Hines, Levi, ca.1839-1864

Papers, 1857 December 6-1866 July 15
113 items

Hines, Levi, ca.1839-1864
Rank:	Private
Regiment:	11th Vermont Infantry Regiment. Co. A (1862) 1st Vermont Heavy Artillery Regiment. Co. A (1862-1865)
Service:	1862 September 1-1864 October 13

Background note:

The old adage that war consists of long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror aptly describes the Civil War experience of Levi Hines. Hines came from a large family from South Hardwick, Vt. A middle son, Levi was strongly motivated by a sense of patriotism and by a moral revulsion over slavery to enlist as a private in the 11th Vermont Infantry, which was converted into the 1st Vermont Heavy Artillery on December 10th, 1862. Throughout his enlistment, he retained a cheerful, optimistic outlook, a sense of humor about his predicament, and a dedication to his cause. Although not the oldest, Levi seems to have been the most responsible of his siblings, acting as an adviser to his sister Maria and younger brother, Chester. Yet he passed no judgement on his older brother, Joseph, who led a loose existence as a travelling salesman of pharmaceuticals in western Pennsylvania, and he slipped easily into bawdy repartee with Chester.

The 1st Vermont Heavy Artillery mustered into the U.S. service at Camp Bradlee in Brattleboro, and was soon sent into the ring of forts surrounding Washington. They performed garrison duty sequentially at Fort Lincoln (mid-September­mid-November, 1862), Fort Totten (until March, 1864) and Fort Slemmer (March­May, 1864), all in the District of Columbia. Hines quickly learned the routine of life in the forts, consisting largely of drilling with the big guns, fatigue duty, and guard duty, and just as quickly, he learned where to take short cuts and how to avoid unpleasant chores. Like many soldiers, he was fixated on getting a good meal. Not once, however, did any member of his regiment have an opportunity to fire a weapon against the enemy. Throughout the long, dull, and occasionally uncomfortable period of garrison duty, Hines longed for the chance to do his duty in active fighting, to help settle the war quickly and finally.

At the end of May, 1864, he got his chance. The 1st Heavy Artillery were ordered from Fort Slemmer into one of the fiercest contests of the war, Cold Harbor. Stationed in the middle of the Union lines near Gaines Mill and the town of Cold Harbor itself, the regiment were used primarily as infantry and sustained significant casualties, though not the devastation that other regiments experienced. From Cold Harbor, they were sent immediately into the lines at the siege of Petersburg, and it was there on June 23rd, during the Union attempt to regain ground at Weldon Railroad, that Hines was taken as a prisoner of war. Sent to Lynchburg and then Andersonville, he managed to survive until being sent to the camp hospital with diarrhea. He died in the hospital on October 13th, 1864.

Scope and Contents:

Levi Hines' letters are neither beautifully written nor particularly extensive, but they do provide a sense of intimacy and of the soldier's personal feelings in a way that can be very immediate and that makes descriptions of even the mundane enjoyable. He was, without a doubt, strongly committed to the cause of ending the rebellion and abolishing slavery, yet his letters are almost entirely free of moralizing. Seventy of the letters in this collection were written by Levi Hines to his sister Maria, his brother Chester, parents or other relatives while he was in the service. The remainer of the collection consists of letters from relatives to Levi, with the majority coming from Maria (8 letters), John (5), Chester (4), and their black-sheep brother, Joseph (7). There are two letters from E.C. Fisk, who had been discharged from the 1st Vermont Heavy Artillery due to disability from a lung ailment.

The beauty of Hines' letters lies mostly in his his ability to relate simple stories in a manner that reveals his true feelings. His writing is tinged with a slight cynicism and an occasionally bawdy sense of humor (though less bawdy than his brothers'), but he never wavered in his devotion to duty. Among the more interesting letters in the collection are Hines' account of seeing Lincoln and his entourage in Washington. Lincoln, Hines thought, "is a much better looking man than I I [sic] expected to see... There is something in his Eye and in his physiognomy, that denotes firmness decision impressing one with an idea that when he had once taken his course he would not be easily swayed from it..." (1863 August 7-15). Hines also provides a fine account of the raising of the statue of the Goddess of Liberty atop the Capitol Building, an occasion on which he was given the honor of firing the fourth of seven shots in celebration. In the garrison, he recounts an intriguing story about a scam run in camp by three men of Company K who bought watches on credit and then deserted (1864 March 4). Finally, one of his letters includes one of the lengthier and more humorous pieces on lice to come out of the Civil War (1864 March 5). Equally valuable are some of the more "mundane" letters, describing Hines' thoughts of home while looking at the night sky (1862 October), his thoughts on the lines of graves of soldiers who had died of disease; or his comments on guard duty or fetching water for the regiment.

Hines' four letters from the field were written while in the trenches at Cold Harbor and Petersburg. He writes of how soldiers become inured to the violence surrounding them, the constant crash of shells and whistling of shot over head. Whether bravado or not, they are an intersting insight into one soldier's reactions to an intense conflict.

Among the other materials in the collection are an excellent letter from E. C. Fisk, describing his discharge due to ill health and his efforts to avoid the Invalid Corps, "curse that stinking concern," because, as he said, "in great part [it] is filled up with dead beats! cowardly sneaks, & scaliwags, that would disgrace any service, & a set of officers that would disgrace any government..." (1864 February 1). The letters from Joseph Hines prior to his marriage depict a carefree young man sowing his wild oats in a wild part of the country.

M-2438, M-2946
Cat. 6/94 rsc

Link to subject index to the Levi Hines Papers

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