Manuscript Database
Creator/Title
Thayer, James Harvey, 1833-1864. Letter, 19 June 1862. ALS, 4 pp.
Call No.
Mss. C T
Content
A member of Co. E of the 12th Wisconsin Infantry, Thayer writes his family while stationed near Obion River, northwestern TN. He writes a detailed description of Gen. Leonidas Polk's former Confederate base at Columbus, Ky. He describes Columbus as a "very strongly fortified town" and noted the remnants of a large chain the Confederates had stretched across the Mississippi River to block Union gunboats. He also notes that the Confdderates rolled their artillery into the river, torched the military barracks and burned most of the town when they retreated. He adds that, "The ground for a mile around was literally filled with torpedoes (land mines).