Tuesday, December 30, 2014

To the West Woods: The Correspondence of Henry Ropes, 20th Massachusetts, Entry 5

This is the fifth entry in the correspondence of Lieutenant Henry Ropes to his family between September 3 and October 5, 1862. Ropes was a Second Lieutenant in Company K of the 20th Massachusetts, Dana’s Brigade, Sedgwick’s Division, II Corps. 

Camp 20th Regiment near 
Middletown, Md.  Monday September 15th 1862
6 A.M.

My dear Father.

We came here late last night, having marched very far to the North during the day. We marched from Rockville to Frederick City via Clarksburg and Middlebrook⁠1, and camped day before yesterday close to Frederick. The people show every sign of joy at our arrival. There was a severe battle⁠2 here yesterday before we came up, about which I have not yet heard much, but we drove the Rebels at last. All quiet as yet this morning, so I suppose they have retreated in the night. I hear the 35th Mass.⁠3 was
Major General Jesse Reno (1823-1862)
Tenleytown Historical Society, Washington, D.C.
engaged. Genl. Reno
⁠4 is killed_ his body was carried by us. The houses were filled with wounded when we passed up. We are about 2 miles from the position the Rebels occupied last night. My foot is well. All the Regiment safe and well, except Lieutenants Abbott⁠5, Murphy⁠6 and Beckwith⁠7 who are ill and left at Frederick. I do not think Abbott is much ill, but it would have hurt him to march and we persuaded him to stay behind for a day or two. 


Received letter from mother of the 8th. No other letters. Please do not send on the pistol if there is no fixed Ammunition to fill it. Love to Mother and all. Shall try to write soon. Our force here is very large and we are in reserve and in all probability shall not be engaged in case another battle takes place in a few days.

In great haste

Your affectionate Son
Henry.

Source.

The source for Henry Ropes’ correspondence is the three volume transcription of Ropes outbound correspondence to his father, mother, and his brother, John C. Ropes. The original transcription can be found at the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department, Boston Public Library. 

Henry Ropes was killed at Gettysburg on July 3 and from that point on, John C. Ropes undertook a life-long pursuit to memorialize his brother’s life and the regiment’s history. The transcription volumes are the center piece of John C. Ropes work and his legacy. Each of the three transcribed volumes are organized chronologically: Volume 1 is Henry Ropes’ correspondence to his father and mother, and Volume 2 and 3 to his brother, John C. Ropes. 

For more on the Ropes correspondence, see Richard F. Miller’s excellent essay on historical bibliography at pages 495-499 in his superlative study on the 20th Massachusetts in Richard F. Miller, Harvard’s Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 2005). Any errors in transcribing and annotating the selected correspondence are mine.

Notes.
1 Middlebrook Post Office was located along the Frederick Road just west of Great Seneca Creek. 
2 The Battle of South Mountain, September 14, 1862.
3 The 35th Massachusetts was organized at Worcester, Massachusetts on August 1, 1862. They joined the 2nd Brigade (Ferrero), 2nd Division (Sturgis), of the IX Corps for the advance into Maryland. They participated at the Battle of South Mountain on September 14th. Ropes’ interest in the regiment probably is his family relationship with Major Sidney Willard (1831-1863) who served as a Major in the 35th Massachusetts. See previous post, December 29, 2014. Bartol, A Nation’s Hour: A Tribute to Major Sidney Willard (Boston: Walker, Wise, and Company, 1862), pp. 14, 30-31; The Civil War in the East website; Union Order of Battle, Official Records.
4 Major General Jesse Reno (1823-1862), a Virginian by birth, headed the Union IX Corps. He was mortally wounded at Fox Gap, South Mountain while directing troop positions toward the end of the battle. See further, John Hoptak, The Battle of South Mountain, (Charleston, SC: History Press, 2011), pp. 82-85.
5 Lt. Henry Livermore Abbott (1842-1864), Harvard College, (1860), will be killed at the Battle of the Wilderness.
6 Lt. James Murphy will resign his commission on August 28, 1863 due to wounds received at Chancellorsville, Murphy will serve as one of Henry Ropes’ pallbearers.
7 Sgt. Robert Beckwith (1840-1862) a Scottish-born ironworker will be commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant following Antietam. He will be killed on the assault on Mayre’s Heights, Fredericksburg on December 13th.  Richard F. Miller, Harvard’s Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 2005), pp. 183, 212.

