These are letters that Adam Bentz (1842-1886), a Union Civil
War Soldier from Meigs County, Ohio, wrote or received in the Civil War era. Reading them in succession from 1 to 18 gives
an interesting story. William W. Bentz
(1913-2001), Adam’s great nephew and my Dad, found these letters in the family Bible of Adam’s
parents, Michael (1815-1864) and Mary Harpold (1823-1912) Bentz. Emma Bentz Hayman (1854-1934) and Matilda
Bentz (1857-1944), Adam’s sisters, lived together in Syracuse, Ohio and had
custody of the Bible for many years.
Fifth Letter February the 7, 1864
Dear Nephew I seat
myself this afternoon to answer your most kind and welcome letter it us all
well at present I was glad to hear that you got my picture but you ought to
always get the scrubbingrag ready when you get a letter from me for it always
has nonsense in it I would have answered your letter before now but it had to
wait until I seen Spence to know where to direct letters to the boys it is La
Grand Oragon there is where Henry Harpold is and Henry Hester and Josh was
tending a farm somewhere else but he has gone to the two henrys I guess they
aint doing much vint is a going to leave before long with his wife for Illinois
and Spencers Widow run off the other day and they don’t know where he went down
the river they are very unruly boys Adam don’t get married until you have a
place to take your wife to and let them secesh gals alone for they might make
you sorry before a week I wish you could have been here this winter to had fun
I would like to know how it comes that they can keep you until September they
cant do it for you only enlisted for 3 years and they cant keep you any longer
it is just their own doings and I think they ought to let you free when your
time is out but obey all commands and live in hopes of better day a coming when
you will be free from this bad war and Adam try to live a good boy, that if you
should die before you get released that we will meet in a better world where
wars can never come I want to see your sweet picture so bad that I cant hardly
wait until I get it your grandma and pa are as well as common and they send
their best love and kind wishes to you
georges wife is sick with the consumption I guess it is but she is
little better now ok
Adam if I could only
see you it would do me lots more of good than to be writing but I thank God that we can write to one another
it is a little satisfaction I wish you was here tonight to tell me more yarns
but I would get the scrubbingrag ready so I would not have to go and get it
when I needed it you said you just finished a hearty breakfast of coffee and
bread and meat I am glad you have enough of that but Adam I would freely eat
what you have to eat until your time is out if I only could so than you to not
have plenty all the time Calirsa got you letter Thursday and he is agoing to
answer it Barbara Ann McDade AB
Sixth Letter March 6th 1864
Ganley
Bridge West Va
March 6th 1864
Dear Father
I now seat myself this morning to write you a few lines to
let you know that I am well at present & hope when these few lines come to
hand they will find you the same. I
have nothing very interesting to write.
But the Captain of our Company went home a few days ago and sent by him a
little small box with a letter in it and a little Bead worked pocket which I want
Emma to keep until I come home if the Captain has not brought it up to you yet
you can send Peter down after it, and before the Captain comes back you can
give him a quart bottle of good Whiskey to bring to me for he has his Trunk
with & he can bring it very handy.
We will get paid off in a few days about the 12th or 15th
inst I cannot say when I will come perhaps not before I am Discharged. You can send a letter also by Capt Pinderly,
so nothing more at present. I send my
love to Ma & all the children.
Your
Affectionate Son
Adam
Bentz
To M
Bentz
Seventh Letter April 30th
1864
Ganley Bridge West Va April 30th /64
Dear Father and Mother Brother and Sisters
I again seat myself to write you a few lines to inform you
that I am well at present time and hoping when they come to hand they will find
you all well and doing well. George
Holland & George Johnson is going to start for home tomorrow that is the
reason that I write this letter and another thing is that perhaps I wont get
the chance to write again for sometime.
We have orders to march in the morning our destination is unknown, but
anyhow this is the start of the Campaign.
The general opinion is that we will go to Doublin Depot to get
possession of the R Road there. I am not
allowed to state how many Troops there are in the Valley but I can assure there
is plenty to give the Rebs a good (turn) Supper or Dinner. We were within 17 miles of Lewisburgh last
week a repairing the Roads and opening the Blockades. We are all busy getting everything ready for
the march. There is nothing new a going
on here. Only about the place we are
bound for. It has been 4 months since we
have been paid off. But now I think we will not be Paid until our
time is up and I don’t care then I wont have the pleasure of spending it out
here where everything is so dear. Butter
is 30cts per lb Eggs 20cts per doz Coffee 50 cts Pork 10 cts Bacon 15 cts. Calicos 40 cts to 50 cts per yd. the 13th Va Inf is on its way up
here also the 23d. Our time is up the 14th
of Sept. then I will be home for certain.
