Cosner, Adam, b. ca.1820

Papers, 1864 March 30-1865 January 6; 1880 October 13
25 items

Cosner, Adam, b. ca.1820
Rank:	Pvt.
Regiment:	21st Ohio Infantry Regiment. Co. F and I (1861-1865)
Service:	1864 January 25-1865 July 25

Biographical information:

In January, 1864, Adam Cosner enlisted in the 21st Ohio Infantry at the relatively advanced age of 43, leaving behind his wife, Ann, and children (including, probably partially, Martha A., Jacob, Rose, Angeline, and Sumner) in Findlay. After only four months of duty in northern Georgia, marked most notably by his industrious efforts to make money by doing other soldiers' laundry, Cosner fell ill and was sent to hospital in Chattanooga where he remained until August. Early in September, he returned to his regiment, and served during the later stages of the Atlanta Campaign and on Sherman's March to the Sea.

Scope and Contents:

Cosner's letters reflect his rather unusual position as a middle-aged soldier. Sixteen of the 18 letters in the collection were written to his wife, Ann B. Cosner, and the other two were addressed to his daughter, Martha, one in 1880. Cosner's letters indicate that he was not among the more educated soldiers in the Union Army. His handwriting suggests that Cosner was not an experienced letter-writer, nor are his descriptive skills well developed, seldom advancing beyond straightforward, unreflective comments and never at length. Cosner's letters, however, do reflect the attitudes of many pious, honest soldiers trying to live a Christian life in the middle of a seemingly Godless war, and, unusually, display an open reticence about entering combat.

Regimental history:

Canfield, S.S. History of the 21st Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry (Toledo, 1893)

M-1761
Cat. 1/94 rsc

Link to subject index to the Adam Cosner Papers

Alphabetic index to the Schoff Civil War Collections

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