Sunday, December 28, 2014

To the West Woods: The Correspondence of Henry Ropes, 20th Massachusetts, Entry 4

This is the fourth entry in the correspondence of Lieutenant Henry Ropes to his family between September 3 and October 5, 1862. Ropes was a Second Lieutenant in Company K of the 20th Massachusetts, Dana’s Brigade, Sedgwick’s Division, II Corps. 

Camp Defiance⁠1 near Rockville
Md. Monday September 8th 1862.

My dear Father.

We marched from Tenallytown⁠2 on Saturday last and drew up here in line of battle in support of batteries and sent out pickets. We had heard of the invasion of the Rebels, and we quite expected a battle, as their pickets occupied Darnestown⁠3 a few miles before us. However, they have not molested us, and now we have an immense force here. Banks⁠4 is on our left, and the 2d. Mass.⁠5 is close to us in the 2d line. I was really very much astonished to hear that the Rebels had crossed, but I think it will be their ruin, that is if they are here in force. I do not think they will attack us here, for we are in a very strong position, and they seem to me making to the North. Perhaps after all they will retire after supplying themselves with what food and clothing they can get.
Mr. John Gray⁠6 has just been here and is getting a good idea of military matters. We are in a most beautiful and healthy Camp, and as Genl. Sumner⁠7 has to_day given it a name “Defiance” and as our baggage had just come up, I think we may be some time here. My feet is much better. I enclose 2 bills of $2. Each of N.E. Banks.⁠8 I understand both are good but they will not often take N.E. bills here. If they are good, will you please send me back the $4 in U.S. $1, or better still, postage stamps and small change?
Bank note issued by the White Mountain Bank,
New Hampshire, 1862. See further, note 8 below.
I received yesterday yours of the 4th and Mother’s of August 28th enclosing a letter from Frank at Berlin⁠9 and Lizzy at Lewisham.⁠10 Please thank all and say I hope to answer soon. I am delighted you gave such a handsome present to Mr. Willard.⁠11 I know he will value it exceedingly. All friends here well. The Colonel ⁠12 as brisk and active as ever. He already looks much better than when he came, for he is sunburnt and ruddy. Very much obliged to you for attending to my little matters, and for sending to their owners the contents of the trunk.
Letter for Mary Ann⁠13 enclosed.

Your affectionate Son

Henry.

Source Note.
The source for Henry Ropes’ correspondence that constitutes this and the following items in this series is the three volume transcription of Ropes outbound correspondence to his father, mother, and his brother, John C. Ropes. Henry Ropes was killed at Gettysburg on July 3 and from that point on, John C. Ropes undertook a life-long pursuit to memorialize his brother’s life and the regiment’s history. The transcription volumes are the centerpiece of John C. Ropes work and his legacy. Each of the three hand-written transcribed volumes are organized chronologically: Volume 1 is Henry Ropes’ correspondence to his father and mother, and Volume 2 and 3 to his brother, John C. Ropes. For more on the Ropes correspondence, see Richard F. Miller’s excellent essay on historical bibliography at pages 495-499 in his superlative study on the 20th Massachusetts in Richard F. Miller, Harvard’s Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 2005). Any errors in transcribing and annotating the selected correspondence are mine.


Notes.

1 Camp Defiance was two miles north of Rockville, Maryland. Henry P. Goddard, The Good Fight that Didn’t End: Henry P. Goddard’s Accounts of Civil War and Peace Calvin Goddard Zon, ed. (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2008), p. 51.
2 Tennallytown, District of Columbia.
3 Darnestown, Maryland.
4 Bank’s Corps, II Corps of the Army of Virginia. Banks would be relieved from command on September 7 and five days later General Order 129 would change its designation to the XII Corps, Army of the Potomac, under command of Major General Joseph F. Mansfield.
5 Second Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Third Brigade, XII Corps.
6 This was probably John Chipman Gray (1839-1915). A graduate of Harvard Law School and friend of the Ropes family, he  would enlist in the 41st Massachusetts on October 7, 1862. After the war, Gray would form with John C. Ropes the law firm of Ropes & Gray. Roland Gray, John Chipman Gray (Boston: privately printed, 1907),  p. 8.
7 Edward Vose Sumner, headed II Corps, Army of the Potomac.
8 During this time, private banks issued bank notes in various denominations. The image here is of a two dollar note issued by the White Mountain Bank in New Hampshire. Image from auction.archivesinternational.com.
9 This is probably Frank Ropes (b. 1838), Henry’s brother, from Berlin, Germany.
10 This is probably Elizabeth Ropes (b. 1825), Henry’s sister, at Lewisham, London, England.
11 This is probably Major Sidney Willard (1831-1863) a Harvard graduate (1852) and Boston lawyer who served as a Major in the 35th Massachusetts, IX Corps. The “handsome present” may have been “a military sash and a handsome silver platter” presented to him by the Washington Home Guard, Cambridge on his departure “for the seat of war on Friday, August 22.” On September 3 he would be appointed to Major of the regiment. He would be killed at Fredericksburg on December 13. C.A. Bartol, A Nation’s Hour: A Tribute to Major Sidney Willard (Boston: Walker, Wise, and Company, 1862), pp. 14, 30-31.
12 Colonel William Raymond Lee (1807-1891) commanded the 20th Massachusetts.

