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Purchased with the Harrison R. Tyler Library Endowment.
Henry Goddard Thomas correspondence, Special Collections Research Center, William and Mary Libraries.
The collection received container level processing. This finding aid may be updated to reflect new descriptions and acquisitions to the collection.
The collection contains letters received by Colonel Henry Goddard Thomas, the commander of the U.S. Colored Infantry during the Civil War. The letters were sent to Thomas from two individuals, German immigrants Lewis C. Henser and Rudolph Tensler (Teusler). In his two letters, Hensler outlined news of funding and his town of residence. In his single letter to Thomas, Tensler spoke mostly of family affairs. The letters contain content pertaining to funding, personal and family life, and news of the war.
Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.
General Henry Goddard Thomas, born April 5, 1837 in Portland, Maine, enlisted in the Infantry as a Private in the United States Army during the Civil War (1861-1865). In 1863, Thomas was comissioned Colonel of the 2nd and 19th Regiments, U.S. Colored Infantry, and rose to take command of the latter in 1864, becoming the first officer of the Regular Army to act as Colonel in an African American regiment. His younger brother, William, was a Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives and the American Minister to Sweden and Norway during the Civil War. On January 23, 1897, Henry Goddard Thomas died at the age of 59.