Wheeler, Lysander (fl. 1837-1903) to his sister Martha [Spohn]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC07460.056 Author/Creator: Wheeler, Lysander (fl. 1837-1903) Place Written: Nashville, Tennesee Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 19 October 1863 Pagination: 3 p. : envelope ; 20.5 x 25.5 cm. Order a Copy
Discusses the weather, particularly the muddy conditions. He states that the local rock is limestone and that the mud makes good mortar for building chimneys. Wheeler expects that they will stay in Nashville for some time, possibly through the winter. Mentions that his Uncle Washington is a peace man of the "Vallandingham stripe", referring to Clement Vallandingham, an Ohio Statesman and leader of the Copperhead faction of Democrats in the North. Of the Copperheads, Wheeler remarks: " the Devil is a more likely man than these Copperheads for he is always on one side, and you know how to take him." He remarks that Copperheads will be branded as Tories when the soldiers return from war.
Lysander Wheeler, a farmer from Sycamore, Illinois, enlisted in the Union Army on August 7, 1862 as a private. He was mustered into Company C of the 105th Illinois infantry and later promoted to sergeant. Wheeler was mustered out on June 7, 1865.
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