This book is a compilation of the letters around the Civil War by Edmond D Potter and his wife Emiline S Bernard Potter. . . . American loyalty leaped into instant action. Little did the country know that this war would be a tragedy in American history, yet it was a war that had to be fought. My grandfather was one of the men who responded to President Lincoln's call to defend the Union. - Helen Mead BlakesleeEdmond's letters were more dramatic, as in the one he sent from Harper's Ferry, Virginia, after the ferocious battle there. "About the time that I was grabbing for my pistol a ball struck me on my left hip and knocked me out of my saddle. But I happened to grab my horse with one hand by the main (sic) and was soon in my saddle again. I then put spurs to my horse and yelled to him to get out of this! - Edmond Potter In one of the letters Edmond speaks of seeing the White House as it was being built. He was impressed with the size and magnitude of this great undertaking.

The Civil War Adventures of Edmond D. Potter & His Three Companions

From Edmond D. Potter's Letters to His Wife Emeline, Her Letters to HimBy Helen Mead Blakeslee

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 Helen Mead Blakeslee
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4389-3921-6

Contents

The stage is set..................................................................3The civil war letters of my grandparents..........................................5The family tree of the four soliders..............................................6Edmond and his three companions go to war.........................................7Examples of the original letters..................................................11The civil war letters of Edmond and Emeline.......................................18A short history of the three families and their relationships.....................139References........................................................................149Photos............................................................................151

Chapter One

The Stage Is Set Prologue

The year 1860 was a tumultuous time for the United States of America. There was great division between the North and the South. Most people in the North were united about the need to preserve the Union while others insisted that the abolition of slavery was equally if not more important. It soon became apparent that the viewpoints of the two sides were irreconcilable and rumbles of war grew louder.

On November 6, 1860, the Republican National Convention adopted a platform that pledged opposition to any further extension of slavery in surrounding territories. Then Abraham Lincoln was elected.

The people in the South were furious and their leaders reacted strongly against the restraints on expanding slavery outside the current boundaries. They knew that although Lincoln was not an abolitionist, he was not interested in preserving slavery. The editor of the Virginia Gazette wrote: "It makes little difference whether we are governed by a gentleman or ruled by a baboon, but with Lincoln comes something worse."

On March 4, 1861, President Lincoln gave his first inaugural address with the central theme embracing the preservation of the Union. In this approach he showed his statesmanship as he tried to persuade the South against breaking up the Union.

Despite his plea, Lincoln's hand was soon forced to defend his stand.

Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, was held by a small detachment of the United States Army, a tempting target for the South. Those in the Confederacy took the position that its presence was an intolerable aggression and should be surrendered to them.

After much argument, President Lincoln decided to send supplies, including food and ammunition, to the fort. When soldiers of the Confederacy demanded that the officer in charge of Fort Sumter surrender to them, he refused. A bombardment began which lasted a day and a half. One soldier was killed and ten injured in this first battle.

And so in April of 1861, this firing on Fort Sumter forced Lincoln to take action. As Congress would not be in session for three months, Lincoln had to make the decision by himself. He decided that the firing was an act of war. He called out 75,000 troops and authorized the enlistment of 40,000 three-year volunteers. He made it very clear that the North was going to fight the war and planned to fight it on southern territory.

American loyalty leaped into instant action. Little did the country know that this war would be a tragedy in American history, yet it was a war that had to be fought.

My grandfather was one of the men who responded to President Lincoln's call to defend the Union.

Complied by Helen Mead Blakeslee

The Civil War Letters of My Grandparents My mother, Rosetta Potter Mead, gave me the letters written during the Civil War by my grandparents, Edmond D. and Emeline S. Bernard Potter. My older sisters were not as interested in the Civil War memorabilia as I was.

Shortly after my husband Clare and I were married in 1941, we moved to Washington, D.C. where he served in the Navy. During that time I became more and more intrigued by Civil War history as I visited the famous battlegrounds of Gettysburg, Harper's Ferry, and Manassas.

As I never knew either Edmond or Emeline, their letters offered me a way to become acquainted with them and to give me a glimpse into their lives.

They became quite real to me as I read about Edmond and Emeline during this period in their lives. At the time Edmond joined the Union Army he was accompanied by his three brothers-in-law: Levi and George Bernard (Emeline's brothers) and Sheldon Curtiss who was married to Emeline's sister Abigail.

Helen Mead Blakeslee

Edmond and His Three Companions Go to War

The Potters, Barnards, and Curtiss' all settled on farmland in Berlin Township in Ionia County, Michigan from other states in the mid-1800s. The three families were neighbors and friends and eventually became related to each other through the marriages of their children. (More about these families in the last section: History of the Potter, Barnard, and Curtiss Families with family trees and photos.)

The four men who went to war were:

Edmond D. Potter married Emeline S. Barnard December 31, 1859. At the time Edmond enlisted they had one son, Mahlon, and had just lost their second son Emory on September 16, 1862, shortly after his birth.

Sheldon Curtiss married Emeline's sister Abigail Barnard on May 10, 1860. They had a two-year-old daughter, Rosa, when he went off to war. While he was gone another child was born.

George Barnard, Emeline's brother, married Maria L Curtiss, Sheldon's sister, on the same day as Edmond and Emeline, December 31, 1859. Their daughter died on the day he left for war.

Levi Barnard, Emeline's brother, was single and did not marry until after he returned from the Civil War. On May 5, 1866, he married Delia T. Hubbard.

The four men enlisted in the Army in September, 1862. They became part of Company M in the 6th Michigan Cavalry, led by General George Custer. For two months Company M, along with the 5th and 7th Cavalry was stationed in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for training. They were known as Custer's famous Michigan Cavalry Brigade.

The Federal Government provided the horses for the Union troop (while the Confederate men had to furnish their own). After the men were assigned their mounts, they were trained together to make right and left swings, to jump fences and ditches, to heed bugle calls and to stand guard duty.

After this training the entire outfit was ordered to go to Washington. By October 1862 over a quarter of a million soldiers were encamped on both sides of the Potomac, giving the city a martial character with all the marching troops, military weapons, and galloping cavalry. Congress authorized an army of 50,000 to be stationed in Washington as Lincoln was worried about the safety of the city.

The soldiers and their horses from the 6th Cavalry were transported there on the train, part of the transcontinental railroad recently completed. After two long days and nights they reached the Capitol the third morning, tired and hungry. A bugle called them to breakfast which consisted of black coffee with brown sugar, hard tack, and beans.

Here they were attached to the Army...