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George Kryder Papers - MS 163

Inventory

Box 1

Folder 1

January 18, 1862 Camp Denison, Ohio
Severe arm injury after horse throws him and steps on arm; camp description near Little Miami River; 8000 soldiers in camp and begins march to New Haven and Shelby, Indiana; weather description.
January 28, 1862 Camp Denison, Ohio
Description of cavalry life in camp of washing and caring for horse; note to children.
February 2, 1862 Camp Denison, Ohio
Description of weather; local news in Norwalk, Ohio; Public display of patriotism as soldiers march through Shelby and New Haven.
February 13/15, 1862 Camp Wright, Jeffersonville, Indiana
March to Cincinnati and riverboat ride across Ohio River to Louisville, Kentucky; the 3rd OVC receive new revolvers and carbines; description of first time seeing mistletoe on trees; evaluation of targeting with new revolver; news of Federal troops having taken a fort in Missouri.
February 25, 1862 Camp Wright, Jeffersonville, Indiana
Tour of Jeffersonville prison and comments about it; detail of camp diet.
March 1, 1862 Jeffersonville, Indiana
Weather report; description of a pass to Louisville, Kentucky, 80 mile march following morning to Bowling Green, Kentucky; sent wife $15.
March 14, 1862 Bowling Green, Kentucky
Sick with lung congestion; sends $15 home to wife; description of mountain roads; tour through Mammoth Cave; view of fortifications at Manasse Junction.
April 19, 1862 Savannah, Tennessee
Sick with rheumatism and jaw-ache; burial of a friend who died of fever; Henry Sweetland in hospital; discussion of going west after war to homestead land; picks up trophies from battlefield at Mumfordsville, Tennessee.
April 20, 1862 Savannah, Tennessee
Sick with the shakes and fever; discusses relationship of warm, wet, humid climate with illness of soldiers; comforts wife concerning dangers of battle; boxwoods in bloom.
May 1, 1862 Camp Shiloh, Tennessee
Wood's Division twelve miles from Beauregard's army; five companies of his cavalry driven away by Company I of 3rd OVC; eight miles from Savannah, Tennessee, and one mile from Mississippi; ready to march on Corinth; exaggerated estimates of manpower given for both sides.
May 19, 1862 Pittsburg Landing
Price comparison of food items in Tennessee and Ohio; rebel General Beauregard at Corinth, Mississippi; meets neighbor boy, Americus Fribley, in the 48th Indiana regiment under General Buell.
May 25, 1862 Camp near Corinth, Mississippi
Pep-talk to encourage wife disclaiming any part of the "real heavy action;" trip to Hamburg Landing (on Tennessee River) with Henry Sweetland; James Benham, Henry County boy, is a bodyguard for General Garfield; surgeon recommends company cooks instead of individual cooking.
June 10, 1862 Corinth, Mississippi
Rebels evacuate Corinth, Mississippi, on May 30th; rebels bury their cannons as they retreat; 3rd OVC attached to General Nelson's headquarters at Corinth; forage for huckleberries and wild plums.
June 22, 1862 Tuscumbia, Alabama
Excellent health; brother-in-law George Sweetland (Henry's brother) in a rugged battle on Flattop Mountain and lost 100 men of a company of 300; costs of local citrus fruits; inventory of his clothing; description of weather and seasons in the South; wheat already harvested; plenty of hogs to forage and barter with southerners for some items; false reports that Richmond has fallen.
June 28, 1862 Tuscumbia, Alabama
Description of camp life and environmental surroundings; weather report; request for wife to send a good hat since army hats are extremely uncomfortable.
July 5, 1862 Camp near Decatur, Alabama
