3rd Minnesota Infantry CIVIL WAR LETTER From Pine Bluff, Arkansas GREAT CONTENT
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:98710 |
CIVIL WAR LETTER
This Civil War soldier letter was written by Cyrene H. Blakely (1837-1898) who rose in rank from 2nd Lieutenant to Captain of Co. K, while serving in the 3rd Minnesota Infantry from November 1861 to June 1864. At that time, he was discharged from the 3rd Minnesota to accept a position as a commissioned officer of the U. S. Volunteers Commissary Department. He remained with the Commissary Department until October 1865, when he was mustered out as a Brevet Major.Cyren...e was the son of David B. Blakely (1804-1863) and Selena ____ (1805-1890) of Chicago, Illinois. Cyrene was married to Celia Rachel Leland (1843-1902) in March 1864. Celia was the daughter of Marshall W. Leland (1810-1877) and Julia Harriet Anson (1818-1873).The commissary appointment turned out to be quite lucrative. He started sending home thousands of dollars periodically. In one letter he tells her how they are doing it: he has another guy who buys cattle at 3 cents per pound, then the government buys it for 5 cents. They split the profits. Following the war, Cyrene returned to Chicago and joined his brother David in starting the Daily Evening Post in 1865. He remained with that paper for four years and then started a publishing business in Chicago. He died in Chicago on 4 July 4 1898. Celia died in 1902, presumably in Rochester where she is interred.NOTE - I showed as many page scans as the eBay system would allow. Rest assured the entire letter is here!I'm posting this one in the postal history category since there are 3 stamps - triple rate - given the length of a letter. Higher rates like this area are seldom found from soldiers due to the scarcity of stamps.Cyrene H. BlakelyTRANSCRIPTIONPine Bluff, [Arkansas]
Sunday morning, September 18, 1864
9½ o’clockMy beloved Celia, The boat does not go until noon, thus affording me an opportunity of writing you a letter; and blessed one, what joy it gives me. Darling, I am very, very lonely this morning. The tears will roll down my cheeks in spite of all my efforts to prevent them. Dearest, most loving one, why am I compelled to suffer thus? Why should I be obliged to live hundreds of miles away from my loved one in whose presence alone there is happiness? O, blessed one, my life is now a wretched one. Your own Cyrene suffers now more than he ever did before in his life. And dear one there will be no end to it as long as you are away from my side, there can be no no enjoyment. The tears roll down faster than ever as I reflect upon what is to be in the future: for you and I there is nothing but suffering to endure for many weeks—I fear months.Can my loved one come to me? This is a terrible place: your only company would be your own Cyrene. You could have him a great portion of the time. We can obtain board, I have no doubt, but dear one, there are no delicacies to be obtained here—scarcely enough to keep one alive. There are no vegetables in the country. I have not tasted of a potato since I left Memphis. There will, however, after awhile, be sweet potatoes, and this is the only vegetable that can be obtained here. Everything else comes from the Commissary. From him we can obtain flour, salt meat, fresh meat, rice, hominy, coffee, tea, sugar, salt, pepper, pickles, soap, candles, and sometimes a little fish. This is all that we have to live on. Butter can be obtained most of the time from the country, and milk I think there is plenty of. Eggs, I think, cannot be obtained. The above are what can be found in a private family where we would have to pay for our board—probably $20 per week. Washing ten cents per piece—about $2 per eek more. This will be about $90 per month. My salary is $125. As for clothing, it cannot be obtained here. A calico dress costs $30 at least.The dare from Rochester [Minnesota] is $85 and say it will cost you $100 to get here. Thus you can see how the figures stand. As for getting here, you would have the greatest difficulty. There is no danger but the accommodations for travelers are very meagre. You get along well enough until you reach Duvall’s Bluff. From there the railroad takes you to Little Rock. Perhaps you can come in a passenger car but probably you will have to take a freight car. The hotel accommodations at Little Rock are miserable. Still, you could get along.I shall be happy, most happy to have you come (this based on the probability of my remaining here). It would eat up all my salary, but that is nothing. All I want in this world is my wife. I must have you every moment, Celia, and if you think the hardship too great to come here, I must got to you.There is money to be made out of my business. There is lots of it and it would be a pity to lose the place. Still, if I cannot have you, what good is money? I would be willing to give David a round sum if he would have me stationed somewhere north of here where I could have you with me. If you see him, say so to him.Darling, in your letter you speak of the