This collection includes 23 letters (September 1861- July 1862) from Forrest Little (1843-1862) of Crown Point, Essex County, New York, to his parents, Henry and Amanda Little. Forrest enlisted in Company F of the Fifth Vermont Volunteers at Middlebury, Vermont, on September 6, 1861. His letters begin shortly after his arrival at Camp Griffin in northern Virginia, and they continue as he trained for, then participated in, the Army of the Potomac's Peninsula Campaign led by General George McClellan. Forrest survived the battles of Lee's Mills, Williamsburg, and Savage Station, but at the end of the campaign he died of typhoid fever at Harrison's Landing, Virginia on July 23, 1862.
The collection also includes a letter from Forrest Little's cousin "Cate," dated July 17, 1862, as well as a letter written by Captain E.S. Stowell (Forrest’s captain).
These simple letters give a sense of the everyday life of a Union soldier, depicting the rigors of camp life and, once the campaign begins, the drama of battle. Forrest reports to his parents about conditions at camp, rumors of troop movements, and news about other local soldiers. After arriving on the Yorktown Peninsula, Forrest's letters give a vivid account of the hardships of marching and the severe losses experienced by the Fifth Vermont. Once he takes part in the fighting, Forrest's youthful confidence gives way to more sober description of the horrors of war.
There are 25 letters in the full collection.
The letters were given to Saint Mary's College on October 30, 1995 by Francis and Mary van der Linden of Los Alamitos, California. In 2009, Tom Simms of Mount Holly, NJ also forwarded a letter from Captain E.S. Stowell (Forrest's Captain) to add to this exhibit. The letters are transcribed just the way Forrest wrote them originally, highlighting his lack of punctuation, poor spelling, and extra spaces inserted between sentences. The transcriptions were done by Carl Guarneri (professor of history) and Zephyr Snyder, (SMC class of 2002). Scans of the letters were completed by Sarah Vital, (reference and instruction librarian) and the Web site organized and coded by Sue Birkenseer (reference and instruction librarian). The entire Forrest Little collection, including the article and related materials, was published on the Saint Mary's College of California site in 2007.
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"Father I Done my Duty": Private Forrest Little and the Fifth Vermont Volunteers in the Army of the Potomac, September 1861-July 1862
Carl Guarneri
This essay, written by Professor Carl Guarneri, focuses on the history behind the Forrest Little letters.
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People places & events
Carl Guarneri
Further information on people, places, and events mentioned in Forrest Little’s letters.
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Forrest Little Letter of October 3 And 6, 1861
Forrest Little
From Chain Bridge/Camp Advance: "I went over to Middlebury & enlisted in the 5th Reg Vermont Volunteers Col. Smalley."
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Forrest Little Letter of October 16, 1861
Forrest Little
From Camp Griffin: "I am to work in the cook tent now it is no fool of a job[;] cook and wash the dishes for one hundred men"
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Forrest Little Letter of October 22, 1861
Forrest Little
From Camp Griffin: "we dont get our pay untill the first of next month when I do get it I will send it home"
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Forrest Little Letter of November 10, 1861
Forrest Little
From Camp Griffin: "I drawed up the old gun and fired I see him drop and supposed I had killed him..."
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Forrest Little Letter of November 23, 1861
Forrest Little
From Camp Griffin: "I drawed up the old gun and fired I see him drop and supposed I had killed him..."
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Letter From Captain Stowell, November 29, 1861
Edwin S. Stowell
From Camp Griffin: "There has been cannonading towards Edwards Ferry to-day — the report is Bank’s Div. is crossing the River"
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Forrest Little Letter of November 29, 1861
Forrest Little
From Camp Griffin: "some of our men are building under ground houses they build them in this manner..."
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Forrest Little Letter of December 2, 1861
Forrest Little
From Camp Griffin: "so father you may look out for the news of a gallus old fight pretty soon"
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Forrest Little Letter of December 29, 1861
Forrest Little
From Camp Griffin: "I want to tell you something private"
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Forrest Little Letter of January 6, 1862
Forrest Little
From Camp Griffin: "butter is 35 cents a pound and very poor at that the small papers of tobacco that you have to pay 3 cents for is 6 cents here"
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Forrest Little Letter of January 21, 1862
Forrest Little
From Camp Griffin: "I cant get a stamp for love nor money it is not a possible thing"
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Forrest Little Letter of February 1, 1862
Forrest Little
From Camp Griffin: "There aint a day passes but what 2 or 3 deserters from the Rebels army comes through our lines"
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Forrest Little Letter of February 7, 1862
Forrest Little
From Camp Griffin: "there is plenty of Rot gut in our Regiment but God knows I will keep my promise to my mother..."
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Forrest Little Letter of February 13, 1862
Forrest Little
From Camp Griffin: "I had a very narrow escape to day"
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Forrest Little Letter of February 16, 1862
Forrest Little
From Camp Griffin: "I tell you Father it will be a blood fight and if I should happen to fall I should like to be carried home..."
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Forrest Little Letter of February 21, 1862
Forrest Little
From Camp Griffin: "Three cheers for the Red white & blue. Death to all Traitors."
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Forrest Little Letter of March 4, 1862
Forrest Little
From Camp Griffin: "I dont hardly think that the 5th Vermont will ever see a fight by thunder I hope that we shall have a good fight"
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Forrest Little Letter of March 7, 1862
Forrest Little
From Camp Griffin: "General Brooks is as cross as thunder he swears worse than old hamelen ever thought of swearing"
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Forrest Little Letter of March 20, 1862
Forrest Little
From Camp near Clouds Mills: "I was on the field of Bull Run the other day it was an awful looking place"
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Forrest Little Letter of April 11, 1862
Forrest Little
From Yorktown, Virginia: "I have slept but 6 hours out of 48"
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Forrest Little Letter of April 17, 1862
Forrest Little
From Yorktown, Virginia: "oh my God that was the awfelest sight that I ever saw in my life"
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Forrest Little Letter of May 2, 1862
Forrest Little
From Camp Winfield Scott: "Papers seem to think that this war will be over in a couple of months"
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Forrest Little Letter of May 22, 1862
Forrest Little
From Camp near the Chickahominy: "Father if I live through the battle of Richmond I shall be to home just as soon as that battle is over"
