Transcribed as written.

Camp in rear of Vicksburg Miss July 6th /63

Dear
          Sister your welcome letter was received by me a short time ago and I was truly glad to hear from you as it had been some time since I heard from home and I received a letter from home the same time I got yours. I am well at present time and hope you may be when this reaches you. There is nothing of interest to write to you. I suppose you will here of the Surrender of Vicksburg long before this reaches you. I have not had a chance to see the place since it Surrendered but I heard them say they captured 27,000 men, 227 pieces of artillery, and 40,000 Stands of small arms. This is the most we ever captured at one time yet and if we could only make a few more such captures it would end the war. I have not seen the 35th Iowa for some time and I cannot tell you anything about Maj. Linn and I do not suppose we will see them for some time for we are a good ways from each other. We received 2 months pay today and I am going to send some home pretty soon. When I last heard from George he was at Jefferson Barracks and since then I have not heard from him. Well I will close hoping to hear from you soon.

          I remain your dear Brother
                                                            Henry Benedict

~ * ~

     The Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of Rebellion records that Henry Benedict was a farmer, 19 years old and single at the time of his enlistment in Company A, Iowa 11th Infantry Regiment on 28 Sep 1861. Records show some differences as to his place of birth. In the enlistment roll, he was noted as born in Pennsylvania however the Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers shows that his nativity as Tennesssee.

     Henry was wounded severely on his right arm July 22, 1864. He died of those wounds Aug. 15, 1864, Marietta, Ga. He is buried in National Cemetery, Marietta, Ga. Section G, grave 837.

     Henry Benedict is remembered on the Civil War Monument which stands in front of the Muscatine County Courthouse in Muscatine.

~ * ~

     Henry’s parents were Andrew and Sarah Benedict. He was the second of ten children. His sister, Susanna, was the oldest.

     Andrew Benedict’s family was first found living in Seventy-Six Township in the 1854 Iowa State Census. By 1860, according to the Federal Census, the family was living in Moscow, Moscow Township, Muscatine County, IA.

     Andrew and Sarah Benedict, along with many of their children, are buried in High Prairie Church Cemetery. Please see http://iagenweb.org/muscatine/cemetery/highprairie.htm

     Susanna married A. W. Morgan in Nov. 19, 1872 in Muscatine County, IA.

     She died June 29, 1926 and is buried by her husband in Oakdale Cemetery in Wilton.

     We learned more about Susanna’s life through her obituary. (Notice how her given name is spelled.)

Muscatine Journal and News Tribune - Wednesday, June 30, 1926

Stroke Fatal to Pioneer Woman of Wilton Community

Wilton, Ia., June 30 – (Special) –Mrs. Susanne Morgan, 88, pioneer resident of this vicinity, died Tuesday morning at her home, three miles southwest of Wilton. Death followed a paralytic stroke early yesterday.

Funeral services will be conducted from the family home at 2 o’clock Thursday afternoon by Rev. A. W. McBlain, pastor of the Wilton Methodist church. Burial will be in Oakdale cemetery.

Mrs. Morgan, nee Benedict, was born Oct. 16, 1837, near Harrisburg, Pa. In 1857 she moved with her parents to Iowa, settling near Letts. A short time later she moved to the Wilton neighborhood. She was married in 1872, to Abram W. Morgan, who died in 1897.

Surviving are one daughter, Miss Harriett Morgan at home, two sisters, Mrs. William Kirk of Muscatine and Mrs. Amanda Rutt of Fort Scott, Kas., and one brother, Joseph Benedict of Muscatine.

~ * ~

     We then did some researched on Harriet Morgan, her daughter. This lady never married and lived with her mother on their farm in Mosow, Muscatine County, IA. After her mother died, Harriet continued managing the farm until her death in 1943. Below is her obituary.

Muscatine Journal and News-Tribune: Feb. 23, 1943 Page 3

Funeral services for Miss Harriet A. Morgan of Moscow township whose death occurred Thursday in a Muscatine hospital were held Sunday afternoon at the Griffith Funeral home by the Rev. T. A. Manson of the Presbyterian church. Mr. and Mrs. Newton Lang accompanied by Mrs. Joe Lang sang "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" and "Home of the Soul."

Burial was in Oakdale cemetery. Pallbearers were Joe Thompson, Edward Brown, W. J. Maurer, Clarence Frenzel, Walter Maurer and Walter Duffe. Mrs. W. J. Maurer and Mrs. H. J. Griffith were the flower attendants. Out of town relatives and friends who attended the services were Mrs. Hattie Mills, Mrs. Margaret Gilbach, Mrs. Harold Lawrence, Barbara, Eleanor and Stanley, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Oberhaus, Mr. and Mrs. P. H. Willey, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Maurer, Miss Carol Bloom, Miss Frances Kelley, Mr. and Mrs. John Weikert and daughter, of Muscatine, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Maurer of Tipton.

Muscatine Journal and News Tribune February 20, 1943

Six Designated As Beneficiaries In Morgan Estate.

Bequests to six are contained in the will of Harriet A. Morgan. Moscow township resident who died Feb. 18, under terms of the will on file in district court today. Hearing is set for March 18th.

Receiving equal shares are Harold C. Lawrence, Beulah M. Lawrence, Eleanor Jane Lawrence and Mrs. Edna Maurer. Beulah M. Lawrence is named to serve as executrix without bond.

~ * ~

     We cannot determine if the Lawrence and Maurer families were relatives or friends of Harriet.

     This old letter from Henry Benedict, a Civil War Soldier, has been treasured by someone for a very long time.

     A few years ago, Dennis Frank, an avid stamp collector, found the letter in a box he purchased at an auction.

     It is hoped, that one day, that this letter might be re-united with a descendant of Andrew and Sarah Benedict family.