Finding Aid for the Joseph Coryell Civil War correspondence 2015.009.w.r

Lauren Menges

Center for American War Letters Archives

10/31/2016

Leatherby Libraries

Chapman University

Orange, CA 92866

speccoll@chapman.edu

URL: http://www1.chapman.edu/library/archives/

Contributing Institution: Center for American War Letters Archives

Title: Joseph Coryell Civil War correspondence

Creator: Coryell, Joseph

source: Gressle, Keith

Identifier/Call Number: 2015.009.w.r

Identifier/Call Number: 1001

Physical Description: 0.2 Linear Feet (2 folders)

Date (inclusive): 1858 July 7 - 1863 November 11

Abstract: This collection contains correspondence from Pvt. Joseph Coryell of the Union Army to his wife Sarah during the Civil War. Also included are other pieces of correspondence including letters to and from Sarah from other friends and family members.

Language of Material: English .

Container: Civil War 1

Container: 16-17

Container: 1-2

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Keith Gressle. Legacy collection from Andrew Carroll.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged by author and chronology.

Series 1, Correspondence from Joseph Coryell
Series 2, Miscellaneous Correspondence

Preferred Citation

[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Joseph Coryell Civil War correspondence (2015.009.w.r), Center for American War Letters Archives, Chapman University, CA.

For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

Content Description

This collection contains correspondence from Private Joseph Coryell of the Union Army to his wife Sarah Coryell during the Civil War. Coryell served with the 24th Regiment, Michigan Infantry in the Union Army. Joseph and Sarah lived in White Lake in Oakland County, Michigan. They had a son named Johnny. The letters describe Joseph's time in service primarily in Virginia. Joseph was shot in battle on April 29, 1863, and died the following day in the hospital.

The collection also contains letters to and from Sarah and other friends and family.

Conditions Governing Use

There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions. For further copyright information, please contact the archivist.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.

Correspondence -- American Civil War

Michigan

Virginia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns

Battle of Chancellorsville (Chancellorsville, Virginia : 1863)

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns & battles -- Virginia -- Chancellorsville

Coryell, Sarah

Gressle, Keith

document-box Civil War 1, folder 16, folder 1

Series 1, Correspondence from Joseph Coryell 1862 September - 1863 April

Physical Description: .08 Linear Feet(1 folder)

Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains letters from Pvt. Joseph Coryell of the Union Army to his wife Sarah in Michigan during the Civil War. The bulk of Joseph's letters describe his unit's slow march from Camp Lyon in Virginia, near Washington DC, toward Richmond. In his letter dated September 9, 1862, he describe hearing reports of the Battle of Bull Run. He tells Sarah of the many reports he has heard in camp as to the progress of the war, such as hearing that Stonewall Jackson made it into Maryland with 50,000 men and that McClellan was pursuing them with 200,000. He later acknowledges this may not have been true: "The news came in here last night that McClellan had disarmed forty thousand rebels yesterday but I am afraid it is like a good many other reports we hear, without truth."

Coryell often writes of having poor health and being afflicted, along with many other men, with dysentery. He also laments his false impressions of the war effort. He tells Sarah he enlisted because he thought the South was on its last legs and that the Union army only needed reinforcements, and was extremely disappointed to find this was not the case (Letter dated 10/15/1862). He also writes of the destruction and desolation that the armies leave behind them (Letter dated 11/07/1862). He acknowledges that his patriotism is waning and that he only wants it to end, regardless of the outcome (Letter dated December 21, 1862).

He also addresses Sarah's concerns such as her loneliness without him and her obligations on keeping their home running. He refers to her with the nickname "Sackey."

document-box Civil War 1, folder 17, folder 2

Series 2, Miscellaneous correspondence 1862 September - 1863 November

Physical Description: .025 Linear Feet(1 folder)

Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

This series contains letters to and from Sarah Coryell and her friends and family during the Civil War. This includes a letter from a regiment Chaplain informing her of her husband's death. The Chaplain also describes how and where they buried him (letter dated May 12, 1863). Several of the letters and messages of condolence and others concern her late husband's estate.