Solomon G. Heaton Correspondence
Collection Overview
Solomon G. Heaton enlisted from Brighton on April 22, 1861 as a private in Company D, 3rd Vermont Regiment. He reenlisted on December 21, 1863. Heaton was wounded at Spotsylvania on May 12, 1864 and was mortally wounded on Cold Harbor on June 3rd, 1864. He died three days later on June 6th.
Eleven letters from Private Heaton to his parents in Island Pond, Vermont. Heaton wrote about day-to-day activities and the poor treatment he received from some of the officers. On one occasion, he wrote, his division was paraded to witness the branding of two deserters.
Time Period Covered: July 30, 1861 - December 25, 1861
Parent Collections
Published: March 04, 2011, University of Vermont, Bailey/Howe Library, Center for Digital Initiatives
Rights: Requests to reproduce this item should be sent to the UVM Libraries' Center for Digital Initiatives at cdi@uvm.edu. For more information, see http://cdi.uvm.edu/about/rights. More information.
Browse Options
Place(s)
- Military camps -- Virginia [5]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [4]
- Vermont -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 [3]
- Military camps -- Maryland [1]
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Destruction and pillage [1]
Topic(s)
- United StatesArmy Military life [3]
- Picketing [2]
- United StatesArmy.Vermont Infantry Regiment, 3rd (1861-1865) [2]
- Contraband of war [1]
- Drill and minor tactics [1]
-
- | 1 - 6 of 6 |
-
- Thumbnails | List
Title: Solomon G. Heaton to ?
Creator: Heaton, Solomon G.
Date: 1862-12-10
Resource type: correspondence
Heaton writes that he is sending money home ($20), and that he needs $1 in postage stamps sent to him (the rest can go toward Lucy's board at school during the winter). His camp site, Belle Plains, Va., lies just east of Fredericksburg, the site of a major battle (Dec. 11-15, 1862) that began a day after Heaton wrote this note; hence, the need to be ready with sixty rounds of "catridges."
Title: Solomon G. Heaton to Family
Creator: Heaton, Solomon G.
Date: 1861-07-30
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include an account of the journey from Camp Baxter.
Title: Solomon G. Heaton to Father
Creator: Heaton, Solomon G.
Date: 1861-11-17
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include the cold weather at Camp Griffin.
Title: Solomon G. Heaton to Father
Creator: Heaton, Solomon G.
Date: 1862-10-30
Resource type: correspondence
As Heaton indicates, the Army of the Potomac crossed the river into Virginia at the time this letter was written (Gen. George McClellan would soon be removed, however, and succeeded by Gen. Ambrose Burnside). There is no record of a "very hard fight" at Gordonsville, Va. Gen. Wm. Buel Franklin was implicated in some intrigue against Burnside, and both were relieved of their command in Jan., 1863. Heaton complains about harsh treatment by his commanding officer and being denied a rubber blanket. Nevertheless, he claims to be in good spirits.
Title: Solomon G. Heaton to Mother
Creator: Heaton, Solomon G.
Date: 1861-12-25
Resource type: correspondence
Topics include a brief account of Thanksgiving and Christmas at Camp Griffin.
Title: Solomon G. Heaton to Mother
Creator: Heaton, Solomon G.
Date: 1862-03-17
Resource type: correspondence
With Heaton's words, "the great Army of the Potomac has at last started," we get a sense of impatience, on the soldier's part, with Gen. George McClellan's well-known reluctance to send men into battle. The date of this letter coincides within the beginning of the Peninsula Campaign, which deployed over 121,000 Union soldiers. Perhaps Heaton's regiment, camped somewhere in Virginia, is about to meet up with this "offul Army down on the co[a]st it numbers 90 thousand men" as part of the Campaign. He notes some of the destruction left behind by retreating rebels, most notably the burned homes near Fairfax courthouse, supposedly where George and Martha Washington were married. (The home owned by Martha Custis, Washington's betrothed, was indeed burned in 1862 because of the war. This is believed to have been a likely site of the marriage in early January, 1759.) Other place names mentioned: Mannassas, Centerville.
-
- | 1 - 6 of 6 |
-
- Thumbnails | List