I think I could have gotten a furlough if I had tried but my time is so
short that I didn’t care. Our Captain
says that we will come back here but when he cant say. I believe I have nothing
more to write this time so I will close.
Give my Respects to all enquiring Friends and accept the same
yourselves.
I Remain
Your Affectionate Son
Adam Bentz
To
Mary Bentz
PS you need
not write for about a week.
Address
Adam Bentz
Camp H 5 Regt Va Voll
Inf
Ganley Bridge West
Va
Eighth Letter June 13th 1864
Camp at Lexington Va June 13th /64
Dear Brother
I will
write a few lines to you to let you know that I am well at this present &
hoping when they come to hand they may find you all well and doing well.
Well I
am still right side up with care. To Day
our men captured 8 Canal Boats with everything in them. General Averell is out
today fighting old Imboden there is a rumor in camp that our men took
Lynchburgh if not we have already surrounded it & will soon close in on it.
I guess
we will leave this place in a day or two.
We made the Rebs get out of this Place we also captured all their
Cannon. Yesterday we burnt up the Military
Institute & Govenor Tetchers House. I also went today and seen where Gen
Jackson was buried. There is a few Univr
People in Town. It is a very nice
town. Well I have nothing more to write
so I will close hoping to hear from you soon.
Peter I want you to write to me as soon as you read this for I am
anxious to hear from home. You must put
a Stamp in every letter you write so I can send it back to you.
Adam Bentz
Camp H 5th
Regt Va Volls Infantry
1st
Brigade 2 Division 8 Army Corps
Via Clarksburgh
West Va
Direct as it is
written above
Adam Bentz to
Peter Bentz
3 month from
tomorrow my time is out
Tell Frank
Hollands mother that he is well & right side up
Wikipedia: Battle of Lynchburg
Background
During the
Civil War, Lynchburg was used as a supply and hospital center. It was also a
connection in the railroad that supplied the Confederate
States Army. It was
for this reason that Hunter determined to capture it. In accordance with a plan
formulated by Brig.
Gen. William
W. Averell, the infantry divisions of Brigadier Generals George Crook and Jeremiah
C. Sullivan proceeded south from Staunton on June 10 alongside Averell's cavalry division.
However,
Hunter had two major problems. He was supposed to receive help from Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan; who never showed up because he had suffered a major setback at
the Battle of
Trevilian Station and was forced to retreat to an area around Richmond and
Petersburg. The other, and perhaps most devastating, issue was that Hunter's
supply lines were being harassed by the 43rd
Battalion Virginia Cavalry, under
Lt. Col. John S. Mosby. Between May 20 and June 17, only one supply wagon had reached
Hunter.
At Lexington on June 11, Hunter fought with Confederate
cavalry under Brig.
Gen. John McCausland, who withdrew to Buchanan. Hunter ordered Col. Alfred N.
Duffié to join
him in Lexington with his cavalry division. While waiting, Hunter burned Virginia
Military Institute and the home of John Letcher, former Governor
of Virginia. After being
joined by Duffié on June 13, Hunter sent Averell to drive McCausland out of
Buchanan and capture the bridge there across the James River, but McCausland burned the bridge and fled the town. Hunter
joined Averell in Buchanan the following day before advancing via the road
between the Peaks of Otter on June 15. His cavalry occupied Liberty that evening.
Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. John C.
Breckinridge sent Brig. Gen. John D. Imboden and his cavalry to join McCausland.
Breckinridge arrived in Lynchburg the next day. Maj. Gen. Daniel
Harvey Hill and Brig. Gen. Harry T. Hays constructed a defense line in the hills just
southwest of the city. That afternoon, McCausland fell back to New London and
skirmished with Averell's cavalry which pursued him. The Union launched another
attack on McCausland and Imboden that evening. The Confederates retreated from
New London.
Battle
Early
arrived in Lynchburg at one o'clock on June 17, having been sent by General Robert E. Lee. Three hours later, Averell encountered McCausland's and
Imboden's dismounted cavalry entrenched at the Quaker
Meeting House, four
miles from the city. The Confederates were driven back after Col. Carr B. White's brigade moved in to support Averell. Two brigades of Major
General Stephen
Dodson Ramseur's
division occupied the area around a redoubt two miles from the city and hindered the
Union advance.
