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THE LETTERS AND PAPERS OF HENRY W. OWEN, SGT., 16TH PENNSYLVANIA REGIMENT OF CAVALRY

This is an innovative ARCHIVAL CD which contains a copy of twelve Civil War letters with battle, camp life, and home front content:

Also reproduced on this CD are 5 original stamped covers with the letters, Henry Owen's 18 Muster Rolls, and about 40 other postwar papers including Pension Applications, etc.

Having the letters on this CD Rom is far superior to having the letters published in a book, and almost like owning the original letters/documents because the viewer can examine accurate scans of each original letter & cover, in color and with optional magnification.

This affordable collection of letters and papers is a good reference for any SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT OR ARCHIVES to own as part of their Civil War collection. Also, an opportunity for any researcher or local historian of the Civil War with interest in this Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment--or just anyone interested in experiencing the Civil War through the eyes of one eloquent Union Cavalryman.

The scan below shows the Owen Papers CD.
See below for further description of content. *

One single CD Rom of the Owen Papers (without lesson plans) costs $25.00 plus $3.50 postage & handling in US, $7.00 international. VA residents add 5% sales tax to selling price.

HENRY W. OWEN CIVIL WAR PAPERS CD ROM




NOW ALSO AVAILABLE WITH DETAILED LESSON PLANS--
a special TWO CD SET--one copy for individualized student use & one "teacher's edition" of the Owen Papers CD Rom.

This package is a good teaching tool for the busy College American History teacher, Secondary High School US History teacher, or even Middle School or Junior High School history teacher.

The Owen Papers would be a useful learning experience in Advanced Placement and Honors classes because they provide unusual opportunity for students to work closely with exact facsimiles of historical primary source documents.
They are also an excellent teacher tool for any class emphasizing primary sources for Standards of Learning or other State-mandated history objectives.

By learning to analyze and evaluate the material ALMOST AS IF THEY HELD THE ORIGINALS IN THEIR HANDS, students share in the experiences of one common soldier during and after the American Civil War.

This special EDUCATION Edition set of the Owen Papers CD Rom is specifically designed for TEACHERS TO USE AS AN UNFORGETTABLE PRIMARY SOURCE REFERENCE FOR THEIR STUDENTS.

Try out this TEACHER / STUDENT pair of CD's as individualized instruction, as a learning center, or as an independent study project.
Cost is $50.00 plus $3.50 postage & handling in US, $8.50 international. VA residents add 5% sales tax to selling price.

The Owen papers CD Rom may be used as a project for the ENTIRE CLASS if NETWORKING TECHNOLOGY is available which allows all students to simultaneously access the material on individual computer terminals. Lesson plans direct every student to work with a specific letter on the disk and then report back for full classroom interaction & general analysis of the collection.

A CLASSROOM-SET of the CD Rom permits full classroom activity when networking technology is not available (inquire for pricing of classroom sets).
(Use this 2 CD pair first with individual students to see if you like the product.)


FURTHER DETAILED EXERPTS AND DESCRIPTIONS of the Henry W. Owen Civil War letters and papers:

The CD Rom contains:

--An index and descriptive summary of the Henry W. Owen papers.

--12 Union Civil War letters (with five wartime stamped covers) scanned in color and with optional magnification onto the CD as follows (EXCERPTS from full transcriptions included for each letter):

LETTER # 1--8 May 1862
HARD RIDING, SKIRMISHING, WOUNDED, PATRIOTISM
The first surviving letter Henry wrote on 8 May 1862 from camp near Potomac Creek Bridge, VA. It is addressed to Emma N. Williams of Wattsburg, Erie County, Pennsylvania. Henry describes having recently "ridden night and day. I am so sleepy that I can hardly see." He mentions having seen considerable fighting, adding that he has "seen the rebs run verry fast and I am happy to say have had but one man shot and four wounded slightly, none however of our company. I have been all day in hearing of the cannons and musketry and I can tell you it is not verry agreeable. The two armies have done some of the hardest fighting that ever was known. It is a sad sight to see the wounded as they are being removed from the field and yet the war will continue. I [hope?] this summer's campaign will bring it to a close, but I fear not." There is a good more discussion about Emma's family and a mention of the upcoming spring draft. The letter ends: "Yours with respect Emma, from one that ever respects you, H. W. Owen"

