Churchill, Byron (b. ca. 1846) [Collection of Byron E. Churchill, A company, 15th regiment, Michigan, infantry] [decimalized]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03859 Author/Creator: Churchill, Byron (b. ca. 1846) Place Written: [various places] Type: Header Record Date: 1862-1865 Pagination: 35 letters + 14 env. Order a Copy
Sometimes signs as "Biron." Churchill's mother was Drazilla of St. Joseph Co., Burr Oak, Mich. His regiment served at Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg and in the Atlanta campaign. His last letter in the field is dated Atlanta 8/24/1864 (#25); he was captured sometime after. In letter #26 of 4/11/1865 dated from General Hospital, David's Island, NY, a nurse writes that Byron was imprisoned "in that awful southern prison" at Florence SC for the winter, was exchanged 3/1/1865, spent a month in Hospital at Wilmington and was sent to NY. (No letters were written from prison.) Letters #26-32 were written by nurse Mrs. Juliet G. Robins.The vast majority of letters in this collection are from Churchill to his mother in his own hand (#1-25, #34). Churchill's letters routinely mention his health and his need for postage stamps. Several letters specifically mention the presence of disease in camp (#1, 2, 8), including Churchill's confession "…I am more afraid of disease than I am of rebil bulits" (#2). Another prominent theme in Churchill's letters concerns efforts to recruit men at home in Michigan and Churchill's low opinion of the men who remain there (#4, 6, 7, 10 ,12). He frequently refers to such men as cowards, particularly when he learns that the most recent recruitment effort has been unsuccessful: "O I wish that all such cowards would be drafted and had to serve their life time in the army…." Churchill also expresses considerable contempt for African Americans both in calling them "black devils" (#11), and in expressing his desire for them to be slain (#11, 12).
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