Warning: this letter includes the descriptions of a lynching and the use of racial slurs – reader discretion is advised
As the Luzerne County soldiers in the 8th Pennsylvania entered another month stationed at Camp Slifer near Chambersburg, the soldiers continued to drill and prepare for war. But plenty of soldiers were finding trouble amid the boredom and drudgery of camp life.
A newspaper in Chambersburg, The Valley Spirit, wrote back in May 1861 that many of the soldiers stationed around the Franklin County town had been making trouble and been engaged in sneaking off to drink illegally in Wolfstown, a majority African American community on the western edge of Chambersburg.
“Some of the soldiers who can have very little regard for themselves, or the companies to which they belong, spend a great deal of their time among the negroes in Wolfstown,” wrote the editors of the Valley Spirit on May 11. “They are there night and day and their conduct to say the least of it, is shameful. Such low characters are unworthy to be called by the name of American soldiers and the companies to which they belong should reform them, or git rid of them, as soon as possible.”
It was at Wolfstown that one of the most shocking incidents in the Civil War’s early months took place on Saturday afternoon, June 1, 1861.
We’ll share a full account of the events of this day in a future story – numerous Coal Region soldiers were involved in the ugly affair.
The following letter was written by either John or Michael O’Reilly, who both served as sergeants in Company D, 8th Pennsylvania. It describes the lynching of an African American man named Frank Jones in Chambersburg on June 1, 1861.
It does so in language that represents the open and violent racial prejudice that many white Northerners felt towards African Americans in the mid-19th century. O’Reilly describes the extrajudicial murder of Jones with a tone that borders on glee, using the n-word numerous times and casually referring to the killing as “the fun.”
As far as I have been able to establish, no members of the 8th Pennsylvania were involved in the murder or the events that preceded it.
The publishing of this letter by the Luzerne Union is unsurprising – their editorials often contained overt racism and the editors would consistently oppose any measures toward the emancipation of enslaved people in the South.
From the Luzerne Union, June 12, 1861:
Camp Slifer, June 3, 1861.
Mr. Hannum—Sir:
The monotony of our camp is broken, and once more we move about like men who have an object to accomplish. Packing haversacks, greasing boots, cleansing muskets, buckling on belts and boxes, now seems to be the order of the day.
On Saturday evening our quiet town of Chambersburg was the scene of quite a fracas, ending in the death of one man and the severely wounding of three others.
It happened thus: Some men of the 2nd and 6th regiments were strolling through Wolftown, a n— settlement not noted for the morality of its inhabitants, and there some boys of the 6th regiment got into a row with a n— whisky dealer.
The n— took a double barrel gun and shot one of the men through the thigh from the front, the load of buckshot making a fearful wound about six inches above the knee. The other was only slightly wounded in the back of the leg. Like lightning the news spread around town that soldiers were shot by n—s, and then commenced the fun.
Officers and private soldiers and citizens were making tracks for the field of battle, some to take care of their wounded brothers, whilst hundreds of infuriated soldiers pursued the n—, each one eager to sign his pass for the land of shadows. But the black scoundrel made a good run for the State Attorney’s residence on the border of the town, and there crawled up in the chimney; but some of the 6th were as lithe of limb as he, and soon pulled him down from his roost, dragging him out in the yard, where in an instant his body was ventilated by at least a dozen bullets and as many more bayonet thrusts.
Unfortunately here another soldier of the 6th received a shot in the hip, whilst in the act of bayoneting the n—.
Yesterday we had a fine time, although it being Sunday. We were called upon to don our military fixings and march out to receive General Patterson.
When I say we I mean that the 8th and 10th regiments were the lucky dogs to receive this distinguished honor, commanded as we were by four able officers on horseback, we felt proud of ourselves and proud of the valley we hailed from, when formed on the right wing first to receive the General and staff.
I would, had I time, give you a detailed account (in my rough way) of the proceedings.
Suffice to say we received the General, returned home, and are now packing up for Harpers Ferry.
Yours, &c.,
Segt. O’Riley.
Read our companion story telling the full story of the events described in this letter.
Read the previous letter from the Letters from War: 1861 series.
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