| Title: | Andrew Greenlees, Dayton to 'Dear Brother' |
|---|---|
| ID | 1255 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Greenlees, Andrew/26 |
| Year | 1862 |
| Sender | Greenlees, Andrew |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | farmer |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Dayton, Ohio, USA |
| Destination | Magheramore, Co. Wicklow, Ireland |
| Recipient | Greenlees, John |
| Recipient Gender | male |
| Relationship | brothers |
| Source | D3561/A/26: The Papers of Prof. E.R.R. Green Deposited by Dr. P.R. Green |
| Archive | The Public Record Office, N.Ireland |
| Doc. No. | 9902225 |
| Date | 22/11/1862 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | Document added by LT, 26:02:99. |
| Word Count | 1154 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | Dayton November 22d 1862 Dear Brother I am happy to inform you that we are all well. my son John commenced going to school about four weeks ago and he is busy to night at the table with me reading his lesson he learns very easy easier than I ever did, my other little prattler is at my other elbow prattling away with all her might, while my better half sits a little on the other side of her busy sewing like good Dorcas of old thus you see if you could take a peep in on us this sweet saturday night you would find us all at least comfortable though I would say that my little Mary is no great aid to me about writing; news are scarce at present though I would infer from what I can gather that we are on the eve of great events Mc Clellan has been superceded miserable slow fellow he ought to have been court martialed and shot. the rebels were to [too?] quick for him every time he has been in command of the grand army of the potomac for eighteen months and what has he done simply nothing or worse than nothing wasted at least 60 or 70 thousand lives besides hundreds of millions of dollars he had all the men and munitions of war he asked for an army of a hundred & fifty thousand men and upwards and yet by his do nothing policy the army stays where it was one year ago on the banks of the potomac but this do nothing policy is ended the government at last seems to be fairly aroused to merit the emergency of the case and any general or generals who will not move upon the enemy at once and prove successfull [successful?] may lay off his shoulder straps and go home the [------?] of it is we have had to[too?] much sympathy with the rebels all along we did not want to hurt them our poor deluded bretheren [brethren?] of the south we do not wish to injure them more just scare them back into the union but this policy is played out it wont do the rebels are fearfully in earnest and we are now about we have not been heretofore (at least so I think) for instance at the great battle of antietem [antietam?] Maryland the rebels were fairly routed fleeing in all directions to get back into Virginia and yet Mc Clelland[Mc Clellan?] never moved after them not till the [they?] were all safe and sound cross the river and had plenty of time to erect formidable batteries on the opposite bank of the river and dispute his passage it really does seem as though he designed all along to aid the rebels as much as he safely could and it also seems strange that old Abe (the president I mean) did not shelf him long ago but thank God he is laid aside at last and his snail like policy goes with him Burnside his successor is a fighting man and a good general it is said he has no sympathy for the rebels but would give them shot and shell in abundance we have now about one million of men in the field of these the gallant state of Illinois furnished 150 thousand beside this land force I think I am safe in saying that inside of thirty days we will have ready for service the best Iron clad fleet the world ever saw but over and above all this we have justice on our side after the first day of January all states found in rebellion against the government then will loose their traffic in slavery all slaves therein are declared free men for ever is not that a great point gained a proclamation of emancipitation [emancipation?] to the oppressed by the president of the united states I bless God that I have lived to see this day; out of apparent evil and distress God in his providence is bringing much good if success had followed our arms all along we would not have had the emancipation message reverses met our arms in the swamp before Richmond on the Chickahominy also [--pes?] from battles at the [Rapidan?] Rappahanacock [Rappahannock?] [Cedar?] mountain and bulls run all these were defeats and seemed a great evil while the victorious hordes of rebels were within sight of Washington also invading Maryland threatening Pensylania [Pennsylvania?] in fact through a force into the [laller?], with another large force threatening Louisville Kentucky and Cincinatti Ohio then when things looked dark came the proclamation of freedom puerly [purely?] as a war measure as a measure benifiscal[beneficial?] to us and injurious to the rebels thus you see God rang as it were this measure of justice to the down trodden from our government against their wills for I have reasons for saying if our armys [armies?] had been able successfully to quell the rebellion the slaves would not have been meddled with and more guarantys [guarantees?] would have been given to the [slave?] [breeders?] in order to pacify them and coax them back Vis [Viz?] an old saying man proposeth but God disposeth even of all things according to the counsel of his own will I find that I have taken up so much room with this subject almost everything else is excluded before closing I must give you some local news My wifes Father died last July his complaint was heart disease accompanied with a [paridylic?] stroke he died as a good man diesth[dieth?] for him death had no terrors he was an upright Christian and merely passed from earth to a purer and more exalted state of happiness my w [wife?] her two brothers John and Lifee and lifees oldest son are in the army also Cousin James Brown John Powers Cousin Hilens Husband has been very sick the last accounts we had from him I am afraid the exposure of the tented field will prove to [too?] much for him there has been no drafting in this state neither is it probable that there will be any as we have about sixteen thousand men in the field over and above all calls made upon us I must now close. remember us at a throne of grace I often think about you I would like to see you but at the present I have no hope of it. Fathers last came duly to hand in fourteen days from date which was the shortest time on the way of any that I ever recieved [received?] give them our kind love as far as I know our friends here are in their usual Aunt R Greenlees and family wishes to be remembered to you all Your loving Brother in bonds of Christian fellowship Andrew P S. excuse mistakes for I have written in a great hurry AG [Andrew Greenlees?] |