loneliness you experience during my absence. Dear one, I know full well what your feelings were, I knew that my little wife would mourn for her absent husband, and how it has made my heart ache. From seven to light every night, blessed one, I think of you—love and pray for you. As you say, then it is that I suffer the most. Oh, how my heart does ache to grasp you to my bosom and breath those words of love in your ear which you have so often heard. And darling, since we parted, my affection has greatly strengthened. I have no friends—no associates. My leisure time is spent by myself thinking of you.Dearest one, last night after I retired with your picture in my hand and your letter under my pillow, my thoughts turned to the days of our courtship. It seemed to me that those days were as a dream. It was not like the courtship of others. We met and naturally came to each other, as the magnet draws the needle. And every time we met we were dearer and came closer to each other. How natural it all was. How unbeknown to my own loving wife that she was forming such an attachment for me—that I was stealing her heart. Therefore, darling, do I prize your affection the more highly. It is natural. My little one came to me because her happiness required it. Oh, I am so happy when I think of the dear one, as I cry when I am lonely, so now do I cry for joy as I reflect upon the subject. Dear one, you are God’s brightest star. Believe your Cyrene, he thinks you are the noblest woman in the world. I believe that no other one could be mine. I never should have married only that you stole my heart. Thank you oh darling. I bless you for it.And with such a loving, true, noble, devoted wife, can I be too attentive? Oh dear one, when you clasp your arms about your Cyrene again, he will tell you how much more he loves you than he ever did before and that he will endeavor harder than ever to make you a happy wife. And how glad that I have got a loving little wife—the very thought of whom will keep me from every temptation, even if I otherwise could forget myself.Dearest, the morals of our army is wonderfully decreasing. Officers, men, everybody save now & then a man who stands out like an oasis in the desert gambles. Capt. Rockwood—the gentleman whose position I am temporarily occupying—is a confirmed gambler. And yet, the regulations of the arm, y say that “no officer of the army entrusted with public money shall play at games of chance, under penalty of immediate dismissal from the service.” He has now $4100 which I expect to take from him: suppose in an excited moment he should stake and lose that amount? A man said to me yesterday, “everybody plays cards here.” “Well, said I, “there is one officer in town who does not play cards, and that is the present Commissary of Subsistence.” How can men be so wicked, dearest? Oh, I should be afraid to sleep lest God should close my eyes forever. Your own Cyrene keeps his own company. I shall never ask a man to come to my room or my office to talk with me unless I know that he is a moral man, and very few of these will ever be invited to my quarters.I am frequently disgusted with Willie. He is a boy and more trouble than assistance. He has never been in any position giving him authority and he does not know how to act. I have to watch him continually. It should not be thus. I want a reliable man to help me, but instead thereof, I have towatch him. On yesterday I told him he must call me “Captain: in the presence of people. He thought it was very hard to be obliged to call his brother anything but “Cie.” I did not explain that I had to assume and maintain a dignified position and that if he called me by that familiar title, of course others would. My little wife, never yet forget herself so for as to call me Cie! At home, with my brothers and sisters, I do not care. But with strangers and in the presence of those whose respect I am bound to command, do you blame me if I expect my brother to pay this trifling respect to me? If wrong, dear little wife, please tell me. Please also state the case to mother Blakely, and ask her if I am overbearing in this matter.I neglected to say in the proper place that the Quartermaster of this post, Capt. Barnes, told me yesterday that he had sent for his wife and is expecting her soon. He took me to a building which he occupies, one-half of which he has furnished, and the other half generously offered to me, with the proposal that we should have a mess together (that is, himself and wife, and you and I). Of course, I could not accept the offer—first, as I may not stay here, and second, he is a stranger to me. He appears like a good man and yet may be a gambler. I will have nothing to do with any man whose standing I cannot be satisfied is correct and much less would I take my family to live with that of a gambler.Darling, unless you can send a package to me by someone coming directly down, you need not for the present send. Certain treasury regulations require the obtaining of permission to receive a package by express, which I do not at present feel inclined