On this day in 1864, 24 year old Raycide Mosher wrote a letter to his parents from the Union Army barracks in Detroit, Michigan. Mosher enlisted in company A, 1st Regiment of Michigan Engineers and Mechanics on December 14, 1863. He signed up for three years of service, and would live through the rest of the Civil War.

These letters are a perfect example of the general goings on in the life of a soldier. Monetary compensation, as well as illness are frequent conversations. Though every now and again, the reader will notice a quick blurb about happenings related to the war. One such instance was a rumor circulating the camp about General Grant making preparations to take Richmond, Virginia. Another depicts how Confederate generals Joseph Wheeler and John Bell Hood had raided along the roads between Chattanooga, Tennessee and Nashville, Tennessee. During Mosher’s time with company A, he was commanded by Captain George Yates and participated in building and fixing roads, bridges, and other means of travel. Yates would later die in 1876 at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Mosher would separate from military service in September of 1865. At the same time, the 1st Regiment of Michigan Engineers and Mechanics would cease to be. Raycide Mosher died in 1891 a Civil War Veteran.

Sources

Raycide Mosher Civil War Letters, 1864-1865, MG 118, Special Collections and Archives, University of Idaho Library, Moscow, Idaho.

Record of Service of Michigan Volunteers in the Civil War (1861-1865).