Tag Archives: Columbus

16 April 1864: “All the big guns in Fort are worked by negroes & belong to the 3rd U.S. Heavy Artillery. They have heard of the massacre at Fort Pillow & are terribly incensed at the rebels & will, no doubt, fight till death, for they know the consequences if taken alive.”

Item description: Letter, 16 April 1864, from Edward W. Allen to his parents.Edward W. Allen of Eau Claire, Wis., was a sergeant and then second lieutenant in Company H of the 16th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers, during the Civil War. … Continue reading

Posted in Southern Historical Collection | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 16 April 1864: “All the big guns in Fort are worked by negroes & belong to the 3rd U.S. Heavy Artillery. They have heard of the massacre at Fort Pillow & are terribly incensed at the rebels & will, no doubt, fight till death, for they know the consequences if taken alive.”

30 May 1863: “The ‘Chattahoochee’ is no more! and I am truly thankful that I was not present to witness the horrible scene on board. But I am anticipating the ship exploded her boiler on the 27th, inst., 7 miles below Alum Bluff, causing the death of 16 persons instantly, and two more will not recover.”

Item description: Letter, 30 May 1863, from George Washington Gift to his fiancee Ellen Augusta Shackelford, concerning the explosion that destroyed the gunboat C.S.S. Chattahoochee on 27 May 1863. George Washington Gift (b. 1833) was raised in Tennessee, and went to California some … Continue reading

Posted in Southern Historical Collection | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 30 May 1863: “The ‘Chattahoochee’ is no more! and I am truly thankful that I was not present to witness the horrible scene on board. But I am anticipating the ship exploded her boiler on the 27th, inst., 7 miles below Alum Bluff, causing the death of 16 persons instantly, and two more will not recover.”