Keller, Christopher Howser, 1840-1876

Papers, 1861 April 14-1865 December 31
25 items

Keller, Christopher Howser, 1840-1876
Rank:	2nd Sergeant (1862); Orderly Sergeant (1863); 2nd Lieutenant (1864) Short stints as Asst. Provost Marshall and as regimental Quartermaster
Regiment:	124th Illinois Infantry Regiment. Co. B (1862-1865)
Service:	862 September 10-1865 August 15

Background note:

A resident of Blackberry, Ill., near Batavia, Christopher Howser Keller was born on April 20, 1840, the son of emigrants from central New York State, George H. (d. 1871) and Esther (Masiker) Keller. Keller was an exceptionally motivated, patriotic young man when he enlisted for duty in the 124th Illinois Infantry in September, 1862. As a raw recruit frustrated with the dullness and delays inherent in military life, Keller yearned to "get on with it."

Get on with it, he did. The 124th Illinois served with the 17th Army Corps in a defensive role in Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, before maneuvering into positions before Vicksburg. The rough edges of the Vicksburg Campaign put a damper on Keller's unrestrained enthusiasm, even if it did not kill his patriotism, and he was deeply moved by the mortality. Thereafter, the regiment remained in the central south, performing valuable duty in occupying parts of Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama. They continued in a combatant role until the bitter end of the war, taking part in the final campaign against Mobile in 1865.

After returning to life as a civilian, Keller married Caroline Matilda Hall (d. 1908) of Saint Charles, Ill., in December, 1865. He died at home in 1876.

Scope and Contents:

The Christopher H. Keller Papers contain over 170 letters written by Christopher Keller during his Civil War service with the 124th Illinois Infantry, as well as two from his future brother-in-law, Albert N. Hall (a Sergeant in the 52nd Illinois Infantry) -- a brother of Caroline M. Hall -- and twenty-one written by Albert C. Cleveland (Commissary Sergeant of the 42nd Illinois Infantry). Cleveland wrote in a highly emotional, or as Keller puts it, "spicy and interesting" style, describing the charred ruins of Atlanta and his experiences as an officer in 1865, overseeing the occupation of Georgia and the early phases of its "Reconstruction."

Keller's correspondence traces the parallel devolopments of the war in the Western theatre and the maturation of a young and avid soldier. Keller's wartime experiences and increasing sense of responsibility results in his metamorphosis into a more staid and deliberate man. While early in the war, he is anxious simply to charge ahead, and evinces no sympathy for what he believed to be the unreasonable slowness in military strategy and tactics, later, just before Vicksburg, he admited, "War is a great and deep game and it takes smart men to play it successfully." Six months further down the road, with a fuller understanding of the most intricate meanings of war, Keller wrote, "I shall try to serve Uncle Samuel faithfully for the remainder of my three years if he needs me, but shall beg to be excused after that unless the necessity is very great." Keller's service at Vicksburg and in the Mobile Campaign afford him ample opportunity to become intimate with war on several levels -- as combatant, occupation officer, and as a soldier on furlough, in the hospital, and in camp.

Christopher Keller's letters exhibit interpersonal relationships on different planes. Although oftentimes the information is the same in letters to his parents and those to his fiancee, the difference in tone and style of reporting makes an interesting study. Keller's few letters to his grandparents are in that timeless style in which every generation has communicated with grandparents.

A member of the Methodist Episcopal church, Keller is usually clean of speech although he does slip once into "bassackwards." His sabbatarian convictions allow letter-writing on Sunday, the day on which most of his letters are composed -- one while sitting in an apple tree outside camp. While Keller writes frequently of the soldier's traditional stand-by topics -- food, health, and religion -- his letters include some invaluable reflections on official decisions and the performance of high-ranking officers, all from the perspective of the ordinary soldier. Unfortunately, the Keller Papers contains only part of the original whole. Conspicuously absent are Keller's letters for the month during which the final battle of Vicksburg was fought.

Reference:

Howard, R.L. History of the 124th Regiment, Illinois Infantry Volunteers (Springfield, 1880).

Link to subject index to the Christopher Howser Keller Papers

Alphabetic index to the Schoff Civil War Collections

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