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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02570.26 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of Gustave Cook, H company, 8th regiment, Texas, cavalry |
| Title | Gustave Cook to Eliza Cook describing the dental work he wants her to get, his wound and the food in camp |
| Date | 30 July 1862 |
| Author | Cook, Gustave (1835-1897) |
| Recipient | Cook, Eliza |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Includes camp news. Cook promises to write friends and family once he has the chance. Wants Eliza to visit a good dentist "to plug any decayed teeth you have and file apart the two front ones…Pretty teeth you know are a great attraction and by having yours worked on a little they will be beautiful. Do it for my sake now darling and I expect to hear soon that you have done as I desire. Be sure to have the two front ones separated for they are decaying and need to be plugged badly. I shall send you plenty of money…" Is concerned about his two brothers. He writes, "I have not heard a word from home yet and I am very uneasy as both Walter and Girard must have been in the battle. I must go by pa's and see them all as I pass very near them." Discusses his wound. He writes that there is a knot on his bone and fears his leg won't be the same, though "…it will make me a little more dignified in my gait." Reports he ran into a family friend and wonders if the local gossip has not yet spread the rumor that they met "for certain purposes." Describes the concoction that passes as a "substantial substitute for dinner in these hard times…Don't you feel sorry for me? Please say yes. I feel sort of [illegible] these days just after my meals which I am unable to account for though some one very vulgarly suggested the other day that 'it was perhaps what I ate.' Now would you believe? No! No!! No!!! I know you won't. Why you know I never eat anything." |
| Subjects | Military Substitute Soldier's Letter Civil War Military History Confederate Soldier's Letter Confederate States of America Cavalry Health and Medical Military Camp Women's History Personal Hygiene Soldier's Pay Children and Family Battle Sexuality Diet and Nutrition Injury or Wound Finance |
| People | Cook, Gustave (1835-1897) Cook, Eliza Jones (b. 1837) |
| Place written | Near Natchez, Mississippi |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Women in American History; Children & Family; Health & Medicine |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | Born in Alabama on July 3, 1835, Cook moved to Texas alone at the age of 15 and studied law independently. Cook enlisted as a private in 8th Texas Cavalry, "Terry's Texas Rangers," in 1861 and was promoted to colonel by July 1863. After the war he became a circuit court judge for Galveston, served in the Texas state legislature and led an unsuccessful campaign for governor in 1890. He died in 1897 of complications from a wound suffered during his military service. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |
| Civil War: Recipient Relationship | Wife |
| Civil War: Theater of War | Main Western Theater |
| Civil War: Unit | 8th Texas Cavalry, H Company |