A Glimpse Into My Civil War Family Connection

I was talking the other day with some of the fillies about my early American Colonial history and my relationship to Nathan Hale. Yes, the famous “I regret I have but one life to lose for my country” guy. FYI, he didn’t have any children, but his sister did, and it’s through her that my family can trace the connection.

I also have ties to the Civil War. My great-great-great grandfather Edward Talcott Ingraham fought for the North as part of Connecticut’s Sixteenth Regiment. Though taken prisoner later in the war, he amazingly survived the horrific conditions at the notorious Andersonville Prison, eventually returned home to his father’s farm, and then married his sweetheart Nellie. He never fully recovered from his injuries and ordeal, however. He and Nellie had a daughter and, sadly, while she was pregnant with their son, Edward grew weak and died.

He enlisted as a young man of nineteen in response to Abraham Lincoln’s call for volunteers and was paid $25 a month wages. Edward believed in the Union and ultimately gave his life for his country. During the time he was away from the family farm, he wrote letters to Nellie and his father that miraculously survived intact, although the writing is faded and the pages are like tissue paper. My aunt had the letters until she died, and they are now in the tender hands of my cousin. About twenty years ago, my aunt and mother painstakingly transcribed the letters which offer amazing first-hand insight into the life of a Yankee soldier. Here’s just one letter to give you an idea (the spelling and grammar mistakes are Edward’s – my aunt left them in to be accurate):

Dear Nellie,

There if the heading of this does not let you know where I be, I do not know what will. Your kind letter reached me today and as the regiment is under light marching orders, I must answer it today with a short letter. I expect we have got to see some more fighting in a few days. If we do, I do not know but I shall be one to fall. Oh, I am detached from the regiment in to a pionear confis which goes ahead of the troops to clear the way. It is rather a dangerous position to be in. There is no news only have got to give the rebs another summers chase. I will send you a bit of wood from a tree which the bullet hit before it went through Fred Cooleys head. He stood next man to me in the last fight and this time it may hit me. Excuse this short letter for I have no time for we are engaged in preparing for the march. Give my love to all and write soon. Direct your letters as you have done.

                       I remain your ever affectionate friend

                                                            Edward

In addition to the letters, one tintype photograph of Edward also survived these many years. Here is an image of it my mother had produced from the original tintype. She always thought my cousin resembled him ? Quite the mustache, don’t you agree?

One last interesting fact about my great-great-great grandfather’s time serving in the war. When he and the others of the Sixteenth Regiment were taken prison after losing in battle, they tore their regiment flag into small strips and concealed the strips in their clothing before being transported to Andersonville. Many died there ­ — more from the Sixteenth Regiment than any other regiment. When a member of the Sixteenth died, the strip they carried was given to another member of the Sixteenth Regiment for safekeeping. When all the prisoners were finally released, they were sent to Newberne where they finished out the war doing guard and provost duty. It was there that the remaining scattered survivors of the Sixteenth Regiment were at long last reunited.

In 1879, a space was set aside in the new Connecticut Sate Capitol Building in Hartford for the various flags of the Connecticut Regiments. The remaining strips of the Sixteenth’s flag were stitched together to form a shield. This shield was then sewn onto a banner of heavy white Cheney silk from the silk mills in nearby Manchester. An eagle was embroidered above the shield to replicate the original design of the flag. This banner remains on display in a place of honor to this day.

I think after writing this post, I no longer wonder why I have an interest in American history and write romances. My great-great-great-grandfather survived nothing less than hell on Earth to return to his sweetheart, who faithfully waited for him for years. That’s quite a story, yes?

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Cathy McDavid has been penning Westerns for Harlequin since 2005. With over 55 titles in print and 1.6 million-plus books sold, Cathy is also a member of the prestigious Romance Writers of America’s Honor Roll. This “almost” Arizona native and mother of grown twins is married to her own real-life sweetheart. After leaving the corporate world seven years ago, she now spends her days penning stories about good looking cowboys riding the range, busting broncs, and sweeping gals off their feet — oops, no. Make that winning the hearts of feisty, independent women who give the cowboys a run for their money. It a tough job, but she’s willing to make the sacrifice.

44 thoughts on “A Glimpse Into My Civil War Family Connection”

  1. I had a great-great-great grandfather who lost a leg during the Civil War and had a pegleg thereafter.

  2. You’re blessed to have your history. I need to look up my late sister’s record.
    We had southerners, MO, as did his family LA.
    Tho none were plantation owners. Mine were share choppers and mere farmers.

