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THBMoses M. Ordway, 40th Massachusetts Volunteers, Civil War Archive
About Seller
6270 Este Ave.
Cincinnati , OH 45232
United States
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About Auction
LiveNov 18, 2016 - Nov 19, 2016
Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com
View Full Catalog (475)
- Lot Description
Lot of 50+, featuring 35 letters from Moses Ordway to his brother Frank, written during his service with the Union army, many accompanied by envelopes, December 18, 1862-May 31, 1865; letter from J. G. Snelling, Surgeon In Charge, Chesapeake General [Military] Hospital to Ordway’s brother Frank; 2 letters from cousin G.W. Taylor relative to significant military service on Morris Island, SC; document from Oliver Warner, 14th Secretary of Massachusetts, appointing Gorham Tenney as Justice of the Peace, County of Essex; and 11 letters relative to Ordway’s carriage business following his military service, ca 1871-1888.
At the age of 20, Moses Ordway enlisted as a private on August 14, 1862, and by the end of the month, he mustered into the 40th Massachusetts Volunteers, Co. I. Ordway's war-date correspondence relates not only his physical struggles with chronic diarrhea but also his increasing general disillusionment with the war and the army.
Several letters from the Chesapeake Military Hospital near Fort Monroe, VA describe his status. Ordway had been in bed for 2 weeks and said it is a terrible hard place for a sick man to get well in. He wrote that his weight had dropped to 80 pounds. Never thought I could stand so much pain and misery…The cold takes hold of me terribly. The wind whistles through the ward like an old barn.
He advised his brother, if you should get drafted claim disability...if that don’t work give $300...a soldier gets used like a dog.
Pay was always late. Ordway waited 18 months on one occasion. He often had to ask his brother Frank for money.
Ordway was appointed acting orderly sergeant about which he wrote, Don’t like to do the duty with neither rank nor pay. Later he wrote, if you are going to have a good company you don’t want your officers drunk all the time.
His disgust at soldiering was brought to a boiling point when on a ship, in uniform, as a paying passenger he saw a sign which read, Soldiers Not Allowed In Cabins Or Salons. After this he wrote his brother, If you are ever drafted you had better go to Canada.
Above and beyond his negativism about soldiering, Ordway honored his pledge to defend the Union. He fought at Chapin’s Farm, Bermuda Hundred, and other battles. On picket duty he brought in 8 Jonnies including a major. He persevered through the long and horrible conflict to live and see the Union preserved, and mustered out at Richmond, VA, on June 16, 1865. - Shipping Info
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