This collection includes 13 pieces of correspondence addressed to Mathias Embry of Vincennes, Indiana during the years 1863-1864. The bulk of the collection was written by or about John Posey (1842?-1864) and Charles Newton (1843?-1864), both Black soldiers who served in the 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment. The letters provide a glimpse of the experience and motivation of Black soldiers serving during the Civil War and the effect of the war on both the enlisted and non-combatants.
Mathias Embry lived in Vincennes, Indiana. His date of birth and death, as well as his occupation, are unknown. Embry was a cousin of John Posey and possibly related to Charles Newton.
John Posey (1842?-1864) was a 22-year-old Black farmer from Vincennes, Indiana. Posey enlisted as a Private in the newly formed 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment, Company D and arrived at Camp Meigs in Readville, Massachusetts on June 20, 1863. He was noted as being 5'11" with brown eyes and black hair. Following training at Camp Meigs, Posey was stationed briefly in Boston, M.A. before shipping out to New Bern, N.C. on July 21st, 1863. After a brief stay in New Bern, Posey arrived on Folly Island, South Carolina, and helped take control of Fort Wagner on September 7, 1863, before participating in operations against Fort Sumpter and Charleston. In February 1864, Posey moved with his regiment to Northern Florida before returning to the area around Charleston in April 1864. Posey participated in skirmishes around Charleston before the 55th joined with General William T. Sherman's forces as they marched through the Carolinas. Posey was killed in action on November 30, 1864, during the Battle of Honey Hill in South Carolina as the 55th Massachusetts charged a Confederate battery.
Charles Newton (1843?-1864) was a 21 year-old Black soldier from Vincennes, Indiaia. Newton enlisted as a Private in the 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment, Company C and was possibly related to John Posey and Mathias Embry. It appears from Posey's correspondence that Newton was wounded and sent to recover in or around Portsmouth, Virginia sometime in the fall of 1863 and was reported as still in the area by Posey through February 2, 1864. Newton died sometime before November 16, 1864 according to correspondence from a Peter Newton to Mathias Embry; however, Newton is not noted among the enlisted killed while serving in the 55th Massachusetts according to the records kept by the Association of the Officers 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.
Citations:
"55th Massachusetts Regiment." National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/55th-massachusetts-regiment.htm. Accessed 20 March 2023.
Fox, Charles B. Record of the Service of the Fifty-fifth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. 1868. Vol. 2, Association of Officers of the 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry records, Massachusetts Historical Society, https://www.masshist.org/collection-guides/digitized/fa0479/b02-f12#1. Accessed 20 March 2023.
"Newton, Charles." Soldier Details. National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers-detail.htm?soldierId=6367BDBE-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A. Accessed 20 March 2023.
"Posey, John." Soldier Details. National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers-detail.htm?soldierId=AA2FE7C3-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A. Accessed 20 March 2023.
"Union Massachusetts Volunteers: 55th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry (Colored)." Battle Unit Details, National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=UMA0055RI00C. Accessed 20 March 2023.
Voices of the 55th: Letters from the 55th Massachusetts Volunteers, 1861-1865. Ed. Noah Andre Trudeau. Dayton, Ohio, Morningside, 1996.
Series 1: Correspondence from John Posey to Mathias Embry
John Posey's (1842?-1864) correspondence to his cousin Mathias Embry covers the period of July 11, 1863 to June 3, 1864 and includes two undated letters. Additionally, two of the letters appear incomplete. Posey's letters describe major events the 55th Massachusetts Regiment participated in, including battles, locales visited, the names of fellow soldiers, descriptions of daily life, frustration at the lack of news from home, and the perspective of the Black soldier fighting against injustice and "oppression." Most of Posey's correspondence is written from Folly Island, South Carolina.
Most notable of Posey's correspondence is a May 16, 1864 letter in which he expresses his perspective as a Black soldier serving his country and the satisfaction he feels from fighting for freedom. Posey writes: "Remember we are a nation that have been greatly oppressed . . . The white people said the colored people could not drill now we have proven it that we can drill as good as any other. . ." Posey also praises President Abraham Lincoln's efforts stating ". . . our kind President is making slow but a sure effort to open up the way for us . . . it is a glorious blessing". He continues: "[I] feel as happy as a nightingale 16 degrees above the sky. Times are good here . . . I am better satisfied now and have been so ever since I left home than ever I was for three years before . . . I am a soldier for Uncle Sam and I will obey and stay with his men as long as it suits me if that is till I am gray."
