“They told us we would get in to a fight before we got back”
“They told us we would get in to a fight before we got back”
Name: Sgt. John Andrews
Location: Lebanon, Kentucky
Date: September 5th, 1862
Unit: 4th Indiana Cavalry
Lebanon Ky. Sept 5th 1862
Dear mother
We have just received orders to get every thing ready to march at a moment's warning; but where we are going I can not tell. I went out on a scouting night before last night with fourteen more and went with 3 miles of Perryville about fifteen miles from Lebanon and did not get back until the next day till ten. They told us when we started that we who went out would get into fight before we got back; but we did not get to see a single man we wanted to go on further.
I have not been very well for the last three days but am a little better now. It is reported that we have orders to go to Louisville The other boys are all tolerably well. There are several thousand troop here and all are getting ready to march. I wrote a letter last week and you have not answered it yet. I would like to know the reason for I would like to hear from you all, tell Jo to write and all of you for I can read anything. I think one of you might write every other day and tell me what you are all doing.
If we go back to Louisville I think I will get to see you again and it may be that I never will. I want you all to do the best you can. I dont swear any more. None of the officers have said a cross word to me yet. write soon
No more at present.
But remain your affectionate son
John Andrews
To Mrs. Margret Andrews
Biography:
John Andrews was born on December 16th, 1838 in Melsheim, Departement du Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France to John and Margaret Andrews, who when their son John was 18 months old, decided to move to the United States, particularly Charlestown, Indiana. The records show that John Andrews was a farmer before the war; he would also take up this profession after the war. A little over a year after the Civil War started, John Andrews went down the enlistment office and joined up with Co. D of the 4th Indiana Cavalry, and his journey began.
Early on, the 4th Indiana Cavalry provided scouting missions throughout the south and western Kentucky area and got into a number of small skirmishes, which John talks about in other letters. Then, the unit moved through Gallatin to Murfreesboro after the Battle of Stones River where they stayed for a long period of time and saw some action in the second Battle of Murfreesboro. The unit then followed the procession of the war and ended up pushing towards Chattanooga, continuing the fairly normal scouting missions into enemy occupied territory. The Battle of Chickamauga, which is where this letter was written, was the largest battle they were a part of. In the letter, you can hear the talk of continuous artillery and gunfire throughout the three days of writing.
John survived the Battle of Chickamauga as well as the rest of the war as the 4th Indiana Cavalry pushed on to Atlanta and helped bring the war to an end. After the war, John married Elisa and had three kids. This letter does a great job of bringing the reality and scale of that battle to life. I will have a number of different letters from John Andrews that I will be posting in the coming weeks.
