Morris, Wilmor W., fl. 1861-1862 to: Mr. & Mrs. John Morris.

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GLC#
GLC06451.044-View header record
Type
Letters
Date
March 24, 1862
Author/Creator
Morris, Wilmor W., fl. 1861-1862
Title
to: Mr. & Mrs. John Morris.
Place Written
Head Quarters Camp Hamilton
Pagination
4 p + env.
Primary time period
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877
Sub-Era
The American Civil War

Wilmor describes leaving Camp Johnston on 17 March and arriving at Fortress Monroe the next day. They are "encamped at the mouth of James River [with]in about 200 yards of ex President Tyler['s] mansion." Fourteen vessels brought the men up the bay and the scenery along the river was "the pritest [prettiest] sight I ever saw." He saw the Monitor, which at first glance looked "about sunk it is all under water only a steel tur[r]et [is not]," and describes how it defeated the Confederate gunboat Merrimac. It was pouring when they arrived and they "would have drowned" if the 16th Massachusetts regiment had taken several men into each of their tents. Their cooks made coffee all night long for the division, their generosity proving to Wilmor that they were "best soldiers that I ever saw."

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