by David Flint
Calvin A. Haynes of East Nassau, NY, at the age of 24 enlisted in August 1862 at Troy in the 125th New York Infantry Regiment. His letters home to his wife Lucy have been transcribed by John Minitti of Winchester, MA, and are here reproduced, with some editing, courtesy of the New York State Library, Manuscripts and Special Collections.
Annapolis Sept 25th 62
Thursday morning
Dear Wife
When I wrote to you before I expected to be away from here before this time. I wrote you that I did not know what they would do with us. We have got our orders to go to Chicago, Illinois to winter at Camp Douglas. If the orders are not countermanded we shall go there. If we do I want you and Ella to come out there. George Babcock and E. Warden and I are agoing to have a home when we get there and have you and Mary and his wife keep house together. I know that will please you because you have always wanted to go west. It will not cost any more to live there than it will where you are now. It don make any difference what it cost if we is there. I want you to come. Em has written to Mary about it and George Babcock to his wife. Mary is agreed with George’s wife. George wrote to his wife to write to Mary about it…I think that we can enjoy ourselves first rate…
It is quite cool here this morning … rather chilly last night with the north wind a blowing. Em has been quite sick for a day or two but he is better now.
There’s a rumor around camp that Capt. Dimond‘s agoin to resign but I do not credit it. I hope he will not for he is the only officer that we have got that cares anything about his men. I wish that I could receive a letter from you so that I could know what is agoing on in that country. There has not been a letter received from home by any one in our comapany since we left Troy. I suppose that there ahs been a good many written but they have fell into the rebels hands or have not been remailed to us.
Gen. White our Brig. General is under arrest in Baltimore. They say that they will parole us so that we cannot be exchanged. They said that the parole means that we shall never take up arms agains the Southern Confederacy.
From Your Husband
CA Haynes
According to the 125th Officers Roster, Captain Dimond, the E Company Commander from West Stephentown, did resign on September 28, 1862. Some 12,000 Union troops, including most of the NY 125th Regiment, were taken prisoner at Harpers Ferry. They were put on parole and taken to Annapolis. From there about 8,000 of them would be transported by train to Chicago and placed in a Union controlled parole camp until officially exchanged.
E. Warden is Haynes’ brother-in-law, married to his sister Mary. His full name is Nathaniel Emsworth Warden, but Haynes usually refers to him as Em. The two enlisted together at Troy.
Brigadier General Julius White, commanding a brigade of the VIII Corps, having retreated from Martinsburgh to Harpers Ferry, placed himself and his troops under the command of the Garrison Commander, Col. Dixon Miles. When Miles was killed it was up to White to carry out the surrender that Miles had ordered. White was subsequently placed under arrest, but a military Court of Inquiry found that he had acted with capability and courage and returned him to service.
