John Vanetton Patterson Papers/Paul Tremewan Collection
Collection Organization
The collection of letters written by Lieut. John V. Patterson consists of forty-two original letters from J. V. Patterson to his wife Victoria, unless otherwise indicated. The letters span the period of his service with Co.K and Co.C of the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry between 1861 and early 1865 and include both active duty letters and some written while he was a prisoner of the Confederates. Letters listed in italics are the prison letters. Transcripts of the letters are accessible in the copy of “As near Hell as I ever expect to be”, which Paul Tremewan compiled, annotated, and edited.
The letters contain a wealth of information on the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry and its men, with frequent references to men in Company K and C. There are also oblique references to information that Victoria wrote to him about the children, his family, and local events. As a representation of events and activities on both the home-front and in the field the letters are a resource for the big picture of the war and also the personal aspects.
The letters are greatly enhanced by the research files compiled by Paul Tremewan. The files consist of copies of a variety of background sources related to the individuals who served in Co.K and Co.C of the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Some of the data may include the soldiers’ service and burial records; pension, veterans, and survivors records; census records [mostly from U.S. Census]; genealogical records; and Paul Tremewan’s handwritten data collection forms. The various files are arranged in separate groups, alphabetically by the individuals in Co.K and Co.C, other files on individuals mentioned in the correspondence, and two pension files for Sidney Patterson (J.V. Patterson’s brother) and Aaron Thompson (J.V. Patterson’s father-in-law), both of whom served in Company K as privates under John V. Patterson’s command.
Included with the collection is an early draft of “As near Hell as I ever expect to be”, the later published version, and a copy of the 1893 regimental history of the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry written by Silas. S. Canfield.
Folder 1, 1861
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- Creation: 1861
As near Hell as I ever expect to be, 11/07/1861
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- Creation: 11/07/1861
Elizabethtown, Kentucky, 12/12/1861
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- Creation: 12/12/1861
Bacon Creek, Kentucky, 12/21/1861
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- Creation: 12/21/1861
Folder 2, 1862
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- Creation: 1862
Camp Jefferson, Kentucky (From S. S. Canfield and S. R. Patterson to J. V. Patterson), 02/02/1862
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- Creation: 02/02/1862
Camp Jefferson, Kentucky, 03/02/1862
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- Creation: 03/02/1862
Camp Andrew Jackson, Near Nashville, Tennessee, 03/14/1862
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- Creation: 03/14/1862
Nashville, Tennessee, 03/19/1862
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- Creation: 03/19/1862
Huntsville, Alabama, 05/05/1862
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- Creation: 05/05/1862
Headquarters 21st O.V. Near Huntsville, Alabama, 05/16/1862
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- Creation: 05/16/1862
Huntsville, Alabama, 05/25/1862
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- Creation: 05/25/1862
Near Decatur, Alabama, 06/01/1862
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- Creation: 06/01/1862
Fort Canfield, Opposite Decatur, 06/17/1862
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- Creation: 06/17/1862
Fort Canfield, Alabama, 06/28/1862
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- Creation: 06/28/1862
Fort Canfield, Alabama, 07/05/1862
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- Creation: 07/05/1862
Nashville, Tennessee (dated separately but sent together), 10/6 & 14/1862
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- Creation: 10/6 & 14/1862
Saturday Morning (Nashville, Tennessee), 11/08/1862
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- Creation: 11/08/1862
Folder 3 (letters with italics written while a prisoner), 1863
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- Creation: 1863
Battlefield (Stones River), 01/04/1863
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- Creation: 01/04/1863
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 01/24/1863
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- Creation: 01/24/1863
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 02/28/1863
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- Creation: 02/28/1863
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 03/07/1863
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- Creation: 03/07/1863
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 03/26/1863
