69

Charles M. Heaton.

Letters of an Indiana clerk in Washington through the war.

Washington, 1861-1864
93 items (88 letters by Charles Heaton to his wife and
children, plus 5 sent to him); condition strong, most with a thin strip of mounting
tape remnant on left edge, neatly sleeved in a binder with good full
transcripts of most letters. 

  • Notes: Charles M. Heaton (1805-1899) was a surveyor and engineer in South Bend, IN. He an abolitionist and a strong supporter of the young Republican Party. Through his friendship with Indiana's Republican Congressman Schuyler Colfax (later the vice president), he was given an appointment as a clerk in the Washington, DC land office. 

    Heaton's wife and children remained behind in South Bend. These letters are full of interesting detail on civilian life in Washington during the war; Congressman Colfax is mentioned frequently. Here are a few examples.
     
    On 8 July 1862, Heaton reports on the aftermath of the Seven Days battle: "The wounded have been sent to the various hospitals at New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and other places. . . . Four or five vessels loaded with them have arrived here. Nearly all the churches in the city have been converted into hospitals, two of them close by where I board, one of them within fifty steps of the house. It is terrible sight to see them wounded in every form possible to think of, and some of them dying dayly at every hospital, & and the surgeons are all the time at work amputating arms or legs. Oh! it is dreadful to hear the moans of the poor sufferers."
     
    On 26 August 1862, the 57-year-old Heaton announces that he had joined a city militia unit: "The Sec'y of War has granted us arms & we shall probably commence to drill in a day or two. Still, if the rebel army should attack the city, then we shall pitch in."

    His 5 May 1864 letter was written as the battle of the Wilderness began: "Grant has a larger army than was ever collected here before. Over thirty thousand passed through the city a few days ago. I stood on the corner opposite Mr. Finney's, where it took them 4 hours to pass, and among them was about 4,000 black troops and two companies of Indians—and finer looking troops than these Blacks & Indians I never seen."

    His 16 June 1864 letter describes the nomination of Lincoln for re-election: "The rattification meeting for Lincoln & Johnson was very large. The street between the Patent Office & Post Office was perfectly packed nearly the whole length of the Patent Office & you know that covers two squares, & the street and sidewalks are very wide. The fireworks was on the top of the building and had the finest display of rockets & roman candles I ever seen. Some half dozen lighted balloons were sent up during the evening."

    On 12 July 1864, he describes the war's only fighting within the District of Columbia limits, the Battle of Fort Stevens: "We are at last within the sound of cannon and musketry. The rebels are said to be about fifteen thousand strong out about six miles on the 7th Street road and made an attack on our outside fortifications. . . . We could distinctly hear the cannonading and even the musketry. . . .  The rebels are now occupying the premises owned by Postmaster General [Montgomery] Blair. They have burned all the outbuildings & everything except the mansion, which they use for headquarters & will doubtless burn that when they leave it. . . . Our citizens are pursuing their avocations as usual, labor on buildings is being pursued as usual, yet of course the excitement is strong, especially in the outskirts of the city. Thousands of families living out around the city are flocking into the city pell mell, bringing what they could, but leaving their homes & most of their things to the mercies of the rebels."
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