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July 1st, 1863 letter from
William Thomas9 Low to his father, James8 Low III
of Newburg, Pike County, Illinois,
written from the Civil War battlefield
at Vicksburg, Mississippi.
The letter was found in the trunk of James8 Low III and transcribed Dec 1997 by Bingham James Forrest12 Lowe of
Phoenix, Arizona, great-great grandson of James8 Low III, great-grandson of Bingham James9 Low (brother of
William Thomas9 Low).
10th generation: Frank, Forrest, Lenna, Arthur, Edward, Paul, Leland, Charles Doss, Pearl, Henry, James, George
Bingham James9 Low(e) Aug 27, 1853 - Feb 10, 1923 (wife: Mary D. Culver) of Pittsfield, IL
James8 Low III Apr 27-1816 - Sep 2, 1889 (wife: Margaret Huston Montgomery) of Clinton & Brighton, ME / Pittsfield, IL
James7 Low Jr 1796 - Mar 20, 1824 (wife: Mary Wyman) of Clinton, ME (fought in War of 1812)
James6 Low Sr Jul 17, 1770 - bef 1830 (wife: Elizabeth "Betsy" Chase) of Boxford, MA / Clinton, Maine
Nathan5 Low Oct 1, 1742 - Jul 24, 1804 (wife: Lucy Lord) of Ipswich & Boxford, Massachusetts
Caleb4 Low 1707 - Jul 17, 1777 (wife: Abigail Varney) of Ipswich, Massachusetts
David3 Low Aug 14, 1667 - Jun 2, 1746 (wife: Mary Lamb) of Ipswich, Massachusetts
Thomas2 Low May 8, 1631 - Apr 12, 1712 (wife: Martha Boreman) of Groton & Boxford, Suffolk, England / Ipswich, MA
Thomas1 Low 1605 - Sep 8, 1677 (wife: Margaret Todd) of Groton & Boxford, Suffolk, England / Ipswich, MA
Giles0 Low unknown (Wife: Syseley Wall, marr 3/5/1601/02) of Brancepeth, Durham, England; Groton & Boxford, Suffolk, England
William Thomas9 Low [James8-6, Nathan5, Caleb4, David3, Thomas2-1], the second child of James8 Low III and Margaret
(Huston) was born in Newburg Township, Pike County, IL. His father recorded the date of William9's birth in his journal: April
24, 1846.
During the early childhood of William Thomas9, he worked on his father's farm. His father mentions him often in his harvest
journals. There are also, probably, photographs of William9 in his father's photo collection. Unfortunately, many of James8Low
III's photographs were not labeled, so we cannot say with any certainty which photo is of William9.
Both William9 and his brother, James "Nim"9,
must have felt great excitement at the start of the Civil War. The law
of Illinois
required each of her sons to "provide himself with a good musket, fusee
or rifle, with proper accouterments"; the officers to
be armed "with a sword and pair of pistols..." It declared, moreover,
that any one who, when called for, refused to serve, either
personally or through a substitute, should be treated as a deserter.
From the conscientious objector, the law demanded one
dollar and fifty cents a year, in lieu of service. Thus, in theory,
every able-bodied citizen of Illinois was a soldier.
William Thomas9
Low "joined for duty and enrolled" as a soldier for the Union Army at
Pittsfield, IL on August 9, 1862 for
a period of 3 years. It is very likely, since he enlisted at Florence,
Illinois and not Pittsfield, that he had run away from home.
He enlisted as a private in Co. G of the 99th Regiment of the Illinois
Infantry and was mustered out Aug 23, 1862 by D. H.
Rathbone at Florence, Illinois. William had lied about his age in order to enter military service, claiming to be 18 years
old, though, in August of 1862, he was only 15½.
William T.9's war record shows his status at various periods of his enlistment:
August 23rd to 31st, 1862 Present
September & October 1862 Present
November & December 1862 Not Stated (present or absent)
January & February 1863 Present
His service record shows that he was "Left sick at Willikens Bend [Missouri]" in March & April of 1863.
April 10, 1863 Present
May & June, 1863 Present
July & Aug, 1863 Died Vicksburg, Miss Aug 12, 1863 No muster out roll. Original Co. G.
William Thomas9 had a tragically short life. He died at a Civil War front at Vicksburg, Mississippi on August 12, 1863.
