Civil War Archive of Surgeon Abraham Landis, 35th Ohio Infantry Regiment. ...

Description

"The treatment the Union men have received from those Rebel hell hounds is a disgrace to humanity... The more I see of the rebellion the worse I hate the instigators of it. If Jeff Davis & Co don't find themselves in a burning hell I think the institution should be abolished..."

Civil War Archive of Surgeon Abraham Landis, 35th Ohio Infantry Regiment. An extensive archive of over 250 letters relating to Union surgeon, Dr. Abraham Landis, with approximately 120 letters from Dr. Landis, dating from November 23, 1862 to April 21, 1865. Many of the letters are accompanied by their original transmittal covers. Landis' early letters detail his medical work in Tennessee near Nashville. In 1863, he was captured by the Confederates at Chickamauga and was taken to Libby Prison. The archive contains one letter from him immediately after his release. Many letters cover his service in the Atlanta Campaign, movements on and around Dallas, Georgia, and Kennesaw Mountain. Landis was then seriously wounded at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, and his following letters are about his recovery in the hospital. The entire archive includes a handful of pre- and post-war letters and approximately 130 war-dated letters from family and friends sent to the doctor, ranging chiefly from 1863 to 1864.

Abraham Hoch Landis (1820-1896) joined the 35th Ohio Infantry in November 1862 at the age of 41. Landis was posted at a hospital in Gallatin, just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Although unhappy with the conditions of the hospital, Dr. Landis did the best he could to care for his men as well as keep himself from falling ill. He also condemned the treatment of the men by both the Rebels and the Union. He wrote to his wife on December 5, 1862 to describe his work, in part:

"I have been detailed for duty in a hospital in this town. I have charge of the wards in which there are about 50 patients. The diseases are diarrhea, Rheumatism, Inflammation of the lungs, Typhoid fever, &c. Two companies of the 35 are stationed at the Rail Road Bridge two miles north of this, and I have to go to their camp once a day to attend to some of the boys that are sick...The treatment the Union men have received from those Rebel hell hounds is a disgrace to humanity. If the history of this wicked rebellion were written without a single word of comment it would be the blackest record ever put upon paper. The more I see of the rebellion the worse I hate the instigators of it. If Jeff Davis & Co don't find themselves in a burning hell I think the institutions should be abolished...I am in hospital no 1, and am trying to do my duty. The only thing that troubles me is the poor accommodations for the sick. There is a want of medicines & the proper kind of food for the sick. Many poor fellows are dying for the want of a comfortable bed & the proper diet for a sick man. Oh what a disgrace to humanity and our...liberty for our soldiers to die in this manner. I keep away from the foul air of the hospital as much as possible. I get through with my patients as soon as I can and spend as much time as possible in the open air. The room where I sleep & eat is to itself. News reached here this evening of a fight at Hartsville 18 miles East of this. The cannonading was heard here plainly. The word is that one whole Brigade of our men is captured. I trust when we get the correct news it will not be so bilious."

A little more than a week later, Landis wrote to his children and detailed his daily activities in the hospital and explained why he must stay away from home for so long. His December 15, 1862 letter reads, in part: "You must not think that I do not like you & Ma and that I have run off and left you never to return, I love you all dearly, but I love my country too, and you know we have got into a terrible war, and a great many of our young men have gone to war and many of them have got sick and some of them have got wounded. I came into the army to attend the sick and wounded... All the churches in town and many other buildings are used for hospital purposes. The sick soldiers that I am attending are in three large rooms...One house in town is used to keep rebels in. I went to see them one day. They were hard looking cases. It would scare you to see them, there was so much dirt on the floor that I could hardly see it and their shirts looked as if they had not been washed in a month."

Despite his best efforts, Dr. Landis fell ill while on duty (likely due to the poor hygiene at the hospital and his demanding schedule). He suffered a severe cold and a case of Erysipelas, which almost proved fatal. During his recovery, he wrote to his wife on April 27, 1863, in part: "I am happy to inform you that I am still improving. I am gaining strength every day and am able to walk out a little farther every day. Last Friday I undertook to walk from Hospital no 8 to Hospital no 1 a distance of 75 yards. When I got about half way I gave out and had to sit down on the sidewalk. Everything turned green before me and if I had not set down I would have fallen down. In a few minutes a soldier came along and I asked him if he would be so kind as to help me to Hospital no 1. He helped me up and I put one arm around his neck and with a cane in the other hand I managed to get to the Hospital but was about exhausted. Now I can walk three times as far and not give out...Don't be uneasy about me, as I am doing well and am out of all danger."

