The collection is open for research.
Permission to publish material from Thomas C. Potter Letter must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Thomas C. Potter Letter, M2017-046, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Thomas C. Potter Letter was purchased by Special Collections in February 2015.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Thomas C. Potter Letter was completed in October 2017.
Thomas Corwin Potter enlisted in Battery B, 1st Regiment Ohio Light Artillery, in September 1861. Based on his age at enlistment, he was born about 1841/1842. In September of 1863, a premature discharge of a weapon mortally wounded him at the Battle of Chickamauga. He is buried in the National Cemetery of Chattanooga.
The collection includes a single letter written by Thomas C. Potter near Columbia, Tennessee, dated July 11, 1862. Potter writes to his sister, filling her in on recent events in his battery, including a detailed description of July 4th celebration activities. The second half of the letter details the battery's new camp site and recent skirmishing that led to Union capture of the area.
Transcript (received with the collection) included.