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Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the microfilming of this collection.
Size | 0.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 40 items) |
Abstract | Emmett Cole of Barry County, Mich., was mustered into Company F, 8th Michigan Infantry Regiment in September 1861. In October 1861, his unit sailed for the Carolinas, eventually encamping on Hilton Head Island, S.C. He participated in several campaigns and was wounded and apparently captured. He appears to have died of his wounds in Charleston, S.C., around the end of June 1862. The collection consists of 19 letters that Emmett Cole wrote to his sister Celestia, his brother Edgar, and various friends during the course of his military service. The letters contain descriptions of the engagements in which he participated, including the 1861 Port Royal, S.C., expedition; the 1862 siege of Fort Pulaski, Ga.; and the attack on Secessionville, S.C., in 1862. The letters also include description of military life, stories about interactions between Union and Confederate soldiers on picket duty, speculation on the conduct and potential duration of the War, and discussion of financial matters. Also included is a letter from James I. McCarter of Charleston, S.C., who visited Cole in a hospital for wounded prisoners and wrote to Cole's father relating his son's dire condition. |
Creator | Cole, Emmett, d. 1862. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: John Foster, November 2000
Encoded by: John Foster, November 2000
Revisions: Finding aid updated in May 2005 by Nancy Kaiser.
Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the microfilming of this collection.
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Emmett Cole of Barry County, Mich., was mustered into Company F, 8th Michigan Infantry Regiment in September 1861. In October of that year, his unit sailed for the Carolinas, eventually encamping on Hilton Head Island, S.C. He participated in the capture of Port Royal, S.C., and remained stationed at Beaufort, S.C., on Port Royal Island, through May 1862. During that time, he participated in the capture of Fort Walker and Fort Beauregard, and in the siege and capture of Fort Pulaski. After a period of inactivity, Cole and his unit participated in the ill-fated Union assault on Secessionville, S.C. Cole was wounded and also seems to have been captured. He appears to have died of his wounds in Charleston, S.C., around the end of June 1862.
Back to TopThe papers of Emmett Cole consist of 19 letters (typed transcriptions available) that Cole wrote to his sister Celestia, his brother Edgar, and various friends during the course of his Civil War military service with the 8th Michigan Infantry Regiment. The letters contain descriptions of the engagements in which he participated, including the 1861 Port Royal, S.C., expedition; the 1862 siege of Fort Pulaski, Ga.; and the attack on Secessionville, S.C., in 1862. The letters also include description of military life, stories about interactions between Union and Confederate soldiers on picket duty, speculation on the conduct and potential duration of the War, and discussion of financial matters. Also included is a letter from James I. McCarter of Charleston, S.C., who visited Cole in a hospital for wounded prisoners and wrote to Cole's father relating his son's dire condition.
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