to obtain/Since I left you, I have read, “Very Hard Cash, ” which I liked, and “The Wife’s Secret” by Ann S. Stephens—perfect trash. Shall send it to you the first opportunity. Am now going to read “Mysteries of Paris, ” which Willie says is intensely interesting. Will send it to you.Dear one, I have never seriously contemplated building near your father’s. The proposition was made only to obtain the opinion of yourself and friends. I shall pay for the farm first, and either improve the house and grounds as for our own occupancy, or invest any means I may have in business. It seems unfortunate that I should be compelled to remain in the army as a means of support for myself and wife. I know I can attend successfully to any business. But dear, your own Cyrene cannot expect to engage in any business requiring capital. Your mother has been kind to us always and shown an open heart. I have never been able to express fully my appreciation for all that she has done and is now doing for my little wife and myself. She is a good mother, darling. How fortunate that we have such noble women for mothers. The last present from your mother was truly a valuable one.Then you are having our bedroom painted. That is good. Now put on paper and that which is good, even if you have to pay for it. Then, with our carpet, and glass, and toilette stand, etc., it seems to me you can be truly comfortable. If you desire, you can purchase a bedstead out of money that I shall send you. I prefer dark-colored, perhaps one like yours would be pretty. Have you had a little bookstand made? Could one not be arranged so as to protect the books from dust in sweeping?Oh, how thankful I am that my own Celia, my loving devoted wife, is satisfied that she will not have to take the medicine provided at St. Paul. ¹ Dear one, sometimes as I have thought since we parted of the possibility of you not being sick, it has nearly driven me crazy. “If I could be with her, ” my thoughts said, “it would not be so bad. But she is ignorant upon such matters and of course ask no one’s advice but her own loving Cyrene’s.” Such thoughts, Celia, were terrible. Darling, I could not consent to your having a child. The suffering, the care, the anguish of years would kill my loving wife. I married you to love all my life, and if you had a child, you could not love me half the time. Am I jealous? But dear one, you do not yet know my nature. I am all affection. My existence depends solely upon the love given me by my idolized wife.It is right—it was God’s will—that we should be married. Does my little one still believe what she has so often said—that we were created for each other, and that we shall love each other truly and alone all our lives? Every day convinces me more and more that you are the only one in all the world that could make me happy.And does my little wife miss her Cyrene from her embrace as she lies down at night to sleep and awakes in the morning? Oh, dear one, how I do long to clasp you in my arms every night/ It is lonesome to lie without you. Tell me, loving wife, all about it. Confide in your Cyrene. Is he not to be trusted? Can you trust him more that you have already. All that was dear to you was surrendered to your husband and he tries to live worthy of every sacrifice his loving Celia can make. Tell me all that occurs. Every word shall be sacred in my bosom.The messenger says no letters came for me in the boat today. I am not disappointed. I expected none. But by the next boat, there must be another loving epistle from my loved one. Let me beseech you to write often. Tell me all that transpires. Tell me your dreams, your thoughts, your feelings, your cares, your love, your everything. I have a sympathizing heart. This always open to the loving words of my wife.In future letters, I shall give you an idea of my business. This morning I have written from 9½ to 12—long, long past church time. But can I pass my time more profitably? Give my love to all. Direct your letters to Little Rock as before. Write often and believe me your devoted and loving Cyrene.¹ My interpretation of this statement is that Celia was regularly taking a birth control drug while she and Cyrene were together. These were marketed under a variety of discrete names.TERMS$3.00 postage in the United States. We accept Paypal. Postage combined for multiple purchases. Please wait for me to send the invoice, otherwise will pay a much higher postage rate!For International buyers: We are now using eBay's Global Shipping Program. We had too many packages sent via the post office go missing. So we believe this program will be safer for us - and for you.We're members of the American Philatelic Society, the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, the Confederate Stamp Alliance and the Illinois Postal History Society.We only sell genuine, original letters (no copies or reproductions). Some of our letters have been transcribed and nicely presented for future genealogists and history buffs on the Spared & Shared blog. We've been selling on eBay since 2001. BID WITH CONFIDENCE.
