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Samuel House Civil War Letters

 Collection — Box: 149
Identifier: MSS 1965-142

Scope and Contents

Photostats of letters by Samuel House, Co. L. Artillery Corps, dated from 1862 to 1865, written from army camps near Cornish, Columbus and Vicksburg, Mississippi, and from Castle William, Governors Island, New York Harbor, to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel C. House, Knoxville, Tennessee.

Notes found with the collection are: "Confederate War record of Samuel House taken from a letter from his daughter, Retta House Bowen to Mrs. D.A. Avant, Historian, Florida Division, U.D.C." "My father, Sam House enlisted in the Confederate army April 15, 1861 - Co. A. 1st Regiment of Heavy Artillery, Tenn. volunteers, Confederate States of America. He was in Memphis at the time he enlisted. He was in the siege of Vicksburg, was parolled July 7, 1863-was taken to parole camp at Enterprise, Miss. Later to Demopolis, Alabama and was exchanged Dec. 9, 1863. He went to Fort Morgan Dec. 15, 1863. On Aug. 7, 1864 he wrote from there a most interesting letter to his sister, giving a graphic account of the sinking of the Monitor. When Ft. Morgan was surrendered he was taken prisoner and sent to Castle William, Governors Island, New York Harbor, arriving there Sept. 28, 1864. Later he was taken to Elmira, N.Y."

The letters written by House from Vicksburg contain some interesting facts about the prolonged and intensive battle of that area. Also in Special Collections are letters by John M. House to his parents. John and Samuel House were brothers and were both in U.S. Military prisons at the same time at different locations: John at Johnsons Island and Samuel at Castle William, Governors Island, New York Harbor.

Also known as MSS 0-142.

Dates

  • Created: 1862-1865

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to all researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Extent

26.00 items

Language of Materials

English

Method of Acquisition

Gift of Florida Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Fenton Davis Avant, Historian, Tallahassee, Florida.

Existence and Location of Originals

Portions of collection available online?: No

Processing Information

Processed February 1965

Title
Samuel House Civil War Letters
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the FSU Special Collections & Archives Repository

Contact:
116 Honors Way
PO Box 3062047
Tallahassee FL 32306-2047 US
850-644-3271