tell you. As old a man as you are, it would make you take your cap off and cheer with the rest of us. I will tell you one thing, we can whip the Rebels anywhere on a fair field but we never have fought them yet without the Confederate troops outnumbered ours or was entrenched. 1
Our regiment fought four of their regiments at Berryville and whipped them. I was there and know it to be a fact and if I do say so myself, I was right in the thickest of the fight and cheered the boys on and the Dunkirk boys were all in the front rank. We lost one of our number 2 and I tell you, we miss him. I was recommended by Capt. [Milton P.] Goodrich for promotion for good conduct on that day. Our camp done all the hardest fighting on that day. We have the praise of all our staff officers and the thanks of General Stahl.
But I must now bring this to a close by sending you all my respects and love while I remain your son as ever, — Thomas W. Callahan
I will write a longer one next time. Write soon.
1 Though there was a change in the command of the Army of the Potomac, it was not McClellan that was reinstated into the job. Rather, it was Joe Hooker who was given an opportunity.
2 The trooper killed at Berryville was Pvt. George Bradley of Co. G, 9th New York Cavalry. The following article published in the New York Times describes the engagement.
Spared & Shared 22 