00197
This Civil War soldier letter was written by Cyrene H. Blakely (1837-1898) who rose in rank from 2nd Lieutenant to Captain of Co. K, while serving in the 3rd Minnesota Infantry from November 1861 to June 1864. At that time, he was discharged from the 3rd Minnesota to accept a position as a commissioned officer of the U. S. Volunteers Commissary Department. He remained with the Commissary Department until October 1865, when he was mustered out as a Brevet Major.Cyren...e was the son of David B. Blakely (1804-1863) and Selena ____ (1805-1890) of Chicago, Illinois. Cyrene was married to Celia Rachel Leland (1843-1902) in March 1864. Celia was the daughter of Marshall W. Leland (1810-1877) and Julia Harriet Anson (1818-1873).The commissary appointment turned out to be quite lucrative. He started sending home thousands of dollars periodically. In one letter he tells her how they are doing it: he has another guy who buys cattle at 3 cents per pound, then the government buys it for 5 cents. They split the profits. Following the war, Cyrene returned to Chicago and joined his brother David in starting the Daily Evening Post in 1865. He remained with that paper for four years and then started a publishing business in Chicago. He died in Chicago on 4 July 4 1898. Celia died in 1902, presumably in Rochester where she is interred.NOTE - I showed as many page scans as the eBay system would allow. Rest assured the entire letter is here!I'm posting this one in the postal history category since there are 3 stamps - triple rate - given the length of a letter. Higher rates like this area are seldom found from soldiers due to the scarcity of stamps.Cyrene H. BlakelyTRANSCRIPTIONPine Bluff, [Arkansas]
Sunday morning, September 18, 1864
9½ o’clockMy beloved Celia, The boat does not go until noon, thus affording me an opportunity of writing you a letter; and blessed one, what joy it gives me. Darling, I am very, very lonely this morning. The tears will roll down my cheeks in spite of all my efforts to prevent them. Dearest, most loving one, why am I compelled to suffer thus? Why should I be obliged to live hundreds of miles away from my loved one in whose presence alone there is happiness? O, blessed one, my life is now a wretched one. Your own Cyrene suffers now more than he ever did before in his life. And dear one there will be no end to it as long as you are away from my side, there can be no no enjoyment. The tears roll down faster than ever as I reflect upon what is to be in the future: for you and I there is nothing but suffering to endure for many weeks—I fear months.Can my loved one come to me? This is a terrible place: your only company would be your own Cyrene. You could have him a great portion of the time. We can obtain board, I have no doubt, but dear one, there are no delicacies to be obtained here—scarcely enough to keep one alive. There are no vegetables in the country. I have not tasted of a potato since I left Memphis. There will, however, after awhile, be sweet potatoes, and this is the only vegetable that can be obtained here. Everything else comes from the Commissary. From him we can obtain flour, salt meat, fresh meat, rice, hominy, coffee, tea, sugar, salt, pepper, pickles, soap, candles, and sometimes a little fish. This is all that we have to live on. Butter can be obtained most of the time from the country, and milk I think there is plenty of. Eggs, I think, cannot be obtained. The above are what can be found in a private family where we would have to pay for our board—probably $20 per week. Washing ten cents per piece—about $2 per eek more. This will be about $90 per month. My salary is $125. As for clothing, it cannot be obtained here. A calico dress costs $30 at least.The dare from Rochester [Minnesota] is $85 and say it will cost you $100 to get here. Thus you can see how the figures stand. As for getting here, you would have the greatest difficulty. There is no danger but the accommodations for travelers are very meagre. You get along well enough until you reach Duvall’s Bluff. From there the railroad takes you to Little Rock. Perhaps you can come in a passenger car but probably you will have to take a freight car. The hotel accommodations at Little Rock are miserable. Still, you could get along.I shall be happy, most happy to have you come (this based on the probability of my remaining here). It would eat up all my salary, but that is nothing. All I want in this world is my wife. I must have you every moment, Celia, and if you think the hardship too great to come here, I must got to you.There is money to be made out of my business. There is lots of it and it would be a pity to lose the place. Still, if I cannot have you, what good is money? I would be willing to give David a round sum if he would have me stationed somewhere north of here where I could have you with me. If you see him, say so to him.Darling, in your letter you speak of the loneliness you experience during my absence. Dear one, I know full well what your feelings were, I knew