Ransom W. Towle Correspondence
Collection Overview
Ransom W. Towle of Rochester, Vt. enlisted as a Sergeant in Co. E, 4th Vermont Regiment, on August 24, 1861. He was wounded at Savage's Station, Va. on June 29, 1862. He re-enlisted on December 15, 1863 and was promoted to 1st Sergeant of Co. A....
Show moreRansom W. Towle of Rochester, Vt. enlisted as a Sergeant in Co. E, 4th Vermont Regiment, on August 24, 1861. He was wounded at Savage's Station, Va. on June 29, 1862. He re-enlisted on December 15, 1863 and was promoted to 1st Sergeant of Co. A. On May 17, 1864, he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in Co. A. He was wounded and taken prisoner at Weldon Railroad, Va. on June 23, 1864 but subsequently escaped. On September 19, 1864 he was killed in action at Winchester, Va. Thomas N. Flanders of Braintree, Vt. enlisted as a Private in Co. G., 8th Vermont Regiment on November 30, 1861. He was taken prisoner on September 4, 1862 at Bayou des Allemands, La. and was paroled on November 13, 1862. On January 5, 1864 he re-enlisted. He was promoted to Corporal on July 1, 1864, to Sergeant on April 12, 1865, and was mustered out of the service on June 28, 1865. Towle's letters include accounts of his responsibilities within the regiment, foraging for food, the cold weather, his stay at Camp Griffen, and requests for provisions.
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(1 - 3 of 3)
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- Ransom W. Towle to Friends
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Writing from his Virgina camp Griffin, Towle gives a description of a Battalion Drill and the ill health effects on the soldiers, of a gale storm damaging tents and overturning an ambulance with a sick soldier inside. He writes of orders from General McClellan to be ready to move, and states men...
Show moreWriting from his Virgina camp Griffin, Towle gives a description of a Battalion Drill and the ill health effects on the soldiers, of a gale storm damaging tents and overturning an ambulance with a sick soldier inside. He writes of orders from General McClellan to be ready to move, and states men are sick and death count to date for his regiment is 66.
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- Ransom W. Towle to Rufus and Sebra Towle
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Towle responds to his parents' letter that expresses low morale at home, financial difficulties at home and Towle encourages the doing without luxuries on the home front as much as possible. He writes of a 30 hour picket trip, the capture of rebel two scouts, drills being only two a day and of a...
Show moreTowle responds to his parents' letter that expresses low morale at home, financial difficulties at home and Towle encourages the doing without luxuries on the home front as much as possible. He writes of a 30 hour picket trip, the capture of rebel two scouts, drills being only two a day and of a self inflicted wounding of a Union soldier requiring amputation of the wounded soldier's leg.
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- Title
- Ransom W. Towle to Rufus and Sebra Towle
- Description
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Towle writes from his Virginia camp to his parents about drill, military life, resignation of officers due to being unfit physically or mentally, of still needing new boots, illness, and his positive opinion of Colonel Stoughton.