Messer, George, 1833-1863 (SC 3312)

Finding aid and typescript for Manuscripts Small Collection 3312. Letter, 24 February 1863, of George Messer to his wife Lottie, written while encamped with the 107th Illinois Infantry near Woodsonville, Hart County, Kentucky. His news of camp life includes the engagement of an African American cook and a rumor of impending attack by John Hunt Morgan’s guerrillas, which he dismisses in light of the camp’s superior defenses. He describes holding money for safekeeping on behalf of his comrades, and of searching for vegetables to treat an outbreak of scurvy. He also discusses various matters relating to home, including deserters, honoring older veterans, a man’s abandonment of two women left in “a delicate way,” property of Messer’s in possession of a third party, and his wish to be reunited with his wife free of the troubles of “this very unnatural Rebellion.