that my little wife would mourn for her absent husband, and how it has made my heart ache. From seven to light every night, blessed one, I think of you—love and pray for you. As you say, then it is that I suffer the most. Oh, how my heart does ache to grasp you to my bosom and breath those words of love in your ear which you have so often heard. And darling, since we parted, my affection has greatly strengthened. I have no friends—no associates. My leisure time is spent by myself thinking of you.Dearest one, last night after I retired with your picture in my hand and your letter under my pillow, my thoughts turned to the days of our courtship. It seemed to me that those days were as a dream. It was not like the courtship of others. We met and naturally came to each other, as the magnet draws the needle. And every time we met we were dearer and came closer to each other. How natural it all was. How unbeknown to my own loving wife that she was forming such an attachment for me—that I was stealing her heart. Therefore, darling, do I prize your affection the more highly. It is natural. My little one came to me because her happiness required it. Oh, I am so happy when I think of the dear one, as I cry when I am lonely, so now do I cry for joy as I reflect upon the subject. Dear one, you are God’s brightest star. Believe your Cyrene, he thinks you are the noblest woman in the world. I believe that no other one could be mine. I never should have married only that you stole my heart. Thank you oh darling. I bless you for it.And with such a loving, true, noble, devoted wife, can I be too attentive? Oh dear one, when you clasp your arms about your Cyrene again, he will tell you how much more he loves you than he ever did before and that he will endeavor harder than ever to make you a happy wife. And how glad that I have got a loving little wife—the very thought of whom will keep me from every temptation, even if I otherwise could forget myself.Dearest, the morals of our army is wonderfully decreasing. Officers, men, everybody save now & then a man who stands out like an oasis in the desert gambles. Capt. Rockwood—the gentleman whose position I am temporarily occupying—is a confirmed gambler. And yet, the regulations of the arm, y say that “no officer of the army entrusted with public money shall play at games of chance, under penalty of immediate dismissal from the service.” He has now $4100 which I expect to take from him: suppose in an excited moment he should stake and lose that amount? A man said to me yesterday, “everybody plays cards here.” “Well, said I, “there is one officer in town who does not play cards, and that is the present Commissary of Subsistence.” How can men be so wicked, dearest? Oh, I should be afraid to sleep lest God should close my eyes forever. Your own Cyrene keeps his own company. I shall never ask a man to come to my room or my office to talk with me unless I know that he is a moral man, and very few of these will ever be invited to my quarters.I am frequently disgusted with Willie. He is a boy and more trouble than assistance. He has never been in any position giving him authority and he does not know how to act. I have to watch him continually. It should not be thus. I want a reliable man to help me, but instead thereof, I have towatch him. On yesterday I told him he must call me “Captain: in the presence of people. He thought it was very hard to be obliged to call his brother anything but “Cie.” I did not explain that I had to assume and maintain a dignified position and that if he called me by that familiar title, of course others would. My little wife, never yet forget herself so for as to call me Cie! At home, with my brothers and sisters, I do not care. But with strangers and in the presence of those whose respect I am bound to command, do you blame me if I expect my brother to pay this trifling respect to me? If wrong, dear little wife, please tell me. Please also state the case to mother Blakely, and ask her if I am overbearing in this matter.I neglected to say in the proper place that the Quartermaster of this post, Capt. Barnes, told me yesterday that he had sent for his wife and is expecting her soon. He took me to a building which he occupies, one-half of which he has furnished, and the other half generously offered to me, with the proposal that we should have a mess together (that is, himself and wife, and you and I). Of course, I could not accept the offer—first, as I may not stay here, and second, he is a stranger to me. He appears like a good man and yet may be a gambler. I will have nothing to do with any man whose standing I cannot be satisfied is correct and much less would I take my family to live with that of a gambler.Darling, unless you can send a package to me by someone coming directly down, you need not for the present send. Certain treasury regulations require the obtaining of permission to receive a package by express, which I do not at present feel inclined to obtain/Since I left you, I have read, “Very Hard