1 50 1 https://digitalsc.lib.vt.edu/files/original/553474480a038fa06186333be880d713.jpg 414372bd9bb2102692832795093b6965 PDF Text Text Saturday June 3rd I said I was going to take my time with this letter. think so dont you. "Gentle Annie;" was here a few minutes ago. she is the woman that has always been with our Division always up to the front when there is any fighting going on. Dressing wounds she is not afraid to be under fire either she road along the line in front of Petersburg. Horse-back and the Rebs firing at her. At the North Anna one of the boys let her take his gun and fire at them. The Boys call her Gentle Annie her name is Annie. I do not know her other name. It is very hot weather here now. Sunday June 4th I hear to day drafted men ant going to get any Bounty and have got to Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-06-03 1865-06-04 https://digitalsc.lib.vt.edu/files/original/1f23063807edd1a8a5117768e6dd993b.jpg 42a0b6dc9f8d7356cea159273d7209ce PDF Text Text pay back the $25 we did get. That is about as mean as I always thought the Goverment was. They are going to cheat the men out of as much bounty as they can, now the war is over. all I ask of them, is to let me out, and they can keep their bounty. They have got most all of the sixty two men mustered out. I hope it will be my turn next. It is very warm to day. I wonder why Mr. Humphrey did not come and see me. I think I shall be home in a month. I think if I am not discharged before & a requisition goes in for clothes I shall get another Pr of pants then I shall have a new pair to wear home + one in my knap- sack. The 120 New York went this morning. There is one thing sertain if they keep me this hot weather I can’t earn $16 a month and board + clothes any easier than here. the worst of it is I want to see home once more. I think the next that are disch- arged will go by Regiments. I will close now write often send me a few stamps. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-06-04 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource William A. Leonard Papers, 1864-1865 (Ms2011-106) Subject The topic of the resource Petersburg (Va.)--History--Siege, 1864-1865 United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Diaries. United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Civil War Petersburg (Va.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865. Description An account of the resource The collection includes William A. Leonard's letters home from February-July 1865, as well as his diary from August 1864-April 1865. Leonard served as an ambulance driver in and around the siege at Petersburg, which is the focus of his short diary entries. His early letters focus on war news and rumors, daily life, and news from home. Letters following Lee's surrender emphasize Leonard's experiences while stationed around Washington, DC, daily life (including the growing frustrations of soldiers wanting to get home) and his complaint's about the rumors and delays of his regiment's discharge and payment. All the letters in this collection were written home to Leonard's parents, usually his mother. He continually reassures her not to worry about him, requests various things from home (especially stamps), and talks about his daily life. He frequently writes about plans for when he gets home. Leonard's religious sentiments also recur throughout his correspondence. He also includes war news and who he has seen, though he reveals his priorities and lack of interest in being a soldier, saying in March 1865: "we have got a good man to steer the machine, that fellow they call U. S. Grant. Sheridan & Sherman are giving them fits. I have seen Grant & Mede a number of times this summer I had a great deal rather see you + Pa. I dont want to see Nora because she wanted me to go soldiering" Although battle descriptions are not necessarily the focus of Leonard's letters, his 1864 correspondence contains details of being fired upon a Petersburg, of picket duty, and later, of transporting injured men. In June 1865, he writes several letters detailing the sight of unburied dead men and horses and the sound of fighting from the front at Petersburg. In May 1865, he writes of the incompetence of the doctors: "The Doctors here dont have any thing fit to give any one and the bigest of them dont know how to doctor a hen anyway. They take the wounded men legs and arms off half the time. when there is no need of it, do it practice there has been a number of times I have heard of that...The Doct of the Regt was a clerk in an apothecary shop..." Leonard's diary begins in August 1864, apparently when he was appointed to drive an ambulance. His entries are short and refer mostly to his daily activities: who or what he was conveying to and from the hospital at City Point outside Petersburg; what letters he sent or received; war news; or when he attended religious meetings. Shortly before the diary ends in April 1865, he notes the firing of guns and cannons "for