1.   Historical note

2.   Scope and content

3.   Provenance

4.   Processing note

5.   Inventory

6.   Subjects


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    R.I.H.S. Library page

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 William C. Barker Papers

 Private, First Regiment, R.I. Light Artillery, Battery A

 Letters, 1861-1864

 Size: 0.75 linear feet

 Catalog number: MSS 282

 Processed by: Rick Stattler, November 1996


©Rhode Island Historical Society

Manuscripts Division

 


Historical note:


            William C. Barker 2nd (1829-1876) served as a private in Battery A of the First Regiment of Rhode Island Light Artillery during the Civil War. He was mustered in with the formation of the battery on June 6, 1861, and mustered out at the expiration of his term on June 17, 1864. His battery served in several of the most vicious battles of the war, including Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorville, Gettysburg, and the Wilderness.

            Barker was the son of William C. Barker (1797-1859) and Sarah Ann Jenks (1800-1869) of Providence. He had several siblings, including Henry Rodman Barker (1841-1901), who later served as mayor of Providence.


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Scope and content:


            This collection consists exclusively of letters sent home by William C. Barker during his term of service from 1861 to 1864, plus items enclosed with letters. The one exception is a letter written by Barker from Connecticut six weeks after his term had expired. The large majority of letters were written to William's younger brother Henry R. Barker, who remained in Providence during the war, working in the insurance industry. Several of the earlier letters were written to William's sister Miss Sarah A. Barker, and two were written to their mother Mrs. Sarah A. Barker.

            Barker numbered his letters in coordination with his brother and sister, probably to ensure that none had been lost in transit. This system indicates that several 1862 letters have either been retained by the family or lost over the years; the letters for 1863 and 1864 seem to be a complete set.

            The content of the letters is typical of most letters home from the front. Barker gives a general description of troop movements and battles, but the larger proportion discusses difficult living conditions. He frequently asks his brother to send articles of clothing, reading material and stamps.

            Barker's letters following the major battles are generally very detailed. He describes Chancellorville as the worst: "Oh Brother Henry it was awful a constant roar of cannon musketry the hardest fought battle of the rebellion." (May 5, 1863). The two letters written after the Battle of Gettysburg (July 5 and 11, 1863) are useful and informative, and include a comprehensive list of casualties in his battery. A letter to his sister dated September 26, 1862, written shortly after the Emancipation Proclamation, complains that "I did not come out here to fight for Niggars but I will do most anything to end this strife." Barker also started a petition to the Governor of R.I. in February of 1864, near the end of his enlistment, asking that the battery be allowed to return home for a recruitment drive, having lost many members after serving constantly at the front for almost three years. A copy of the petition was sent to his brother, with the request that it be forwarded to the newspapers.


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Provenance:


            These letters were donated in 1939 by Jessie L. (Barker) Gardner, daughter of Henry R. Barker. She also donated "Miscellaneous Civil War correspondence" in 1942, which may have been added to this collection.


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Processing note:


            After donation, these letters remained unprocessed for 57 years. In 1996, they were removed from their envelopes and housed individually in archival folders. The collection had undoubtedly been used by some researchers before this point, although as it was only indexed by the name Barker and was not well-organized, many researchers interested in his regiment may not have been aware of it.


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Inventory:


This inventory lists Barker's letters in chronological order. The recipient is indicated by the right-hand columns. Letter numbers are listed for those letters that have them.


                        Year    Date    To brother       To sister          To mother       Comments


Box 1: 

Folder 1.         1861    6/23                                                    x

Folder 2.                     6/30    x

Folder 3.                     7/8      x

Folder 4.                     7/9      x

Folder 5.                     7/16    x

Folder 6.                     7/23    x                                  Battle of Bull Run

Folder 7.                     7/28    x

Folder 8.                     8/7      x

Folder 9.                     8/13    x

Folder 10.                   8/29    x

Folder 10a.                 9/5      x

Folder 11.                   9/9                              x

Folder 12.                   9/10    x

Folder 13.                   9/22    x

Folder 14.                   10/3    x

Folder 15.                   10/13  x

Folder 16.                   10/24  x

Folder 17.                   11/7    x

Folder 18.                   11/16                          x

Folder 19.                   11/30  x

Folder 20.                   12/8    x

Folder 21.                   12/14  x

Folder 22.                   12/24  x

Folder 23.                   12/28                          x

Folder 24.       1862    1/1      x

Folder 25.                   1/5      x

Folder 26.                   1/10    x

Folder 27.                   1/17    x

Folder 28.                   1/23    x

Folder 29.                   1/24    x

Folder 30.                   1/30    7

Folder 31.                   2/5      8

Folder 32.                   2/8      9

Folder 33.                   2/20    13

Folder 34.                   2/22    14

Folder 35.                   2/26    15

Folder 36.                   3/12    17

Folder 37.                   3/16    18

Folder 38.                   3/19    19

Folder 39.                   3/24    20

Folder 40.                   4/13    22

Folder 41.                   4/21    23

Folder 42.                   4/27    24

Folder 43.                   4/29                            x

Folder 44.                   5/1      25

Folder 45.                   5/6      26

Folder 46.                   5/11    27

Folder 47.                   5/17    28

Folder 48.                   5/22    29

Folder 49.                   5/25    30

Folder 50.                   5/29    31

Folder 51.                   6/6                              x

Folder 52.                   6/11    32

Folder 53.                   6/14                            1

Folder 54.                   6/19    33

Folder 55.                   6/20                            2

Folder 56.                   6/28                            4

Folder 57.                   7/5                              5

Folder 58.                   7/6                                                      6

