This 1865 Civil War letter was written by Union Gen. Wiliam Denison Whipple, West Point class of 1851. After graduating, Whipple performed frontier duty in New Mexico and Texas. By 1861, Whipple was on Quartermaster duty at Indianola, Texas, when that post was captured by Texan insurgents. He escaped through the enemy’s lines and made his way East in time to participate in the Battle of First Manassas as an Assistant Adjutant General in Hunter’s Division. He served as a staff officer during and after the Civil War and was successively promoted to Captain, Major, Brigadier General of Volunteers and Colonel. He also won the brevet of Major General, United States Army, for “gallant and meritorious services in the field during the rebellion.”
On November 12, 1863 he became Assistant Quartermaster General of the Army and Department of the Cumberland and the following month was appointed to be George H. Thomas’ Chief of Staff. In the latter capacity, he took part in all of the operations of Chattanooga and in the Atlanta Campaign as well as the movements which arrested John Bell Hood’s invasion of Tennessee at Franklin and Nashville. He continued with Thomas after the war, until the latter’s death in San Francisco in 1870, when Whipple was appointed Aide-de-Camp to General William T. Sherman, the General-in-Chief of the Army, a capacity which he served in for five years. 
The letter, which comes with its original envelope, is filled with descriptions of life in Eastport, Mississippi and tales of career intrigue. Of his experience in Eastport, Whipple writes:
“We are encamped upon a hill overlooking the steamboat landing. It is a very pretty place giving a splendid view of the river, the boats, and the surrounding country. But you can readily imagine that when the wind blows it will be very bleak.
The town of Eastport consists of about three dwelling houses and before the war probably contained about a dozen and a store and. a storehouse upon the river bank. But the war has destroyed it and it is now the most lonely, uninteresting, and out of the way place that we could possibly find.”
Whipple spends the bulk of his letter somewhat lamenting his current assignment, and makes no secret that he yearns for both more interesting work and additional promotion. Despite the nature of this particular letter, Whipple spent the balance of his life in the service of the United States Army, and is regarded as a competent leader. The letter and envelope are in very good condition.
[Civil War, Union, Confederate]