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[Brooklyn, N. Y.] July 8th 1863

Mr Lane ¹   is again very anxious about his boy, his name is Horace G. Tarr, ²   and is Sergeant Major of the 20th Reg. of Connecticut Vol. If by chance you should hear anything of him will you please write. His Reg. belonged to the 12th army Corps, and I think were in the hottest of the fight. I sent you a letter last week with $14 in it and another yesterday with $10. ³   Did you get them both? We are all well at home. The rejoicing in New York is sincere and almost universal and yet a few, (and yet only a few when compared with the immense city) who try to find some reason why Lee should have been whipped. Copperheads are getting out of circulation being laid up for a future contingency. Hope to hear from you soon. Dont forget me.

Yours truly Jeff

The text presented here is derived from Dennis Berthold and Kenneth Price, eds., Dear Brother Walt: The Letters of Thomas Jefferson Whitman (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1984). For a detailed description of discrepancies between this electronic edition and the print source, see our statement of editorial policy .

The manuscript of this letter, dated July 8, 1863, is held in the Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839-1919, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

For more information on the letters of Thomas Jefferson Whitman, see Dennis Berthold and Kenneth Price's introduction to the print edition.

1.  See Letter from Thomas Jefferson Whitman to Walt Whitman, 13 January 1863.  (Back)

2.  See Letter from Thomas Jefferson Whitman to Walt Whitman, 9 May 1863. Although his regiment fought at Gettysburg July 1-3, Tarr was not injured.  (Back)

3.  The letter that contained fifteen dollars is not extant. For the letter containing ten dollars, see Letter from Thomas Jefferson Whitman to Walt Whitman, 7 July 1863.  (Back)

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