13 This is probably Ropes’ sister Mary Ann Ropes (b 1842). 1850 U.S. Census Record for Massachusetts.

Friday, December 26, 2014

To the West Woods: The Correspondence of Henry Ropes, 20th Massachusetts, Entry 3

This is the third entry in the correspondence of Lieutenant Henry Ropes to his family between September 3 and October 5, 1862. Ropes was a Second Lieutenant in Company K of the 20th Massachusetts, Dana’s Brigade, Sedgwick’s Division, II Corps. 


Camp 20th Regiment
Tennallytown near Washington, D.C.

September 5th 1862.

My dear Father.

Battery Martin Scott in the District
of Columbia overlooking Chain Bridge.
Harper's Weekly, August 24, 1861.
I wrote to you last from Alexandria, day before yesterday, telling you of our heavy marches to and [1] I was unable to march yesterday and came in an ambulance with Col. Hinks⁠ [2] of the 19th Regiment, a very pleasant man. He told me that we marched 30 miles on Sunday, from 2 A.M. till 12 P.M., and that taking the 3 days together we marched 65 miles in 64 consecutive hours. This march quite used up my foot, and I found yesterday that I was quite unable to march, but to-day it is much better and I have no doubt a few day’s rest will quite restore it.
from Fairfax Court House. Yesterday the Brigade (under Col. Lee) marched to this place crossing at Chain Bridge. Our Corps, and Banks’ is here, and I understand Banks is to-day to move up the river to Poolesville.

We are now on very high land and shall probably be very comfortable.[3] I have written to Poolesville ⁠2and ordered my two boxes there to be sent home to you by Adams’ Express. I enclose the keys. They are filled with Camp equipage which, I could not carry with me from Poolesville. Please open the boxes and make any use of the contents. Some of the things I may need and if so will send for them.

[Notation in pencil: “For close see close of letter 26 September /62_” The “close” from September 26th is amended below. Someone has added a notation in pencil to this amendment that “This is probably the close of a letter dated Sept. 5, 1862 “].

From all I hear, McDowell [4] made a bad job of his retreat and our loss was heavy, and a great deal of valuable Stores and many wagons fell into the enemy’s hands. I can see no excuse for this. A good firm rear guard can stop almost any pursuit. We have now twice covered a retreat, and both times with success.

Jackson seems to strike terror everywhere. I hope Sumner [5] will meet him some day and turn the tables. We expect to be here several weeks. I am perfectly well as usual. Herbert [6] is quite strong and well, and stood the hard marching perfectly. I have written to John [7] to get me a number of things, and I have no doubt it will take up much of his time to see to them, be he is very kind in attending to everything, and I think I have now found out exactly what I need.

Best love to Mother and all. I shall write soon and answer all letters when I can get a tent up.

Ever your affectionate Son

Henry.


Sources
The source for Henry Ropes’ correspondence that constitutes this and the following items in this series is the three volume transcription of Ropes outbound correspondence to his father, mother, and his brother, John C. Ropes. Henry Ropes was killed at Gettysburg on July 3 and from that point on, John C. Ropes undertook a life-long pursuit to memorialize his brother’s life and the regiment’s history. The transcription volumes are the centerpiece of John C. Ropes work and his legacy. Each of the three hand-written transcribed volumes are organized chronologically: Volume 1 is Henry Ropes’ correspondence to his father and mother, and Volume 2 and 3 to his brother, John C. Ropes. For more on the Ropes correspondence, see Richard F. Miller’s excellent essay on historical bibliography at pages 495-499 in his superlative study on the 20th Massachusetts in Richard F. Miller, Harvard’s Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 2005). Any errors in transcribing and annotating the selected correspondence are mine.


Notes

[1] Poolesville, Montgomery County, Maryland.

[2] Colonel Edward Winslow Hinks (Hincks) (1830-1894) commanded the 19th Massachusetts. He would be seriously wounded in the West Woods.