LETTER # 2--1 February 1863
DESERTION, LIFE IN CAMP, COMMANDING MEN
The second letter is the only one not addressed to Emma Williams. Instead, it is addressed to Henry's sister and again written from Camp near Potomac Bridge. It bears the date of 1 February 1863. Henry discusses at great length the lack of character and shirking of duty evidenced by a fellow soldier. "He played off sick all the time but would eat more than eny one of us. He would stay in the tent when the rest of us were out and eat shuger coffee with hard bread and then complain of his poor health. He was tired of soldiering and wanted his discharge. He went to the doctors and they laughed at him untill he was ashamed of himself. And when he saw he would not get his discharge he did not like it. Well when we started he got out of bed and humped a round untill we got ready to start thinking they would send him home as carry him in the Ambulance but Capt told him to mount a horse and start. He did so feeling verry mad." The result is of course that "On Sunday morning he started off and that is the last time that eny one of us saw him. He is reported as a deserter and I think he is in the lockup. If he is not he ought to be. . . . The boys say he is not fit for a fireman in hell. He tried to kick up a fuss behind my back but could not do it." Henry discusses his own popularity among the soldier's in his regiment: "There is not a boy in the company that will speak ill of me. When we go out on picket the boys say "whose relief am I?" "I want to be on Corporal Owen's relief." That is the way it goes untill they find out who they are under. I went out the other day on picket and one fellow from North Cumberland County come to me and says he "Corporal (in fun) I will shoot you if you are not my Corporal and so it goes. It is just so all the time." The rest of the page is devoted to a long refutation of a soldier who accused Henry of not paying a debt. Henry ends with: "So I don't owe Tom Reach anything that he has sayed and you do not believe it. Let me know and I will tell you the truth. He could not hurt me by his lies in the Army so he wrote home to Phoebe but I think I will make a lie of it. As for swearing and card playing I have not seen much of either since he left."

LETTER # 3--15 March 1863
DEATH AT HOME, SOLDIERING, BATTLE REPORT
The third letter is once again addressed to Emma Williams. Henry writes from camp near Potomac Creek, VA on 15 March 1863. He tries to console Emma for a loss in her family (her father?) and mentions the recent death of his own sister. "And a gain when I think of war and all the misery and lives it has cost--the lives it will cost to restore the Union, I feel that those that are gon are the best off. Yet we will mourn the loss of the departed." He discusses the relative merits of Emma continuing in school or "learned lessons in out door work that many of your sex have not [had] and some perhaps would spurn the idea of such lessons. But I will venture to say that you would not take anything for what you know a bout outdoor duty."
Henry describes some of the hardships of soldiering in the cavalry, how they "are called up at all times of night and some times in case of a raid, we march all day and stand by or sit on our horses all night or nights as the case may be. We have been out five days and nights chaseing the rebs and yet we are willing to soldier. We had a scirmish a short time a go killing several rebs driving them back a cross the Rappahanock River. We lost three killed forty seven taken. I expect we will soon have a nother brush. It may be before this reaches you." Although his name is cut out of this letter in some long ago act of censorship (by Emma?), Henry tells Emma to address him at in the Army of the Potomac, Company L, 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment.

LETTER # 4--18 February 1864
HARDSHIPS, HOMESICKNESS, PATRIOTISM, HUMOR
Henry wrote the fourth letter to Emma from Camp 16th PA Cavalry near Warrenton, VA on 18 February 1864. He writes of HOME. "Home is ever uppermost in the soldier's mind. If it was not for the love of freedom and country we would not be found laboring under all the privations and disadvantages of camp and campaign life. We love home and friends liberty and union one and inseperable. . . . For this we are fighting for." He continues dryly "I am glad to hear that the boys about home show so much Patriotism this winter. Our thinned ranks need their help . . . about Luther's patriotism, he has not as much patriotism as my mother and that is not enough to enlist." Henry discusses family news and mutual acquaintance. He reports that "this winter I have very nice quarters. There is only three of us tenting together, Sergt. James P. Goodrich, myself, and a private. I am cook which you know is very nice for a cold day."

