Henry Van Sellar and Sallie Pattison Correspondence (Digitized Content)

Letter from Sallie to Henry, May 19, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1863Sallie thanks Henry for a copy of Les Miserables, which she recently received from an anonymous "soldier friend".
Letter from Henry to Sallie, May 23, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1863Henry admits that he is Sallie's "soldier friend" as has sent her the book.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, June 10, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1863Sallie writes to Henry, "We will refer to the rising generation of this cruel war and they will not know how many sweethearts we had killed even though we never had one."
Letter from Sallie to Henry, July 2, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1863Sallie writes to Henry of the weather, saying that there is nothing she likes more than "gathering flowers berries or something of he kind during a gentle shower". She thanks her "soldier friend" for a magainze.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, July 19, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 6 pages | 1863Sallie skips church on the Sabbath to play the piano and write to Henry.
Letter from Henry to Sallie, July 27, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1863Henry describes wanting to go for a solitary walk, but is interrupted by Southern ladies whom he walks home.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, August 10, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 6 pages | 1863Sallie wishes Henry were there, and writes to him about all of her friends.
Letter from Henry to Sallie, September 11, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1863Henry writes about Sally's German music teacher, German language, and his Dutch heritage. He also writes on the subject of happiness.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, October 4, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 8 pages | 1863Sallie pretends to be sick so that she may go home and write to Henry. She tells him that she will soon be in a friend's wedding.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, October 21, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 8 pages | 1863Sally describes her friend's wedding and a visit from her cousin.
Letter from Henry to Sallie, October 27, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 8 pages | 1863Henry writes from Pochahontas, Tennessee, where he prepares to march for a "long campaign", and does not expect to be able to write for awhile. Henry confesses that he is in love with Sallie.
Letter from Henry to Sallie, November 21, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1863Henry writes that he's made it to Pulaski, Tennessee, and has marched over 200 miles in fifteen days.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, December 9, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1863Sallie assures Henry that she's been writing, despite him not receiving her letter.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, December 15, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 8 pages | 1863Sallie describes her Thanksgiving.
Letter from Henry to Sallie, December 18, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1863After being in the rain and mud all day, Henry writes to Sallie from beside a fire. The day before, he rode eight miles in the rain for butter to prepare for a Christmas meal in the camps. He is determined to stay cheerful despite the weather.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, December 29, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 8 pages | 1863Sally describes her Christmas, and writes about her friends and family.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, December 29, 1863
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1865The letters now begin with "To My Darling Husband"; Sallie describes the dreary winter.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, January 9, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 6 pages | 1865Sallie intends to give a letter to a doctor heading towards the war. She has spent time at home sledding and playing with a baby. An envelope is with this letter.
Letter from Henry to Sallie, January 12, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 8 pages | 1865Henry has just arrived at camp in Georgia.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, January 12, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 6 pages | 1865Sallie grows tired of the war and wants it to end. Inside the letter is a portrait of a baby.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, January 16, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 6 pages | 1865Sallie dreams that Henry is at home with her. An envelope is enclosed.
Letter from Henry to Sallie, January 25, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1865Henry reflects on how it is almost February, their wedding month. He tells Sallie how much he loves her and can't wait for their future together.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, January 29, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 6 pages | 1865Sallie updates Henry on people of the town, sends him their well wishes.
Letter from Henry to Sallie, February 1, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 8 pages | 1865Henry writes from Savannah, Georgia saying that he should soon be marching to South Carolina.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, February 5, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 6 pages | 1865Sallie grows anxious of Henry in the campaign.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, February 9, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 6 pages | 1865Sallie socializes with friends and family while writing to Henry, wishes should go be with him instead of the empty laughter of the room.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, February 12, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1865Sallie's friend Sallie has been staying with her, as well as some of Sallie's family from Indianapolis.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, February 18, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1865Sallie returns from a funeral and writes, "My greatest fear in death has always been that I would die and be forgotten".
Letter from Sallie to Henry, February 26, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1865Sallie continues to socialize with family and friends, waiting to hear news of "Sherman's successes".
Letter from Henry to Sallie, February 3, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 12 pages | 1865In this letter, Henry conveys that he has just crossed the Savannah river with his regiment into South Carolina, a state in which no Union army has yet successfully battled in. He writes, “Sherman’s army does not fail.”
Letter from Sallie to Henry, March 12, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1865Sallie writes to Henry wondering where he is, writing "we are left in doubt to hope and fear". She writes from the kitchen in attempts to avoid the merriments of the rest of the house guests. This letter contains racist sentiments.
Letter from Henry to Sallie, March 13, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1865Henry assures Sallie that spring is coming, grass is greening, and the birds are chirping. He thinks the war will be over soon as the Union advances along the Carolinas. He laments the “cruel, cruel war.”
Letter from Sallie to Henry, March 19, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1865Sallies tells Henry about a family she meets, consisting of a widow, five daughters, and a son, who are looking for a home. Sallie says she would follow her husband no matter the situation.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, March 26, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1865Sallie has not heard from Henry since February 3 (perhaps, then, she did not get his March 13th letter until after this letter). She received word from Mr. Newall that Henry, despite not writing, is in good health.
Letter from Henry to Sallie, March 29, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 8 pages | 1865The war not only brings Henry and Sallie physically apart, but temporally apart--their letters have been ariving weeks and even months late. Henry daydreams of he and Sallie together, and of him running along the railroad tracks back to Paris.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, March 30, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 14 pages | 1865Sallie dislikes a visiting preacher who is staying with her family. She helps as a stagehand in a local play. She adores a friend's baby who she thinks looks just like Henry. Letter is complete with envelope.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, April 7, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1865Sallie describes her friend Adda's wedding. Sallie dreams of Henry dead, and she wakes up crying.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, April 16, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1865Sallie gets word that Col. Sellars is home, but upon arriving home, discovers it is Maj. Merriman, whom she is delighted to see. She writes of "receiving the joyful news of the 'surrender of Lee's Army'' as well as the "reverse feeling" of "President Lincoln & Sec. Seward assassination". She writes, "Darling this is so sad just as things was beginning to look a little fair t...
Letter from Henry to Sallie, April 28, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1865Henry writes from Raleigh, North Carolina that starting the next day, they will be marching home. The war is nearing its end. Reflecting on Lincoln's death, Henry writes that Abraham Lincoln was "the gentle parent of the nation". He hopes to be home by the 4th of July.
Letter from Sallie to Henry, May 30, 1865
Multi-Page Item | 4 pages | 1865Sallie wishes for Henry to hurry home; she spends her time with Adda during her visit.

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