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This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
Size | 29 items |
Abstract | Primarily Civil War letters from Robert Stuart Finley to his fiancee, Mary A. Cabeen, and miscellaneous military and other papers. Finley was a member of the 30th Illinois Infantry, serving in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Georgia. The letters give full descriptions of his activities and surroundings. Places mentioned include Fort Donelson and Jackson, Tenn.; Camp Logan, La.; Vicksburg, Miss., Athens, Atlanta, Big Shanty, and East Point, Ga.; Huntsville, Ala.; and Pocotaligo and Beaufort, S.C. Finley participated in the Atlanta Campaign and in Sherman's March through the Carolinas. Also included are two letters concerning Richard H. Cabeen (d. 1864), one telling of military actions near Dalton, Ga., and the other informing his father of his death. Postwar items include papers relating to Finley's military service, his marriage license, and biographical information about him. |
Creator | Finley, Robert Stuart, 1838-1868. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Suzanne Ruffing, August 1996
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
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Robert Stuart Finley (1838-1868), native of Ohio, moved to Mercer County, Ill., in 1854. He taught at Washington, Iowa, and North Diberty, Iowa, and graduated from Monmouth College. He also studied at the Theological Seminary of Monmouth before the Civil War.
Finley served in the 30th Illinois Infantry, 1861-1865, as quartermaster sergeant and was promoted to first lieutenant on 25 April 1865. He was graduated in theology in 1867, married Mary A. Cabeen on 11 April 1867, and died 26 January 1868, leaving his widow and an infant a few days old.
Back to TopThese papers include sixteen letters written by Finley during the Civil War, and two Cabeen family Civil War letters; seven papers relating to Finley's enlistment, rank, and discharge; marriage certificate, 1867; and a biographical sketch of Finley and two letters, 1911.
The sixteen letters written by Finley between March 1862 and March 1865 to Mary Cabeen, Mercer County, Ill., contain full descriptions of events and scenes witnessed by him, including battles, battlegrounds, southern towns and surrounding neighborhoods, and activities of the soldiers in camp. The letters detail camp life--illnesses and deaths of his colleagues; food, supplies, and weather; the importance of receiving mail; and his thoughts on the war in general and the state of politics and religion. Each letter gives some information about his present situation and some account of recent movements and events. Finley wrote from Fort Donelson and Jackson, Tenn.; Yocona River and Vicksburg, Miss.; Camp Logan, La.; Athens, Gaylesville, and Huntsville, Ala.; Big Shanty and East Point, Ga.; Pocotaligo, S.C.; and Goldsboro, N.C.
Also included are a letter from Richard H. Cabeen to his father, Richard Cabeen, telling of marching and camping in the woods about ten miles from Dalton, Ga., and a letter to Richard Cabeen announcing Richard H. Cabeen's death in a battle near Resaca, Ga.
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