Editor’s Note: Additional letters penned by Henry D. Wharton during his time with Company C and the central command staff of the 47th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry are available, and will be added to this section as time permits. Selected letters which Henry wrote while serving with the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers are also available on this site.
Please enjoy these samples of his letters, and check back frequently for updates.
Note: The letters shown below were written by Henry Wharton during the period of September to December 1861. For letters penned by Henry during subsequent years, click on the year you are researching:
10 September 1861
Henry D. Wharton’s letter of 10 September 1861 wrapped from one column to the next in the 14 September 1861 edition of the newspaper in which it ran, and contained three key sections: 1.) a listing of the officers for the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers’ C Company (also known as the “Sunbury Guards”), 2.) a list of the privates who had enlisted to serve with C Company, and 3.) expressions of appreciation and fondness for C Company’s Captain John Peter Shindel Gobin and the company’s drummer boy, John Boulton Young. Unfortunately, several soldiers’ names were spelled incorrectly. For correct spellings, please see C Company’s roster.
Published in the Sunbury American, 14 September 1861. (Click on images for enlarged view. Click HERE for the full transcript.)
22 September 1861
Published in the Sunbury American, 28 September 1861. (Click on image for enlarged view. Click HERE for the full transcript.)
29 September 1861 and an update published later that same day
Published in the Sunbury American, 12 October 1861. (Click on image for enlarged view. Click HERE for the full transcript.)
13 October 1861
Camp Chestnut, Virginia was so named for a chestnut tree prominently located in the camp. It’s name was later changed to Camp Griffin. Published in the Sunbury American, 19 October 1861. (Click on image for enlarged view. Click HERE for the full transcript.)
17 November 1861
Published in the Sunbury American, 23 November 1861. (Click on image for enlarged view. Click HERE for the full transcript.)
26 November 1861
In his letter of 26 November 1861, Henry D. Wharton of the 47th Pennsylvania’s Company C recaps the Union Army’s Grand Review at Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia on 20 November 1861 at which President Abraham Lincoln and General George McClellan reviewed an estimated 70,000 troops from seven divisions. The spectacle drew a civilian audience of roughly 20,000 to 30,000 men, women and children. Published in the Sunbury American, 7 December 1861. (Click on image for enlarged view. Click HERE for the full transcript.)
Letters for 1862, 1863, 1864, and 1865 will be posted over the next several weeks and months. Please check back frequently for updates.
47th Pennsylvania Volunteers 
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