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Letters received chiefly from Civil War soldier Randolph Sry in Company G of the 4th Iowa Infantry Regiment

 Collection
Call Number: RH MS P606

Overview

A collection of five letters, dated 1863 to 1865, written to Ith S. Beall of Ringgold County, Iowa. Four of the letters are from Beall's associate and fellow Ringgold County resident Randolph Sry, serving in Company G of the Civil War's 4th Iowa Infantry Regiment. Sry writes from Louisiana, Alabama, and South Carolina.

Dates

  • Creation: 1863 - 1865

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

No access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Spencer Library staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials.

Biography of Ith S. Beall, 1829?-1876.

Ith S. Beall was born in Ohio ca. 1829. He became a resident of Ringgold County, Iowa, where he lived during the Civil War, and where he died in 1876. Randolph Sry, born in 1831, was also a native of Ohio and a resident of Ringgold County, Iowa at the outbreak of the Civil War. Immediately prior to the war, Sry and Beall served respectively as Clerk and Deputy Clerk of the District Court of Ringgold County.

On July 4, 1861, Sry enlisted in the Civil War’s Union volunteers as second lieutenant in Company G of the 4th Iowa Infantry Regiment. His regiment was mustered in August 1861, and from 1861 to 1863 fought at the battles of Pea Ridge, Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, Jackson, Vicksburg, Cherokee Station, Caney Creek, Tuscumbia, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and Ringgold Gap. In February 1864, Iowa’s 4th Infantry was reorganized as a veteran regiment and participated in General William T. Sherman's campaign. Sry was promoted to the rank of captain on March 5, 1862, and to the rank of major on June 10, 1865. Company G of the 4th Iowa Infantry Regiment was mustered out July 24, 1865 at Louisville, Kentucky.

Extent

5 folders

Language of Materials

English

Scope and Contents

These five letters to Ith S. Beall of Ringgold County, Iowa date from 1863 to 1865. The earliest letter, dated February 1863, is from J. W. R. Hough of Port Royal, Pennsylvania. Hough writes of the politics of the Civil War and of mutual acquaintances.

Four letters to Beall dated March 1863 to January 1865 are from Beall's fellow Ringgold County resident Randolph Sry, serving in Company G of Iowa’s 4th Infantry Regiment. From Louisiana, Alabama, and South Carolina, Sry writes of his fellow Iowa soldiers, of Union "copperhead" influence, and of cowardly conduct by his senior officer at the battles of Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and Ringgold Gap. In February 1864, he describes his labors as captain to prepare rolls of veterans for mustering into the regiment, and requests a Ringgold County welcome for soldiers to be furloughed the following month. In his absence from his wife and children, Sry also instructs Beall in the transaction of various business matters on his behalf concerning livestock, fencing, and deeds. Letter arrangement is chronological.

Physical Location

RH MS P606

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchase, Charles Apfelbaum.

Title
Guide to the Ith S. Beall Collection
Subtitle
Letters received chiefly from Civil War soldier Randolph Sry in Company G of the 4th Iowa Infantry Regiment
Author
Finding aid prepared by mh, 2004; Finding aid encoded by mh, 2004
Date
2004
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Finding aid written in <language encodinganalog="language">English.</language>
Finding aid permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/10407/9795221892
Preferred citation
Ith S. Beall Collection, Kansas Collection, RH MS P606, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas Libraries

Repository Details

Part of the University of Kansas. Kenneth Spencer Research Library Repository

Contact:
1450 Poplar Lane
Lawrence KS 66045-7616 United States
785-864-4334