Ephraim L. Hackett letters

The collection contains 54 letters written by and to Ephraim L. Hackett, 36 composed during the war, and 15 pre and post-war. Most of the pre-war letters are written to Hackett from friends who alternately beg him to return to Baraboo to see them, or chide him for failing to respond to their letters. These correspondences reveal fragments of social gossip and illuminate the concerns of life in antebellum Wisconsin. One gets the sense that the ladies fussed over Ephraim. For instance, the lone letter from 1859 gives news of a birth and the goings-on in the community of Baraboo, and evokes concern for Ephraim: “I am afraid you will get the ague again, but I hope you will be careful and not be out nights nor drink whiskey. You see Ephraim, you need someone to look after you.”

Ephraim’s wartime letters are almost all addressed to his cousin, Nathaniel Davis Hackett. The correspondence begins in September 1861, in Racine, Wisconsin, where he describes the mustering of his company, the La Crosse Battery, and discusses the election of officers (Hackett becomes a sergeant). He describes how the recruits “captured a secesh” and “made him take the oath of allegiance, compelled him to bear the flag… and propose three cheers for the union.” 1861 ends with Hackett recovering in the hospital from hay fever, pessimistic that he will be able to mobilize with his unit, the 1st Independent Battery, Wisconsin Light Artillery.

After a winter and spring in Kentucky, Hackett and the 1st battery were sent into Tennessee, falling into a scrape with the enemy at Cumberland Gap. Hackett proved his mettle and he seems by all evidence to have been an avid soldier, though he did his best to dissuade his brother from enlisting, for fear he would not like military life. In recognition of his abilities, Hackett was promoted to lieutenant in October, 1862.

Drawn into the Vicksburg Campaign, Hackett was given a new sense of the war as part of the massive union forces squaring off against the Confederate stronghold. The collection contains eight letters written during that campaign, and the 1st Battery played a pivotal role at Vicksburg, allegedly firing so many shells that they wore out their 20-pound parrots, which were replaced with 30-pounders. After Vicksburg, Hackett’s regiment served in Louisiana, first in New Orleans, then in Brashear City. This different kind of war kept him as busy as the siege had, and he quickly took on the airs of a seasoned, nonchalant veteran. His wartime letters end in September 1865, with Hackett heading back home. A single note written by Hackett to Davis in 1874 finishes the collection.