The Henry S. Eggleston Papers consist primarily of two groups of letters. The first group includes correspondence to Elizabeth Washburn when they were courting and, after their marriage, when he was travelling in the upper midwest. The second group consists of weekly letters to Elizabeth while he was serving in the 1st Cavalry. The collection also includes memorials issued at the time of his death, copies of his commissions, and a few diary pages.
The courtship letters were written from Potsdam, New York to Belleville, Ontario (1844-1845) and reflect the exchange of family and community information between two young people in love. By 1849, they had married and settled in Potsdam. In 1849, Henry Eggleston decided to go west and several letters describe his work as a carpenter in Michigan, and his reaction to abolitionists in Marshall, Michigan. The best of these letters describes his desire to see Wisconsin, his trip from Michigan to the “Badger” state, and his initial reactions upon arrival. Additional letters in this pre-war group deal with his work in Green Bay arranging for the transcription of land records related to some business interest, travel in Iowa, a description of Des Moines, and a description of hotel accommodations in Beloit.
When the Civil War began, Henry Eggleston helped raise the “Ripon Guards” who became Company B of the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry. He was elected the company captain. Between December 1861 and August 1862 Eggleston wrote weekly to Elizabeth. Most of the letters document the eight months the unit spent at Camp Harvey (Kenosha) and reflect camp conditions, aggravation at slow supply, concern that the unit might not see battle before the war's end, and infighting among the officers. Once the regiment moved to Benton Barracks in St. Louis and received horses, the letters include comments about the difficulty of training cavalry troops and their mounts. Finally, in April 1862 the 1st Cavalry went out on patrol and the letters describe the work of hunting Confederate units around Bloomfield, Missouri. The last letter, August 5, 1862, describes a pitched battle between 100 members of the 1st Cavalry and 600 Texas Rangers about eight miles from Marianna, Arkansas.
The collection also includes photocopies of a few pages from Eggleston's diaries for 1861 and 1862 (most pages were blank or contained little useful information), the telegram notifying his unit of his death, memorials on his death, his will, and photocopies of his commissions.
Numerous items selected from folders 2-7 of this collection are also available online; click here.
