Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the C. Henry Pine Papers #5148, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Provenance

Purchased from Charles Apfelbaum of Watchung, N.J., in February 2004 (Acc. 99735).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Family--Connecticut--Social life and customs.
• Pine, C. Henry (Charles Henry), 1845-1915.
• Soldiers--United States--Correspondence.
• Soldiers--United States--Diaries.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives.
• United States. Army--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Medical care.
• United States. Army--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Military life.
• United States. Army--Military life--History.
• United States. Army. Connecticut Artillery Regiment, 2nd (1863-1865).
• United States. Army. Connecticut Infantry Regiment, 19th (1862-1863).
• Virginia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

C. Henry (Charles Henry) Pine (1845-1915) was raised in Winsted, a town in Litchfield County, Conn. His parents were Samuel Winchester Pine and Ada Elnora Case. From 1862 until approximately 1864, he served as a drummer boy with the 19th Connecticut Infantry, which became the 2nd Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery Regiment in November 1863. It is unclear when Pine completed his service, though it is known that the final remaining members of the original 19th Connecticut were mustered out in July 1865. Pine returned to Connecticut, marrying Imogene Amanda Downes in 1870. In later life, he was recognized as a philanthropist who contributed greatly to the construction of a soldier monument and memorial chapel in Ansonia, Conn.

The collection consists mainly of letters from C. Henry Pine (1845-1915) (Charles Henry Pine) to his mother, father, brother Edgar, and sister Jennie, discussing his Civil War service as a drummer boy with the 19th Connecticut Infantry Regiment (later the 2nd Connecticut Artillery Regiment) in northern Virginia. The earliest letters, written from late 1862 through the spring of 1863, mainly detail the routine nature of military life, drills, and inspections. In the summer of 1863, Pine fell gravely ill and was visited by his father, Samuel Winchester Pine, in a hospital at Fairfax Station, Va. A small number of letters from his father, the hospital chaplain, and nurses updated the family on his condition. As Pine later resumed his letter writing in the hospital, he described the ups and downs of his recovery, commenting also on the kindness of nurses and his longing for a furlough.

Once able, Pine rejoined the 19th, which became the 2nd Connecticut Artillery Regiment in November 1863. The 2nd Connecticut faced combat for the first time when it was called up by General Ulysses S. Grant to serve with the Army of the Potomac in May 1864. The next month at Cold Harbor, the regiment lost Colonel Elisha S. Kellogg, of whom Pine had spoken admiringly in previous letters. His letters from this period at times show the young man prepared for the possibility of death. They also include Pine's comments on financial matters, his hopes for Abraham Lincoln's re-election, and rumors about the future movements of his regiment. The collection also includes several diary-style writings, which appear to have been mailed to his family at some point.