    • I have my mother and aunt to thank for their hard work. And most of my ancestors were just regular people, too 🙂

  3. You’re blessed to have your history. I need to look up my late sister’s record.
    We had southerners, MO, as did his family LA.
    Tho none were plantation owners. Mine were share choppers and mere farmers.
    We do go back to the Mayflower. Tho they were met by the other side of family

    • Thank you so much for sharing. I loved reading about Edward. What an amazing History.
      We found out through my hubby’s youngest sister that his family helped hide slaves on the Underground Railroad during the Civil War.

  4. Thank you so much for sharing. I loved reading about Edward. What an amazing History.
    We found out through my hubby’s youngest sister that his family helped hide slaves on the Underground Railroad during the Civil War.

  5. How wonderful to have those special items from your family’s history! Thank you so much for sharing with us!

  6. Amazing history.

    My great-great grandfather fought with the 13th Tennessee Calvary for the North. His father was killed by the Bushwackers, an evil rogue group of rebels in Appalachia.

  7. Thank you Cathy for sharing this glimpse into our Country’s history. Edward’s letter touched my heart – how scared he must have been but still did his duty to serve. I can’t imagine the horrors our soldiers witnessed, but his words give us some idea. I’m grateful for your Aunt, Cousin & family for preserving & keeping these artifacts safe to make sure we never forget how our Great Country came to be!

  8. How interesting! I have a however many great grandfather that fought on the side of the Confederacy. However, he was totally against slavery. His reason for fighting for the South was that he knew the battles would be fought in the south, and he would protect his home. His son or nephew (I forget which) wrote it all down in a family history and it’s been handed down since. I have a copy somewhere! It’s great to have things our ancestor’s wrote!

  9. Cathy, this is absolutely fascinating!!!!

    I applaud your mom and aunt for preserving their ancestry, especially with the letter. So interesting to see how they ‘talked’ back then!

    Lovely blog!

    • It is interesting, Pam. Edward was just the son of a farmer and truly not that well educated. So, the letters are fascinating on many levels 🙂

  10. Cathy, this is quite emotional. I can’t imagine what those men endured. But what a treasure to have! That letter is priceless. I hope your cousin has someone to pass the letter to that understands the significance, both to your family and to the world. We need things like this to remind us not to repeat the tragedy. I really loved your post.

    • Thanks, Linda 🙂 The letters are amazing to read. Some are sweet and some are gut-wrenching. A few are actually funny – Edward had a sense of humor. I do hope my cousin sees that the letters are preserved and placed in a museum or government building for safekeeping.

  11. Times certainly were tough then! I know part of my family only came to America in the 20th century. Perhaps some of my ancestors were part of the Civil War; I’ve no idea…

  12. That’s quite a family history!
    Let’s see, Pike’s peak is named after a great Grandfather I believe. A second cousin was one of the “experiments” for the polio vaccine. There is a book about her life called, “A life Worth Living” by Dennis Eller. It was an eye-opening book for me. I myself was one of the “experiments” when they were looking at synthetic insulin. That’s all I can think of off the top of my head. lol

  13. My 3 times great grandfather fought at Fredericksburg he was wounded they thought he went awol but was in a Pennsylvania hospital. After the war he married a native American girl from the Delaware tribe.

  14. Hi, this so so very interesting and so very Awesome!! That is really something how your cousin has kept these letters, thats great! Yes hopefully she has them preserved. Thank you so much for sharing this info. Your book sounds and looks like a great read. Have a great rest of the day and a great weekend.

  15. Cool history, Cathy! Thanks for sharing.

    Many moons ago I went to school with a George Hale in Southbury, CT. If memory serves me, he may have mentioned being related to Nathan Hale.

    • Okay. I guess that means you went to school with one of my distant cousins. It’s true what they say about six degrees of separation 🙂

  16. You are so lucky to have the information and items from ancestors. So few of us took the time to ask the older generations and if we did, didn’t write it down. I remember asking questions of my grandfather and he wouldn’t answer. “Why do you want to know that stuff?” was his usual reply. Luckily, my brother got interested in genealogy and has gotten quite a bit of information on the family. There is some very interesting information there.

    • I agree, Patricia. My paternal grandfather used to tell the most amazing stories of WWI. How I wish I’d recorded them or written them down.

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