Letters from War: 1861 | Colonel Benjamin Christ and the 50th Pennsylvania ride out a hurricane off Hatteras

Posted on by Jake Wynn

“A fearful ride we had of it. God preserve me from ever having another like it.” In November 1861, Colonel Benjamin C. Christ and the 50th Pennsylvania sailed with a vast Union fleet into a hurricane off North Carolina’s Outer Banks. In a letter to his wife, Christ described how he and his soldiers fought to keep their ship afloat in the raging seas. Read his letter.

Letters from War: 1861 | “W.H.G.” describes Camp Curtin as the 48th Pennsylvania and other regiments fills their ranks

Posted on by Jake Wynn

The 48th Pennsylvania fills its ranks at Camp Curtin — and loses its first man before leaving Harrisburg In early September 1861, Coal Region regiments were pouring into Camp Curtin for three years' service. Before Colonel Nagle's 48th Pennsylvania even left for the front, a train at the Harrisburg depot killed Private William Millet — the regiment's first casualty, and he never saw a battlefield. Read the letter.