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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02831.42 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of William H. Alden, F Company, 6th Regiment, Iowa Cavalry |
| Title | William Alden to his mother |
| Date | ca. 1861-1877 |
| Author | Alden, William H. (fl. 1844-1865) |
| Recipient | Alden, Charlotte |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | He is twelve miles from Fort Pierre, they are going to build a fort and name it after the general. He hopes that his regiment will not have to stay there. He has been without family or friends for months and he has only seen "one white woman" and she was from the hospital boat. |
| Subjects | Soldier's Letter Military History Women's History Health and Medical Transportation |
| People | Alden, William H. (fl. 1844-1865) |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Children & Family; Health & Medicine; Women in American History |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | The collection comprises forty eight long letters written while on the Sully Expedition to put down the Sioux uprising, under the orders of Abraham Lincoln. Private Alden, a seventeen year old Iowan, wrote this first-hand account mostly to his family. He discusses hand to hand combat with Indians, rescuing immigrants on the overland trail, gold mining, the capture of a Sioux chief's feathered head dress, and the wounding and death of a soldier. The Sully Expedition, led by Alfred Sully (son of the famous painter Thomas Sully), was the largest military campaign against the Plains Indians up to this date, and marked an expansion of warfare with the Sioux. Includes 1 postwar photograph. Most letters written to his mother while on the Sully expedition against the Sioux. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |
| Civil War: Recipient Relationship | Mother |
| Civil War: Unit | 6th Regiment Iowa Cavalry, F Company |