American Historical Ephemera & Photography

3 pages, on partial bifolium, 6 3/4 x 5 5/16 in., right and bottom edges torn off, creased, with soiling and spots of staining throughout. 

In this letter to his mother, Private Capern takes a moment to describe the harsh realities of war and battle he has experienced over the past two weeks, fragmented by requests for his mother to send his love to people important to him as he thinks of them. His somewhat spasmodic writing style might be explained by a foreboding sense that the enemy is near. He writes, "God only knows I hope that the rebels will not come on to us before I have time to write this letter. We have seen some dreadful hard fighting ltely and we have suffered a dreadful loss. Our Brigade is very small only 10 or 12 men to a company now...We are all so thankful that we are alive." 

Capern mentions the rumors that the Union has taken Richmond, but he and his fellow soldiers hardly believe it to be true. He focuses, instead, on the prize at stake for his regiment: "We are fighting for Spotslvania [sic] C.H."

The most gruesome details of his letter come near the end, when he describes the horrors of battle: "I seen lots of Jonnys [sic] charge on us the other day but we would hold our fire till they came close up and then we would rise up and give them all that they wanted...I have seen men perfectly riddled by bullets and mashed to a Jelly."

Thomas H. Capern enlisted as a private on 23 August 1861, mustering into Company E of the 4th New Jersey Infantry Regiment the same day. He re-enlisted in December of 1863, and was ultimately discharged at Annapolis in June of 1865.

The 4th New Jersey saw more than its share of action throughout the war, and the Overland campaign in spring of 1864 was no exception. It was heavily engaged at the Battle of the Wilderness, being attacked several times along with the 1st and 10th regiments. In the Battle of Spottsylvania, which began on 9 May and lasted until 21 May, the regiment was again heavily involved. Just three days before the letter featured here was written, Capern's regiment had participated in the charge upon the "bloody angle," which became infamous for the intensity of fighting that took place there and the gruesome results. It is likely that Capern's description of men "riddled by bullets" was drawn from what he experienced there.

Monuments to the 4th New Jersey stand, to honor the regiment's immense service and sacrifice, at South Mountain, Antietam, and Gettysburg.