Significant events in the war include mention of Posey's time in Boston following training and the regiment's delayed deployment due to the draft riots carried out by Irish immigrants in Boston (July 11, 1863), description of the blockade around Charleston, South Carolina and his regiment's work "fortifying and mounting gun mortars" in and around Morris Island, S.C. (November 18, 1863), the description of a skirmish with Southern troops (December 2, 1863), a move to the area around Jacksonville, Florida, and operations to take a railroad there (February 2, 1864), and a rumor of the severity of the May 21st action, which took place not long after the 55th Massachusetts' return to islands surrounding Charleston, S. C. which Posey relates left 18 killed and 30 wounded (June 3, 1864) (The actual reported numbers for this demonstration were 9 wounded and 2 missing).
Posey's letters provide numerous examples of the life and emotions that accompanied being a soldier in the Civil War, regardless of side or race. Posey often laments the lack of news from home (April 1864), speaks of missing girls he once knew and local events happening back in Indiana (December 2, 1863), the differences in weather between home and where he is stationed (February 2, 1964), the food or lack-there-of (December 27, 1863 and February 2, 1864), the hope of being furloughed (May 16, 1864), and his frustration with "nothing to drink [alcohol] worth speaking of" (November 18, 1863). An individual brought up often in Posey's letters is Charles Newton (1843?-1864), possibly a relative of Posey and Embry. Newton was a 21 year-old Private in the 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment, Company C, also of Vincennes, Indiana. Posey informs Embry of Newton's whereabouts often, including Newton's separation from the regiment in Portsmouth, Virginia due to injury or sickness (November 18, 1863) and Newton's exposure to smallpox (February 2, 1864).
Several other individuals who must have been known to Embry and who are from the same Knox County-area of Indiana are brought up in Posey's letters, including Andy Hill, Vincennes, IN, Company G; Private Elijah Cox, Busron P.O., IN, Company C; Private Thornton Larmont, Vincennes, IN, Company C; William Larmont, Vincennes, IN, Company C; and Samuel Graves, Knox County, IN, Company D. Other enlisted mentioned include: Second Lieutenant John Freeman Shorter, Ohio, Company D.
Series 2: Correspondence from various to Mathias Embry
The second group of correspondence is from various individuals to Mathias Embry but still revolves around the events and the effects of the Civil War. This group includes letters from several members of the Newton family, including Private Charles Newton (1843?-1864) (February 19, 1863) a 21 year-old Black soldier from Vincennes, Indiana of Company C, 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment and a soldier names Charles Finstwald from a convalescent hospital in Nashville, Tennessee (July 7, 1864). As in the letters to Embry from Posey, Newton is mentioned often in several letters by various individuals, including news of his death (November 11, 1864).
Most notable in this series are the letters from the two soldiers. Like Posey, Charles Newton captures the motivation of Black soldiers serving in the Union Army. He writes "I am well satisfied[,] my resolution is made perfect . . . although we are far from home we are not yet in mind of the way the [terribly?] have treated we friends of color and now stand as though they had done some great righteous duty and deserved to be worshiped [.] we will worship them with powder and lead. . ." (February 18, 1863 - Note: letter is misdated and the correct year should be 1864 since the regiment was not formed until May 1863.) Finstwald's letter describes the experience of a wounded, immobile soldier in a convalescent hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. Though in "good spirits" he describes his difficulty walking and his desire for someone to bring him home to recover.
January 31, 2023, 0.15 cubic feet; Collection includes correspondence addressed to Mathias Embry during the years 1863-1864. Nine of the letters are from John Posey, a Black soldier in the 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment. The remaining four letters are from various individuals to Embry.
Minimally processed by Martha Elmore February 2023
Processed by John Dunning March 2023
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Includes original envelope and transcript. Envelope addressed to Mathias Embry. Torn with portion of letter missing.
Includes original envelope and transcript. Portion of letter missing.
Includes original envelope and transcript.
Includes original envelope and partial transcription.
Includes original envelope and transcript.
Includes original envelope and transcript.
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Date inferred. Includes original envelope and transcript. Portion of letter missing; contains pages 5-8 and page 11 only.
Date inferred. Includes transcript.
Includes original envelope and transcript.
Includes original envelope and partial transcription.
Includes original envelope and transcript.
Includes transcript.