[3] Tennallytown, District of Columbia, at 500 feet elevation, is on one of the highest points of the District.

[4] Gen. Irwin McDowell led the III Corps of the Army of Virginia under John Pope.

[5] Edwin Vose Sumner commanded the II Corps of the Army of the Potomac.

[6] Lt. Herbert Cowpland Mason (1840-1884), Harvard College, 1862, would be severely wounded in the West Woods.

[7] John C. Ropes, his brother.


To the West Woods: The Correspondence of Henry Ropes, 20th Massachusetts, Entry 2

This is the second entry in the correspondence of Lieutenant Henry Ropes to his family between September 3 and October 5, 1862. Ropes was a Second Lieutenant in Company K of the 20th Massachusetts, Dana’s Brigade, Sedgwick’s Division, II Corps.

Camp 20th Regiment, Mass.
Near Alexandria, Va. September 3rd 1862.

My dear Father.

After 4 days of tiresome marching and picket duty, we are brought to the same place which we left on Saturday last. I wrote you from Chain Bridge that we were to occupy some forts permanently.[1] Then orders were changed and we crossed the Chain Bridge and went to some hills N.W. of Washington. Here we heard all day Saturday the heavy Canonading, and we knew a great battle was going on.
Map showing detail of Washington defenses.
The regiment moved across Chain Bridge to Tennallytown
and Ft. Pennsylvania (later renamed Fort Reno).

We marched again at 3 a.m. On Sunday; passed through Georgetown, crossed the river and marched through a heavy rain to Fairfax Court House, Va. Where we arrived at 12 m. after a march of 22 hours. We had several long halts however, and the march was well conducted and not very trying.

As we expected fully to go to the front and be engaged with the enemy very soon, I kept with the Regiment although my foot was very lame. 

We lay down for a few hours at Fairfax my Company[2] and Co. I being advanced and pickets thrown out, for a body of Rebel Cavalry &c. had appeared in rear of our main Army. Monday morning we advanced about 5 miles and occupied a road and rested all day. Our pickets were thrown out, and met a few of the enemy, and we had one man of Company C wounded. 

We found a large body of Cavalry had got in between us and the main body of the Army at Centreville. In the afternoon Hooker advanced, and attacked them, and we formed part of the 2d line, behind a hastily built breast work. I hear he drove them off. A rain storm made the night very uncomfortable, but Tuesday was a very fine day, and very cool.

Our Army now fell back, leaving us as the extreme Infantry advance. Casey[3] & Slocum[4] formed line of battle behind us and the Cavalry were a little in front of us. At about 5 P.M. We fell back, and afterwards halted and let all the other troops go by, and our Brigade covered the retreat. We were still detached from our Division and were now under Hooker. The enemy pressed us, but a section of horse Artillery was ordered to the rear and kept them back. I at first rode with the Regiment on the Adjutant’s horse, but before long got a chance to ride on a Caisson of a Regiment of Artillery in Bank’s Corps,[5] and thus reached Alexandria soon after midnight. The Artillery went much farther than the Regiment without my knowledge, and I could not find the Regiment in the darkness and therefor got in at a house and slept till this morning when I found the Regiment. I am now with it here. I rode because my foot was very lame after my long march. 

This morning I have seen Col. Lee and Major Revere,[6] and they both look very well, and we are delighted to see them again here. We shall no doubt have a season of rest here. The Army needs a month to recruit and refit, and then I hope we shall make our last advance. 

I am in perfect health, and have, no doubt a few days rest will restore my foot. 

I have received from Col. Lee’s servant the shoulder straps, pail &c. And thus I see you must have got my trunk and keys. I hope to write again very soon. Excuse this letter written under great difficulties.

All well in the Regiment.

Your affectionate Son

Henry.


Source.

The source for Henry Ropes’ correspondence is the three volume transcription of Ropes outbound correspondence to his father, mother, and his brother, John C. Ropes. The original transcription can be found at the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department, Boston Public Library. 

Henry Ropes was killed at Gettysburg on July 3 and from that point on, John C. Ropes undertook a life-long pursuit to memorialize his brother’s life and the regiment’s history. The transcription volumes are the center piece of John C. Ropes work and his legacy. Each of the three transcribed volumes are organized chronologically: Volume 1 is Henry Ropes’ correspondence to his father and mother, and Volume 2 and 3 to his brother, John C. Ropes. 

For more on the Ropes correspondence, see Richard F. Miller’s excellent essay on historical bibliography at pages 495-499 in his superlative study on the 20th Massachusetts in Richard F. Miller, Harvard’s Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 2005). Any errors in transcribing and annotating the selected correspondence are mine.

