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Preferred Citation

Andrew Knox Letter, 1862 April 05, Special Collections Research Center, William and Mary Libraries.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Brian and Maria Green, Inc. with funds from the Lelia S. H. Swem Fund, 2019.

Biographical / Historical

Andrew Knox was born in England in 1835 and immigrated to the United States sometime before 1860. That same year he married Sarah J. Morgan (1841-1911). His first enlistment was in Company E of the 1st Connecticut Volunteers. He later served in Company B of the 1st Conncticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery. In 1862 he was promoted to the rank of first lieutentant. Knox served the duration of the Civil War and returned to his home in Danville, Connecticut where he was a painter. Knox died in 1925. Source: Andrew Knox Papers, 1862-1864, Manuscripts Division William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan.

Scope and Contents

Four page letter from Knox from Hampton, Va. near Fortress Monroe to his wife, Sarah in Ddanbury, Connecticut. He was attached to the 1st Regiment of the Connecticut Volunteers and was involved in the push to take the peninsula under McClellan's Division. His letter describes to rubble Hampton was reduced to after their shelling and anticipates that the Army would move through Yorktown and take control of it by nightfall. He also anticipated that the Army would take Richmond quickly. The remainder of his letter regards instructions to his wife regarding paint brushes (Knox was a painter in Danbury) and where to direct her letters when she next writes to him. A transcription accompanies this letter.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• American Civil War, 1861-1865
• Brian and Maria Green, Inc.
• Fort Monroe (Va.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
• United States. Army of the Potomac
• United States. Army. Connecticut Infantry Regiment, 1st (1861)