Soldiering...

The Union Flag during the Civil War...carried often into battle with the troops.

William Edward Cooper, Private, 16th Illinois Infantry, Co. K 

This photo is of my great-grandfather, William E. Cooper, most likely taken at enlistment in January of 1864.

The two brothers may have actually heard Abraham Lincoln speak during the time when he was at the courthouse in Pittsfield, Illinois working on his cases as a lawyer prior to his election to the presidency. Pittsfield has many connections to Lincoln, and the town proudly displays and celebrates those connections.

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(Notice the date of this letter. It must not be accurate, since Wm. Edward is speaking of life in camp before he was wounded on July 4th, 1864. I am not certain why the letter has the date of Sept. 22nd, 1864 at the top, but the note suggests that the original was written during the month of May, 1864.)

Atlanta, Ga.

Sept. 22nd 1864           (Transcribed from worn records) May 2, 1864 thru June 1, 1864

From William Cooper to his mother

Dear Mother

        Having just received yours of the 12th I will answer it in a short note. I have been wanting a letter to answer for several days as I have nothing else to do, and I would rather write to you than anyone I know. A soldier is always thinking of his Mother first and I believe that a soldier loves his Mother and sister better than any other man does. I speak of them as a general thing. I am sorry to say that some do not even respect anybody. I was very glad to get your letter today as I always am but everything is so dull her now that we look anxiously for anything to break the dullness. For the last four months we have lived in one constant strain of excitement, and to be let down all at once, in peaceful camp life is like putting a fellow on half rations. We have done nothing since we came here, except to clean up our camp - fix our selves comfortable and stand Picket once, and there was not a rebel within five miles of us, but I don't complain of a scarcity of rebels, for I have seen enough of them this summer to do me. I have been around town some little and am thoroughly disgusted with the place, nevertheless the city of Atlanta is a nice place. Not great for fine homes. But it is great for the endless fortifications and extensive preparation made to keep out us Yankee Vandals. But we got in some how. I guess the Rebel General Hood could tell how we done it and the chivalrous Confederacies got out the best they could, not even staying to get their 'rights' which we have been trying to give them all summer. There is not much said here in regard to politics. The Chicago Convention is hooted at. Their platform don't take snit-Sagers, on nearly every tent can be seen the familiar name of "Old Abe" The men have all the same opinion on the war, that is, to fight it out, and not offer any terms to any traitor, but force them to lay down their arms and ask us on what terms peace can be had. This is what every man thinks. We have suffered too much and lost too many brave boys to give up to traitors now, when we are so near a victorious end - for the end is not far off. Mother in order to give you a better idea of what we have went through with this summer, I will go back to the time we left Rossville, Ga. It was a bright Monday morning the 2nd day of May 1864. We broke camp at sunrise and marched in the direction of Dalton to meet the rebel army, which had concentrated there. The bands played lively time and our colors floated gaily on the cool morning air and many a brave lad stepped off proudly to the tap of the drums that morning who now fills a soldiers grave or is laying in some hospital - mangled and suffering. We marched 8 miles that day to Ringgold. Stayed there until the 5th then moved on. Up to this time we - that is - the Army of the Cumberland were by ourselves. On the 7th we found the enemy in strong force about 4 miles from Dalton and had a pretty sharp skirmish. Here we were joined by the 'Army of Ohio' which is the 23rd Army and commanded by Gen. Schofield. We were also joined by the 'Army of the Tennessee' composed of three Corps. The 15th Corp Gen. Dodge commanding. The 16th corps Gen. Logan commanding. The 17th Corps Gen. Blair commanding. The whole three corps commanded by Maj. General McPhearson and numbering about 30,000. Our own army the veterans of Stone River - Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge is composed of the 4th Corps Gen. Howard commanding 27,000 strong. The 14th Army Corps - men who were never whipped is 20,000 strong Gen. Palmer commanding. The 20th Army Corps Gen. Hooker in command 18,000 strong. The three last Corps are commanded by the 'Old War Horse' Gen. Thomas, and the whole army of one hundred and twenty thousand is under Maj. Gen. Wm. T. Sherman commanding the military division of the Mississippi. The best soldiers alive - in my humble opinion. The rebs had a strong position among the mountains which is impossible for me to describe. Our Regt. was under fire of the rebel sharpshooters and artillery for two days and nights - but only had one badly and one slightly wounded. Gen. Sherman took the 'Notion' to Flank them out of their stronghold. This consists in going around the enemy and cutting off his supplies - unless he retreats or comes out and attacks the flanking party, in this case the rebels chose to attack us, which they did in  a pass in the mountains called 'Snake Gap.' The 20th Army Corps lost 800 men but whipped the rebels and they fell back to Resacca, a town 12 miles south of Dalton on the R.R. This was about the 11th of May. The Army got into positions and on the 13th a very hard battle was fought and the rebels driven inside their works. At midnight on the 13th the rebels made a desperate charge on our line in the main hope of breaking our line, but they were driven back with terrible slaughter and by daylight the rebel army was in retreat. We were within musket shot of the rebs all the time. We had no blankets and were short of rations and had no chance to cook what we had. Of course we could not go to sleep for the enemy were so close that before a line could be formed they could be upon us. To make the thing pleasant the rebs would occasionally send a shell screaming over our heads or a half dozen musket balls would Spat against the trees - close around. Our company did not lose anyone here. Well, after the rebs retreated our division was sent to Rome 30 miles distant - South West. On the 17th of May, after marching all day we came upon the rebs again and our Co. had a very spirited fight with the rebel cavalry, driving them for over a mile in handsome style to their breastworks. night came on and we had to stand the Picket guard. We had marched about 15 miles that day carried our Knapsacks and fought a small battle between sundown and dark - and to mend the matter it sent in a rainy night. You can imagine how we felt the next morning. I had not eaten a mouthful of food since daylight the morning before and were as wet as wharf rats. Well the rebs concluded that things would get too hot for comfort if they stayed so about noon on the 18th they started Southward. All this time the rest of our Army was close after the main rebel force that had retreated along the Rail Road. There is too Rivers at Rome which we crossed on Pontoon Bridges as the rebs had burned the  wooden ones. We stayed in this vicinity until the 25th. Here we parted with our comrades that didn't re-enlist. It was a sad parting and more than one old soldier drew a blouse sleeve across his eyes and shook hands in silence, not daring to trust his voice to speak. We started at daylight on the 25th. We were in  line ready to march - the bugle sounded - and amid the shouts and good wishes of the boys whose time was out we moved in a Southern direction and for two days we marched on in some of the roughest country I ever seen. We had another struggle for the mastery, there we under fire again for four days. We built breastworks here to protect ourselves from the musket balls. This is near a town called Dallas. We were pretty comfortable here as the weather was good and we had rations, but the suspense and excitement of the thing was enough to wear out mens lives.

