Albert J. Baldwin Letters

Collection

Identifier: MSN/CW 5089

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

A collection of 55 manuscript personal letters written by Albert J, Baldwin, 52 of them directed to the author's parents during his Civil War service in the 1st Michigan Light Artillery. These range in date from 18-19 September 1862 to 13 May 1865, though Baldwin's first year of service is thinly represented; most of the letters were written from September 1863 to the end of the war. Numbering on the letters and the accompanying envelopes suggests that something under half of Baldwin's wartime letters to his parents are present in this particular collection. There are also two pre-war letters and one written post-war, all directed to Baldwin's future wife, Eva Barker. Among the most historically significant letters are those written in the late summer and autumn of 1863, describing the battle of Chickamauga and the siege of Chattanooga.

Dates

Creation: 1862-1866

Creator

Baldwin, Albert J. (Albert Jehiel), 1839-1912 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

There are no access restrictions on this collection

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Biographical / Historical

Albert Jehiel Baldwin was born on 9 March 1839 near Union, Branch County, Michigan, the youngest child of the cabinetmaker David Baldwin and his wife Nancy Cooley Baldwin. In the summer of 1862 Albert interrupted his studies at the University of Michigan to join the Federal army, mustering in to Battery D, 1st Michigan Light Artillery (25 August 1862). He remained with Battery D for the duration of the war, rising to corporal (4 November 1864), 1st sergeant (12 March 1865), and 2nd lieutenant (21 June 1865). In 1862-63 Baldwin and the battery served in the field with the armies of the Ohio and the Cumberland; in 1864-65 the battery mostly performed garrison duty, at Nashville and at Fortress Rosecrans near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. After the war Baldwin settled at St. Johns, Clinton Co., Michigan, where he practiced law. In 1870 he married Eva Barker. Baldwin died in Detroit on 5 June 1912.

Extent

.5 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

A collection of 55 manuscript personal letters written by Albert J. Baldwin, mostly dating from the author's Civil War service in Battery D, 1st Michigan Light Artillery.