Collection open for research.
Fragile materials may require special handling.
John Sower Letter, 1861 (SC 0115), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.
Formerly part of the collections of the Loudoun County Historical Society.
Previously catalogued as NUCMC 66. Formerly part of the collections of the Loudoun County Historical Society.
John Sower or Sowers (d. 6 Jul 1864) enlisted in Company N of the 28th “Goldstream” Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry of the Union Army in Luzerne County on 20 August 1861 under Brigadier General John White Geary (1819-1873). The 28th Regiment, was stationed along the northern side of the Potomac River between Noland’s Ferry and the Antietam Aqueduct for much of 1861 and 1862. On 10 October 1862, surplus men of the 28th Regiment (companies L, M, N, O, and P) at Loudoun Heights were organized under then Lieutenant Colonel Pardee to form the 147th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Sowers joined Company C and was later promoted to Corporal on 11 November 1863. The 147th Regiment participated in the Battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg before fighting in Tennessee at the Battle of Lookout Mountain and during the Chattanooga – Ringold Campaign. The 147th also participated in the Atlanta Campaign advancing through Northwest Georgia during June and July 1864. Sower was wounded at Pine Knob, Georgia on 15 June 1864. He died from his wounds in Nashville on 6 July 1864. Sower is buried in the Nashville National Cemetery.
This collection consists of a letter sent by John Sower dated 3 October 1861. The letter is a reply to his father and describes skirmishes around Point of Rocks where Confederate forces were advancing toward the Maryland side of the Potomac River. In the first part of the letter he describes Union soldiers firing cannons upon a brick house and burning down a log house. In the last part of the letter, he declares his well-being and asks whether or not his friend Frank had enlisted in the army.
There are two items at the Pennsylvania State Archives related to John Sowers in the MG-7 Military Manuscripts Collection: Letter from John Sowers, in the field near Marietta, GA, to “Dear Father,” 15 June 1864 (0095), Paper referring to the wounding of John Sowers at Pine Knob and his death at Nashville, July 1864 (0095).