Information Sheet

 

 

R         Reilly, Philip A., 1830-1864.

84                    Letters, 1858-1863.

                                    Two folders.

 

 

 

These are Civil War letters, with annotated typescripts, of Philip A. Reilly of the 29th Mis­souri Infantry.  Reilly served in the operations against Jackson and Vicksburg, Mississippi, and was captured at Ringgold, Georgia.  He died at Andersonville, Georgia, on 24 May 1864.  The collection in­cludes a letter written by Reilly’s father at Jackson, Missouri, 16 August 1858.

 

Philip A. Reilly was born in England of Irish parents.  The family emigrated to the United States in 1852, and came to Missouri in 1857.  Reilly was a carriage-maker at Cape Gi­rardeau, Missouri, in 1860.  He enlisted in the 29th Missouri Infantry at Cape Girardeau on 8 Au­gust 1862.  After initial service at Cape Girardeau, the regiment moved south on the Missis­sippi River to par­ticipate in the operations that culminated in the surrender of Vicksburg on 4 July 1863.  Af­ter the fall of the city, the 29th Missouri was assigned to Gen. William T. Sher­man’s command.  As part of the 15th Army Corps, the regiment led the advance on Ringgold, Georgia.  The Con­federates took advantage of their strong defensive position and routed the Fed­eral column.  Philip A. Reilly was among the Union troops captured.  He was sent to Rich­mond, Virginia, and then to Anderson­ville Prison near Americus, Georgia, where he died of disease on 24 May 1864.

 

Folder 1 of the Reilly collection contains photocopies of Reilly’s letters to his parents and brother.  The first two letters were written at Jackson, Missouri, and Jonesboro, Illinois, before he entered the army.  Folder 2 contains annotated typescripts of the letters prepared by the do­nor, Jane Reilly Purcell, and published in the Bollinger County Historical Society Echo, IV (Oct. 1981), 85-101.

 

During his time in the service Reilly wrote about the campaigns against Vicksburg, Jack­son, Corinth, and Iuka, Mississippi.  He also commented on the army to which he belonged, claiming that the troops were generally Democratic politically, with “Black Republicans” enjoy­ing little fa­vor.  He wrote frankly, and wondered if his letters were reaching their destinations.  He sup­posed in his letter of 19 March 1863 that they were not, “... because they told too much.”  Reilly’s last let­ter was written from Waterloo, Alabama, just three weeks before his capture at Ringgold.

 

 

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