Folder 59.                   7/7      4

Folder 60.                   7/12    5

Folder 61.                   7/14                            7

Folder 62.                   7/21                            8

Folder 63.                   7/24    6

Folder 64.                   7/27                            9

Folder 65.                   7/31    7

Folder 66.                   8/8                              11

Folder 67.                   8/9      8

Folder 68.                   8/22    9

Folder 69.                   9/4      1 

Folder 70.                   9/19    2                                  Battle of Antietam.

Folder 71.                   9/26                            1 "I did not come out here to fight for niggars."

Folder 72.                   10/1    3

Folder 73.                   10/19  5

Folder 74.                   10/26  6

Folder 75.                   10/29  7

Folder 76.                   11/10  8

Folder 77.                   11/18  9

Folder 78.                   11/25  10

Folder 79.                   12/4    12

Folder 80.                   12/10  13

Folder 81.                   12/17  14                                Battle of Fredericksburg.

Folder 82.                   12/25  15

Folder 83.       1863    1/4      16

Folder 84.                   1/11    17

Folder 85.                   1/14    18

Folder 86.                   1/25    19

Folder 87.                   1/31    20

Folder 88.                   2/6      21

Folder 89.                   2/13    22

Folder 90.                   2/19    23

Folder 91.                   3/2      24

Folder 92.                   3/8      25

Folder 93.                   3/12    26

Folder 94.                   3/22    27

Folder 95.                   3/28    28

Folder 96.                   4/5      29

Folder 97.                   4/12    30

Folder 98.                   4/19    31

Folder 99.                   4/26    32

Folder 100.                 5/5      33                                Battle of Chancellorville

Folder 101.                 5/10    34                                Battle of Chancellorville

Folder 102.                 5/14    35

Folder 103.                 5/17    36

Folder 104.                 5/24    37

Folder 105.                 5/26    38

Folder 106.                 5/31    39

Folder 107.                 6/7      40

Folder 108.                 6/14    41

Folder 109.                 6/21    42

Folder 110.                 6/28    43

Folder 111.                 7/5      44                                Battle of Gettysburg.

Folder 112.                 7/11    45                                Casualties at Gettysburg.

Folder 113.                 7/28    46

Folder 114.                 8/2      47

Folder 115.                 8/4      48

Folder 116.                 8/9      49

Folder 117.                 8/12    50

Folder 118.                 8/14    51

Folder 119.                 8/16    52 

Folder 120.                 8/23    53

Folder 121.                 8/26    54

Folder 122.                 8/30    55 

Folder 123.                 9/6      56

Folder 124.                 9/8      57

Folder 125.                 9/15    58

Folder 126.                 9/20    59

Folder 127.                 9/27    60


Box 2:

Folder 128.                 10/1    61

Folder 129.                 10/5    62

Folder 130.                 10/12  63

Folder 131.                 10/22  64

Folder 132.                 10/25  65

Folder 133.                 11/3    66

Folder 134.                 11/11  67

Folder 135.                 11/15  68

Folder 136.                 11/22  69

Folder 137.                 12/6    70

Folder 138.                 12/14  71

Folder 139.                 12/17  72

Folder 140.                 12/22  73

Folder 141.                 12/25  74

Folder 142.     1864    1/3      75

Folder 143.                 1/10    76

Folder 144.                 1/12    77

Folder 145.                 1/17    78

Folder 146.                 1/24    79

Folder 147.                 1/31    80

Folder 148.                 2/8      81

Folder 149.                 2/14    82

Folder 150.                 2/21    83                    With copy of petition to Gov. Smith.

Folder 151.                 2/26    84

Folder 152.                 3/6      85

Folder 153.                 3/10    86

Folder 154.                 3/17    87

Folder 155.                 3/18    88

Folder 156.                 3/23    89

Folder 157.                 3/30    90

Folder 158.                 4/6      91

Folder 159.                 4/9      92

Folder 160.                 4/15    93

Folder 161.                 4/22    94

Folder 162.                 4/28    95

Folder 163.                 5/13    96                    Battle of the Wilderness

Folder 164.                 6/1      97

Folder 165.                 8/5      4          Written from Connecticut after released from service.

Folder 166. Undated material:

                        Annotated muster roll

                        Blank regimental return

                        Brief note detached from letter

Folder 167. Sample envelopes bearing useful information.


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Subjects:


Barker, Harold R. (1841-1901)

First Regiment, R.I. Light Artillery

United States - History - Civil War, 1861-1865


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RIHS1822