by Blaise J. Arena
A few years ago I began participating in an online crowdsourcing project organized by the Newberry Library in Chicago, transcribing letters from Civil War soldiers. The work involved examining high definition digital images of letters and typing up the letter-writer's words for further review by the library. I chose to devote my transcription efforts to the letters of Private John C. Fleming, Union Army soldier from Chicago.
Fleming was a prolific letter writer home to his family. I transcribed about half of his 85 letters in the Newberry's collection and learned a lot about Fleming and his experiences in the United States Civil War. I felt this was interesting enough to share with others - hence this blog.
I will not attempt to give an exhaustive discussion of all of Fleming's letters. But rather I will choose certain passages and comments written by him that I find interesting, or illuminating in some way.
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| The Newberry Library, Chicago |
What do we know about Private Fleming ?
Fleming was 18 years old when he joined the army, and was a big fellow at 180 lbs. He was educated at The Chicago High School. This was an important thing since Fleming's era was long before the concept of free public education for all came into being. Not everyone got to attend the only high school in Chicago. And his education shows - he uses very good grammar, penmanship and sentence structure. And, he's proud of his letter-writing skills. He is quite a formal letter-writer,
always signing off as
"Your loving son, John C. Fleming"; even to his mother! Maybe this what was taught at the Chicago High School.
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The Chicago High School
Monroe and Halsted Streets
1856-1880 |
Fleming lived with his family - mother and father, younger brother Isaac and older (?) sister Sarah. The family lived in what today would be Chicago's downtown, in the "loop". He occasionally refers to friends or relatives who lived on nearby streets. On an 1863 map of Chicago (below), before the great fire, the Fleming family probably lived in the area just south and east of the Chicago River, on or near Water Street. Fleming's parents also owned a store in this area.
Religion was important to Fleming. He often mentions his appreciation that his company captain organizes Sabbath services for the camp whenever possible. He even recounts to his parents what Bible readings were done.
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Chicago, 1863
University of Chicago Library |
As a new soldier, Fleming loved life in the Union Army camp, he frequently mentions various camp activities and schedules, and how well he has adjusted. He enjoys outdoor life and seems to have prospered - maintaining, or gaining, weight and always in good spirits. Rarely a complaint about army life.
The Chicago Board of Trade Artillery Battery
The first year of the war had gone badly for the North. Gradually it became clear that the Confederacy would not collapse after a few months, as some Northerners had assumed. Military failures and set-backs forced President Lincoln on July 2, 1862, to call for an additional 300,000 troops to bolster the Union Army.
At that time the US military didn't have the infrastructure to support and equip such a large addition. So, many organizations in the North recruited and organized their own army units and sent them off to war. One such example of this was the Chicago Board of Trade. The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) established in 1848 and still in existence today, provided an open, public forum where its members could buy and sell agricultural grains - a central marketplace for wheat, corn and so forth.
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The Chicago Board of Trade
building today
141 W. Jackson, Chicago |
In a patriotic response to Lincoln's call, the members of the CBOT held a meeting on July 22, 1862 at the Board's facility on South Water and Wells streets. The object was to raise and equip a horse artillery battery for the Union Army. The members made an initial pledge of $5,000 toward this; and within days a complement of 150 young men had signed up.
The newly-formed battery marched off to Camp Douglas on Chicago's south side to begin outfitting and training. There they were given 110 horses and six ten-pounder artillery guns. In early September they were off by train to Louisville, Ky to join General Dumont's division.
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The CBOT Battery's badge worn by
all during service. Finney was first
to be killed in battle. |
The Board of Trade Battery Goes to War
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Guidon of the Board of Trade
Artillery Battery |
The CBOT artillery battery participated in several major battles: Chicamouga, Sherman's march, Farmington, Nashville and the Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro). The battery was also engaged in many smaller battles and skirmishes over the course of their service, which ended only after the war was won by the Union. The Battery poses below at Murfreesboro with their six artillery pieces and horses.
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| The Chicago Board of Trade Battery at Murfrreesboro, TN. |
A few words are in order to explain how the horse artillery battery functioned in battle. The captain of the battery would direct a gun to be "raced" into position, guided by riders on the horses pulling the gun with it's ammunition and cleaning equipment box (the "limber"). This is nicely illustrated in the drawing below. (artist unknown). Once in position the gun crew would disconnect, or "unlimber", the gun from the the ammunition carriage. The gun would then be aimed in the desired direction. This process might occur over and over during a battle as battle lines shifted.
