Dated June 12, 1864, this letter is written in ink on one sheet of paper then folded to make its own envelope and that was addressed to John Gott, Greenville, Montcalm Co., Michigan. The salutation of the letter is to “Dr. Brother John” and written by “Brother Henry Gott,” who tells him that he had been taken prisoner near Petersburg on June 2, but that the letter leaves him in good health and that hopes to be exchanged soon or paroled, “and when i do i shall come to see you or i shall write to you.” The letter, however, is datelined from “Camp Sumpter Prison / Andersonville Georgia.”

Born in England, Henry listed himself as a cabinet maker and resident of Rook’s Creek, IL, when he enlisted at Chicago 8/2/8/1861 and mustered into Co. C of the 39^th Illinois as private 10/11/61 and was described as 5’10-1/2” tall with dark complexion, blue eyes and brown hair, age 30. He reenlisted as a veteran 1/1/64. The regiment, also known as the Yates Phalanx, served in the eastern theatre, seeing extensive action in western Virginia, the Shenandoah, the Departments of the Rappahannock, Virginia, North Carolina, and the South, as well as the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the James under Butler, with whom it served from April 1864 as part of the 10^th Corps. On June 2 near Petersburg they lost some forty men in killed, wounded and missing, including Gott. He acquired a Confederate 10 cent postage stamp and got the letter into the mail system, but it took seven months to make its way north. From a cancellation mark it seems to have reached Union lines on January 18, three days after Henry Gott died of disease back at Andersonville, where he was interred in grave #12,461.  [sr] [ph:L]

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