Maine Memory Network

Contributed by Maine Historical Society

Description

Writing to his father in Dennysville in February 1864, Pvt. John Sheahan of Co. K of the 1st Maine Cavalry, urged him to give up ideas of enlisting and to not let Sheahan's younger brothers, Ned and Henry, enlist.

Sheahan's older brother, William, a sergeant in the 6th Maine, had been killed in November at Rappahannock Station. Their father, also named John, had gone to Washington and Virginia to retrieve his son's body.

Pvt. Sheahan wrote, "Have you not been out here and seen how soldiers live, we were taking comfort when you saw us, and have you not done enough already?" He told his father he would be unable to protect the younger sons.

He concluded, "It may seem fun to be a soldier but on the battle field where men fall like grass it is a sad reality."

The end of the letter appears to be missing.

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Transcription

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About This Item

• Title: Pvt. John Sheahan advice to not enlist, Virginia, 1864
• Creator: John P. Sheahan
• Creation Date: 1864
• Subject Date: 1864
• Locations:
  • Dennysville, Washington County, ME
  • Warrenton, VA
• Media: Ink on paper
• Dimensions: 20.5 cm x 12.7 cm
• Local Code: Coll. 184, Box 1/8
• Collection: John Parris Sheahan papers
• Object Type: Text

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Cross Reference Searches

Standardized Subject Headings

• Letters
• Military life
• Sheahan, John Parris--Correspondence
• Soldiers--Maine
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives
• United States. Army. Maine Cavalry Regiment, 1st (1861-1865). Company K

People

• Sheahan, John P.

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For more information about this item, contact:

Maine Historical Society
485 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101
(207) 774-1822 x230
Website

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