Isaac N. and Rebecca (Alban) Alexander papers

The bulk of the materials in this collection consist of letters written by Isaac N. Alexander to his wife, Rebecca (Alban) Alexander, while he was serving in the 46th Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

Alexander, who by the end of his period of enlistment was a Lieutenant-Colonel in command of Company K, was involved in many of the major battles of Sherman's march to the sea. The letters he wrote to his wife detail camp conditions, and describe battles. However, perhaps out of a desire not to worry his wife (there are a number of passages in which he attempts to reassure her), battle descriptions are very restrained.

The strength of the letters may well lie in the fact that they often deal with the mundane and for this reason should be useful to social historians of the Civil War period. Alexander writes about not getting paid and spends a great deal of time speculating on when he will be paid; reports on the provisions available to him and his company; talks about camp illnesses; mentions his loneliness; makes references to the weather and its effects on the comforts of the troops; and asks Rebecca to send items of clothing, stamps and tobacco.

Major parts of many of his letters are focused on the life he left behind in Van Wert. As well as requesting news of the town, he also gives his wife directions about managing the land he owns and taking care of financial matters on his behalf (the business itself is often conducted by letter directly with the parties concerned, but Rebecca is told to check that action has been taken and she is often responsible for actually disbursing money). His directions to his wife are often very detailed, particularly when he describes the care she is to take of his garden and small orchard. (Interestingly, he sends cuttings of grapevines, roses, and other plants, as well as seeds from the South for her to plant in his garden, and from the way in which he writes about them demonstrates the great importance he attaches to their survival.)

The letters Rebecca writes to her husband report on town happenings, family news, and respond to his queries, thus providing some idea of how families coped when one of their members was enlisted.

In addition to this core of material that forms the center of the collection, there are several other correspondence series. Next in order of importance are Isaac and Rebecca's courtship letters. These twenty-one pieces of correspondence dating from 1854 through 1857 provide biographical details about this stage of their lives. Since they seem to have had little in person contact during the period, they explore their feelings in the letters and negotiate over wedding plans, making the correspondence of interest to social historians concerned with nineteenth century courtship. Another series is made up of correspondence Isaac conducted with people other than his wife and includes one detailed letter from Caleb Roberts, first lieutenant in Alexander's company, informing him of camp conditions while he was on leave in August of 1863; several business letters; and a letter to his daughter Emma announcing his appointment as United States District Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. Letters written by and to members of Alexander's company (eight letters dating from 1863 through 1864) constitute another series and mention such matters as the Vallandigham conflict and reactions to it in Van Wert, describe household concerns, and include news of Van Wert. One of these letters, signed "Omega," and intended for the "Editor of the Bulletin" written from LaGrange, Tennessee, includes a great deal of revealing information about camp conditions. The series of letters Rebecca received from friends and relatives (nine letters dating from 1857 through 1864) are of limited interest compared to the other correspondence in the collection. The same is true of the letters written on behalf of Alexander when he was seeking the appointment of Assistant Commissary of Subsistence (five letters dating from April through November of 1864).