Letter: William N. Chunn, Camp Brown, Union City, Tennessee, to Sarah Louise Taylor, 1861

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Letter from William N. Chunn serving with the 6th Tennessee Infantry at Camp Brown near Union City, Tennessee, to his sister Sarah Louise Taylor dated May 30, 1861.

The transcription is as follows:

[page 1]                      Camp Brown, May 30^th 1861

My Dear Sister,

I wrote you a hasty note from Jackson, which I presume you received. We are now near Union City, on the Rail Road, a very pleasant country, I know not how long we will be stationed here but think for some time. “The South will not violate the armed neutrality of Kentucky by passing over her borders but if the North attempts to send troops through Kentucky we will meet them before they _____ [unreadable word] etc Tenn. Large bodys of troops are ariving [sic] here daily. There are now over three thousand here, & two or three more will be here this evening, & continue to come, as I understand a large division of the Army will be concentrated here. As it regards our living, it is good, all seem to be in good spirits, I have been amused at the reports that are circulated around the camp on the reception of an order to move, once at Jackson, when we were ordered on last Sunday morning to strike tents in twenty minutes & march to the Depot. The men thought [page 2] we were on our way to Cairo & such long faces I never saw. Again after arriving here we received an order to strike tents in five minutes – “Where are we going” was asked by all.- The cars wer [sic] whistling- & the ready answer “to Cairo or to Columbus,” was given. The second order came to clean up the grounds & pitch tents again. There came laughs & jokes about blanched cheeks & down cast eyes. No order will be given to leave here for some weeks, as the men & officers need a great deal of drilling, before they can face an enemy. There will be here before Saturday night over ten thousand men concentrated at this place. Nothing is going on here but drilling & posting sentinels. I do not know how long before I can get a furlo [sic], but the chances are bad, to leave here, I may get off in two or three weeks, if so I will run home in a few hours, I am writing on my knapsack surrounded by at least ten men, some singing, others laughing & talking so you must excuse everything that is not right, write to me right off & address your letter to me at Union City, Obion County, Tenn, Care of Capt. Johns of “Avengers”.

Love to all friends)                            your affectionate brother

W.N. Chunn

Identifier

sc.0009.001_001.001

Date

1861 May 30

Subjects

Chunn, William Neilson.

Recommended Citation

"Letter: William N. Chunn, Camp Brown, Union City, Tennessee, to Sarah Louise Taylor, 1861" (2021). Documents. 1.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-mss-chunnwn1/1