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 Edwin W. Sampson Papers #5043-z, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

Microfilm copy (filmed 2005-2006) available.

• Reel 1: Entire collection

Acquisitions Information

Received from J. Douglas Mattox of Raleigh, N.C., in June 2000 (Acc. 98809).

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.

Processed by: Kristin Soya, October 2001

Encoded by: Kristin Soya, October 2001

Revisions: Nancy Kaiser, May 2005, December 2021.

Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the microfilming of this collection.

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.

• Agriculture--Pennsylvania--History--19th century.
• Family--Pennsylvania--Social life and customs.
• Pennsylvania--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Sampson, Edwin W.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Military life.
• United States. Army--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• United States. Army--Military life--History.
• United States. Army--Officers--Correspondence.
• United States. Army. Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, 145th (1862-1865)
• Virginia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Edwin W. Sampson was a lieutenant in the 145th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. The 145th Regiment was recruited from Erie, Pa., in September 1862. Most of men from this northwest corner of the state were farmers. The 145th participated in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and the Wilderness; the siege of Petersburg; and the Appomattox campaign. The Regiment was mustered out on 31 May 1865.

The collection contains five letters, written between 28 January 1863 and 18 January 1864, from Edwin W. Sampson to his parents and siblings when he was an officer in the 145th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. Sampson wrote the letters from Union camps in Virginia between military campaigns. In the letters, he described military life, including picket duty, weather, furloughs, hunting for food, diet, cooking of food, and monetary concerns. He also wrote about his lack of education and encouraged the children at home to pursue their education diligently. He showed concern for the day-to-day activities of his family in Pennsylvania and often gave them farming advice. In the letters, he mentioned generals Ambrose Everett Burnside, George Brinton McClellan, and Joseph Hooker. Also included is an invoice of ordinance to Lieutenant Sampson from Captain Clayton W. Lytle, also with the 145th.

• Microfilm (M-5043/1)