A Letter from Charles J. Jeffery,
Co E, 149th NYVI
to his sister, October 1862
The following transcript of Charles J. Jeffery's letter was sent
to me Wednesday, 27 June 2001, by Ian
Pascoe of Bristol, England.
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Camp in Pleasant Valley
near Sandy Hook Oct 1862
My Dear Sister
When I mailed Sarah's
letter the 149th was under marching orders
we kept our things packed till dress parade when the
order came for us to unpack or
the order was countermanded and we should not move till
further notice. So unpack
we did and this morning we had our usual Sunday morning
inspection and now at
noon we lie around in our tents rolled up in our blankets
to keep warm as we are now
having a regular full rain and I assure you it is very
disagreeable indeed to be cooped
up in such a little hovel for shelter as these tents are.
But we may have it worse
before we get better for one of the boys said
a few minutes ago that marching orders
had again been received. How much truth there
is in the report I don't know I hope
not one word for it would be tough to say
the least to be obliged to start out in such a
storm as this. But if we have to go and that
is all we poor soldiers can do about it.
Mother wrote about Ed Perry being in the
Binghamton Regt. Now there is a
Binghamton Regt (the 137th) in our brigade
& they are about 1/4 mile from us and I
am going over there the first chance I can
get and see if Ed is there I wish you would
find out his Regt & Co and let me know so
if he is not in this one I can find him in some
other. We are close by Maryland Hights and
so the 137th must be Ed's Regt ill find out
as soon as I can if so Ed and I will have
a good visit if nothing more. Fran I wish I could
see the 157th (Ike's Regt) I saw them the
day they arrived in Washington just as they
were starting for Camp Chase or Arlington
Hights V.A and shook hands with lots of
Homer boys and since then I have not seen
anything of them I would like to see the
Homer boys I believe that I could make out
one days visit at least AH! AH!. How it
does rain now wouldent we curse if we have
to march now but it may be our fortune to
start out in such a rain as this. Other
Regt's have done it and we stand the same chance.
I am feeling a great deal better today
than for several days past and hope I shall
continue to feel better for some time to come.
Give my best respects to all & write soon
and remember me as your affectionate brother.
Charles J Jeffery
Co E 149th N.Y. Vols
You and Sarah must write me at least once a week certain tell Ed to write too.
 Charlie
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In the same email message, Ian Pascoe included
the following:
Information so far found out about Charlie is as follows.
Born In Homer, New York in 1843 he stood five feet ten inches tall
had a light complexion, blue eyes and fair hair and was a
Carpenter by trade. Originally enlisted in Co. G 76th N.Y. he
was discharged on the grounds of ill health in May 1862.
On the First of September 1862 he reenlisted at Syracuse and
on the Eighteenth found himself mustered into Co E of the 149th,
ill health again dealt a hand and on the Ninth of December he was
diagnosed as having a diseased kidney and spent the rest of the
war in hospitals at Harpers Ferry and Washington.
The Ed Perry he refers to in his letter was indeed in the 137th N.Y.
and deserted on December twelfth 1862.
See also Ian Pascoe's entry in the guest book dated Saturday, May 26, 2001.
At the Onondaga County Public Library in Syracuse, New York, on June 30, 2001, I
copied out the following three relevant entries from the AGO reports:
Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State
of New York for the Year 1901," Serial #29;
James B. Lyon, State Printer, Albany, N.Y.; 1902.
Page 293: 76th Infantry
JEFFERY, CHARLES J.—Age 18 years.
Enlisted, September 20, 1861, at Cortland, to serve three years;
mustered in as private, Co. G, October 5, 1861;
discharged for disability, May 21, 1862, at Washington, D.C.;
subsequent service in Co. E, One Hundred and Forty-ninth Infantry.
Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State
of New York for the Year 1904," Serial #39;
Brandon Printing Company, State Printer, Albany, N.Y.; 1905.
Page 451: 149th Infantry
JEFFERY, CHARLES J.—Age, 19 years.
Enlisted, September 1, 1862, at Syracuse, to serve three years;
mustered in as corporal, Co. E, September 18, 1862;
absent, in hospital, Harper's ferry, Va., since December 10, 1862, and
at muster-out of company;
prior service in Co. G, Seventy-sixth Infantry.
Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State
of New York for the Year 1903," Serial #37;
Oliver A. Quayle, State Legislative Printer, Albany, N.Y.; 1904.
Page 974: 137th Infantry
PERRY, EDWARD M.—Age, 24 years.
Enlisted, August 13, 1862, at Owego, to serve three years;
mustered in as private, Co. C, August 29, 1862;
deserted, December 9, 1862, at Camp Bolivar Heights, Va.
Return to the 149th page.
Kenneth
Jennings Wooster
27 Abdallah Avenue
Cortland, New York 13045-3302
(607) 753-3558
File created: August 25, 2001.
File modified: December 28, 2002.