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Burrage, Joseph Perrin letters Joseph Perrin Burrage letters MSS.16215

Joseph Perrin Burrage letters MSS.16215


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Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
P.O. Box 400110
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
URL: https://small.library.virginia.edu/

Ellen Welch

Repository
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
Identification
MSS.16215
Title
Joseph Perrin Burrage letters, 1862-1863 1862-1863
URL:
https://archives.lib.virginia.edu/ark:/59853/147654
Quantity
.04 Cubic Feet, 1 document box with 80 folders, 88 letters
Language
English .

Administrative Information

Conditions Governing Use

There are no restrictions

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection was a gift from David Radcliffe to the Special Collections Libary at the University of Virginia in August 2016.

Biographical / Historical

Joseph Perrin Barrage was the eldest son of a Boston merchant, and a student at Harvard College who had trained for a career in the ministry and then enlisted in the 33rd Massachussetts Volunteers in Northern Virginia from 1862 to 1863. After marching and fighting in Virginia, he died leading his company in a nighttime bayonet charge up a steep mountain slope in Tennessee. (Biography extracted in part from burrage-letters.cath.vt.edu)

Scope and Contents

The Joseph Perrin Burrage letters consist of one document box, .04 cubic feet, and contain 88 of his letters to his family describing his activities and lifestyle in the Thirty-Third Massachussetts Volunteers during the Civil War from 1862 to 1863. Most of the letters are accompanied with a typed transcript and the original mailing envelope. Some of the folders contain several letters while most have only one per folder.

His letters describe the details of camp life, including marching and traveling with his unit from Virginia to Alabama, and mention of General Joseph Hooker, General Ulysses S. Grant, General William Rosencrans, and General Robert E. Lee. He writes without comment or description that men are being killed all around him. He was passionate about defending the United States Army, and his crusade for morality, temperance, and abolition. The letters also contain brief descriptions of the Battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, and Gettysburg. Also mentioned is his younger cousin, William "Willie" Allen Burrage.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in chronological order. Most of the folders came with one letter per folder although a few of them have two letters.

Container List

1862English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 1 MSS 16215
    To his sister Fannie Eva Burrage
    March 29English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 2 MSS 16215
    To his mother and father
    July 24English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 3 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    July 30English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 4 MSS 16215
    To his mother and father
    August 19English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 5 MSS 16215
    To his father
    August 20English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 6 MSS 16215
    To his father
    August 26English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 7 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    August 30English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 8 MSS 16215
    To his father
    September 4English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 9 MSS 16215
    To his father
    September 10English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 10 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    September 15English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 11 MSS 16215
    To his father
    September 18English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 12 MSS 16215
    To his mother and father
    September 22 and September 30English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 13 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    October 4English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 14 MSS 16215
    To his father
    October 12English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 15 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    October 13English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 16 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    October 17English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 17 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    October 25English.
    General

    No transcription provided

  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 18 MSS 16215
    To his father and to his Uncle Joseph
    October 30English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 19 MSS 16215
    To his father
    November 2 and November 5English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 20 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    November 17English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 21 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    November 21English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 22 MSS 16215
    To his father
    November 25 and November 30English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 23 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    December 5English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 24 MSS 16215
    To his mother and father
    December 17, 21, and 28English.
MSS 16215
1863
English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 25 MSS 16215
    To his father
    January 1English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 26 MSS 16215
    To children and friends
    January 6English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 27 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    January 7English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 28 MSS 16215
    To his father
    January 12English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 29 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    January 17English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 30 MSS 16215
    To his father
    January 23English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 31 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    January 25English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 32 MSS 16215
    To his father
    January 27English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 33 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    February 3English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 34 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    February 12English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 35 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    February 17English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 36 MSS 16215
    To his father
    February 20English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 37 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    February 24English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 38 MSS 16215
    To his father
    February 28English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 39 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    March 4English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 40 MSS 16215
    To his father
    March 8English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 41 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    March 12English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 42 MSS 16215
    To his father
    March 17English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 43 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    March 21English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 44 MSS 16215
    To his father
    March 26English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 45 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    March 30English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 46 MSS 16215
    To children
    April 3English.
    General

    No transcript provided

  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 47 MSS 16215
    To his father
    April 4English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 48 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    April 11English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 49 MSS 16215
    To his father
    April 15English.
  • Mixed Materials folder: 50 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    April 20English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 51 MSS 16215
    To his father
    April 26English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 52 MSS 16215
    To his father
    May 2English.
    General

    No transcript provided. Very short letter.

  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 53 MSS 16215
    To his father
    May 8 and undatedEnglish.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 54 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    May [no day]English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 55 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    May 12English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 56 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    May 24English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 57 MSS 16215
    To his father
    May 28English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 58 MSS 16215
    To his father
    June 2English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 59 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    June 6English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 60 MSS 16215
    To his father
    June 11English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 61 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    June 16English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 62 MSS 16215
    To his father
    June 21English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 63 MSS 16215
    To his father
    July 5English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 64 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    July 11English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 65 MSS 16215
    To his father
    July 17English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 66 MSS 16215
    To his father
    July 29English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 67 MSS 16215
    To his father
    August 2English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 68 MSS 16215
    To his father
    August 8English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 69 MSS 16215
    To his father
    August 13English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 70 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    August 17English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 71 MSS 16215
    To his father
    August 22English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 72 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    August 27English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 73 MSS 16215
    To his father
    August 31English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 74 MSS 16215
    To his father
    September 5English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 75 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    September 10English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 76 MSS 16215
    To his father
    September 16English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 77 MSS 16215
    To his father
    September 29English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 78 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    October 2English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 79 MSS 16215
    To his father
    October 8English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 80 MSS 16215
    To his mother
    October 14English.
  • Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 81 MSS 16215
    To his father
    October 19English.