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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02570.39 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of Gustave Cook, H company, 8th regiment, Texas, cavalry |
| Title | Gustave Cook to Eliza Cook discussing their health and correspondence |
| Date | 17 February 1863 |
| Author | Cook, Gustave (1835-1897) |
| Recipient | Cook, Eliza |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Discusses the incredibly cold weather and has frostbite on both feet and one finger. Mentions a paralysis (seizure?) in his arms, spine and "brain which left me senseless and speechless for about 24 hours. They all thought you'd be a young widow…" Lists all the letters he finally received from as far back as December. He is interested in what the family does for fun while he is gone and hopes they do not sit around sulking. He is glad his wife's finger is healed so she can pick up in writing letters. He writes, "My dearest wife it is one of the greatest pleasures and most easily acquired arts imaginable, this of letterwriting, and I desire our babies instructed early and perseveringly in it." Tells his wife to keep her spirits up and to be strong. Mentions that the night she had dinner with Mr. Martin, he was "at the head of my regiment on the battlefield of Murfreesboro linking it into the Yankee cavalry. Suppose you had known it why you would have made a baby of yourself no doubt and been scared to death all but now couldn't you! Oh you baby you!" |
| Subjects | Soldier's Letter Civil War Military History Confederate Soldier's Letter Confederate States of America Cavalry Extreme Weather Health and Medical Injury or Wound Marriage Women's History Children and Family Education Union Forces Entertaining and Hospitality Battle |
| People | Cook, Gustave (1835-1897) Cook, Eliza Jones (b. 1837) |
| Place written | Near Louisburg, Tennessee |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Women in American History; 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 |