The Battle of Stones River, Murfreesboro
The first major battle the CBOT battery participated in was that of Stones River, Murfreesboro TN. This battle took place near Nashville, over three days Dec 31 - Jan 2, 1863. Some historians mark this as a stalemate battle with little accomplished by either side. The battle involved a total of 76,400 soldiers, with total casualties of 21,645. Union dead: 1,677; Confederate dead: 1,254. (Ref: The Civil War Trust)
I will make no effort to describe the details or strategy of this battle, as this has been done very thoroughly by many others. Rather, we will simply see some of Fleming's thoughts about the battle as given in excerpts from his letters home.
Shown below is Fleming's first letter after the battle (Ref: Newberry Library). I will generally show my own transcriptions of his letters, but I think it's interesting to see some of them in his own hand.
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| Fleming's letter home to his parents, Jan 9, 1863 |
In a subsequent letter below, Fleming enclosed his hand-drawn map of the battlefield. He used this to give an account of the battle to his father. (Ref: Newberry Library)
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Fleming's battlefield map. Jan 18, 1863
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| Letter to parents, Jan 9, 1863 - excerpt 1 |
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| Letter to parents, Jan 9, 1863 - excerpt 2 |
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| Letter to parents, Jan 9, 1863 - excerpt 3 |
Fleming gives an account of his experiences in the battle, some of which are gruesome. Here, and whenever he can, Fleming sends home the names of those killed or wounded. Most or all of these soldiers would be from Chicago, and some may be known to his parents.
Let's draw our attention to the yellow highlighted passage in except 3. Here Fleming tells his parents of the dead Wiley, Finney and Stagg who they buried with wooden markers -
"...leaving them for to be removed by their friends in Chicago." We will return to Fleming's letters from Murfreesboro, but first this comment by Fleming allows us to highlight something of further interest.
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| A scene from Gettysburg |
Bringing Home the Dead
Until the Civil War it had been common practice for armies to leave their soldiers to lie where they fell. It was considered glorious to be buried (or left to rot) on the field of battle, usually without any identification. If it was "glorious", it was also convenient. The carnage in the Civil War, the monstrous numbers of dead in single battles, changed all that. Early in the war families began to demand that their boys be brought home. The Union Army sent bodies home by train, when possible, but they were overwhelmed, as was the Confederate Army which had even fewer resources. Sometimes friends or family would make the trip to find their boy and bring him home. Thus, Fleming's reference.
The CBOT resolved to bring home all of their dead, and collected money from its members for that purpose. It is not known (to me) how many they were able to bring home. However, it is an indication of their resolve in this matter that after the war, they brought home 21 dead who had been buried on "Southern soil". A memorial was held at Crosby's Opera House and the soldiers were laid to rest on Jan 7, 1866 in Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago. (Ref:
History of Chicago: From 1857 until the fire of 1871, by Alfred Theodore Andreas, 1885).
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A Civil War CBOT Battery veteran at
the dedication ceremony in 1900.
(Historical Sketch of the CBOT Battery,
1902) |
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| CBOT Memorial as it is today in Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago. Erected in 1900. |
I have visited Rosehill Cemetery (5800 N. Ravenswood Ave) hunting for these twenty-one soldiers laid to rest there. There is a large Civil War burial area there with many graves and monuments. But, so far, I have failed to find the graves of these twenty-one. I suspect, but do not know, that they might be buried around the CBOT Battery monument, without markers.
The Battle of Stones River, Murfreesboro (cont'd)
Let's continue with Fleming's letters after the Battle of Stones River. Below are excerpts from two letters where Private Fleming gives an account of additional casualties. At the bottom of the Jan. 9 excerpt Fleming refers to G.W. Grant who
"played the coward" by deserting early in the battle. Fleming makes several remarks in his letters about individuals who, in his view, have behaved in a cowardly way. It is clear that he has no sympathy for such men. Similarly, he tells his father in the letter of Jan. 18 excerpt about two more deserters - H.W. Hildreth and Chas. W. Johnson.
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| Letter to parents, Jan 9, 1863 |
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| Letter to father, Jan 18, 1863 |
Further in his Jan 18 letter to his father below, Fleming is able to "brag" a little about moving up to the position of Postillion in the artillery battery crew. The Postillion is the soldier who rides one of the horses that pull the cannon. (See photo below). Fleming describes the great advantages of having this role. And he has learned the proper way to care for a horse.
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| Letter to Father, Jan 18, 1863 |
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Photo (unattributed) of an artillery battery crew
showing the Postillions on their horses |
Reverend Moody Visits the Camps
Rev. Moody was known to have visited some Union Army camps after major battles in order to spread his evangelical messages. Moody was not a conventional preacher. He was not educated, had never attended divinity school, and apparently had some controversial religious ideas and messages. Thus, he was out of the mainstream of preachers of his day, and it is to this that Fleming is probably reacting. He didn't like Moody and apparently many other soldiers didn't either.