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- Creation: 03/26/1863
Murfreesboro, Tennessee (fragment), 04/19/1863
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- Creation: 04/19/1863
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 04/25/1863
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- Creation: 04/25/1863
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 05/02/1863
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- Creation: 05/02/1863
Camp Bennett, 20 miles North of Stephenson, Tennessee, 07/08/1863
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- Creation: 07/08/1863
Camp Stephenson, Alabama, 08/27/1863
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- Creation: 08/27/1863
Some place in Georgia on East side of Lookout Mountain, 20 miles South of Chattanooga, 09/16/1863
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- Creation: 09/16/1863
Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, 10/03/1863
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- Creation: 10/03/1863
Sunday, Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, 11/01/1863
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- Creation: 11/01/1863
Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, 11/13/1863
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- Creation: 11/13/1863
Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, 11/18/1863
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- Creation: 11/18/1863
Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, 12/06/1863
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- Creation: 12/06/1863
Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, 12/16/1863
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- Creation: 12/16/1863
Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, 12/22/1863
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- Creation: 12/22/1863
Folder 4, 1864-1865
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- Creation: 1864-1865
Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, 02/22/1864
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- Creation: 02/22/1864
Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, 02/29/1864
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- Creation: 02/29/1864
Sunday, Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, 03/20/1864
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- Creation: 03/20/1864
Sunday, Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, 04/10/1864
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- Creation: 04/10/1864
Savannah Military Prison, 08/27/1864
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- Creation: 08/27/1864
Charleston, South Carolina, 09/14/1864
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- Creation: 09/14/1864
Camp 21st Ohio Infantry Volunteers, Near Savannah, Georgia (J.V. Patterson to Lt. Col. A.C. McCleary – from National Archives, Military History, John V. Patterson), 12/16/1864
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- Creation: 12/16/1864
Camp 21st O.V.I. Near Savannah, Georgia (John V. Pember to J.V. Patterson), 01/16/1865
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- Creation: 01/16/1865
Folder 5
Unmatched covers, 1861-1865
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- Creation: 1861-1865
Folder 6
Scanned copy of appointment and Oath of Allegiance, 1861, 1863
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- Creation: 1861, 1863
Folder 7
Scanned copy of military service records, 1861-1865
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- Creation: 1861-1865
Folder 8
Reunion invitation for 21st OVI, 1881
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- Creation: 1881
Folder 9
Carte-de-visite of John V. Patterson, 188?
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- Creation: 188?
Altman, Samuel
Anderson, Joseph
Augustine, George
Augustine, Hiram
Banks, James
Burk, Samuel
Byall, John D.
Canfield, George
Canfield, Silas Sprague
Carey, Lucius
Caryl, Willard
Case, Thorn
Clements, Henry
Davidson, Thomas S.
Elder, Joseph
Fair, Elisha
Fair, Leonard
Finlay, Thomas
Fish, William
Fisher, Peter
Flowers, Charles
Forrest, Alexander
Forrest, James
Forrest, James A.
Forrest, John S.
Forrest, Robert A.
Forrest, William
Forrest, William R.
Forrest Family
Fox, Henry A.
Gano, Charles M.
Harns, Phillip
Harris, Elisha
Harris, Ransom
Hastings, Waite
Hathaway, George W.
Hathaway, Isaac
Heckman, Henry
Hinds, Adam
Hornbeck, Joseph H.
Inman, James T.
Jolley, George W.
Keller, George
Kelly, John D.
Lewis, Roya
Listen, Daniel
Loomis, David N.
Mahoney, John S.
Mason, Elihu (Elisha)
McFall, George
McFerrin, John
McIntyre, Alpheus
Morgan, Guy
Mosley, Thomas
Muir, James
Muir, John
Myers, Charles
Myers, George
Myers, John
Ordway, Andrew
Patterson, Hugh (John Patterson’s father’s family)
Patterson, John V. (and related i.e. wife & daughter)
Patterson, Sidney Russell
Pember, Henry
Pember, John W.
Powers, Hiram H.
Powers, James
Ransford, Charles
Rockwood, Byron
Russell, John
Russell, Joseph
Sanders, Oliver
Sawyer, Thomas
Scott, Darius
Shanks, George
Shanks, William
Smith, Justin E.