Cash, ” which I liked, and “The Wife’s Secret” by Ann S. Stephens—perfect trash. Shall send it to you the first opportunity. Am now going to read “Mysteries of Paris, ” which Willie says is intensely interesting. Will send it to you.Dear one, I have never seriously contemplated building near your father’s. The proposition was made only to obtain the opinion of yourself and friends. I shall pay for the farm first, and either improve the house and grounds as for our own occupancy, or invest any means I may have in business. It seems unfortunate that I should be compelled to remain in the army as a means of support for myself and wife. I know I can attend successfully to any business. But dear, your own Cyrene cannot expect to engage in any business requiring capital. Your mother has been kind to us always and shown an open heart. I have never been able to express fully my appreciation for all that she has done and is now doing for my little wife and myself. She is a good mother, darling. How fortunate that we have such noble women for mothers. The last present from your mother was truly a valuable one.Then you are having our bedroom painted. That is good. Now put on paper and that which is good, even if you have to pay for it. Then, with our carpet, and glass, and toilette stand, etc., it seems to me you can be truly comfortable. If you desire, you can purchase a bedstead out of money that I shall send you. I prefer dark-colored, perhaps one like yours would be pretty. Have you had a little bookstand made? Could one not be arranged so as to protect the books from dust in sweeping?Oh, how thankful I am that my own Celia, my loving devoted wife, is satisfied that she will not have to take the medicine provided at St. Paul. ¹ Dear one, sometimes as I have thought since we parted of the possibility of you not being sick, it has nearly driven me crazy. “If I could be with her, ” my thoughts said, “it would not be so bad. But she is ignorant upon such matters and of course ask no one’s advice but her own loving Cyrene’s.” Such thoughts, Celia, were terrible. Darling, I could not consent to your having a child. The suffering, the care, the anguish of years would kill my loving wife. I married you to love all my life, and if you had a child, you could not love me half the time. Am I jealous? But dear one, you do not yet know my nature. I am all affection. My existence depends solely upon the love given me by my idolized wife.It is right—it was God’s will—that we should be married. Does my little one still believe what she has so often said—that we were created for each other, and that we shall love each other truly and alone all our lives? Every day convinces me more and more that you are the only one in all the world that could make me happy.And does my little wife miss her Cyrene from her embrace as she lies down at night to sleep and awakes in the morning? Oh, dear one, how I do long to clasp you in my arms every night/ It is lonesome to lie without you. Tell me, loving wife, all about it. Confide in your Cyrene. Is he not to be trusted? Can you trust him more that you have already. All that was dear to you was surrendered to your husband and he tries to live worthy of every sacrifice his loving Celia can make. Tell me all that occurs. Every word shall be sacred in my bosom.The messenger says no letters came for me in the boat today. I am not disappointed. I expected none. But by the next boat, there must be another loving epistle from my loved one. Let me beseech you to write often. Tell me all that transpires. Tell me your dreams, your thoughts, your feelings, your cares, your love, your everything. I have a sympathizing heart. This always open to the loving words of my wife.In future letters, I shall give you an idea of my business. This morning I have written from 9½ to 12—long, long past church time. But can I pass my time more profitably? Give my love to all. Direct your letters to Little Rock as before. Write often and believe me your devoted and loving Cyrene.¹ My interpretation of this statement is that Celia was regularly taking a birth control drug while she and Cyrene were together. These were marketed under a variety of discrete names.TERMS$3.00 postage in the United States. We accept Paypal. Postage combined for multiple purchases. Please wait for me to send the invoice, otherwise will pay a much higher postage rate!For International buyers: We are now using eBay's Global Shipping Program. We had too many packages sent via the post office go missing. So we believe this program will be safer for us - and for you.We're members of the American Philatelic Society, the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, the Confederate Stamp Alliance and the Illinois Postal History Society.We only sell genuine, original letters (no copies or reproductions). Some of our letters have been transcribed and nicely presented for future genealogists and history buffs on the Spared & Shared blog. We've been selling on eBay since 2001. BID WITH CONFIDENCE.
00197
