- 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:
OF NOTE
Jacob has only been gone for a few weeks and he’s starting to feel the frustrations of separation from home. He’s not feeling well when he writes this letter – and it shows.
He’s still eager to get into a scrap with the opposing Army. While his belief in the justice of the Union’s cause never seems to lag, his tone and bravado certainly mellows as his understanding of the human cost of war becomes more personal in the coming years.
THE LETTER
Letter No. 3
Licking Battery, Kentucky
13 Sept, 1862
Dear Mary
I have almost despaired of hearing from you anymore. I make this the last attempt I shall make for some time if it does not bring a response. I have only received only one letter since I have been in camp whilst others here have received 8 or 10. Thomas Augustus has received 3 letters this week and knows all about his business whilst I have not heard anything about my own business satisfactorily. I am not very well. I have had a bowel complaint for some days and it is getting worse – caused by the poor water we have to drink and exposure we are subjected to. There are a great many of our men complaining one way and another and a large proportion of them are confined in the hospital. And I fear the majority of us will be there soon if we do not get tents. On last Wednesday we were exposed to a drizzling rain all evening. At night we lie down in wet clothes on the wet ground. During the night we had a drenching rain upon us. And since then it has been cool. There are a great many here now. I suppose 20,000 and nearly all in the same condition that we are. There are two Indiana Regiments near us who have not even got knapsacks and canteens. They are very indignant towards their quartermaster but that is not the case with us for I think we have a good one and I think he has done all he can for us. But the great difficulty is the material cannot be got to make tents of. George Harmon is in the 101 Indiana here. Capt Higgens is here with his recruits for the 73 Ohio. He is acting as independent skirmishers.
The Rebels made a demonstration near Fort Mitchel. We had one man killed & One wounded. We were repulsed but the Rebels afterwards fell back.
General Lew Wallace was here yesterday to inspect us and our position. He spoke well of us and said he thought he would give us a chance to fight here if there is any fighting to do soon. The work of fortifying is going on rapidly and such destruction of timber you cannot imagine.
Every morning and evening we can see Regiment after Regiment of negros marching to and from their respective places of work. Yesterday evening we got our teams: 18 in number, 6 mules to a wagon.
We are permitted to make use of the use of the land and I assure you we use them freely. I was out on picket a few days since and such a time as we had I never saw before. We were in a settlement of Dutch who cultivate nothing but vineyards, orchards and gardens. It was a day of feasting.
No more. Write soon. Yours as ever,
Jacob Shively
Direct to Jacob Shively
Covington Kentucky 89 Regt
O.V.I. Care of Capt Brown
“I have almost despaired of hearing from you anymore.”
Jacob to Mary
A Thousand Thunders 