"Nothing Gives Me More Pleasure Than to Hear From You"

The Civil War Letters of Sgt. Samuel B. Seely

TRANSCRIBED AND INTRODUCED BY JOHN SICKLES

On August 13, 1862, twenty-five-year-old Samuel B. Seely enrolled as a private in the 4th Indiana Cavalry, 77th Regiment, at Newberry in Greene County. He was mustered into the regiment in Indianapolis on August 20, and he remained in the war until its end, rising in rank to sergeant and mustering out on June 29, 1865, at Edgefield, Tennessee.	1
The ten letters that follow were written by Seely to Elizabeth Hicks, a sixteen-year-old neighbor back home, who, after the war, would become his wife. They begin in September 1862 and continue to June 18, 1865, just days before Seely's regiment was disbanded.	2
Seely's writing subtly illustrates his courtship of Hicks. For the most part, his tone is humble and a bit bashful, although he sometimes boasts or teases a little. He offers to send Hicks a miniature portrait of a southern girl who "almost" fell in love with him; realizing his mistake, he soon apologizes for writing "so maney foolish things about other girls down in the wooden country that I was a fraid you had got mad at me." The soldier tries to be conscious of a young girl's sensibilities. He tells stories of camp life—of how one friend received a "Dear John" letter from the same girl who had urged him to enlist, and of how he himself was teased by comrades over a gift that Elizabeth sent him. Loneliness is another common subject—like so many other Civil War soldiers, Seely sometimes begs for letters from home.	3
Sgt. Samuel Seely, Co. I, 4th Indiana Cavalry Courtesy of the author
Nevertheless, Seely does not shrink from addressing the horrors of war. In his June 15, 1863, letter—written from a hospital in Tennessee— he expresses anger at the enemy for the death of a mutual friend. He also confides to Hicks that he has been responsible for more than a few Confederates "biting the dust."	4
Seely appears to have remained hospitalized until sometime in November, missing most of his regiment's campaign in eastern Tennessee. Upon his return to duty in early 1864 he went "veteran," reenlisting under a bargain offered by the government for veteran soldiers. In return for reenlistment, he received a thirty-day leave of absence, a cash bounty, and a stripe to sew on his uniform sleeve. Over the next year-and-a-half, he fought in a series of major battles and smaller skirmishes. He also spent time on courier duty, sometimes a very dangerous assignment.	. . .