This is a portion of a letter from Private William J. Kennedy (location unknown) to his wife, Jane M. Kennedy, at LaSalle, Illinois, dated circa January 1863. Kennedy was in the U.S. Army, a member of the 55th Illinois Infantry Regiment. He likely wrote this letter on board a steamer en route to Arkansas Post. He died in Memphis, Tennessee, in June 1863. Kennedy relates how he and other soldiers in his unit were prepared to carry out whatever orders President Abraham Lincoln wished carried out, including those involving the emancipation of slaves. (See page one. For more from the William J. Kennedy Papers please see 1118496 and 1118460. Transcription provided by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum and the White House Historical Association.)
This is a portion of a letter from Private William J. Kennedy (location unknown) to his wife, Jane M. Kennedy, at LaSalle, Illinois, dated circa January 1863. Kennedy was in the U.S. Army, a member of the 55th Illinois Infantry Regiment. He likely wrote this letter on board a steamer en route to Arkansas Post. He died in Memphis, Tennessee, in June 1863. Kennedy relates how he and other soldiers in his unit were prepared to carry out whatever orders President Abraham Lincoln wished carried out, including those involving the emancipation of slaves. (See page one. For more from the William J. Kennedy Papers please see 1118496 and 1118460. Transcription provided by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum and the White House Historical Association.)
