52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week #22 Theme - Conflict

My husband is a history buff.  While I research the history of both our families, he catches me up on what was happening in those years and locations.  Often we then take trips to the areas where family lived and learn more about them at history centers and libraries.  When we traveled through Alabama and Mississippi, we found that his paternal 3Gt. Grandfather, John Oliver Davis, a merchant from Tallapoosa Co, Alabama, had fought with the 37th Infantry at the second Battle of Corinth, Mississippi, Oct. 3-4 1862.  He had been elected First Lieutenant following the organization of the 37th Regiment, but had been promoted to Captain in the ensuing months.  At the 2nd Battle of Corinth, Captain Davis, age 40,  was wounded, seriously enough that he returned home and then resigned from service.  His daughter, Martha Lavonia (Vonie) Davis married Alonzo C. Bosworth, a young Confederate soldier,  who came home from the war after battles in Virginia and at Gettysburg. He was a sergeant with Company D of the Alabama 14th Infantry.  I will write more about this couple in the future.

Meanwhile in service to the Union was another of Gerry's ancestors, Gt Grandfather John McCool, born in Pennsylvania. His family had migrated to the frontier of Iowa, where John signed on as a private, with the Iowa Second Infantry, Co. B of Scott County.  McCool's regiment fought  alongside about 50,000 men under General U.S. Grant at Ft. Donelson, on the Cumberland River,  not far from Nashville, TN. The victory made Grant a national hero, and allowed the Union to push deeper into the heart of the Confederacy.  The 2nd Iowa was then involved at Shiloh (Pittsburgh Landing) and advanced on to the town of Corinth, Mississippi. Two railroads intersected in the downtown of Corinth... the Memphis / Charleston Railroad, running east and west, and the Mobile / Ohio Railroad, running north and south. These were necessary for moving supplies and had been under control of the Confederacy.  A Union victory there assured that the North could use Corinth and her railroads in relative safety for much of the remainder of the war.  However, there were thousands of dead and wounded on each side.   

I have found a map which shows the locations of regiments from both armies.  Within a few blocks of each other, in downtown Corinth, were McCool's 2nd Iowa Regiment of the Union, and Captain John O. Davis' 37th Alabama Regiment of the Confederacy. Blue is Union, Red is Confederate. I have marked these two in gold.   These men didn't hate each other, but they loved their homes and families, and stood to defend them.  Generations later, after the conflict of that battle was forgotten by descendants, the men are remembered as showing courage and loyalty, each to his own cause.

 

Valentine Letter from Secret Admirer, 1864

Valentine Letter written on a folded paper, decorated on the outside by a pen drawing of a wreath of leaves, with a dove in the center. At the bottom are two overlapping hearts, pierced by arrows. I have left the spelling as the original.

14th Febuary /64 [1864]

Miss Lavonia Davis
As I do not enjoy [take part in]
a corrispondance with you, I take advantage of
the 14th of February to give you some token of the many
hye regards witch I entertain for you.
You will pleas except my best wishes for your
happiness and prosperity. Ever be assured
that some bosom breathes forth a constant
silent prear for thee.

Perhaps you may find out who this is from.
If so pleas pardon him for so doing and
ever remember that he esteems you hy as a lady.
Also read the inblem of the drawing on the
opposite page and may your path be strene [strewn?]
with roses & heaven bless your whole life,
and crown your death with peace and endless bliss.
From your Valentine

[My note: The handwriting matches the later letters by Alonzo Bosworth, Lavonia’s future husband. These are my husband's Gt gt grandparents.
Alonzo was a Confederate Sgt., AL 14th Regiment, Company D, who had fought in VA and Gettysburg. The above writing was when he was about 21, after the war. He died young, age 37, in 1880, possibly a result of earlier war wounds. Martha Lavonia outlived him by 40 more years. She saved these letters in a trunk as she moved with family to Oklahoma. She was the first victim of an automobile/ buggy accident in Oklahoma, 1921.]