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Collection Reference Number GLC03523.31.17
From Archive Folder Collection of Ira Blanchard, H company, 20th regiment, Illinois, infantry 
Title Ira Blanchard to Mary (Wright) Kellogg reporting on the battle of Britton's Lane
Date 6 September 1862
Author Blanchard, Ira (b. 1835)  
Recipient Kellogg, Mary Wright  
Document Type Correspondence
Content Description Blanchard writes to Mary Wright from Jackson, Tennessee. Says things look gloomy for the Union, especially in the East. Reports on the victorious battle of Britton's Lane led by Union Colonel Elias S. Dennis. Informs the intense heat caused soldiers to fall exhausted before the battle began. Comments their guns were so warm from excessive use they could barely manage them. States they buried their dead at night. Says upon their return to Jackson, Union Generals John A. Logan and Leonard F. Ross praised their victory as "...the greatest achievement in the history of the world." Compliments her for not rushing into marriage unlike other girls who "...are willing to marry the first man that comes along for fear they will never get a chance." Letter has an emblem.
Subjects Civil War  Military History  Union Forces  Soldier's Letter  Union Soldier's Letter  Battle  Confederate States of America  Extreme Weather  Weaponry  Death  Union General  Marriage  Women's History  Patriotic Stationery and Postal Covers  
People Blanchard, Ira (b. 1835)  Kellogg, Mary Wright (1844-1912)  Dennis, Elias Smith (1812-1894)  Logan, John Alexander (1826-1886)  Ross, Leonard Fulton (1823-1901)  
Place written Jackson, Tennessee
Theme The American Civil War; Women in American History
Sub-collection Papers and Images of the American Civil War
Additional Information Folder Information: This collection consists chiefly of correspondence from Ira Blanchard, Lieutenant, Company H, 29th Illinois Infantry, to Mary (Wright) Kellogg. These letters document Blanchard's service at Forts Henry and Donelson, Tennessee; Vicksburg, Mississippi; and other areas throughout Missouri, Tennessee and Louisiana from 1861-1863. Sometime after August 1863, Mary (Wright) Kellogg married Captain Henry Kellogg, and the letters from Blanchard ceased. In addition to the correspondence from Blanchard, this collection also includes a letter from Jason D. Wright to his niece Mary (Wright) Kellogg (1864), two obituaries for Mary (Wright) Kellogg (ca. 1912), a newspaper article mentioning Mary Kellogg's daughter, Mrs. L. E. Dodson (ca. 1927), and a collateral envelope. Blanchard enlisted 13 June 1861 in Illinois as a Sargeant. He mustered into "H" Co., Illinois, Infantry.
Copyright The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Module Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945
Civil War: Theater of War Main Western Theater  
Civil War: Unit 20th Illinois infantry, H Company