July 24, 1861

Arlington Heights, VA

My sister, I received your letter of the twelfth and was glad to hear from you that you are well. I am as well as can be expected from the hardships I have been through. 


I wrote you a few lines last Saturday, that we had a little brush with the rebels and were preparing for another battle. It took place on Sunday last, and it was the bloodiest battle that was ever fought in America. It lasted ten hours and part of the time at bayonet charge. The enemy was stronger than we expected and was strongly fortified so we were driven back. We retreated back to the Arlington Heights that are on the other side of the River from Washington. There must have been ten thousand killed on the battlefield, both friends and enemies all mingled together.

The rebels have got my coat, knapsack, blanket, and Bible, and I hope they will read it. They got them from me because my officers commanded us to take them and pile them up when we were preparing for battle. 


The President visited our camp and Wm. H. Senard yesterday. We have had plenty of rain here most of the time.

You must write to me often, direct all your letters to one place. They will come to me let me be were I may. I must bring my letter to a close, I send my love to all my friends and to the Children and to Buby, he must take a shear and so must all of you.

   Samuel Matthews

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Written by pen on one piece of patriotic stationary, and folded like a book.

The first battle that Samuel mentions as a "little brush with the rebels" was the battle of Blackburn's Ford, a precursor to Bull Run. This was the 3rd's first battle, their baptism into fire. Nothing was accomplished during their first skirmish, with the exception of some blackberry picking that occurred while they were being fired upon by the rebel artillery.

The second battle he talks about, where he says they were at bayonet charge, was the battle of First Bull Run. The 3rd was very optimistic that the battle would end in a victory, and as the reinforcements passed them they cheered. Saturday night, the night before the battle, the 3rd sat around smoking their pipes, thinking of the loved ones at home. The next day dawned bright and presently the 3rd heard some small firing being made on the right of the federal line by the skirmishers, which only grew louder and louder until it was apparent that a full scale battle was being fought. Being on the left side of the federal army, the 3rd simply watched as the battle evolved. The roar of the artillery and infantry was almost deafening to the men. Soon, it became very apparent that the battle was lost, and the federal army was routed in udder confusion. The 3rd was called in to do a rear guard actions, protecting the rear of the fleeing army from any rebel cavalry that might feel like harassing them. Fortunately, the cavalry left the army alone  and they got back to Washington safely.

The regulations stated that the men were not to wear their knapsacks into battle, and so early in the war most of the regiments left their knapsacks in big stacks before they went to fight. All too often, when an army fell back quickly and in disorder, the soldiers never got their knapsacks back. This was a large annoyance, for the soldiers lost all their extra clothing and any personal items they had.

Blackburns Ford

June 18, 1861

Washington 

June 18, 1861

My dear brother and sister, I sit down to write you a few lines and let you know where I am and how I am. I am well at present and I hope these few lines may find you the same.

We were called to march to sooner than we expected to, for we left Grand Rapids on the 13th and got to Washington the 16th. We had a good time and a long ride of eight hundred miles. We went through Baltimore at about Seven o’clock. All was quiet we were all armed and our guns loaded, we expected an attack. We are encamped”on the heights in the District of Columba close to Virginia.

There is someone killed almost every night here. Our guard shot at a man last night but did not hit him, it seems as if this is a dangerous place. Here everyone has to look out for himself, and is not allowed to go out of camp unless he is armed. Last night there was a traitor captured in woman’s dress. He had a buggy and a bushel of caps for guns. We heard that the there was a battle at Alexandria yesterday, that is thirteen miles from us.

I like it here, it’s the best country I ever was in. It is a little warmer here but the night is cool. The water is not very good, it seems to be soft and warm. The crops are better in Michigan than Ohio or Pennsylvania but some parts of Maryland can’t be beat.

We went through tunnels through the mountains for a half mile, it was dark as night. We go to sleep on our arms during the nights, for the enemy is watching us.

I must bring my letter to a close, you must write all the news when you read this. You must direct your letter to Washington’s Regiment of Mich. 

Kiss Bub for me so good by

                           Samuel Matthews

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Written by pencil on one sheet of paper on both front and back side.

The trip from Grand Rapids was an interesting trip for these men who had spent most of their life in Michigan. Wherever the regiment stopped throughout Michigan, they were greeted with celebration and "baskets filled with all the good things that can be found at any time…hot coffee, cakes, oranges, lemons, apples etc." They received an almost identical welcome while traveling though the rest of the northern towns and cities on their way to the capital, with the exception of Baltimore. 


Previous to the arrival of the 3rd, the 6th Massachusetts had been assaulted by Southern sympathizers while marching through Baltimore on their way to DC. So this would not happen to them, the 3rd loaded and primed their guns and their colonel made it know that "if a man in my regiment is hurt, the streets of Baltimore will run with blood". It was a tense march, but the people of Baltimore realized that the 3rd was not to be trifled with and let them pass.

The battle that Samuel erroneously calls the battle of Alexandria is probably the battle of Vienna, VA, really only a skirmish with eight killed and four wounded.

May 29, 1861

Grand Rapids, Michigan

May 29th, 1861

I take my pen in hand to write you a few lines and let you know how I am. I am not very well at present and it has been very unpleasant weather since I have been here, I took a very heavy cold when I first came here. I have had a Diarrhea since I have been here, but I am better now. I like the soldiers life so far very well.

I belong to the Third Regiment and the Seventh Company, which goes by the letter G. Our regiment is very large, containing one thousand and eleven men. We have not got our military clothes yet but we expect them soon, they are at Grand Rapids and they will be in camp today or tomorrow. We do not know when we shall leave here or where we shall go, but I think we shall go to Detroit, at Fort Wayne.

Last Sunday we went down to the river to go swimming and a man got drowned by the name of James Hammard. He was from St Johns and was in the river forty minutes but he could not be brought to life again. Last Friday I went visiting to see Mr. Martin. I found them all well, Mary Ann wants to see you very much. She has got two girls, young winners. She has but two children, they are doing well and have got a good home within five miles of the Rapids. Tideah [sic] lives 11 miles from the Rapids and I have not seen him yet but I mean to go there Saturday if I can. She has got two girls and lost one boy last summer who was 8 years old.

 No more at present, I hope these few lines may find you enjoying good health so goodbye. I send my love to you all and Buby in particular.

                                                               S Mathews

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The first letter we have of Samuel Mathews. Written by pen on stationary with a flag in the upper right corner, and, like most of his letters, folded like a book. During his stays at winter quarters and established camps he usually wrote with pen and ink, but during the summer and campaigns the letters were decidedly pencil. The reason behind this is because a soldier would rarely want to carry a pen with nibs, powdered ink, and a glass ink bottle in his already too heavy knapsack or blanket roll.


The "military clothes" Samuel mentions were the grey uniforms that the 3rd. originally left with, a "shoddy suit of gray, furnished us by a shoddy contractor at Grand Rapids, who made a fortune out of the speculation". These wore out soon and were replace by the standard blue uniform.

His sickness he described was very common all throughout the war. Many of the men, especially from Michigan, had lived all their life in rural communities and were not subject to the many viruses and diseases the the city born people became immune to, and so if you put 1,011 of such men together in a non-sanitary place with very few immune to most sicknesses and poor food, there is bound to be some problems.

Writing Home. Hardtack and Coffee, by John Billings