Edgar Knapp Letters

A Guide to his papers, Ms 2002-015

Prepared by
Catherine G. OBrion

Encoded by
Catherine G. OBrion

2002

Collection Summary

Title:	Edgar Knapp Letters
Span Dates:	1862-1864
Creator:	Knapp, Edgar R.
Size:	.25 cubic feet
Repository:	Digital Library and Archives, University Libraries,Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
Abstract:	Correspondence received by Edgar R. Knapp while he was a steward at the U.S. military hospital in Annapolis, Maryland.  Sixteen letters from his brother at home in Michigan, one from his sister, and eighteen from hospital patients or their parents.

Administrative Information

Provenance: The Edgar Knapp Letters were purchased from Carmen Valentino Rare Books and Manuscripts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in April 2002.

Processing History: The collection was processed by Sara Eye and Catherine G. OBrion in May 2002.

Preferred Citation: Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information:  Edgar Knapp Letters, Ms 2002-015, Digital Library and Archives, University Libraries, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Biographical Note

Lieutenant Edgar R. Knapp (ca. 1836-?)  of Adrian, Lenawee County, Michigan, was a steward at the United States military hospital in Annapolis, Maryland from 1862-1864.  His brother H. Knapp was probably Henry Knapp (1813-1893), who is listed in the 1860 census as a doctor in Adrian, Lenawee County, Michigan.  Randolph Knapp, whose death is the subject of some of the correspondence, was born in 1840 in Michigan and died at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Sources:

1860 Michigan Federal Census, page 383; Gravestone Records of Lenawee County, Michigan, collected by Harriet Cole Clark (Adrian, Michigan: 1933), 34.

Scope and Content Note

The Edgar Knapp (ca. 1836-?) Letters span the years 1862-1864. They are divided into the following series: Letters from H. Knapp, Letter from Sister, Incoming Correspondence, and Masonic Invitations. The collection consists of 40 letters and two partially printed invitations.

The Family Correspondence series date from 1862 to 1863. It contains 16 letters from Edgar Knapp's brother H. Knapp, who was back home in Adrian, and another from his sister.    Like Edgar, H. Knapp was a medical man to whom swift horses for late-night calls were a passion.  He avidly followed war news and related political events and kept Edgar informed about work and family life in Adrian.  Both H. Knapp and his sister were civilian supporters of the Union who did not (during this correspondence) support radical abolitionists.  H. Knapp is an unusually capable correspondent who animates every topic he discusses, from the family's horses (e.g. "He is black & sleek as a mole . . . tough as a knob, -- got a good swingel & bollox, but don't seem to know it ­ don't care a darn for mares.  Wife can drive him or even the Children"), to the feared loss of their brother Randolph at Gettysburg.  Two letters relay news from the front 16 and 17 July: " Ran went into Battle of the 3d July & charged on the left flank of Genl Lee, where they had the Infantry to deal with & out of 35 who went in . . . "additional details extend over three closely written pages.

Incoming Correspondence contains letters Knapp received from soldiers for whom he was responsible when they were recuperating in Annapolis.  It also includes letters from deceased soldiers' parents who wrote to Knapp requesting that he send specified personal effects, their son's body, or information regarding their child's final days.  Letters in this series date from  1862 to 1864.  Together with his letters from home, in which the battlefield loss of a brother figures prominently, this correspondence provides insight into the news and daily concerns that passed through a military hospital steward's mind during the war.

The Masonic Invitations series consists of two partially printed invitations (Baltimore Commandery No. 2) dated 23 May and 6 June 1864.

Description of Series

Container List

KNAPP FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE, 1862-1863