LETTER # 5--21 March 1864
COVER ONLY, LETTER IS MISSING

LETTER # 6--5 June 1864
HARD FIGHTING, SUFFERING OF THE WOUNDED
Henry begins the sixth letter "Peninsula June 5th 1864 Six O'Clock P.M. within fourteen miles of Richmond". He vividly explains that "You must know I have travelled through a large portion of Virginia since I last wrote to you. I am detailed to assist in taking care of the wounded. It is a bloody sight. I can tell you I have seen men cut in pieces in every concievable way. It is hard indeed. I cannot tell you half I have seen since the first day of May last. Pen and ink will not describe the pain and anguish that the soldiers have endured. Whilst I am writing I can hear the boom of the cannon at a distance. We must not despair but hope for the best."

LETTER # 7--9 July 1864
AMBULANCE CORPS, AMPUTATION
The seventh letter dated 9 July 1864 from City Point, VA is one of the most powerful. Henry explains that "They fight as much nights as days. If you were here you would not sleep for the boom of cannon and roar of musketry but we are used to it. I belong to the Ambulance Corps and my duty is to draw rations for the Ambulance Drivers and escorts. I also have to go on the battlefield and help take care of the wounded and see that they are taken off the field by men that are dictated for that duty. When at the hospital I assist the Doctor in amputations and disection which are very painful. If you want a comparison imagine yourself holding a brother soldier on a table whilst two or three doctors are amputating an arm or leg. Or take a man from a field with one leg all blown to pieces with a shell and bleeding like rain. This is an everyday occurance with me when the Cavalry is moving." He mentions that "the fourth was held unusually quiet. We threw a few shells into Petersburg to let the Confeds know we had not forgotten them."

LETTER # 8--14 September 1864
LINCOLN & McCLELLAN'S ELECTION, INFANTRY v. CAVALRY
In the eighth letter dated 14 September 1864, Henry writes that "We are lucky to be able to converse by means of the pen. I see hundreds in the Army that cannot read or write. I pity them. I often write letters for the Boys." He discusses the upcoming presidential election: "Do you think any sensible man (or at least a soldier) would vote for Lincoln? . . . Well, I will vote for Lincoln and Johnson. I think Lincoln has held the reins so long and driven the team so well that he ought to drive it through. If McClellan undertakes to drive, the team will run away and break the wagon." He compares the cavalry with the infantry "We have some hard fighting but then we have a horse to ride and carry our effects. We have not got to wade through the mud ankle deep and sometimes deeper with a knapsack and gun to carry."

LETTER # 9--30 October 1864
SUPPLY TRAIN, REGIMENT BATTLE & LOSSES, AID SOCIETY
In the ninth letter dated 30 October 1864, camp near Petersburg, VA Henry reports that "the cavalry has been out on a reconnisance and I am sorry to say my regiment lost forty-five in killed and wounded. My Captain was wounded not seriously however."

LETTER # 10--26 December 1864
HOME FRONT (OIL), DULL CHRISTMAS, HOMESICK, BUMMERS
The tenth letter dated 26 December 1864 contains a long discussion mainly about friends and family. Henry does write a good bit about the fact that he is "glad to hear of the Oil excitement. I hope your Mother's farm will turn out to be Oil territory. . . . if there is Oil there I shall have to have a hand in experimenting, that is if I get out of the Army alive and well." He reports a dull Christmas but is glad that it will be his last in the army. "Your card I received kindly it is Architect of your own hands." He complains that "those Boys who are at home on furlough all the time are not soldiers. They are only Bummers."

