Processed by
Emily Castle
18 February 2005
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
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VOLUME OF |
1 manuscript box, 1 artifact |
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COLLECTION |
September 1862–1875, 2004 |
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PROVENANCE: |
Donald W. Janes, Breckenridge, Colorado, 3 November 2004 |
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RESTRICTIONS: |
None |
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COPYRIGHT: |
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REPRODUCTION |
Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society. |
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ALTERNATE |
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RELATED |
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ACCESSION |
2005.0036 |
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NOTES: |
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Hugh Gaston was born 10 February 1830 to James and Margaret Gaston, three miles south of Newark, Indiana. He was one of eleven children in the family. He married Catharine Steel and they had nine children. He was a farmer and a resident of Solsberry, in Greene County, Indiana.
In August 1862 Hugh enlisted in the 97th Indiana Infantry Volunteers as a Corporal. He was mustered into Company A on 20 August in Terre Haute. They left the state in late September for Memphis, where they were assigned to the 17th Army Corps. They moved towards Vicksburg but returned to Moscow, Tennessee after the Holly Springs disaster in December 1862. In April 1863 they joined Gen. Sherman’s army in the rear of Vicksburg, watching the movements of Gen. Johnston’s army.
After Vicksburg fell the 97th Indiana took part in the siege of Jackson, then moved to Memphis in September. On 13 September they were ordered to join Sherman’s army near Chattanooga to support Rosecrans’ army in stopping an invasion of Tennessee. They were engaged in the battle of Chattanooga, and then accompanied the army to the relief of Gen. Burnside who was besieged by Gen. Longstreet in eastern Tennessee, and returned to Scottsboro, Ala. where they passed the winter.
In May 1864, as a part of the 15th Army Corps, they moved into the Atlanta campaign. From 14 May through 2 July the 97th Indiana was involved in five skirmishes: Resaca, Dallas, New Hope Church, Big Shanty, and Kennesaw Mountain. On 22 July they participated in the battle of Atlanta. The 15th corps formed the extreme right on 28 July against which a fierce assault was made and repulsed, the 97th being noticeably engaged. On 29 August the 97th Indiana moved with its corps on the flanking march around Atlanta, and was engaged in the battle of Jonesboro. On 1 September it reached Lovejoy Station, and after the evacuation of Atlanta returned to East Point and encamped there.
On 12 November the regiment started with the right wing of Sherman’s Army on its march to the sea. On the 22nd it participated in a fight at Griswoldville, Georgia, was engaged again on 8 December at Little Ogeechee River, and entered Savannah on the 21st. The regiment rested a short time in Savannah, and then moved with Sherman’s army throughout the Carolinas. They moved on to Richmond, and finally to Washington, D.C., where they were mustered out 9 June 1865.
Gaston went back to farming after the war, and died 8 November 1913 in Newark at his daughter Lillie’s home.
Sources:
Materials in collection.
American Civil War Research Database. Duxbury, MA: Historical Data Systems, Inc., 2005 [cited 23 February 2005]. Available from World Wide Web: (http://civilwardata.com/)
The majority of the collection consists of forty letters written by Hugh Gaston to his wife Catharine Steel while he was a soldier fighting in the Civil War. There are also a few letters written by William Steel, Catharine’s brother, to their parents Joseph A. and Mary Steel, a letter written by James Henderson Gaston to his brother Hugh, and letters from J.H. Smith to Jane Steel, Catharine’s sister. The letters tell of camp life, what Gaston’s regiment is doing, and sick and wounded soldiers. The letters have been arranged in chronological order from the earliest to the latest written.
There are a few items from after the war: a contract and mortgage regarding a tract of land in Greene County, Indiana; a piece of cloth that the letters were wrapped in; and the genealogy of the Gaston family and provenance of the letters.
