Summary Information
Edwin O. Kimberley Family Papers
1850-1882
- Kimberley, E. O. (Edwin O.), d. 1919
Wis Mss DX
0.2 c.f. (1 archives box)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Family papers of Edwin Kimberley, known as “Wisconsin's singing soldier” because of his Civil War service as leader of the regimental band for the 3rd Wisconsin Infantry and of a brigade band in Sherman's Army. Letters to his parents, Henry and Elizabeth Kimberley, Brodhead, Wis., from relatives in Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire, England, mainly 1850-1875, give family news, prices of farm products, and English views of the Civil War, with some inquiries about possibilities of immigration. Civil War letters, 1861-1865, from sons William, Co. C, 3rd Wisconsin Infantry, and Edwin concern their activities. Also present is a photostat copy of published sheet music to Hamilton's Badger Boys, written by Kimberley and E. E. Bryant for the 3rd Infantry after the Battle of Bull Run.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis000dx ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Edwin 0. Kimberley, known as “Wisconsin's singing soldier” because of his services during the Civil War, was an editor and publisher at Brodhead and Janesville. He migrated from southern Lincolnshire, England, with other members of the Kimberley family, to Green County, Wisconsin in 1850.
Scope and Content Note
The letters may be divided into two groups: English letters (1850-1881) and Civil War letters (1861-1865). The English letters were written to Henry and Elizabeth Kimberley (parents of Edwin) in Green County by relatives and friends in Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire, England. They give the local news of the old home--illnesses, deaths, marriages, local gossip, and prices of farm products, and a few inquire about immigration possibilities.
The Civil War letters were written home to their parents in Brodhead by Edwin and his brother William. In the first two years of the war, they come from General Banks' army in western Maryland and in the Shenandoah Valley. Edwin was leader of a regimental band (in the 3rd Wisconsin Infantry) until such bands were abolished. William was killed at Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863.
When regimental bands were abolished, Edwin returned to Brodhead, and there are no war letters for 1863. But he returned to the war in 1864 as leader of a brigade band in Sherman's army, and his letters are written from points in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, and from New York City and Washington. There are no letters during the march to the sea, although Kimberley first sang “Sherman's March to the Sea” for General Sherman at Goldsboro, North Carolina. Like the English letters, all the Civil War letters are personal in nature, but they reveal something of a soldier's attitude towards the war, and in 1865 towards the Negro. Kimberley never saw active service as a regular private or officer at any time.
Contents List
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Correspondence
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Box
1
Folder
1
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1850-1861
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Box
1
Folder
2
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1862-1864
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Box
1
Folder
3
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1865-1882
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Box
1
Folder
4
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“Hamilton's Badger Boys” Song of the 3rd Regiment of Wisconsin Infantry, Veteran Volunteers
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