More rumors of fall of Richmond with loss of 10,000 Federal troops; 46 mile march from Tuscumbia to Decatur in two days; Army commissary always lacking sufficient salt so troops cannot cure meat from forage raids; 4th of July celebration; letter from Michael Kryder (George's father).
July 13, 1862 Woodville, Alabama
Two day march back to Woodville from Decatur; march to Winchester following morning; three men from 10th Wisconsin Regiment shot on railroad bridge while on picket duty; retaliation by burning two rebel houses nearby where gunfire was reported; many guerilla bands of rebel soldiers ravage the area; disgust of regular soldiers for continual release of captured prisoners.
August 1, 1862 Woodville, Alabama
Last week Company I of 3rd OVC (George's company) rode to Gunter's Landing on Tennessee River and a short battle ensued near a farm house; his brother Albert dies of typhoid fever; new clothing issue.
August 2, 1862 No location (Woodville?)
Discusses local news with wife concerning Huron County (where she is living); camp life and mention of diseases that are ailing the men.
August 4, 1862 Woodville, Alabama
Four men of Company G shot while on picket duty and five rebels caught and will be shot or hanged in the morning; widow's house burned because she was hiding a keg of powder; sends wife $15; a note to the children.
September 2, 1862 Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Nashville bridge blown up by rebels and mail must by-pass through Corinth, Mississippi; ambush in mountains near Woodville, Alabama; plenty of peaches to forage; sends wife $15.
October 5, 1862 Sheppardville, Kentucky
Mail train cut off by rebel activity; camped 22 miles from Louisville, Kentucky; mock jubilation of men as loads of hard-tack enter camps; encourages wife that he seldom sees any action and usually does bridge duty; 3rd and 4th OVC guarding a 20 mile long supply train; rebel General Bragg was side-stepped as he lay waiting in ambush for Federal units; Bragg is now surrounded; persimmons are now ripe.
October 22, 1862 Danville, Kentucky
Lost weight and presently weigh 176 pounds; interested in buying a farm four miles from Napoleon, Henry County, for $500; 3rd battalion (total of 8 companies) of 3rd OVC captured by rebel General John Morgan with 3000 men; George was not with them, he claims, since his horse was sick the day before; 300 fresh horses coming soon from Louisville; 13 mile march to Versailles, Kentucky, from Frankfort; 7 miles from Frankfort they were ambushed and his horse was wounded; skirmish with 300 rebel cavalry after pushing lone rebel cavalryman who hoisted rebel flag in small town; in the morning a march to Lebanon, Kentucky.
October 27, 1862 Lebanon, Kentucky
Mentions again that rebel General John Morgan with 3400 men captured 4 companies of 3rd OVC and 8 companies of 4th OVC with a total of 4 killed and 8 wounded; loneliness of camp life since most of the regiment captured by Morgan.
November 22, 1862 Nashville, Tennessee
Mention of Morgan's capture of federal troops near Lexington, Kentucky, last month; Henry Sweetland escaped; captured federal troops eventually released from rebel camps and they may be shipped to western frontier to fight Indians; Michael Kryder (his father) sends letter from Indiana; issue of new blankets.
November 24, 1862 Nashville, Tennessee
George receives letter from George Sweetland, stationed in Kanawha Valley, West Virginia; cavalry inspection; warm and sunny weather; note to children.
December 17, 1862 Nashville, Tennessee
Rebel cavalry advance deceitfully on Union pickets of two Michigan companies with a white flag and capture them; rumor of 30,000 rebels advancing on Nashville to defeat Union General Rosencrans; list of costs of commissary items; sends wife $75.