Found among the papers of William Thomas9 Low’s cousin, Joseph Francis9 Low (William8, James7-6, Nathan5, Caleb4, David3,
Thomas2-1) were several military pay records that pertained to William Thomas9. This undoubtedly means that Joseph
Francis9was in contact with his cousin during the Civil War and may even have been the family member who received William
Thomas9' personal effects after his death and brought them back to Pike County, Illinois.
Found among the papers of James8 Low III was this letter from his son, written just over a month before his death:
July the 1st A.D. 1863
Camp near Vixsburg Mississippi
Dear Father and Mother and Brothers and sisters I have neglected to write to you for some time. but you must not
think hard of me for not writing for I have been sick for two months and I did not like to write till I got well for I
knowed it would trouble your minds to hear that I was sick I got your letter that you wrote after uncle Thomas died
and it found me laying thinking of home you may know it is lonsome to me when I am sick to not have Mother to wait
on me, well father I must tell you at little about what they are doing now [End of first page]
W.T. L. To father mother sister brothers
there was A volly of musketry just fired from the rebs and I just wished you could of seen ours get hurrying to get
one guns I went up in the riffle fit and shot once the boys is sharpshooting now. we alow to commence bombarding
them the third and keep it up till the fourth is gone I don't think they can starve much longer now the captain got a
letter from you last night and he answered it this morning. I went and got my likeness for you I would like to get all
of yours. I let the Capt have $40 to escpress for me I will send all I can spare let me know if you think that I send
enough home write soon I will write in A few days this from your son W. T. Low
Vicksburg surrendered on July 4, 1863. William T. Low's words of July 1st, 1863 were prophetic. In mid-May of 1863,
U. S. Grant tried to assault the heights of Vicksburg, Mississippi, but after suffering severe losses, he changed tactics.
As Grant himself wrote: 'I determined upon a regular siege … With the navy holding the river, the investment of
Vicksburg was complete … The enemy was limited in supplies of food, men and munitions of war … These could not
last.' [Davis, 1996, 288] By late June of 1863, the citizens and defenders of Vicksburg were growing desperate. Soldiers
whose daily rations had been cut to one small biscuit and a piece of bacon threatened mutiny. In order to escape the
relentless shelling from the Union guns, the starving people of Vicksburg had taken to living in caves dug into the
ground. After forty days of siege, negotiations between Grant and the defenders of Vicksburg began. When Grant
allowed conditions, one of which was to 'parole' the soldiers of Vicksburg. letting them go with a pledge not to fight
anymore, Vicksburg finally surrendered on July 4, 1863. [Davis, 1996, 309-310]
The money that William9 mentions sending home was to be used to purchase land for him so that he would have his own farm
when the war was over. James8 recorded his receipt of such money as it arrived
:
1862, Sept 20 Credit-$10.00 Rec'd of William T.9 Low from the hand of Wils
1862, Oct 7 Credit-$10.00 Rec'd of William T.9 Low by express of Tolcot
1863, Mar 10 Credit-$30.00 Rec'd of William T.9 Low by express of Ross
1863, July 23 Credit-$40.00 Rec'd of William T.9 Low by the hand of R.B.H.
1863, Aug 18 Credit-$10.00 Rec'd of William T.9 Low by the hand of J.G. Hogan
1863, Aug 24 Credit-$11.75 Rec'd of William T.9 Low by the hand of H.D. Hull
We do not know where William Thomas9 Low was buried. Though highly doubtful, his body may have been sent back to Pike
County, Illinois for burial in the Low Family cemetery in Newburg. It is more likely, however, that he occupies one of the
hundreds of unmarked military graves at Vicksburg. Regardless, William Thomas9 Low died a tragic and pointless early death
and he deserves to be remembered by all of us.
Oddly, William is not listed among the Union Civil War dead although ample documentation exists
of his service, including battlefield pay stubs. It would be a worthy project for someone in our family
to pursue the correction of this oversight.
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© 1999 by Bingham James Forrest Lowe [g.g.grandson of James Low(e)]
Email:
Bingham J F Lowe @ Lowe Family Descendants.com
(copy address and remove the spaces to send an
email)
November 17th, 2005 marks the 369th anniversary of the Low(e) Family in America.
