94th Ohio Infantry CIVIL WAR LETTER Injured in Battle of Stones River Tennessee

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94th Ohio Infantry CIVIL WAR LETTER Injured in Battle of Stones River Tennessee:
$46.01

Civil War Letter

This Civil War soldier letter was written by Josiah Cole Reed (1831-1884), the son of Samuel C. Read (1780-1848) and Catherine Browning (1790-1862) of Greenville, Ohio. Josiah enlisted as a private on September 24, 1862 and served in Co. I,94th Ohio Infantry. After being wounded in the right arm at the Battle of Stones River, his superiors put him on light duty in the dispensary at Hospital No. 2 near Nashville where he, opportunistically,pursuedhis career in medicine, having studied for the profession for a couple of years prior to the war.

Reed remained at the hospital for two and a half years and committed himself to studying during the odd hours of the day and attending medical lectures at the University of Nashville.Almost immediately after being honorably discharged from the service in March of 1865 he made plans to meet with Lizzie before departing for New York to complete his medical training at Bellevue Hospital Medical College (Greenville, OH, May 20, 1865). He graduated in 1866.

Josiah wrote to Elizabeth (“Lizzie”) Freeman, the wife of George F. Woodard. After George’s death in April 1863, Josiah and Lizzie continued their correspondence and in 1867, Josiah became Lizzie’s second husband.

After graduation, he practiced in Woodington, Ohio, until 1868 when he formed a partnership with Dr. J. H. Green in Troy, Ohio. In addition to his medical practice he also invented an improvised gas machine used as a light.

TRANSCRIPTION

Officers HospitalNashville Tenn.Sunday, Feb. 26th1865Mrs. Lizzie Woodward
Highly valued friend,
Your favor of the 19thcame to hand yesterday and was read with more than usual interest and to prove to you my appreciation of it I will attempt an immediate answer. I know you will not look for such promptness, but I have as much time now as I will have in a week hence, and I can always answer a letter better immediately than to let it lay awhile unanswered. Besides it is always a pleassure for me to write to such friends as well as to receive their letters and by writing now I will yet answer a week sooner than if I would put it off one week. I am not so busy now as I was when I last wrote you. The lectures ended on the 15thand since then I have not studied so hard. However, I am still occupying all my leisure time in this way as I now have unusually good opportunities for dissecting.

Delay not your answer hereafter on account of fear of encroaching upon my time. My time has never yet been so fully occupied that the perusal and answering of your letters was not only a great pleasure but beneficial. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy as the old adage has it. All work and study with no recreation and no social enjoyment makes the wheels of time run very sluggishly. There should be a harmonious development of all the faculties of the mind but we have not the chance here to carry this out. All our associates are soldiers – one uniform mass of humanity, and hence our social enjoyment if it be worthy of the name, is of a very limited and monotonous character. We seldom get a glimpse of the opposite sex, except those connected with the hospital. Some of the boys get acquainted around through the city, and go out with society, but suchsociety. Now under these circumstances you can easily imagine how highly a letter is valued, particularly when it comes from such friends, as Iknowyou to be.

This is Sunday night and I feel ever so lonsome. I wish I could be with you this evening, if it were only for a few hours, how swiftly time would wing his flight. I would then tell you much which I now have neither time nor disposition to write. I am much obliged for the compliment you have been pleased to pay me. But I would be more highly pleased if I could only be persuaded that it was strictly true.

It seems you are having some serious sickness in your family – hope it may not extend to any other members of the family and that your adopted brother may soon recover. It seems you have formed quite and attachment for Miss Brown – it appears she was univerally loved by the school. This is what I love to hear for it is one of the best assurances that she has been doing a good work as a teacher. I wonder what has become of Miss Church? Have not heard of her for more than a year. Should like to have visited your festival in the evening and heard those duets and songs. Oh, I visited the theatre about one week ago, the first time for six months. We had the pleasure of hearing Maggie Mitchell on her favorite play —FanchunorThe Cricket. This is a very good play and she plays it to perfection. It was repeated here every night for a week with crowded houses every night. There are two theatres, one Opera and two or three smaller affairs, all crowded every night.

We have been having considerable rain this last week, the Cumberland [river] is quite high, mud plenty though not as much as there would be after a similar rain in most places in the North. This day was very beautiful but I did not get time to walk out and enjoy some of the benefits of such a day at this season.

Dr. Jennings talks of locating in Tippecanoe soon. If he does I hope he will get extensive patronage for he is not only a good physician but a tip top man. Three years of experience here in the hospital where he has treated 20 men to where he would one in civil practice, will be worth more to him than 10 years of ordinary practice….

Your advice with reference to restoring confidence upon the companion of one’s heart is highly appreciated —What could be the value of a union not founded upon mutual love and confidence. I could never consent to wed with one in whom I had no confidence. Within one year I expect to be with you again enjoying the comforts and luxuries of civil life. You say you wonder what changes will occur in my life within that time. Don’t know but do not expect anything of importance. The great epoch of my life I do not think will occur within that time. Had I more time and space I would give some very good reasons why.

On glancing at this letter I see so many omissions and mistakes that I am afraid to read it over for fear I will become so disgusted with it as to tear it up and then I would have to write another. I shall expect an answer to this in two weeks. Shall I be disappointed? Of course your convenience will not be overlooked. I only me(an) that I hope it will be convenient for you to answer immediately, that I may receive a good, long, sweet letter in two weeks.

Received three valentines but none worth anythingI remain as ever your true friend, — J. Reed

TERMS

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