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| The Moody Bible Institute in Chicago |
Foraging for Food, and Plundering
Both soldiers and horses must be fed. The Union Army supplied train loads of horse feed (hay and oats, etc) as well as food for soldiers. The quantities of each were rarely adequate. As in most wars, soldiers were expected to find additional food for themselves and their horses. It was a regular feature of camp life for groups of soldiers to make forays into the countryside hunting for live game. Or, they would often commandeer livestock (pigs, cows, chickens) from local farmers. Farmers were offered a receipt, redeemable after the war for reimbursement.
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| Drawing of plundering (artist unknown) |
Separate from necessary foraging was the malevolent practice, common to all wars, of plundering. Though forbidden by Union Army regulations, some soldiers stole or destroyed personal property in homes or farms in occupied areas. Sometimes worse was done. Fleming comments on foraging and gives his low opinion of plunderers in his letter to his mother, Oct. 7, 1862 (see the excerpts below).
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| Letter to mother, Oct. 7, 1862 |
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| Letter to mother, Oct. 7, 1862 |
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| Letter to mother, Oct. 7, 1862 |
Camp Life
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| A Civil War encampment |
Private Fleming often comments to his family about the activities and routine in his camp. For example below we can see the daily schedule, in his own hand, that he recounts to his father. Rather than provide a transcription, I encourage the reader to decipher this on his or her own.
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| Letter to father, May 26, 1863 |
Private Fleming is proud of his cooking ability and occasionally brags to his family about his creations. See the letters to sister Sarah and uncle below.
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| Letter to uncle, March 23, 1863 |
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| Letter to sister, Nov 23, 1862 |
Fleming's Letter Writing
The tone of Fleming's letters home is respectful, upbeat and formal. As mentioned before, he signs all of his letters "John C. Fleming", as in
"your loving son, John C. Fleming". There is one big exception to his gracious tone: On many occasions he expresses his pique when he has not received letters frequently enough from friends and family. He even expresses this to his mother. Somehow this seems out of character for him, but he takes his own letter writing very seriously. So, he expects that others will respond in kind, and frequently. See the three letter excerpts below as examples
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| Letters to mother |
Fleming's Brotherly Advice
Fleming had a younger brother, Isaac who in 1864 is accepted into the Chicago High School. Fleming is thrilled to learn of this and uses the occasion to send a letter to Issac. He gives Isaac passionate advice, telling him how fortunate he is to go to The High School. Fleming explains to Isaac how to conduct himself, the importance of good study habits, and how this will all pay off in the future. The advice still stands today as highly appropriate for any new high school student. See Fleming's letter below.
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| Letter to brother Isaac, August 5, 1864 |
The Chicago Board of Trade Battery Comes Home
Private Fleming and his CBOT Artillery Battery served through the end of the war. The battery arrived home by train in Chicago at 3:30am on June 27, 1865. They were welcomed home at the Chicago depot by a large crowd that had waited hours for their arrival. They were given a welcoming banquet the following night at Metropolitan Hall. The Chicago Tribune ran a 5,000 word piece describing the homecoming scene at the station, and giving a glowing account of the war exploits of the Battery. See excerpt below.
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| Excerpt from Chicago Tribune June 27, 1865 |
Fleming's Later Life
John C. Fleming went on to live a long and prosperous life. He married a woman named Isabella, and had children. He became a successful businessman in the iron and steel industry, having some business relationship with Andrew Carnegie. In later life he kept an office in the Marquette Building, still standing today at 140 S. Dearborn in Chicago’s Loop. He lived at 4351 S. Drexel Blvd in Chicago, where he died at age 87 in 1932.
Fleming is buried in the historic Oak Woods Cemetery on Chicago’s South Side.
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The author, Blaise J. Arena at the Fleming family plot
in Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago. February, 2015 |
Just a short walk from Fleming's gravesite is the memorial to Confederate soldiers who died in Chicago's Camp Douglas POW prison. Thousands of prisoners from the South died there of neglect, disease, etc. Some of the POW's are buried there. The monument was erected in 1895.
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| Camp Douglas POW memorial, Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago |
Fleming was a prolific letter writer home to his family. I transcribed about half of his 85 letters in the Newberry's collection and learned a lot about Fleming and his experiences in the United States Civil War. I felt this was interesting enough to share with others - hence this blog.
Private Fleming and his CBOT Artillery Battery served through the end of the war. The battery arrived home by train in Chicago at 3:30am on June 27, 1865. They were welcomed home at the Chicago depot by a large crowd that had waited hours for their arrival. They were given a welcoming banquet the following night at Metropolitan Hall. The Chicago Tribune ran a 5,000 word piece describing the homecoming scene at the station, and giving a glowing account of the war exploits of the Battery. See excerpt below. 