Notes

[1] Probably Fort Ethan Allen or Fort Marcy (see map above), that guarded the western approach to the Chain Bridge. 
[2] Company K.
[3] So far, I am unsure what this reference is to. Brigadier General Silas Casey’s Division had been detached from the Army of the Potomac after Seven Pines and sent to operations at Suffolk,Virginia and later the coast of North Carolina.
[4] Major General Henry W. Slocum, commanded the 1st Division of the VI Corps. See further, David A. Welker's Tempest at Ox Hill: The Battle of Chantilly (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2002).
[5] Bank’s Corps was the II Corps of the Army of Virginia. Banks would be relieved from command on September 7 and five days later General Order 129 would change its designation to the XII Corps, Army of the Potomac, under command of Major General Joseph F. Mansfield. 
[6] Colonel William Raymond Lee (1807-1891), attended West Point but dropped out in 1829Major Paul Joseph Revere, grandson of Paul Revere and Harvard graduate (1862).


Monday, December 22, 2014

To the West Woods: The Correspondence of Henry Ropes, 20th Massachusetts, Entry 1


This is the first entry of correspondence by 2nd Lieutenant Henry Ropes written between September 3 and October 5, 1862 to his father, mother, and brother. Ropes served in Company K of the 20th Massachusetts, Dana’s Brigade, Sedgwick’s Division, II Corps. The letters give Ropes' perspective on the day-to-day affairs of the regiment as it advances to Sharpsburg and eventually to the West Woods.  See Sources, below, for more information on the Ropes correspondence.


Camp, 20th Regiment near Alexandria, Va.

September 3d 1862

My dear John.⁠[1]

I have just received from the Colonel your letter, the pail, soap, stamps, straps, and shaving brush for all of which I am very much obliged. Col. Lee⁠[2] looks very well and so does the Major.⁠[3]  The
Henry Ropes. Massachusetts
Historical Society.
Colonel asked me to mention in my letter that he arrived here last night safely and well and requests you to send word to Mrs. Lee and the family.

I think we shall move toward Chain Bridge⁠ [4] and stay there for some time. All quiet now. I believe I never acknowledged the receipt of the following letters. From Father⁠ [5] August 23d and 27th, Mary Ann [⁠6] 19th and 26th, and you of the 19th and the one by Col. Lee. Please thank all. In answer to your questions, Sedgwick ⁠[7] sent word to Col. Palfrey [8] that he might want an Officer for 2 or 3 days, and asked if he could send one in case he should need him. Col. Palfrey said he could spare one and asked me if I would go. I said I would but was never called for. Sedgwick had before asked for Peirson⁠ [9] or Whittier⁠ [10] but both were sick. Whittier is now on his staff. I was detailed to command Company E, but now Patten⁠ [11] has returned and assumed command, and I am still in K. James⁠ [12] does pretty well, but do keep a look out for a really good man. Strength to carry a heavy load and willingness to endure discomfort are absolutely necessary.

About 75 recruits joined us but were unarmed and had to be sent to the rear when we advanced.

I feel very sorry to trouble you so much in getting such things for me, but you see my equipment has to do for a house, pantry, kitchen, bath room, and everything else, including butcher, baker, and tailor, and all this has to be carried on my back to be of use to me at the right time, and so I have to be very particular to have good articles and of the lightest materials. You no do doubt will think it silly of me to give such particular directions about small things, but remember that to have a couple of eyelet holes in the wrong place in a tent may make me wet to the skin for 24 hours, instead of keeping me dry, and a slight alteration of the the straps of a knapsack may cut my shoulder and disable me, instead of leaving me perfectly sound and well. Now I wish to be perfectly prepared for active operations immediately, and therefore, after much thought, I have determined on what I want and ask you to see to the procuring of the same, in accordance with the enclosed directions. I want the following articles:

Pair of Boots. Rice⁠ [13] made me a perfect pair of Army shoes last December, and probably has my measure yet. Those shoes were very loose and comfortable, and very long, exactly as I want the boots. They must go on easily, even when wet. Please order a pair at Rice’s, not of excessive thickness, but of the leather best calculated to keep out water. Perhaps it would be well to have Cork soles put on (not inside Cork soles covered with Lamb’s wool). Let them be loose about the ankle bones, hight, nearly to the knee and very large in the calf. My calf is very large. Let no expense be incurred for ornament, and none be spared for strength and durability. As they are to be worn in rain and mud, let the “counters” be very stiff. Should Rice not have the measure, perhaps Rogers⁠ [14] has (who made the Army shoes you sent out). But let Rogers make them a little wider than the shoes. Clauser⁠ [15] has my measure in Cambridge, but if he makes them, tell him to make them large. I prefer Rice.

