TABLE OF CONTENTS
Descriptive Summary of the Collection
Biography of William T. Foster
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Inventory of the William T. Foster Letters 1862-1863
Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Jane Venanzi, 2009. ©2009. |
Descriptive Summary of the Collection |
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| Creator | Foster, William T., fl. 1862-1863 |
| Title | William T. Foster Letters |
| Dates | 1862-1863 |
| Extent | 0.2 linear feet (7 items in 1 box) |
| Abstract | Union soldier who served in Company F, Illinois 84th Volunteer Infantry. Seven letters, dated between Oct. 7, 1862 and Dec. 26, 1863, from Foster to his uncle and possibly his father ("Dear Sir"), describing military life as Foster moves from Louisville, Kentucky to Camp Silver Springs, Tenn., to the hospital in Quincy, Ill., and back to Whiteside Station, Tenn., 20 miles outside of Chattanooga. |
| Language | Materials are in English. |
| Repository | Newberry Library, Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections |
| Collection Call Number | Vault Case MS 10007 |
| Collection Stack Location | Vault 35 3 |
Administrative Information
Cite As
William T. Foster Letters, Midwest Manuscript Collection, The Newberry Library, Chicago.
Provenance
Charles Apfelbaum, purchase, 2001.
Processed by
Jane Venanzi, 2009.
Access
The William T. Foster Letters are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 5 folders at a time maximum, and items in each folder will be counted before and after delivery to the patron (Priority I).
Ownership and Literary Rights
The William T. Foster Letters are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.
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Biography of William T. Foster
William T. Foster was a Civil War soldier in the 84th Illinois Regiment, Company F, from Astoria, Fulton County, Illinois
William T. Foster enlisted with Company F of the Illinois 84th Volunteer Infantry in 1862 as a private. During the war he traveled from Louisville, Kentucky through contested territory to Silver Springs and Whiteside Station, Tennessee. Though he spent time in a hospital due to an ankle injury that rendered him unable to walk, he survived the war and was mustered out June 8, 1865 with the rank of Corporal.
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Scope and Content of the Collection
Seven letters from William T. Foster to his family in Vermont, Fulton County, Illinois addressed to “Dear Sir” and to an uncle during the Civil War, 1862-1863.
Foster sent letters to his family from Louisville, Kentucky, Camp Silver Springs, Tennessee, and Whiteside Station, twenty miles from Chattanooga, Tennessee, as well as from a hospital in Quincy, Illinois. A quick, yet enthusiastic writer, he dashed off letters on marching, skirmishes, the high price of food, girls, and camp life. A letter of April, 1863 finds Foster at the hospital in Quincy, Illinois.
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Arrangement
Letters arranged chronologically.
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Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Newberry Library's public catalog. Researchers desiring additional materials on a particular topic should search the catalog using these headings.
Names
- Foster family
- Foster, William T., fl.1862-1863--Correspondence
- United States. Army -- Military life
- United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 84th (1862-1865). Company F
Subjects
- Correspondence -- Tennessee -- 1862-1863
- Correspondence -- Illinois -- 1863
- Correspondence -- Kentucky -- 1862
- Fulton County (Ill.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
- Illinois -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
- Kentucky -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
- Manuscripts, American
- Military hospitals, American -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
- Operational rations (military supplies) -- United States -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
- Soldiers -- Illinois -- Correspondence
- Soldiers -- Kentucky -- Correspondence
- Soldiers -- Tennessee -- Correspondence
- Soldiers' writings, American
- Tennessee -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Military life
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Military life
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
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Container List |
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| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Letter, Foster, William T., to Uncle, Louisville, KY (injury, skirmish, high prices, marriage, girls), Oct. 7, 1862 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Letter, Foster, William T., to “Dear Sir,” Camp Silver Springs, TN (food, troop movement), Nov. 17, 1862 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Letter, Foster, William T., to “Dear Sir,” Hospital, Quincy, IL (injury, hospital, girls, home), Apr. 16, 1863 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Letter, Foster, William T., to “Dear Sir,” Chattanooga, TN (battle, food), Oct. 6, 1863 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Letter, Foster, William T., to “Dear Sir,” Whiteside Station, TN (troop movement, food, camp, pay), Nov. 16, 1863 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Letter, Foster, William T., to “Kind Sir,” Whiteside Station, TN (troop movement, food, camp, pay), Dec. 24, 1863 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Letter, Foster, William T., to “Kind Sir,” Whiteside Station, TN (weather, election of lieutenant, camp life, Christmas), Dec. 26, 1863 | |||||||||