36th Illinois soldier writes near Murfreesboro

James Wilson of the 36th Illinois Infantry, Company C.

Camp near Murfeesboro Tenn

16 February 1863,

I have for a long time looked for a letter from you in answer to one I wrote while on the march through KY…I did not know whether you had recd it or not a few days ago I recd a letter from home…your name signed to it so here goes…This part of the army at present…for the last three weeks…has been on Picket Guard nearly all the time and we have had one or two little scouts…We were sent to drive the stock into our lines and take the Secessh if we could but as usual they were ahead of us and all men gone even the NIGGERS which I think was the stock. We waded through mud up to our knees and cursed the whole time…we were foraging one day when the Rebels tried to cut us off but we managed to throw some shells among them and they took off….while on Picket they crawled up at night and took some shots at us but hurt no one…

Notes:

A resident of Tompkins, Illinois, Wilson mustered into service as a Corporal on 23 September 1861 and mustered out as a Captain on 8 October 1865 at Washington, DC. The 36th Illinois suffered losses at Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, Resaca, Dallas, Franklin, Nashville and many more.

Source eBay | Nate D. Sanders auction, January 2011