Charles Otto Henthorn Papers

William L. Clements Library
The University of Michigan
Schoff Civil War Collection
Soldiers' Letters 36

Henthorn, Charles Otto

Papers, 1862 October 5-1864 September 18
13 items

Henthorn, Charles Otto

Rank: Private

Regiment: 77th Illinois Infantry Regiment. Co. D (1862-1865)

Service: 1862 August 3-1865 June 30

Background note:

Charles Henthorn, a native of Lacon, Ill., enlisted in Company D of the 77th Illinois Infantry in August, 1862. This unit had recently been organized by David McKinney (see Schoff Soldiers' Letters 34: 1) and David Perkins Grier and was mustered in on 3 September 1862. The 77th Illinois was sent to Richmond, Kentucky, arriving shortly after the Battle of Richmond. The Regiment quickly earned the wrath of local citizens by ordering slaves they encountered to 'fall in.' "To such an extent was this slave propensity indulged, that Gen. Burbridge, a Kentuckian, was reported to have said that the Seventy-Seventh was an abolition regiment, and would steal all the niggers in Kentucky if they had a chance to do so."1 As the regiment marched south to join Grant's main army, slaves tagged along under the soldiers' protection. Local Kentuckians and Tennesseeans, however, were known to steal these camp followers and sell them back into slavery. Under this threat, several free Black laborers employed by the Regiment were sent back to the north for their own protection. After the Vicksburg Campaign and the capture of Jackson, Mississippi, the 77th Illinois participated in Nathaniel Banks' operations in Texas.

Like many soldiers in his regiment, Henthorn was striken with illness during the Vicksburg Campaign, and spent seven weeks in the Van Buren Hospital at Milliken's Bend, La., before being sent to St. Louis for convalescence. This series of correspondence essentially ends when Henthorn leaves the south, however the regimental history for the 77th Illinois records Henthorn as mustering out only at the end of the war.

Scope and Contents:

The Henthorn Papers consists of seven letters written by Henthorn to his father, Nelson, two to his younger brother, George, three to his sister, Sarah, and one letter from Nelson to George Henthorn. Charles Henthorn is an unusually powerful writer and provides thoughtful, evocative descriptions of the events unfolding around him. His observations on the varied roles of Blacks in the army are particularly noteworthy. They are depicted in several ways: as informers on Confederate sympathizers hiding from the Union Army, as victims of racism and southern hatred, and as highly motivated and effective soldiers at the Battle of Milliken's Bend. Henthorn appears to have a much more positive attitude toward Blacks than many of his fellow soldiers, and he appears equally to be aware of this fact.

Equally interesting are Henthorn's descriptions of the land itself, including fine descriptions of towns in Indiana and Ohio, and of evacuated plantations in Louisiana. He makes several references to hostile southern attitudes toward the Union troops, and describes an instance of pillaging by members of his regiment. There are two second-hand accounts of battles, the Battles of Richmond and Milliken's Bend, but by and large, there is very little martial content in Henthorn's letters. He is instead at his best in his reflections on the effect of the conflict on the soldiers and civilians. The final two letters in the collection provide (respectively) an insight into the depth of Henthorn's religiously held pro-Union, anti-slavery views, and an account of a copperhead rally in Lacon during the 1864 presidential election which featured a coffin containing a likeness of Lincoln with buzzards flying overhead.