Summary Information
Richard E. Carter Civil War Correspondence
1861-1865, 1895, 1900
Wis Mss 46S
0.1 c.f. (5 folders)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Letters written by Captain Richard E. Carter of Company I, 5th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, to his brother William and other family members in Grant County, Wisconsin during his Civil War service (1861-1865) as a quartermaster sergeant, captain, and acting quartermaster. Also included are two letters from William to Richard (1895, 1900) pertaining to these Civil War letters and family matters.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis0046s ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
This remarkably fine collection of Civil War correspondence consists almost entirely of letters written by Richard E. Carter, a young native of Lancaster, Wsiconsin to his brother William E. who was an attorney of that city. Carter enlisted in the 5th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment at the outbreak of the war as a quartermaster sergeant, was advanced in rank to 2nd lieutenant, 1st lieutenant, and captain of Company I and, in the last year of the war, served as Acting Quartermaster of the regiment.
Soon after it was organized, the 5th Regiment left Camp Randall and saw heavy fighting throughout the war, including the battle of Bull Run, the Peninsular Campaign and other campaigns in Virginia, and the battles of Antietam, Gettysburg, and Rappahannock.
Scope and Content Note
Many of the officers and men of the 5th Regiment, including its colonel, Amasa Cobb, were from Grant County, and Carter's letters contain many comments and news items on his comrades. His position in the quartermaster's department placed him in close contact with difficulties in securing provisions, movements of troops, etc., much of which information he passed on in his letters.
Throughout the misfortunes and defeats of the Union Army in Virginia, Carter stoutly defended the conduct of the campaigns and General McClellan's military technique. Some of the unpleasant aspects of army life, such as arrearage in pay, inadequate medical care, and military red tape, are revealed in letters he wrote from a hospital at Hagarstown, Maryland, where he spent several months, and while trying to be reinstated in the army after his return. The letters in this collection, which were written almost every week in the first two years of the war and less regularly thereafter, are filled with observations on battles, troop movements, personalities, and incidents of army life.
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