The Following Letter Was Written by Corporal Zachariah Landrum of Montgomery County, Texas

LETTERS HOME

Letter 1:

The following letter was written by Corporal Zachariah Landrum of Montgomery County, Texas. He was a member of Company H that left Houston for Richmond, Virginia.

Company H, which eventually totaled 145 men, joined with other Texas companies to form the Fourth Texas Regiment with Col. John B. Hood. This regiment joined the First & Fifth Texas Regiments to form Hood’s Texas Brigade. As part of the Army of Northern Virginia, Hood’s Brigade participated in most of the battles except for Chancellorsville.

LETTERS HOME:

Letter 2:

One of the battles in which Company H participated, the battle of Gaines’s Mill in 1862, was described by another soldier from Montgomery County.

LETTERS HOME:

Letter 3:

In 1863, Zachariah Landrum wrote another letter, describing the battle at Gettysburg, in which Company H lost half of its men dead or wounded.

Historical Note: By the close of the war, practically all of Company H had been killed or incapacitated, because out of the 145 original members, only 9 men were left in the company when it, along with other companies of Hood’s Brigade surrendered at Appomattox. 67 had been killed on the battlefields; 47 were wounded (many dying from their wounds).

LETTERS HOME:

Letter 4:

A few days later, Zachariah Landrum wrote another letter home, giving more details about the battle of Gettysburg.

QUESTIONS:

Letter 1:

1.  Why did the soldiers take so long to get to New Orleans? ______
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2.  In the last paragraph, Cp. Landrum mentioned, “I have not seen the President yet…” Which president is he talking about? ______

3.  Who are J. H. Reagan & Lady? (See page 345 in your text book.) ______
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4.  Why haven’t they been in battle yet? ______
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5.  How does Cpl. Landrum feel about Union soldiers? ______
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Letter 2:

6.  Historians point out that more Civil War soldiers died from disease/infection that from being killed on the battlefield. What in this letter agrees or disagrees with that assessment? ______

Letter 3:

7.  How does Cpl. Landrum feel about the battle of Gettysburg? ______
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8.  Has his opinion of Union soldiers changed? ______How do you know? ______
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Letter 4:

9.  What details in this letter tell the reader that many basics of life are difficult to get in the Confederacy? ______
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10. How does Cpl. Landrum feel about the Confederacy & the War? ______
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