John W. Jellison Papers,
Scope and Content
The collection contains seven letters written by Jellison to his wife and his mother. In addition, the collection includes Jellison's his discharge papers.
Despite the short duration of his service, Jellison's letters were written from a variety of locations in Virginia, Washington, DC, and aboard the gun boat St. Louis. All the letters are dated, but not all include the year, so the sequence is unclear. For the most part, Jellison writes of his regiments marches and camps, and news of the war from nearby regions.
Excerpt from December 15, 1862, Camp Vermont Near Alexandria: "...We had a pleasant time on picket we took three prisoners we had to shoot one. It was hared to stand and see a man shot down it was on my post and I ordered it was my duty to do so..."
Dates
- Creation: 1862 - 1863
Creator
Access Restrictions
Collection is open to research.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish from the John W. Jellison Papers must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Biographical/Historical Information
John W. Jellison was a private in the 27th Maine Infantry, Company E, on September 30, 1862. He mustered out in June 1863.
The 27th Maine was notable for soldiers voluntarily staying beyond their original enlistment period in 1863 to guard Washington D.C. against Lee's offensive into Pennsylvania. However, these volunteers only remained in defense of the capitol for four days and returned to Maine in time to muster out with the rest of the regiment. Still, Congress awarded the entire regiment of more than 850 men the Medal of Honor. The awards were purged by Congress in 1917 as the "actions of the regiment did not meet the criteria for receiving such a medal." Although the medals were not taken away, the names of the recipients were stricken from the roll.
Full Extent
0.1 Cubic Feet (1 folder)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Collection contains letters written to family by John W. Jellison, 27th Regiment, Maine Infantry. Also included are Jellison's discharge papers.
Arrangement
The correspondence is arranged in its likely chronological sequence, based on the movements of Jellison's regiment in 1862 and 1863. Discharge papers are filed after the letters.
Acquisition Information
The John W. Jellison Papers were purchased by Special Collections in March 2010.
Processing Information
The processing, arrangement, and description of the John W. Jellison Papers commenced and was completed in July 2010.
- Title
- A Guide to the John W. Jellison Papers, 1862-1863
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Josh Howard
- Date
- © 2010 By Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. All rights reserved.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Description is in English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections, Virginia Tech Repository
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
560 Drillfield Drive
Newman Library, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg Virginia 24061 US
540-231-6308
specref@vt.edu