$185.00 CAD
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1863 Civil War letter from James Cleland in Lost Creek Ohio to his brother John, Orderly in Company B of the 111th Regiment of Ohio Voluntary Infantry, in action in East Tennessee.
From a small farming area of Western Ohio, letter talks about crops, army recruitment, possible invasion from Canada (!), big fight in Tennessee, buying materiel for a uniform, etc..
John W. Cleland was born to Arthur and Mary Cleland on June 8, 1843 in Ohio. He was one of four children: James (born about 1836), Mary J. (born about 1841), William (born about 1848), and Margaret (born about 1852). John Cleland enlisted in Company F of the 111th Ohio Infantry on September 5, 1862. He was promoted several times: to First Sergeant on March 5, 1863, to Second Lieutenant on April 12, 1864, and to First Lieutenant on May 2, 1865. His unit served in Kentucky, in East Tennessee (including the Battle of Knoxville), and in the Atlanta campaign. Cleland mustered out on June 27, 1865 in Salisbury, North Carolina. He returned to Ohio and married Celinda J. Hughes on May 16, 1867.
Pre-stamped 3 cent envelope sent to :
Arrowsmith O Nov 27
Orderly J.W. Cleland Co. B 111th Regt OVI
East Tenn
Care of Capt. J.E. Hill
Arrowsmiths is a ghost town in Farmer Township, Defiance County, Ohio, A mill was operated by a Mr. Arrowsmith on Lost Creek until around 1846. A post office called Arrowsmiths was established in 1843 and remained in operation until 1866.
No 28
Lost Creek Nov the 25th 1863
Dear Brother it is now some time since I have wrote a letter to you. . Jennie has wrote two since I wrote I believe. I intended to write one to send with capt but I had such short notice and I was busy husking corn that I did not do it, I might have done it however he said he would. for he did not start for two or three days after. I suppose you find yourselves a good deal stronger since them recruiting officers have got back and I suppose they found the people up here very much interested in having the war go on provided always that somebody else does the fighting and that there is no personal calls made. There have been two enlistments in this township since capt left Sam Seisco and G L Brown they started away last Monday we still have to make up thirteen yet. I suppose the draft the fifth of January will get them. In regard to war news we are at a stand still some rumours of a big fight down in your neighbourhood in which Co. F was engaged but that is about all. Mead and Lee are advertised to run a weekly line from the Raphidar to Washington and viva versa. I suppose they can make it pay. The weather here still continues fine for the time of year it is cool but we have had but very little stormy weather yet. We got done husking corn some ten days ago our corn was rather poor but it was as good as any I have seen. We have about 1600 bushels of ears corn is worth from 79 to 100 per bushel according to quality. We sold our wool the other day for 79 cts per pound to Keck & Crall of Bryan. We had six hundred and five pounds. We had bargained it to Jas Fisher some six weeks ago for 71 cts but he never came after it so we sold it again for 75
We have hired Jacob Musser for a year. He will commence work next week. Elisha Fadely is working here this week on his account. I hope we won’t be catched in the same fix next summer we were this.
Thursday the 26th Father is going down to the office this afternoon I will write a little more in this and send it along. You may not get for a month if letters don’t go there any faster than they come this way. We have not received any letters form you for about three weeks the last one you wrote at Nicholsville. The last letters that I have heard of from there are dated Nov the 3rd. One of Curtis’s girls died night before last with consumption (sister to Chauncy Curtis). I believe I know of no sickness in the neighbourhood just now. I suppose you have heard of the great scare on our northern shore. Valandigham (1) with one hundred and fifty thousand Canadians and rebel sympathisers was reported to be crossing the lake on a couple of little schooners with a view of playing smash with us but I have heard nothing of it for several days likely the rumor was premature. I was out at Bryan the other day and got stuff to make a uniform (so as to be ready for any such chaps). I paid five and a half for the cloth. The coat when finished will cost twenty dollars and fifty nine cts. This is making rather a costly business of it but I don’t want to hold the office unless I can trim up as well as any of them. It costs about sixty dollars to uniform in anything of decent styler. We have rented our saw mill this winter to a man from Columbiana co. His name is Bentley. He is going to live in Jas old house. I think he will have a hard time of it but he says he can do no better. I suppose CO. F got along in big style while Capt was home.
I believe I have nothing more to write this time
Good for the present your Brother James Cleland
Our folks are all well
(1) Clement Laird Vallandigham was one of the most controversial political figures in Ohio during the American Civil War — a leading Copperhead, a fierce critic of Lincoln, and a symbol of Northern anti‑war dissent. His actions and arrest in 1863 shaped public fears across Ohio, including in counties like Defiance. In May 1863, Vallandigham delivered a speech condemning the war and the Lincoln administration. Union General Ambrose Burnside had issued General Order No. 38, threatening arrest for anyone expressing sympathy for the Confederacy. Lincoln commuted his sentence but ordered him exiled to the Confederacy. Confederates didn’t want him either, so he eventually made his way to Canada, living in Windsor, Ontario, while continuing to influence Ohio politics from across the border.
In 1863, the 111th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI) served in East Tennessee as part of the 23rd Army Corps, joining the Union campaign to secure the region, including the critical Siege of Knoxville. The regiment was deeply involved in skirmishes along the Tennessee and Holston Rivers after arriving in Loudon in September 1863.
Key 1863 Actions for the 111th Ohio in East Tennessee:
The 111th Ohio was part of the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 23rd Army Corps for most of 1863.
