Gorsuch, Joseph B. (1834-1908) to Sallie F. H. Keely
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00653.09.10 Author/Creator: Gorsuch, Joseph B. (1834-1908) Place Written: s.l. Type: Autograph letter Date: 5 June 1863 Pagination: 4 p. ; 31.4 x 21.5 cm. Order a Copy
Author inferred based on handwriting and content. Writes to Sallie, apparently a former member of a Sunday School class he taught in Brookville (possibly Ohio or Indiana). Reminisces about life before the war: "Dear old Brookville... How my heart warms and a smile creeps up to my sober face, at that name, whose very sound fills me with dreamy memories of quiet happy days. I forgot for a moment that I am a soldier, in whose ears have rung, for more than a month, almost unceasingly, the deep roar of artillery, the quick rattle of rifles, the screaming of flying shells, and their sullen boom as they burst, the shouts of officers, the groans of the wounded..." Remembers teaching "a crowd of eager girlish faces... upturned to mine, waiting for another story or another hymn, and their tiny hands cling to my fingers,as they beg for just one more." Mentions his participation in the Battle of Vicksburg. Refers to mutual acquaintances who are also soldiers. Writes "I wonder where my class is; I wonder who tells the little girls Bible stories and sings with them after Sunday School..." Written from the headquarters of the 13th Army Corps, Office of the Provost Marshal.
Gorsuch served as Captain of the 83rd Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry and Provost Marshal of the 13th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee.
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