the death of abram Lincoln President of the U.S. who was shot by a man by the name of Booth." He refers to the death of Lincoln and its effect on the soldiers in several letters, as well. Leonard's own correspondence suggests he kept a previous diary--in August 1864, he inquires if his mother has received the one he sent home--but it is unknown if this diary still exists. William A. Leonard was born about 1843 to Joel A. (b.1817) and Sophia Leonard (1816-d. before 1880). His parents were both natives of Vermont who moved to Massachusetts. William and his two sisters, Leonora (b. abt. 1852; and who William calls "Nora" in his letters and is later listed as "Mary" in a least one set of census records) and Roselia (b. abt. 1859) were all born in Great Barrington, Berkshire County. It is unknown what line of work William Leonard was in prior to the war, though he was living at home with his family. He was drafted into service in July 1863 for a three year term with Company F, 16th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry. In mid-July 1864, the 16th Infantry mustered out. Existing veterans and recruits, Leonard included, were transferred to the 11th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry. From at least August of 1864 until Lee's surrender, Leonard served as an ambulance driver, transporting wounded from battlefield to hospital. His unit spent nearly a year in and around Petersburg. While stationed outside Washington, DC, waiting to muster out, Leonard also drove civilians in and around the city. He particularly makes mention of taking family members to hospitals to get news of soldiers. Leonard returned home to Great Barrington in July 1865. In 1880, he was living at home with his father, Leonora and her husband, and Leonora's brother-in-law. At the time, he was employed at a woolen mill. In 1894, he purchased a plumbing and steam fitting business from a former employer. Later census records suggest he was married to a woman named Hattie (probably Henrietta; b. abt. 1863), but it is unknown when. They had daughter, Nellie, in June 1897. Sources: Ancestry.com Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, National Park Service. The Metal Worker, vol. XLI, January to June 1894. New York: David Williams, 1894. Via Google Books, November 2011. Abstract A summary of the resource. The collection includes William A. Leonard's letters home from February-July 1865, as well as his diary from August 1864-April 1865. Leonard served as an ambulance driver in and around the siege at Petersburg, which is the focus of his short diary entries. His early letters focus on war news and rumors, daily life, and news from home. Post-surrender letters emphasize Leonard's experiences while stationed around Washington, DC, daily life (including the growing frustrations of soldiers wanting to get home) and his complaint's about the rumors and delays of his regiment's discharge. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Leonard, William A., b. abt. 1843 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=vt/viblbv00953.xml">See the Finding Aid for the William A. Leonard Papers</a> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1864/1865 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://omeka.lib.vt.edu/files/thumbnails/spec_forms/PubPermission.doc">Permission to publish material from the William A. Leonard Papers must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.</a> Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Ms2011-106 Bibliographic Citation A bibliographic reference for the resource. Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: William A. Leonard Papers, Ms2011-106, Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va. Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. <a href="http://spec.lib.vt.edu/">Special Collections, Virginia Tech</a> Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter, William Leonard to Mother, Camp Near Washington, June 3-4, 1865 (Ms2011-106) Subject The topic of the resource Civil War United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Petersburg (Va.)--History--Siege, 1864-1865 Bibliographic Citation A bibliographic reference for the resource. Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: William A. Leonard Papers, Ms2011-106, Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=vt/viblbv00953.xml">See the Finding Aid for the William A. Leonard Papers</a> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-06-03 1865-06-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://omeka.lib.vt.edu/files/thumbnails/spec_forms/PubPermission.doc">Permission to publish material from the William A. Leonard Papers must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Leonard, William A., b. abt. 1843 Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. <a href="http://spec.lib.vt.edu/">Special Collections, Virginia Tech</a> Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Ms2011-106_LeonardWilliam_B1F2_Letter_1865_0603