Hunter
made Sandusky his headquarters and planned the attack on Early's defenses. That
night, trains could be heard moving up and down the tracks. Also, various
instruments such as bugles and drums were heard by Hunter's troops. Even the
people of Lynchburg made noise by having bands play and citizens scream. Their
goal was to make the Confederate army seem larger than it really was.
On June
18, Major Generals Arnold Elzey and Robert
Ransom, Jr. arrived from the Confederate capital of Richmond,
Virginia. Elzey
assumed command of Breckinridge's infantry and dismounted cavalry while Ransom
superseded Imboden as commander of the mounted cavalry. Early elected to remain
defensive and wait for the rest of the Second Corps to arrive. The redoubt now known as Fort Early was at the center
of the Confederate line, with Maj. Gen. John Brown Gordon's division on the left and Brig. Gen. William G. Lewis's brigade on the right. McCausland commanded
the right flank, which included a redoubt, and
Elzey's command defended the area between it and Lewis' brigade. Col. Scott Shipp's VMI cadets were placed in reserve at Spring Hill Cemetery while
the inner defenses were occupied by the Confederate
Home Guard.
Hunter,
still not convinced that Lee had sent reinforcements to Lynchburg, deployed
Sullivan's and Crook's divisions in front of the Confederate center, with
Averell in reserve, and sent an order to Duffié to attack the Confederate
right. Reconnoitering the line in an effort to find a weak spot to push his
infantry through, Hunter ruled out a direct attack on the redoubts, for they
appeared too strong. He allowed Lt. Col. Henry A. du Pont to deploy his thirty-two cannons. Crook was
sent to flank the Confederate left, but marched a few miles before finding it
impracticable. The Confederates attacked Sullivan and du Pont, who managed to
hold them at bay until Crook returned. The Confederates fell back after a half
hour of fighting, but spent the next hour and twenty minutes attempting to
break through the gap between Sullivan and Duffié before withdrawing to their earthworks. A regiment of Col. Rutherford
B. Hayes' brigade
pursued them but were beaten back.
Meanwhile,
McCausland succeeded in holding off Duffié's assaults. As ammunition ran short,
both Hunter and Duffié became convinced that they were outnumbered. Early then
prepared to begin an attack of his own, but Hunter retreated at nightfall.
Aftermath
Early's
army moved sixty miles in three days. At that point, Early called off the
pursuit and awaited for Hunter to make a move. Hunter decided to move across
the Shenandoah Valley and into West Virginia.
The Battle
of Lynchburg proved to be quite helpful in the Confederates' fight against the
Union. Hunter's retreat made it possible for Early to freely move up the Shenandoah Valley. Early's army advanced up through Maryland and even made it as far as Washington, D.C.
Ninth Letter June 30, 1864
Camp Piatt
West Va
June 30th
/64
Dear Parents
Once my
arrival is made to this Camp and thank the good man for it. I got here last Evening safe. I was perfectly played out. I never was on such a Raid as this one in my
life, nor do I want to go another one as long as I am in the Service. I cannot write this time for I am so weak
that I cannot write nor walk either. Wm
Llewellyn was wounded in the fight at Lynchburgh he is either left at Liberty
or has been brought to Charleston Va there was of wounded & one missing out
of our Camp army. I got through the
battle it was a hard Battle and loss is about 1000 killed & missing &
starved to death on the retreat. I will
tell you more about it when I come Home that will be in 60 days. I cant tell how long we will stay here we
will be Paid off in a few Days the Paymaster is here now at Charleston. Tell Frank Hollands mother that he is well
& right side up. I have not seen
Henry McDade yet but expect to in a short time.
I hope these few lines will find you all well when they come to
hand. Give my best Respects to all
enquiring Friends; let GrandPa know that I am well. So good bye.
I want you to write soon as you get this Letter. I had a notion to Telegraph to you this
morning.
Adam Bentz
To
Mary Bentz
Direct
Letters
To Adam Bentz
1st Brigade
2d Division
8th
Army Corps
Camp H 5th
Regt Va Voll Inf
Charleston West
Va
PS Dont
forget to write right for we may have to leave soon AB
Tenth Letter July 1864 (Letter Not Dated)
Adam Bentz
To
Mary Bentz
Direct
Letters
To Adam Bentz
Camp H 5th
Regt V Volls Inf
Charleston
West Va
Give my respects to all
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