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John Clark Esarey Civil War Letters
John Clark Esarey
April 11, 1865 Letter
From: John Clark Esarey (Camp of the 53rd Indiana Volunteers, near Raleigh, North Carolina)
To: Barbara Ewing Esarey (Oil Township, Perry County, Indiana)
"I think the war is played. Johnson has surrendered."
Letter Image
Other Civil War Letters
The John Clark Esarey Civil War letters document his service in the 53rd Regiment Indiana Volunteers during late 1864 and early 1865, including his participation in Sherman's March to the Sea and the Carolinas Campaign.
Letters from John Clark Esarey to Barbara Ewing Esarey:
- November 8, 1864 – From Marietta, GA
- December 20, 1864
- December 31, 1864
- January 11, 1865
- January 20, 1865
- March 26, 1865
- March 31, 1865
- April 11, 1865 – Near Raleigh, NC (this page)
- April 1865 (undated)
- May 10, 1865
- May 26, 1865
- June 2, 1865
Letters from Barbara Ewing Esarey to John Clark Esarey:
Other Related Letters:
- January 12, 1865 – JCE to Jonathan Davis Esarey
- April 22, 1865 – JCE to Parents
- May 31, 1865 – JCE Discharge Papers
Historical Context
This letter was written just two days after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. John Clark's hopeful words "I think the war is played" reflect the news spreading through the Union Army. Confederate General Joseph Johnston would officially surrender to Sherman on April 26, 1865.
These letters follow John Clark Esarey from his entry into the 53rd Regiment Indiana Volunteers (September 27, 1864), through his participation in the devastating campaigns of William Tecumseh Sherman known as The March to the Sea and the Carolinas Campaign, to his discharge the following summer in Washington, D.C.