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 1864, the fourth year of America’s Civil War. For letters penned by Henry during prior or subsequent years, click on the year you are researching:

1861       1862       1863       1865

 

2 March 1864 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this letter to his hometown newspaper, Henry D. Wharton provided important details about the early days of the 47th Pennsylvania’s participation in the Union’s 1864 Red River Campaign across Louisiana, along with news about the death of Private Frederick Koehler, a member of Company K who fell overboard and drowned as the ship transporting the regiment from Florida was arriving in Algiers, Louisiana. Published in the Sunbury American, 19 March 1864. (Click on images for enlarged views of letter excerpts. Click HERE for full transcript.)

 

5 and 12 April 1864

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Henry D. Wharton provided key details about the 47th Pennsylvania’s Red River Campaign experience in Louisiana in two letters penned in April 1864 (penned on 5 and 12 April, respectively), including a touching tribute to Jeremiah Haas a member of the regiment who had been killed in battle, as well as details about other men who had been wounded. Published in the Sunbury American, 7 May 1864. (Click on images for enlarged views of letter excerpts. Click HERE for full transcripts of the editor’s note and of Henry’s two letters.)

 

9 May 1864

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Henry D. Wharton provided important details about and impressions of the 47th Pennsylvania’s Red River Campaign experience in Louisiana in this letter home (one of his lengthiest). Published in the Sunbury American, 18 June 1864. (Click on images for enlarged views of letter excerpts. Click HERE for full transcript.)

 

16 July 1864

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Henry D. Wharton provided important details about and the 47th Pennsylvania’s completion of the Red River Campaign experience in Louisiana and its transport back to the Eastern Theatre of warfare aboard the U.S. Steamer McClellan, as well as about the shipboard funeral and burial at sea of Private Jonas Snyder of Company I, in this letter home. Published in the Sunbury American, 23 July 1864. (Click on images for enlarged views of letter excerpts. Click HERE for full transcript.)

 

20 August 1864

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this letter home, Henry D. Wharton described the sheltering by local women of Rebel troops in Virginia, the hardships faced by Rebel sympathizers, and the poor medical care afforded to members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers who had been captured during the Red River Campaign in Louisiana and held at Camp Ford, a Confederate Army prison camp near Tyler, Texas. Published in the Sunbury American, 27 August 1864. (Click on images for enlarged views of letter excerpts. Click HERE for full transcript.)

 

7 September 1864

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this letter to his hometown newspaper, Henry D. Wharton provided important details about the Battle of Berryville, Virginia and its aftermath during the opening days of September 1864, along with news about members of the 47th Pennsylvania who had been killed or wounded in action (Benjamin McKillips, Daniel Oyster and David Sloan) and those who had been promoted (Christian Beard, William Hendricks and Daniel Oyster). Published in the Sunbury American, 24 September 1864. (Click on images for enlarged views of letter excerpts. Click HERE for full transcript.)

 

September 1864

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Henry D. Wharton provided important details about and impressions of the Battles of Opequan and Fisher’s Hill, Virginia in this September 1864 letter home. Published in the Sunbury American, 8 October 1864. (Click on images for enlarged views of letter excerpts. Click HERE for full transcript.)

 

21 October 1864

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Henry D. Wharton described the 47th Pennsylvania’s experience during the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia in this letter to his hometown newspaper, and provided a list of those from the regiment who had been killed, seriously wounded or taken prisoner by Confederate forces during the fighting. Published in the Sunbury American, 29 October 1864. (Click on images for enlarged views of letter excerpts. Click HERE for full transcript.)

 

14 November 1864

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this letter to his hometown newspaper, Henry D. Wharton presented the text of the speech made by Colonel Tilghman H. Good upon Good’s departure from the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, as well as news of the death of Jacob Grubb. Published in the Sunbury American, 26 November 1864. (Click on images for enlarged views of letter excerpts. Click HERE for full transcript.)