LETTER # 11--21 February 1865
TERRIBLE BATTLE, SORROW AT DEATH IN ARMY & HOME
The eleventh letter is an excellent battle letter. It is headed Headquarters 2nd Ambulance Corps 2nd Cavalry Division Army of the Potomac and dated 21 February 1865. Henry vividly describes how "We have been out to Dinwiddie Courthouse on a raid. Before we got back it turned into a general engagement. We lost heavy in killed and wounded and much heavier did the enemy. I was on the battlefield all day the 6th. I never saw men slaughtered so in my life as I did there. It was charge and recharge all day. We drove the Rebs from the field however and held our position." He speaks further of death "I am sorry to learn of the death of some of our soldiers whilst at home. It seems harder to me than it would if they had fallen on the field of battle. My Regiment was on picket the 20th when a scout of several men were sent out a short distance and were fired into by Guerillas. One young man by the name of Phelps the son of a widow woman . . . was shot dead."

LETTER # 12--13 March 1865
HOMESICK & MARRIAGE
In the twelfth letter of 13 March 1865 Henry really anticipates coming home in the fall after 3 years away from home. "Tears come to my eyes when I think of the death of so many of my cousins and friends that were so well when I left home. I have escaped so far wonderfully. I ought to be and am truly thankful for such a blessing."

LETTER # 13--14 April 1865
LEE'S SURRENDER TO GRANT
The last (13th) letter is one of Henry's best and concerns the Surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse. Dated 14 April 1865, Cloverhill, VA, Henry describes events: "The mail has not come regular to us since we left winter quarters. However we can do without mail if we can only end the Rebellion. The Army of the Potomac has had the honor of capturing the Army of Virginia. We drove Lee out of Petersburg and Richmond over the hills to Appomattox Depot on the Richmond and Lynchburg R.R. where to his astonishment our Gen. U.S. Grant caused him to surrender. He surrendered unconditionally 35,000 men. Gov. Smith has surrendered the State of Virginia to US Government and in honor of the above event one hundred guns were fired in front of Grant's Headquarters near Nottoway Courthouse, Va." Henry appears to have succumbed somewhat to the spirit of events because he next starts out advising Emma not to work to hard on her farm and reaches something quite like an implied proposal of marriage. "I know you love to work and love to see the farm look well, but then you are not calculated to till the land. You are doing more than many of your sex when you do all that is required of you in the cottage. Howerver, as I am not your advisor, I will not be your dictator. I only wish this war was over for I love to work on a farm." Henry closes after mentioning that his "pen is entirely spoiled, the paper is Confed and I will put a Confederate envelope on it. I will send you some papers captured in Gen. Lee's Hd wagon." In this last letter Henry closes with his "love" to Emma (Henry and Emma were married on 21 December 1865).

Besides the letters detailed above, there are a number of documents and papers copied onto this CD concerning Henry W. Owen's wartime service, pension applications, & subsequent life--as follows:

--Description of the service of the 16th Regiment Cavalry (161st Volunteers) in the Civil War (from the Compendium of the War of the Rebellion). [One page]

--18 Muster Roll cards detailing Henry Owen's service during the Civil War from 15 September 1862 enlistment at Erie County, PA to his muster-out on 24 July 1865 at Lynchburg, VA. [18 cards]

--Declaration for Original Invalid Pension dated 10 October 1879. [One page]

--Manuscript letter from pension reviewer W.A. Denison, dated 7 March 1887 questioning potentially conflicting statements in Henry Owen's disability application. Docketed by Wm. P. Davis 2 April 1887 and ordering a "Special Examination" to be conducted. [four pages and transcription]

--Deposition No. 325792 of Henry Owen 11 July 1887 for the Special Examination. In his deposition Henry clarifies his earlier statements. It contains a good description of his being injured when his horse fell after being shot in the leg during a cavalry charge at the battle of Bristow Station on 14 October 1863. Henry clarifies that he ALSO was thrown from his horse a short time later after being detailed to a dismount station. He also describes getting medicine for headaches, etc. at various times, particularly while working as a Sergeant in the Ambulance train. Finally he describes being so sick as to require hospitalization in Lynchburg, VA, after Lee's surrender at Appomattox. [Four pages & transcription]

