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Thomas J. Clark was a native of Jefferson County, Georgia. Born about 1840, he married Martha Ann Law on January 21, 1858. The couple lived in Hamilton County, Florida, and had a daughter named Eliza Irvin Clark, born October 10, 1861.
Clark enlisted in the Confederate Army on April 25, 1862 at Camp Leon, near Tallahassee; he enrolled in Company H, Fifth Florida Infantry Regiment, commanded by Captain John Frink. In the summer of 1862, the Fifth Florida moved to reinforce the Confederate forces in Virginia.
The regiment saw its first combat at the Battle of Second Bull Run (Manassas) in August and participated in the bloody Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg, Maryland) on September 17, 1862. At Antietam, Clark suffered severe wounds in his leg and chest. On September 25, Union forces captured Clark from a military hospital in Shepherdstown, Virginia, and later paroled him. Clark remained in the Shepherdstown hospital after his parole, where he died in mid-November.
Summary:
This collection consists of photocopies of papers related to Thomas J. Clark, a Civil War soldier from Florida. It contains four letters from Clark to his wife, Martha Ann, between June and September of 1862. He wrote the first three while at camp in Florida. They contain general camp news and comments about his concern and affection for his wife. The fourth letter from Clark, dated September 7, 1862, gives a brief description of the second Battle of Manassas and the beginning of the Confederate invasion of Maryland. The last piece of correspondence is a November 14, 1862 letter from Ellie Reutch of Shepherdstown, Virginia, to Martha Ann Clark, describing Thomas' death.
The collection also contains an undated poem written by Thomas Clark, titled "A Soldier's Life," and an April 18, 1864 letter from James Clark (Thomas's brother) to Martha Ann Clark. Written from Baldwin, Florida, James Clark describes activities in the state following the Battle of Olustee on February 20, 1864. James was a member of the Twenty-eighth Georgia Infantry Regiment.
Finding Aids:
Item listing available. 0
Additional Physical Form:
Transcript.
Reproduction Note:
Photocopies.
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
Originals in possession of donor.
Associated Materials:
Language Notes:
Ownership/Custodial History:
Donor is a descendant of Thomas J. Clark.
Publication Note:
General Note:
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Confederate States of America. Army. --Florida Infantry Regiment, 5th. Confederate States of America. Army. --Georgia Infantry Regiment, 28th.
Bull Run, 2nd Battle of, Va., 1862. Olustee (Fla.), Battle of, 1864.
Florida History Civil War, 1861-1865 United States History Civil War, 1861-1865
Added Entries
Clark, James, fl. 1860-1865
Clark, Martha Ann Law, fl. 1860-1865
for detailed listing.