Kelly, James R. (fl. 1861-1862) [Collection of James R. Kelly, K company, 14th regiment, Indiana, infantry] [Decimalized .01-.42]

The Captain James R. Kelly collection of Civil War correspondence contains 42 items. Kelly served with Company K of the 14th Regiment Indiana Volunteers from 1861 until his death on 8 May 1862. He saw action at Cheat Mountain and in the Shenandoah Valley. Captain Kelly's papers include letters to his wife Mary (#1-3, 8-24), living in Bloomington, Indiana, and inventories of the possessions of dead soldiers from his company (#4-8). Mary Kelly wrote letters (#25-34) to her mother, sister and daughter, Sisy. Item #36 is a post-war manuscript, probably written by Sisy Kelly. The collection also contains James Kelly's obituary (#38), a tintype of Mary Kelly (#39), and four war-date images of family members in a single case (#40).

James Kelly frequently comments about the morals and actions of his comrades and commander. On 22 July 1861, he mentions a group of "miserable scamps" who were discharged in disgrace (#2). He refused to falsify a document for Lonnie Cole, a neighbor from Indiana, who traded his gun for a Mississippi rifle (#15). More shocking is Kelly's condemnation of General Frederick W. Lander as "a desperatily profane wicked man" (#18, 22). Kelly's strong dislike of Lander prevents him from speaking kindly of the man even after his death. In letter #22, Kelly solemnly recounts the military funeral of General Lander and then launches into a scathing attack on the General's character.
Kelly also provides vivid descriptions of the double high bridge at North Branch Bridge, Maryland (#12) and the destruction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (#24). His rank permitted him to board in town. Mary Kelly, however, did not approve of her husband boarding with Confederate "widows" (#10, 11).

Kelly voices his discontent with the progress of the war and sarcastically remarks that newspapers must be making up battles (#16). However, Union victories on other fronts convince Kelly that the Army of the Potomac will not need to fight and "I am now inclined to the opinion that that is just What Mclellan [sic] Expects in the end."
Grant's capture of Fort Henry and Donnelson receives mention (#19), as does the plight of pickets and guards. Information about various skirmishes is available throughout Kelly's correspondence. Rumors and preparations for a battle at Winchester appear from January to March 1862 (#12, 14, 21 & 22). Captain Kelly received a mortal wound at the Battle of Winchester in March 1862. In April, Mary retrieved her husband from an army hospital and moved him to St. John's Hospital in Cincinnati. From that location, she frequently wrote home about her husband's condition (#25-34). A quiet urgency and sense of foreboding conflict with Mary's false hopes for James' recovery, as she repeatedly requests that relatives send Sisy to visit her father.

In April 1862, Mary Kelly writes about the tremendous suffering in the hospitals and offers commentary on Quaker nurses and Ms. Dix's nurses (#27). She also mentions wounded soldiers arriving from other places such as Pittsburgh Landing (Shiloh) (#29). The collection is organized in chronological order.