Landis, thankfully, made a full recovery and continued working in the Gallatin hospital for another month or so before he was moved into the field. Following the Union victory at Gettysburg, an almost giddy Dr. Landis wrote to Mary from "In Camp", possibly moving towards Hoover's Gap, on July 8, 1863, in part: "I sit down this evening to let you know that I have been drunk, gloriously drunk for the last 26 hours, not on whiskey nor lager beer but over the good news. Yesterday we heard that Lee had been well thrashed at Gettysburg Pennsylvania. Gen. Rosecrans ordered a salute of 35 guns to be fired in each Division, and the way Uncle Sams artillery howled was a caution. It sounded like the fight at Hoover's Gap."

Misfortune was to fall again upon Dr. Landis after the Battle of Chickamauga. On the second day of the battle (September 20, 1863), disaster struck when Longstreet's forces were able to overrun Union defenses and capture seven divisional hospitals. While some surgeons and patients with less severe wounds could escape, others found themselves captured by the Confederates along with many medical supplies and equipment. Sacrificing his freedom, Landis chose to stay with his patients and fellow surgeons who were unable to retreat. The Rebels captured approximately 2,500 wounded and almost 50 surgeons, including Landis.

He was transferred to Libby prison, where he spent nearly two months. He finally gained his freedom when he was paroled at the end of November. He wrote home on November 26, 1863, to assuage his wife's fears and to let her know that he would return home after making a formal complaint to the US government about the treatment he endured. He wrote from Baltimore, in part:

"With feelings of gratitude to Heaven I inform you that I am out of Libby Prison. 94 of us, all surgeons reached here this morning. After enduring the insults and indignities of the Rebs for over two months, I am once more a free man. I will not particularize as I have only a few moments to write, but I will say that I have seen the hardest times since Sept 20th that ever fell to my lot...Our food at times was scarcely fit for a hog to eat, and the lice came very [illegible] eating us alive. I may not be home for a week, as we are going to Washington City in a body to report to President Lincoln the treatment of our prisoners by the Rebels at Richmond...My treatment while a prisoner has not abated my zeal a particle. I feel more like fighting until the last Rebel gun shall have been spiked than ever. I want to go to Atlanta and Richmond once more but under different circumstances. I want to go with a line of bayonets. Oh how I would like to apply a torch to Libby Prison."

On November 3, 1863, while still housed at the prison, Landis received a letter from an Ohio neighbor, Fred W. Reid, requesting information about his brother, Benjamin Frank [49th Ohio], and friend, David Shellenberger [35th Ohio]. While their fates are unknown, Dr. Landis penned a letter to the editors of the Gazette in Millville, Ohio, on the back of Reid's letter. It was written shortly after his release, on December 2, 1863, and he describes the aftermath of Chickamauga, his capture, and the burial of four officers. "I found the bodies of the following officers...I had them buried in separate graves and the graves marked. I was afterwards with the other surgeons taken to Libby P. Richmond and lodged in Libby Prison...If you think the publication of the above will be of interest to the friends of those deceased officers it is at your disposal..."

Landis briefly returned home but soon rejoined his regiment following the Battle of Missionary Ridge. He and the 35th Ohio joined General Sherman on his move South in the Atlanta Campaign and was present at the Battle of New Hope Church. However, tragedy struck again when Landis was severely wounded at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. This wound would keep him in the hospital for many weeks and ultimately end his military career. On July 18, 1864, he received a letter from his nephew, P.K. Landis, who had just received the news of Landis' injury. His letter reads, in part: "I Recd your letter of June 28th just 2 weeks & one day after it was written but failed to answer it sooner as we expected you home soon. But hearing of your misfortunes in having your leg amputated I thought I would write. Your Family are all well...The Rebs have raised the Siege of Washington and are trying to get away." Landis convalesced at the Officers Hospital in Chattanooga for a considerable time before returning to Millville, Ohio to raise his family. The wound he received affected him so much that he would name his next-born son Kenesaw Mountain Landis. At some point before the end of the war, the family relocated to Indiana.