--Deposition No. 325792 of Hiram Owens (Henry's father) 11 July 1887 for the Special Examination. Testifies that Henry went off to the army strong and in fit condition. He came home from the Army "A MERE SKELETON". Many further details of Henry's injury, weakness, and debilitated condition. [Two pages and transcription]

--Deposition No. 325792 of Wilson Bammer 13 July 1887, a fellow soldier with Henry Owen for the Special Examination. Deposition contains further details of the incident during the Battle of Bristow Station when Henry's horse was shot. [Three pages and transcription]

--Deposition No. 325792 of Leander C. King 13 July 1887, a fellow soldier with Henry Owen for the Special Examination. Deposition of another eyewitness to Henry's fall & injury during the Battle of Bristow Station. This man was later on picket guard and remembers Henry returning dismounted to his regiment after the battle. Also gives details of Henry's later suffering from his injury, including Henry trying to leave his watch with King before he went to the hospital in Lynchburg, VA. [Four pages and transcription]

--Declaration for Invalid Pension (Act of June 27, 1890) & 4 page manuscript letter by Henry W. Owens requesting an increase in his pension.
"Aprel 22, 1894
to the commisher of penson, Deer sur,
it has ben most ? Monts sence I was examin f or an incress of penson the last time I most for years since(?) I was examin the first time it seems queer that I cant get my penson if I cant get eney penson nor have my rites or what the government orders me for my serves as a solger. I done all the goverment ask me to do & I lost my helth & I want to ask you a few quishton. Would you leve your home and go down(?) South & set your self up as a tirgit to be shot at & leve your family ? & loos your heleh (health) & sufer. What I do every day for the small sum of for dollers a month & that has cost me mor to get then the [page 2] government(?) has ever ? Me. I dont ask only what I now(know) bellong to me. Now if you wasant geten only for dollars a month you would ask for mor as now(know) so pleas send my penson rite away if you ar agointo if not pleas rite me by return mail & let me now what is the reason wh(y) I cant git it for I am in grate need of som helpe to take care of my family. I ant able to work & take care of my family for my helth is so poor from the diseases I contrct in the survs. So now if the govment will get me what tha ritely owe me I ? With what I can urn git a long very well. So now pleas atend to this rite away if you pleas & oblige me. Yours with respet, Georg W. Owens, Daggetts Mills, PA" [Three pages]

--Vouchers for Bureau of Pensions dated 4 July 1898 & 25 January 1899. These two pages give details of Henry Owen's marriage and birth dates of his three daughters. [Two pages]

--Bureau of Pensions papers dating from 14 & 16 July 1910. [Two pages]

--Bureau of Pensions papers from 1912. [Two pages]

--Bureau of Pensions papers from 1915. Further details of Civil War Service and family (Henry & Emma adopted a son who was born in 1890). Emma Owens, Henry's wife died on 27 February 1914. [Three pages]

--Bureau of Pensions paper from 1925. [One page]

--Map and directions to Henry W. Owen's residence to Pension Inspector from the Postmaster of Wattsburg, PA dated 30 December 1927 (Postmaster refers to "Henry W. Owen, OLD SOLDIER"). [One page]

--Typescript of a final Pension Bureau interview with Henry Owen conducted on 11 January 1928 at his home by Inspector N.B. Miller. (Henry describes being knocked down by a horse 6 months earlier and suffering a stroke. He is bed ridden and a total invalid living with his adopted son, his wife, and Henry's daughter Statira. [Two pages]

--Miscellaneous papers concerning Henry W. Owen's death. Includes a short note from Henry's son Chester announcing his death on 16 January 1930, and a copy of Henry Owen's death certificate. Also, papers and affidavits concerning Henry Owen's death expenses and reimbursement. [Five pages]


NOW YOU CAN VIEW A MINIATURE VERSION OF ALL THE OWEN LETTERS & DOCUMENTS ONLINE
Pages can only be enlarged on the CD Rom
(Letter on page 5 allows sample CD magnification)

CLICK HERE




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