“Bad news about cousin Ed”

“Bad News About Cousin Ed”

Letter to friend Mag

Location: Orleans, Missouri

Date: February 27th, 1862

Unit: Co C. 1st Regiment, Tennessee Mounted Infantry

Dear Friend Mag,

I received your most kind and welcome letter Monday night, and was glad to find your Pa a getting better. We just got word yesterday that Cousin Ed was killed while out after (frice?) he was shot through the heart. It happened last monday, was a week ago & Uncle Jimmie never heard it until yesterday morning. They take it very hard, he got a letter from his Captain. He said they buried him in a nice coffin and so they could find him without any trouble. There was thirteen besides him. He was shot and just before his horse was killed, and he raised up both of his hands and fell dead, and never spoke. They are a going after Edwin and several others. As soon as they can get enough men and I hope that won’t be long.

Oh how I loved, I would that my pen were dipped in dyes of a rainbow plucked from the wings of an angel, that I might expect to paint the burning brightness of that flame which thy thrilling eloquence hath (?). Thou soft moonlight of sentiment, soap of consistency thy voice is as gentle as the first alluring of an infant’s dream, and as melodious in my ears as the braying of a mule. Thy steps as light as the Sydran footed zephyrs that fanned with the wings of perfume the gable end of paradise. Thy eyes are as brilliant stolen from the Zeraphs, thy lips are as vivid as rosebuds moistened with the dew of affection. Thy words are as drops of amber, thy teeth are like unto snow set into a verbend bed of swell spirit of comfort doubled and distilled essence of harts horn sourkraut of all my hopes, apple sauce of my thoughts buttermilk catsup of my fancy. Tiger of my innocence, butter of my perfection. Fogwood of melody thou art the give fancy of my dreams. The brandy a mash of my making visions and Orleans of my tiny (?). Thou art as harmless as a tiger and a greased streak of lighting churned to consistency in the Milky way. Thou art as innocent as a bear, handsome as an elephant, melodious as a lion. Oh Orion of my soul, fickle pumpkin of my affection, preserved crab of the garden of Jacksonville, where desperate love dwells.

_________________________________________

Biography:

Francis Marion Anderson was born on February 23, 1827 in Jackson County, Tennessee. He was married to Frances Almeda Anderson and had 4 children: John, Polly, Thomas, and Vancil. When the war broke out, Francis was about 36 years old and would not get involved in the beginning, but as time went on, he would decide that he should join up with the Union.

Tennessee was part of the Confederacy and would become the frontlines for a lot of the fighting in the western theater. Francis eventually joined the Union army in 1863 at 38 years old.

Francis would become part of Co. C, Tennessee 1st Mounted Infantry division. Francis, probably because of age, education, or status, was given the rank of Captain. The Tennessee 1st Mounted Infantry was organized in Nashville, Tennessee after it was in the control of the Union. They were put on duty to guard the Nashville-Chattanooga Railroad and at Carthage, TN until November 1864. The unit would experience some skirmishes around the Carthage area as well as casualties/deaths during that time.

This letter above was written before Francis had joined the war, and he seems to be away from home on business in Orleans, Indiana, Iowa, or Missouri.

In his writing, he seems to start out as a sad;he expresses the loss of a cousin that was in a cavalry unit that was shot 4 times through the chest along with 13 men from the same company. Also to be noted there is some epic poetry at the end of the letter. After some careful research, I found a name and unit of the cousin that died from time analysis and chronological action reports.

Edwin Anderson was the cousin of Francis Anderson that was shot through the chest on February 17th, 1862 during a charge at Sugar Creek in Arkansas. He was a Pvt in Co. G of the 1st Missouri Cavalry. I found a letter from him as well that I will be covering on next week’s Voices from the Past!

Francis would end up surviving the war and going back to Dekalb County after resigning as a Captain due to some issues with his health in 1864. He would live until 1903.