Stewart, James
Stocking, Julius
Thompson, Aaron
Vancise, Jesse Russell
Vanetton, Cyrus
Vanetton Family (John Patterson’s mother’s family)
Walker, Jesse
Weddell, William
Wetmore, David N.
Wetmore, Ebenezer
Wetmore, Elbridge
Wetmore, Martin P
Wicker, William B.
Wright, George
Zimmerman, Daniel
Zimmerman, George
Abbott, Manning M.
Avery, Thomas Jefferson
Barkhammer, Newton (Barkhimer)
Bates, Reason
Bentley, Dennis
Besanson, Augustus L.
Besanson, Charles
Besanson, James N.
Bordner, Jeremiah
Borsdorf, Henry (Bostdorf)
Brewster, Sidney (Breuster)
Caswell, George F.
Chapman, William
Clough, Edgar Price
Clutter, George Washington
Coen, Aaron H. (Coan)
Collins, William
Comstock, Abel
Cooley, Samuel G.
Creps, Charles Frederick
Crook, Thomas
Denton, Thomas
Dienst, Andrew
Dienst, Nicholas
Eberly, Benjamin C.
Eddelman, George M. (Edelman)
Elder, Joseph
Franks, William
French, Riley
Hixon, Henry
Hockenberger, William D.
Hopper, Benjamin Franklin
Hopper, James J.
Ireland, Robert
Jones, Horace
Leaf, James
Limbrick, Henry (Limbrich)
McMahan, Arnold
Morehead, John
Pinert, Frantz (Peinert)
Pinert, Frederick (Peinert)
Plemon, David
Rhodes, Benjamin
Richardson, George S.
Robison, Henry (Robinson)
Scheets, George (Sheets)
Smith, Abraham V.
Spafford, Asa (Ara)
Spencer, Harvey
Vancamp, B.F.
Vancamp, Henry Harrison
Wood, Mark
Baird, Edward
Banks, Ira
Bramer, Daniel
Brewster, Norman
Don Carlos Buell
Bumpus, James
Bushnell, Sherman
Carman, Dr. T. S.
Caton, Milo
Croninger, Henry
Devereaux, Ralph
William Flanagan
Freeman, John
Froney, Albert
Gibbs, David
Robert Householder
Luckey, James
Mayberry, James H.
McClellan, George B.
McMean, John
Morgan, John H.
Moore, Johnson
Myers, John
Neibling, James
Negley, James
Norton, Jesse S.
Patton, Mary
Platt, Horace
Schroeder, William
Scott, George
Sears, Cyrus
Smith, William S.
Strong, Samuel
Tucker, William E.
Vantine, Charles
Wood, Amos
21st OVI Other company members (John Scott, James E. Scott, Bennet Thompson, Wilson J. Vance, James K. Thompson, Aaron Alton)
1890 Census of Veterans “Surviving Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, and Widows, etc.” - Wood County, Ohio by Township
Pension file for Sidney Patterson (J.V. Patterson's brother)
Pension file for Aaron Thompson (J.V. Patterson's father-in-law)
Co.K later enlistees (post 1861)
Co.K miscellaneous research list
Co.K married men
Co.K roster from Ancestry
Co.K men from 1860 Census listings
21st O.V.I. - Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion
Co.C biographical information from Dan Masters old AOL website
Co.C. compiled notes on soldiers and their families
Co.C letters from online sources
Co.C roster and information from S.S. Canfield book
Co.C casualty lists
Co.C - Andersonville
Co.C - Chickamauga
Co.C - Stones River
Co.C roster - CivilWarData.com
Co.C roster - Ohio Genealogical Society
Co.C biographies
Draft - Tremewan, Paul G. “As Near Hell As I Ever Expect To Be”, 2011
- Dates
- Creation: 2011
Canfield, Silas S., History of Twenty-First Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Toledo, Ohio: Vrooman, Anderson and Bateman, Printers. 1893. Book signed by author, Silas S. Canfield.
Tremewan, Paul G. “As Near Hell As I Ever Expect To Be”, Xlibris Corporation, 1911
- Dates
- Creation: 1911