Jacob left home for war at the age of 29 in August of 1862 and reported to Camp Dennison (on the northeast side of Cincinnati, Ohio) from his family home in Frankfort, Ohio (near Chillicothe, Ohio). He joined in response to Confederate General Kirby Smith’s threatened attack on Cincinnati. The following is the first letter we have from Jacob written to his wife, Mary. He’s at Camp Dennison getting acquainted with life in the Army. Problems with thrusting citizens into military leadership with little to no experience are apparent in this first letter. Jacob joined as a private – he didn’t have enough social standing to merit votes for a leadership position at the war’s outset – but his strength of character and bravery would show soon enough, resulting in a rise through the enlisted ranks that would leave him, at wars end, as the regimental Color Sergeant (more on that later).
- 1. Note on the Transcriptions
- 2. A Call to Arms – Letter 1
- 3. Shively Presentation & Transcript – Recorded in March of 2021 on my most recent deployment
- 4. Letter 2 – From Mary to Jacob (31 August, 1862)
- 5. Letter 3 – Jacob to “Sir” and Mary
- 6. To the Defense of Cincinatti
- 7. Some Background – Jacob, the 89th and the letters
- 8. Letter to Mary from Camp King, Ky – 7 Sept, 1862
- 10. Letter to Mary from Licking Battery, Kentucky – 13 Sept, 1862
- 9. Jacob’s Journeys – a brief travel log
- 11. Letter to Mary from Licking Battery, KY – (Numbered 4), 14 Sept, 1862
- 12. Letter to Mary from Camp Shailer, Covington, Ky – (Numbered 5) 18 Sept, 1862
- 13. Letter to Mary – Published in Pat Medert’s “Dear Companion” – 21 Sept, 1862
- 14. Letter to Mary – Published in Pat Medert’s “Dear Companion” – 28 Sept, 1862
- A REVIEW: A Worse Place Than Hell
- Postbellum Coffee and Tea Consumption in the United States
- Nashville’s Maxwell House & Joel Cheek’s Coffee Empire
- Fort Mitchell, Kentucky – 5 Sept, 1862
- Kanawah Falls – 5 Nov, 1862
- General Hospital, Gallipolis Ohio – Jan 1863
- Jacob’s Visit to Maxwell House (aka, Zollicoffer Barracks) – Nashville, Tennessee
- Tullahoma Campaign – Taking Middle Tennessee.
- Chickamauga – Jacob’s Regiment is nearly destroyed
- Missionary Ridge – The Tide Turns
- Rocky Face Ridge – One of Jake’s Roughest Days
- Kennesaw Mountain – The death of a friend
- A Letter from Chaplain James Sargent to Jacob Shively during the Atlanta Campaign
- Marching Through Georgia – Jacob’s perspective
- Lincoln’s Christmas Present from Sherman – Savanah
- Grand Review and Touring D.C.
- An Interactive Shively Experience
- The Efficacy of the Civil War Chaplaincy:
The Letter
29 Aug, 1862
Dear Mary,
After some days waiting and trying in vain to get a permit to go home I have concluded that the chance is very slim to see home yet for some time. I am well with the exception of a slight cold. We have been examined and sworn into the regiment, but have not received our pay for the one reason that our company officers have been unable to make out their payrolls correctly. I think probably they will succeed today. We have drawn a part of our uniform. The regiment is full composed of ten companies of infantry and one of sharp shooters making in all near 1100 men. The men all appear to be in good spirits considering all things. Our fare is pretty hard in comparison with what I got at home but it is equally as good as I expected.
I am sorry to say that I very much fear our Colonel is not the man he should be. There is no doubt but he is an educated man and a good Lawyer and no doubt is susceptible of being a military man, but one thing spoils all his good qualities and that is he likes his draw and when he is under the influence of liquor he is very passionate. Sometimes he is praising and adoring his men and tells them all to go home if they wish. At other times he is cursing and blaspheming his men enforcing the most rigid discipline and threatening severe punishments for slight offenses.
I don’t know when I will be able to get home or whether I will get home at all while the regiment remains here, and the chance will be worse after we leave.
I want you to write soon and let me know how you all are and how my affairs are going on. I don’t want my things sent yet for I have more now than I can take care of. Be well assured that I am very well satisfied if I only knew that everything was going right at home for I am satisfied I can live pretty well contented under the circumstances if I only was convinced all the while that you was contented and doing well.
Write soon. Direct to Jacob Shively, Camp Denison in care of Capt Brown 89 Regt O.V.I.
Jacob Shively
A Thousand Thunders 