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These signs document the battles near the Chattahoochee River, and the lower photo describes the Battle of Ruff's Mill (the other end of the defense line from the Smyrna location), on the day that Wm. Edward was wounded.

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(Testimony from the Notary Public who verified the statement sworn by John M. Bryant who was in command of the 16th Illinois Regiment Volunteers, Co. K when William Edward Cooper was wounded,  in an effort to obtain pension monies for Wm. Edward in the year 1898. The testimony gives a description of the seriousness of Wm. E's wounds, and of the fact that his brother did indeed take him out of the battle. It also describes the remainder of his service before his honorable discharge.)

 Personally appeared before me, this 13th day of August 1898, a Notary Public in and for the County and State aforesaid, John M. Bryant, a reputable person to me known, who being duly sworn on his oath says: "During the Rebellion I was in command of Company K, 16th Reg. IL Volunteers, 1st Brigade 2nd Div. 14th Army Corps; that William E. Cooper, a member of said Company, in a skirmish near the Chattahoochie River in the State of Georgia, on the 4th day of July 1864 was wounded through both legs above the knees. I was with him when he was wounded and remember that his brother carried him off the field to the hospital, where he remained, unable to report for duty from the effects of his wounds, until the following spring when he rejoined the Company and Regiment at Goldsboro NC and later on was detailed as Orderly at Division headquarters. I am not interested, directly or indirectly, in the results of this claim. My Post Office is Number 121-123 Kinzie Street Chicago. 13 August 1898

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Here are some photos from Pittsfield that demonstrate the town's close association to, and perhaps some of the community's members affection for, Abraham Lincoln.

Pike County Courthouse, Pittsfield, Illinois, 19th Century photo (this would have been the actual building at the time Rebecca and Joseph Cooper & family lived there)

More to come...