2d. A Knapsack. Please call Roulston’s⁠ [16], Tremont Street, and order a knapsack, made exactly like the one he made lately for Lieut. Wilkins⁠ [17] and Herbert Mason⁠ [18], with this alteration: instead of
"Knapsack." Ropes
Transcript, Vol 2.
Boston Public Library.
side straps for shoes on the outside, let there be on each side a small pocket, large enough for a sponge, for instance, fastened by a lappet and button, or buckle. Let the Knapsack be made as light as possible, and of the very best material. It’s cost is, I believe, $4. I will give you a little representation of the pockets I wish. He will understand what I want for Wilkins’ is my model. I wish to have “Lieut. Ropes, 20th Mass.” Distinctly marked in small letters in white paint just above (or under) the left-hand pocket, as I have represented. This is very necessary. Wilkins’ had a little inside pouch or pocket for comb tooth brush &c., and I wish one like this, with a lappet and fastening.

3d. Wool Blanket. I wish one of some color not very light, blue preferred. Size, regulation about 6 feet by 4. I want a very light thin blanket, not more than 1/2 as heavy as the common kind sold. Let it be as warm as possible for its weight, and therefore I suppose it must be made either of fine wool, or of silk and wool. Do not spare expense, but get the greatest amount of warmth and the least weight possible.

4th. India Rubber Blanket. I wish the lightest Rubber that is strong enough to bear careful usage. Patten has an excellent one. Let it be very large, say (if possible) 7 feet by 5, with strong edges, and one eyelet hole in each corner, and besides 3 others along each long side and 2 along each short side. Let this and the wool blanket be marked with my name “H. Ropes”. Do not get a lined blanket, only the light “linen rubber” (as I believe it is called).

5th Rubber Pillow. I have lost my old one. Please get a very small light one. Let it be marked with my name “H. Ropes”.

6th. A crockery Plate, Cup and saucer. Perhaps this seems to you to be very luxurious, but I assure you to eat so long from tin is very tiresome, and a crockery cup is a great luxury. These must be very small and light. I should prefer some of that old set which you remember I had in Cambridge. The cups were small and the material was light. If you buy anything, get it white.

7th. A Shelter tent. As this is an article of the very greatest importance, I enclose a description. [See below for enclosure]

8th A Lantern (Ropes’ Patent) Description enclosed. [18a]

9th A very small light and sharp Hatchet with a little leather case and strap to go over the shoulder. This for James to carry.

This is all, I believe. I really feel ashamed to trouble you to such a fearful extent, but if you were here and could go to the front a week or so with me, I am sure you would appreciate my wants, and see the absolute necessity of everything I have sent for, and the need of having the best of everything and thus the lightest.

The Adams Express Company, Boston
 offered to “forward packages
 and parcels daily to the “‘South,”
occupied by Federal Troops.”
From Boston City Directory, 1862.
Everything I have written for can be packed
in the knapsack, and if possible let it be sent on by some faithful man. If you can find no man, let Adams & Co. [⁠19] take it. One thing Mother [⁠20] can send me, if she pleases, 4 little linen bags like the former ones she sent. If three of these are filled with white sugar, tea and coffee, I shall be much obliged.

Another thing: 2 small boxes, tin or pewter, very light to hold each about 1 gill⁠ [21], for salt and pepper. Not with holes in the top for scattering the contents over the food.

I think everything can be made and sent off in 10 days after you get this, and so in 3 week’s I can get all.

I expect a campaign in Autumn, and I want to be as well protected from wet and cold and as generally comfortable, as possible. I have no news. Very sorry for your eyes. You had better go to Lenox⁠ [22] and try to enjoy that female society you say you consider so dull for a ‘steady drink”.

No news. All steady here; no desponding. We have arrived at our “Torres Vedras”,⁠ [23] and I look forward to our last advance before long.

Herbert, Macy, Hallowell, Abbot, Murphy, Shepard, Patten and others desire kindest regards.⁠ [24]

Your affectionate brother,

Henry [⁠25]

P.S. Black India Rubber for the blanket, unless white is stronger or lighter.