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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HG to Catharine and children, re: taking care of the house while he’s gone, ca. Sept. 1862 |
Box 1, Folder 1 |
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HG to Catharine and children, partial letter, ca. autumn 1862 |
Box 1, Folder 2 |
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J.H. Smith to Jane Steel, at a camp near Louisville, Ky., 21 Sept. 1862 |
Box 1, Folder 3 |
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HG to Catharine, in Louisville, Ky., 22 Oct. 1862 |
Box 1, Folder 4 |
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HG to Catharine, in Memphis, Tenn., 24 Nov. 1862 |
Box 1, Folder 5 |
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William Steel to Joseph A. Steel, in LaGrange, Tenn., 22 Feb. 1863 |
Box 1, Folder 6 |
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William Steel to Joseph A. and Mary Steel, partial letter, n.d. |
Box 1, Folder 7 |
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HG to Catharine and children, in
Moscow, Tenn., |
Box 1, Folder 8 |
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HG to Catharine, re: Generals and what they are doing, in Moscow, Tenn., 15 May 1863 |
Box 1, Folder 9 |
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HG to Catharine, camp near LaGrange, Tenn., |
Box 1, Folder 10 |
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HG to Catharine, re: what’s happening at Vicksburg, in LaGrange, Tenn., 31 May 1863 |
Box 1, Folder 11 |
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HG to Catharine, re: Vicksburg, in Chickasaw Bluffs, Miss., 12 June 1863 |
Box 1, Folder 12 |
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HG to Catharine, re: battle fought near Vicksburg, in Mississippi, 28 July 1863 |
Box 1, Folder 13 |
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HG to Catharine and Jane Steel, re: sick and wounded soldiers, in Mississippi, 9 Aug. 1863 |
Box 1, Folder 14 |
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HG to Catharine and children, Camp Sherman , Miss., 15 Aug. 1863 |
Box 1, Folder 15 |
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J.H. Smith to Jane Steel, in Mississippi, 24 Aug. 1863 |
Box 1, Folder 16 |
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HG to Catharine, Camp Sherman , Miss., 2 Sept. 1863 |
Box 1, Folder 17 |
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HG to Catharine, in Mississippi, 21 Oct. 1863 |
Box 1, Folder 18 |
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HG to Catharine, in Winchester, Tenn., 11 Nov. 1863 |
Box 1, Folder 19 |
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HG to Catharine, re: description of Battle of Chattanooga, in Bridge Port, Ala., 20 Dec. 1863 |
Box 1, Folder 20 |
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HG to Catharine, in Scottsboro, Ala., 15 Jan. 1864 |
Box 1, Folder 21 |
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HG to Catharine, re: cooking in camp and clothes, in Scottsboro, Ala., 23 Jan. 1864 |
Box 1, Folder 22 |
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J.H. Gaston to HG, in Scottsboro, Ala., |
Box 1, Folder 23 |
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HG to Catharine, in Nashville, Tenn., 15 May 1864 |
Box 1, Folder 24 |
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HG to Catharine and parents, n.d. |
Box 1, Folder 25 |
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HG to Catharine, in Big Shanty
Station, Ga., |
Box 1, Folder 26 |
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HG to Catharine and children,
re: Siege of Atlanta, |
Box 1, Folder 27 |
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HG to Catharine, in Scottsboro, Ala., 29 June 1864 |
Box 1, Folder 28 |
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HG to Catharine, re: working in a hospital and hearing canons in Atlanta, in Marietta, Ga., 27 July 1864 |
Box 1, Folder 29 |
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HG to Catharine, re: working in a hospital and prisoners of war, in Marietta, Ga., 7 Aug. 1864 |
Box 1, Folder 30 |
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HG to Catharine, in Atlanta, Ga. , 16 Oct. 1864 |
Box 1, Folder 31 |
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HG to Catharine, re: sending
money home, |
Box 1, Folder 32 |
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HG to Catharine, re: when the
war will end, |
Box 1, Folder 33 |
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HG to Catharine, re: activities and path of the regiment, in Fayetteville, N.C., 14 Mar. 1865 |
Box 1, Folder 34 |
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HG to Catharine, in Goldsboro, N.C., 29 Mar. 1865 |
Box 1, Folder 35 |
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HG to Catharine, partial letter
re: Jane’s death and possible up-coming campaign, in Goldsboro, N.C., |
Box 1, Folder 36 |
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HG to Catharine, re: orders to march in the morning, in Goldsboro, N.C., 9 April 1865 |
Box 1, Folder 37 |
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HG to Catharine and all the girls, re: end of the war and mustering out, in Alexandria, Va., 22 May 1865 |
Box 1, Folder 38 |
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HG to Catharine, re: going home, in Indianapolis, Ind., 15 June 1865 |
Box 1, Folder 39 |
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HG to Catharine, re: going home once he’s paid, in Indiana, 16 June 1865 |
Box 1, Folder 40 |
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Contract and mortgage between Stephen D. McIntire and William Steel for tract of land in Green County, 1875 |
Box 1, Folder 41 |
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Gaston genealogy and succession of provenance of letters, Oct. 2004 |
Box 1, Folder 42 |
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Cloth which letters were wrapped in, n.d. |
Artifacts: R2262 |
For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:
1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://opac.indianahistory.org/
2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, M 0833).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.