Folder 2

January 22, 1863 Camp Standley, Murfreesboor, Tennessee
Skirmish with General Morgan's cavalry near Liberty, Tennessee, and took 40 prisoners; new clothing allotment from quartermaster; opinions about Northern peacemakers who "prolong" the war; rebels using double-barrel shotguns often in battle; Michael Kryder remarried.
February 9, 1863 Camp Standley, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Received a two day leave to Nashville; mentions to wife receiving a "slight" wound from rebel buckshot in a 6 hour battle near Nashville; horse also wounded; supplies low in camp and they must "forage" in the countryside for food; camp conditions.
February 15, 1863 Camp Standley, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Severe case of diarrhea and diagnosed with pepper sauce; had some tintypes made at a Daguerrian office in town and sent them to his wife; clothing costs; camp conditions.
March 2, 1863 Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Paid $50 from paymaster; skirmish with 1700 rebels at Bradyville, 15 miles from Murfreesboro, with dead and wounded along with many dead horses; "butternuts" (nickname for rebels) "beg for lives" once captured.
March 15, 1863 Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Receives letters from wife and father, Michael Kryder, and reacts to their comments in regard to Southern sympathizers (copper-heads) in North; 11 day scout and a skirmish near Duck River with 72 prisoners; forage many hams from local smokehouses; disgust over units with new recruits not doing their share of fighting; Company I gets 25 brand-new Spencer repeater carbines and comments on deadly accuracy and fast fire power; tanned "black as an Indian" from weather.
March 23, 1863 Camp Standley, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Returned from a 2 day scout; justification to wife for his reenlistment.
March 31, 1863 Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Sent $40 to wife, personally delivered by a friend on furlough; assures wife that his wound was not severe; note to the children.
April 7, 1863 Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Gets diarrhea from eating half-cooked beef; 6000 rebels encamped 30 miles away near Liberty; the 3rd, 4th, and 10th OVC stormed a rebel-held hill and took many souvenirs; George sends home a pair of saddle-bags; recapture of many carbines that Morgan took at Lexington when parts of 3rd and 4th OVC captured; marched to and fought at Lebanon, Tennessee.
April 15, 1863 Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Restricted to light duty because of diarrhea; sends $30 home to wife; receives letter from Michael Kryder (father).
April 21, 1863 Camp Standley, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Change of command in regiment; prices of a sutler's goods; note to the children.
May 5, 1863 Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Discusses wife's last letter; possible furlough; sending local newspapers home; had picture taken; sending home $30.
May 11, 1863 Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Compares fishing in Southern vs. Northern streams; sends $30 to wife by way of Captain Livermore; rumors of Richmond in Union hands; 3rd OVC preparing to march against rebel General Bragg in southeastern Tennessee; arrest of the war critic Vallandingham; Army issues new type of tent.
May 20-21, 1863 Camp near Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Sends box of clothes and souvenirs home to wife; went out on scout with one day's rations at night to Lavergne, Tennessee; the rebels had evacuated; two military addresses of either friends or relatives; description of a dead rebel floating in a watering hole.
June 8, 1863 Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Seventeen months left in service; prices of foodstuffs; details of skirmish near Smithville, 13 miles from Liberty with dead and wounded; General Rosencrans fortifying Murfreesboro with his personal observations of Rosencrans; new regimental and company commanders installed; description of a deserter hanged in Murfreesboro.
June 15, 1863 Camp Turchin, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Cautions wife about local thieves and burglars who know he is in the army; weather details; list of clothing issue.
July 18-19, 1863 Huntsville, Alabama
On 24th June left Murfreesboro and have been on the march every day since with rain almost every day; marched from Bradyville to Manchester to Tullahoma; rebels flee across Tennessee River after skirmish in Pulaski; captured 21 rebs with rebel General Cheatham's main quartermaster; Port Hudson fallen to Union; details of regiments foraging for food since supply problems occur;conditions of roads; agrees with wife to sell lot in Attica for $25 and discusses other family business with her.
July 29, 1863 Camp near Fayetteville, Tennessee
Marched back to Salem, Tennessee, from Huntsville, Alabama; drew one month's back pay and sends wife $45; comments on draft riots in the North; brother-in-law Lorenzo Sweetland wounded in leg.
August 30, 1863 Camp Crook (near Bridgeport, Alabama)
Left Winchester, Tennessee, on 19th August and crossed Smoky Mountains on 20th and arrived in Stevenson (near Tennessee River) on the 22nd; River dividing line between Union and Confederate pickets; Union pickets swim the river and socialize with Confederates for a few hours; details of George Kryder as witness at courtmartial of Brigade Postmaster for overcharging for sale of newspapers; General Burnside marching through east Tennessee to join with Rosencrans with both joining Grant to form line from Chattanooga to Gulf; description of Army of Potomac; half rations for three weeks.
September 7, 1863 Camp Cook, Lookout Valley, Alabama
Crossed Tennessee River to Sand Mountain and eventually Lookout Mountain on reconnaissance; begins a march to Chattanooga, Tennessee; will get a four-month "early out" of reenlistment time if he takes no furloughs.
September 25, 1863 Camp near Chattanooga, Tennessee
In heavy battle for a week with the brigade losing 40 men 12 miles from Chattanooga; 101st Ohio cut to pieces, with some of George's personal friends killed; Federal troops on the north side and Confederates on the south side; details of Spencer carbine's ability to double Union cavalry's success against single-shot rifles of the rebels; battle is raging in distance as he writes this letter--the "worst of the war."
November 2-3, 1863 Nashville, Tennessee
On the march against rebel General Wheeler; toughest time yet as a soldier with 40 and 50 mile distances a day; rations consist of parched corn and roasted squash; details of hand-to-hand and sabre fights with Confederates; due to strategy, Union losses at minimum with 230 rebel prisoners; marched back to Winchester, Tennessee, and then back to Woodville, Alabama; started for Stevenson (afoot with horses)--33 miles in two days; angered at his father for writing a letter filled with Southern sympathy.
December 15-16, 1863 Paint Rock, Alabama
Exchange of talk about wife's life on the farm; has opened correspondence with his father again; his regiment fought rebels at Cleveland, Tennessee and burned a wagon train; new recruits arrive in 3rd OVC from Defiance County; Jeremiah Hall (new recruit) offers to sell him 80 acres for $800 6 miles from Defiance; details of catching a "bushwacker" and executing him from a tree; detail of the trains and their schedules.

Manuscripts by Subject | Civil War Collections | U. S. in Wartime Bibliography | MS 163 George Kryder Introduction | List of Transcripts

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