[Enclosure]

Hall's Rubber Clothing Company.
From the Boston City Directory, 1862.
I wish to explain to you the triangular end of the tent. It is a triangle divided in the centre into 2 right angled triangles, each of a base of 3 1/2 feet (because the tent is to stretch 7 feet wide) of a hypothenuse of 6 feet (because the 2 sides together are 12 feet long) and 4 feet 10 in perpendicular, because of the other dimensions. But to keep out rain I want a flap 6 inches wide, and to fasten this securely there must be 2 sets of tapes or strings, one outside, one inside. Then the ridge pole must have room to come out at the end, and be supported by a fork stuck in the ground, so the tops of these triangles must be cut off a little. The piece of strong canvas will sufficiently cover this opening.

I hope this description is plain, and that it will not trouble you very much.

Herbert has seen this and wishes one just like it. Can you order 2? Please do so for him. Better make one first and show it to you. Hall's, Milk Street, is the best Rubber store, I think.


Source.

The source for Henry Ropes’ correspondence is the three volume transcription of Ropes outbound correspondence to his father, mother, and his brother, John C. Ropes. The original transcription can be found at the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department, Boston Public Library. 

Henry Ropes was killed at Gettysburg on July 3 and from that point on, John C. Ropes undertook a life-long pursuit to memorialize his brother’s life and the regiment’s history. The transcription volumes are the center piece of John C. Ropes work and his legacy. Each of the three transcribed volumes are organized chronologically: Volume 1 is Henry Ropes’ correspondence to his father and mother, and Volume 2 and 3 to his brother, John C. Ropes. 

For more on the Ropes correspondence, see Richard F. Miller’s excellent essay on historical bibliography at pages 495-499 in his superlative study on the 20th Massachusetts in Richard F. Miller, Harvard’s Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 2005). Any errors in transcribing and annotating the selected correspondence are mine.

The sources for annotations for the September 3rd letter from Henry to John C. Ropes are: George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 1861-1865 (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906); Richard F. Miller, Harvard’s Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 2005); Martin T. McMahon, “The Death of General John Sedgwick” in Battles and Leaders; Massachusetts Historical Society, “Ropes Family Papers, Guide to the Collection”; Harvard Memorial Biographies, T.W. Higginson, ed. (Cambridge: Sever and Francis, 1866); U.S. Census Record for Massachusetts (1850 and 1860); Robert F. Mooney, Nantucket Hero: General George Nelson Macy (Nantucket Historical Association website); Harvard College, The Second Report of the Secretary: The Class of 1862 (Boston: Alfred Mudge and Son, 1872); Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Massachusetts in the Army and Navy During the War of 1861-1865, in 2 Volumes (Boston: Wright & Potter, 1895); John C. Ropes, “William Raymond Lee,” Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 28 (May, 1892-May, 1893), pp. 346-348; Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with reports from the Quartermaster-General, Surgeon-General, and Master of Ordnance for the Year Ending December 31, 1862 (Boston: Wright & Potter, 1863); Boston Directory, Embracing the City Record, a General Directory of the Citizens and a Business Directory, for the Year Commencing July 1, 1862 (Boston: Adams, Sampson & Company, 1862); Wikipedia and Find-a-Grave entries.

Notes.