Abraham H. Landis passed away on November 9, 1896 and is buried in Logansport, Indiana. His sons would go on to do remarkable things in their own right. The eldest, Walter, became a journalist and the first United States Postmaster of Puerto Rico; Charles was elected to the House of Representatives six times; John became a public health inspector; and Frederick had a career as an author and publisher, and served two terms in Congress. Kenesaw Mountain, named in honor of his father's injury, was a federal judge for almost twenty years and became the first Commissioner of Baseball. This archive of letters to and from the Union surgeon serves as a memorial to the great work he performed during the war and the legacy of his family. Dr. Landis' experience treating the wounded at the Battle of Shiloh is offered in this sale as Lot 47083.

Condition: Letters range from very good to poor. All have usual mail folds, with soiling ranging from light to very heavy. Some letters have areas of paper loss or tears where folds created weakness. The transmittal covers have usual wear and tear, with some light to heavy soiling in places.

More Information: Additional excerpts from the archive are as follows:

Four pages, 5" x 8", Louisville, Kentucky; November 23, 1862: A letter to his wife, in part: "There are 18 hospitals here and all of them well filled with sick and wounded soldiers. There is a strong secesh element in this City. Nearly all with whom I have conversed lean that way, and I am of the opinion that were it not for the presence of Union muskets and bayonets the Rebels would rule."

Four pages, 5" x 8", Gallatin, Tennessee; December 15, 1862: A letter to his wife, in part: "I am still in hospital no 1 in this town. Today I have been kept busy most of the day. In addition to attending to the sick in the wards of the hospital I have to dress the wounds of 15 poor fellows who were wounded at Hartsville. I am attending a sick soldier in a private house in this town and every time I visit him the woman of the house gives me thunder. She is secesh up to the hub but very kind to the sick soldier. I have tried several times to discuss the question with her but I have come out second best every time."

Four pages, 5" x 8", Gallatin, Tennessee; December 27, 1862: "A letter to his wife, in part: A terrible casualty happened here a few evening ago to one of our soldiers. A drunken orderly sergeant ordered one of his men to do something and he refused whereupon the orderly shot him, the ball entering the chest and lodged in the region of the spine. The man is yet alive but in all probability will dye [sic] a few weeks ago one of the guards of our hospital took his gun & struck the fire with it holding the barrel in one hand & the bayonet in the other. The gun went off and the bullet, a Minnie ball, passed through his wrist. Another had his gun loaded but no cap on. He cocked the gun and pointed it towards one of his comrades remarking 'I will shoot you.' The gun went off and hit the poor fellow in the hyp [sic] He died in two or three days."

Four pages, 5" x 8", Gallatin, Tennessee; January 3, 1863: A letter to his wife, in part: "We have had a terrible battle there [Murfreesboro], more bloody from accounts than Pittsburg Landing. We heard the cannonading here for three days. Col. Minor Millikin of the First Ohio Cavalry was killed. Poor fellow! This morning being at the Depot when the train went north, I saw the coffin containing his lifeless body. I could have wept like an infant. He was a noble specimen of humanity and as brave as a tiger."

Six pages, 5" x 8", Gallatin, Tennessee; January 11, 1863: A letter to his wife, in part: "I have heard no tidings from the battle field in addition to those I have already written. To be near enough to a battle field to hear the cannon roar and at the same time be denied the privilege of enquiring into the fate of ones friends known to have been in the battle is beyond all human endurance. But such is war, such is red tape, and the sooner a fellow becomes resigned to it the better."

One page, 5" x 8", Millville, Ohio; December 13, 1863: A letter to a Reverend Granville Moody, in part: "I was captured at the battle of Chickamauga and after our wounded were paroled and sent through the lines I was taken with the other surgeons to Richmond and lodged in Libby Prison. At Chickamauga Station I saw your Brother Capt. Moody who commanded a Louisiana Battery in the Rebel Army. He asked a great many questions about you, and asked me to write to you when I got through the lines and tell you for God sake to quit fighting and go to praying for peace."


Three pages, 5" x 8", Chattanooga, Tennessee; July 19, 1864: "I have just got Charley to prop me up in bed to write a letter to you. I am improving very slowly, the sore on my leg where the bullet struck causes me considerable suffering. I am now in a tent by myself."