Special Collections Department
Pierce Family Papers
Manuscript Collection Number: 293
Accessioned: Acquired 1956.
Extent: 48 items (.1 linear ft.)
Content: Letters, marriage certificate, photographs, songs,
clippings, obituaries, drawings, and documents.
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: Originally processed 1956; revised November 1993
by Anita A. Wellner.
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Special Collections, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267
(302) 831-2229
Table of Contents
Biographical Note
Elias Pierce (1807-1871) and Sarah Ann Moseley (1809-1905) were married on January 17, 1833, and had seven children: Catharine Ann (1834-1902), Turzah Elizabeth (b. 1836), George Kirke (1838-1864), Enos William (1840-1864), Marey Jane (b. 1843), Ezra (b. 1845), and Sarah Maria (1848-1872).
The Pierce home was in Brandywine Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware, where the family engaged in farming. Both Enos and George worked on the farm prior to their military service during the Civil War.
George K. Pierce was born September 12, 1838. He served as a private in Company D of the 97th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers until his death following a battle in an area between Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia, on July 26, 1864. His commanding officer was Captain William S. Mendenhall. Captain Mendenhall arranged for Elias Pierce to retrieve the body of his son following George's death.
Enos W. Pierce was born December 4, 1840. Enos Pierce served in Company F of the 97th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers. He was reported missing and presumed dead following a battle on May 20, 1864, near Bermuda Hundred, Virginia.
Several letters in the collection are from George and Enos Pierce to their only brother, Ezra Pierce. Ezra was born December 10, 1845, and in 1885 he married Mary Jane Goodman.An obituary of their son, Lewis Ezra Pierce, appears in F10. According to Patrick Morris in his thesis, The Pierce Letters, Ezra Pierce did not volunteer for army service at the beginning of the Civil War but was later conscripted. After having lost two sons to the war, his family did not wish for him to serve. They paid the government a bounty of $500 in lieu of Ezra's military service.
Sources:
Morris, Patrick Winston. The Pierce Letters: a history of the 97th Pennsylvania Volunteers. [Newark, Del., 1954.]Note: Biographical information also derived from correspondence and documents in the collection.
Scope and Content Note
The core of the collection is the group of letters written by George and Enos Pierce to their parents and siblings. Beginning in February 1862, following their arrival at Fernandina, Florida, as part of the 97th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, the two brothers corrresponded until their deaths in 1864.
Over those three years the letters described the movements of their companies, detailed their daily lives as Union troops, recounted battles in which they engaged, depicted their surroundings, and recorded their feelings about the war and home. Enclosed in the letters are Enos's drawings of the defenses for Fort Wagner and a Presbyterian Church near Port Royal, South Carolina, as well as the words to a song titled "Song of George Riley," assumed to be written by George Pierce.
While stationed in areas of Florida, South Carolina, and Virginia, the brothers described battles at Fort Wagner (South Carolina), James Island (South Carolina), Charleston (South Carolina), and Bermuda Hundred (Virginia). They also reported daring night raids by small bands of Confederate troops on the Union picket lines in Fernandina, Florida, and Port Royal, South Carolina.
The descriptions of military life contain complaints about the weather, insects, sleeping conditions, and food; but are also filled with good humor and indications of the comraderie among the soldiers. For example, a Christmas 1862 letter, written from St. Helena Island, South Carolina, describe the festivities and games by which the men celebrated the holiday.
Both Enos and George Pierce were killed during battles in Virginia in 1864. In his final letters George Pierce described his efforts to locate his brother following a battle at Bermuda Hundred, Virginia, on May 23. He reported the horrible losses sustained by his regiment in that battle and his lack of success in discovering the fate of his brother.
George Pierce was wounded in a battle near Petersburg, Virginia, on July 26 and died within days. The letters, instructions, and military pass found in F8 document his death and his father's efforts to retrieve the body.
Other items in the collection include one letter from a cousin, William H. Pierce, who was a member of the First Delaware Battery stationed at Portsmouth, Virginia; a marriage certificate for Elias and Sarah Pierce; two photographs of George and Enos Pierce; and biographical information about the Pierce family.
These letters were the basis of a University of Delaware senior thesis titled The Pierce Letters: a history of the 97th Pennsylvania Volunteers, which was written in 1954 by Patrick Winston Morris. This thesis used the Pierce letters and various military records to trace the movements and activities of the 97th Pennsylvania Volunteers, as well as detail the history of the regiment. Because the information gathered from the military records adds significantly to information found in the letters, this thesis is an excellent resource for details concerning the regiment and the Pierce brothers.
The collection is arranged in chronological order employing five series.
Series Outline
I. Marriage certificate and clipping, 1833-1860
II. Photographs of George K. and Enos W. Pierce, [1861-1862]
III. Letters written by George and Enos Pierce, 1862-1864
IV. Letters and documents related to the death of George
Pierce, 1864-1865
V. Other Pierce family documents, 1888-1954
Contents List
Series I. Marriage certificate and clipping, 1833-1860
F1 Marriage certificate, 1833-1860
Certificate for Elias Pierce and Sarah Ann Moseley (1833 Jan
17), with clipping mentioning their daughter's (Catherine A.
Pierce) wedding to Edward Richards (1860 Dec 13).
Series II. Photographs of George K. and Enos W. Pierce,
[1861-1862]
F2 Photographs of George and Enos Pierce, [1861-1862]
Series III. Letters written by George and Enos Pierce,
1862-1864
Letters to their parents, brother, and sister, as well
as several drawings and one song.
F3 1862 Feb-Apr
Two letters from George and five letters from Enos. Also
includes a drawing of a Presbyterian church in Port Royal,
South Carolina, made by Enos Pierce while on picket duty.
F4 1862 Jun-Dec
Two letters from George and two letters from Enos. Also
includes an autograph copy of "Song of George Riley," a
song about the Civil War. Patrick Morris states that
George Pierce wrote this song while on picket duty.
F5 1863 Jan-Jun
Two letters from George and two letters from Enos. Also
includes a page from a diary describing Fort Wagner and the
battles there, as well as a drawing of the defenses
surrounding Fort Wagner.
F6 1863 Jul-Dec
Three letters from George and five letters from Enos. Also
includes one letter from a cousin, William H. Pierce, who
served in the First Delaware Battery at Portsmouth,
Virginia.
F7 1864 Jan-Jul
Four letters from George and two from Enos. George's letter
of May 23 reports Enos as missing and possibly dead at
Bermuda Hundred, Virginia.
Series IV. Letters and documents related to the death of
George Pierce, 1864-1865
Includes documents which permitted Elias Pierce to
travel into military territory to retrieve the body of
his son, George.
F8 Letters and documents, 1864-1865
Includes a letter from a fellow soldier, reporting George's
wounding, as well as a pass, a letter of instructions, and a
letter of recommendation for Elias Pierce.
Series V. Other Pierce family documents, 1888-1954
F9 Letter, 1888
Includes one letter from Ezra Pierce to his mother, Sarah A.
Pierce.
F10 Obituaries and family information, 1954
Two 1954 obituaries for Lewis E. Pierce, the son of Ezra
Pierce, and a page of information tracing the Pierce family
history.
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