1 John Codman Ropes (1836-1899), brother of Henry Ropes came  from a prominent Boston family whose mercantile fortune came through trade with Russia. A graduate of Harvard College (1857), he suffered a childhood spinal infection and resultant deformity left him unfit for military service as the war broke out. Following the death of his brother at Gettysburg, he undertook the writing of a number of monographs and unpublished histories of the events of the war many of which appear in the Military Historical Society’s publications which he helped found. Richard Miller, in his study of the 20th Massachusetts notes that he “determined to memorialize Henry’s life and the history of his regiment.” He is the founder of the Boston law firm of Ropes & Gray. 
Colonel William Raymond Lee (1807-1891), attended West Point but dropped out in 1829. 
3 Major Paul Joseph Revere, grandson of Paul Revere and Harvard graduate (1862).
4 Chain Bridge crosses the Potomac between the District of Columbia and Virginia. The mention of moving toward Chain Bridge is the first indication that this letter was begun prior to its noted date of September 3rd for on August 28th the 20th had moved from the environs of Alexandria to Cloud’s Mills adjacent to Fort Worth near the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. And it was here that 72 recruits joined the regiment. On August 29th, the 20th moved to Forts Ethan Allen and Marcy on the Virginia side of Chain Bridge; and on August 30th the regiment bivouacked near Tenallytown, District of Columbia probably near another defensive outpost, Fort Pennsylvania. 
5 William Ropes (1784-1869) established a number of trading enterprises in Boston in the early 19th Century. He married Martha Reed and had ten children. In 1830 he sailed with his eldest son to St. Petersburg, Russia to lay the groundwork for an import/export business there. While there Martha Reed died. In 1803 he founded the import/export firm of William Ropes & Co. In 1832, he re-married to Mary Anne Codman. The following year he established William Ropes & Co. in St. Petersburg. He returned to Boston in 1842, leaving his four eldest children to manage the St. Petersburg business. 
6 This is probably Ropes’ sister Mary Ann Ropes (b 1842). 
7 Major General John Sedgwick (1813-1864), West Point, 1837, commanded the Second Division of the II Corps (Sumner). Shot in the wrist, leg, and shoulder in the West Woods on September 17. He survived, but lost his life at Spotsylvania Court House on May 9, 1864.
8 Col. Francis Winthrop Palfrey (1831-1889), Harvard College, 1851, Harvard Law School, 1853. He would be hit with grapeshot in his shoulder in the West Woods on September 17. 
9 1st Lt. Charles Lawrence Peirson (b. 1834). In 1865 his sister, Harriet Lawrence Peirson (1831-1880), would marry Henry’s brother William. 
10 2nd Lt. Charles Albert Whittier (1840-1908) eventually joined Sedgwick’s staff and witnessed his death at Spotsylvania Court House on May 9, 1864. 
11 Second Lt. Henry Lyman Patten (1836-1864), Harvard College (1858), would die in Philadelphia on September 10, 1864 of wounds received at Deep Bottom, Virginia on August 17th. 
12 James Smith wrote to John C. Ropes on November 5, 1863 “a few lines in accordance with the expressed wish of your late Brother Lt. Ropes with whom I was a servant…” He signed his letter “James Smith, Head Qrs, 3d Brig., 2d Div., 2nd Corps, A.P.” 
13 After the war, bookmaker William B. Rice the shoe making firm of Rice and Hutchins Shoe Company in Boston (October 1866). The company prospered in the following decades opening factories in Europe and South America. It was dissolved by Rice's sons in 1929.  
14 This was probably Nathaniel H. Rogers who is listed in the 1862 Boston City Directory as a bootmaker at 147 Salem Street, Boston.
15 Peter Clausen was a Cambridge shoemaker.
16 Edward A. Roulstone dealt in “trunks and military goods” at 7 Tremont Street, Boston. 
17 Lt. Henry E. Wilkins would be severely wounded at Fredericksburg. 
18 Lt. Herbert Cowpland Mason (1840-1888), Harvard College, 1862, would be severely wounded at Gettysburg on July 3 and left the regiment in July 1864.
18a Description not found.
19 The Adams Express Company, operating out of 84 Washington Street, Boston offered to “forward packages and parcels daily to the “‘South,” occupied by Federal Troops.”
20 Mary Ann Codman married William Ropes in 1832. Their children were Catherine Ropes (1833-1835) and John Codman Ropes (1836-1899).
21 A gill equals a quarter of a pint or 118 ml.
22 The reference appears to be to Lenox, Massachusetts.
23 The Portuguese town of Torres Vedras anchored a line of 152 forts and 628 redoubts that extended to the Atlantic Ocean. Ropes may have been comparing the forts circling Washington with this fortified system. At the time of this letter, the 20th Massachusetts was inside the Washington defensive system at Alexandria and headed for Chain Bridge on the Northwest boundary of the city. Ropes seems not to have finished his letter until the 20th had moved to this location. 
24 Lt. Herbert Cowpland Mason (1840-1888), Harvard College, 1862, would be severely wounded at Gettysburg on July 3 and left the regiment in July 1864; Lt. George Nelson Macy (1837-1875 from one of Nantucket’s oldest families would rise to General by war’s end; Lt. Norwood Penrose Hallowell (1839-1914), Harvard College, 1861 would be severely wounded in the arm in the West Woods; Lt. Henry Livermore Abbott (1842-1864), Harvard College, 1860 would be killed at the Battle of the Wilderness; Lt. James Murphy would resign his commission on August 28, 1863 due to wounds received at Chancellorsville, Murphy and Hallowell would serve as Henry Ropes’ pallbearers; Capt. Alan Shepard who commanded Company K would be severely wounded at Fredericksburg and transfer to the Invalid Corps in September, 1863.
25 2nd Lt. Henry Ropes (1839-1863), born in London, came from a prominent Boston family whose mercantile fortune came through trade with Russia. A graduate of Harvard College, he joined the regiment on November 25, 1861. He participated in all of the regiment's campaigns without a wound until he was killed at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863.