The Civil War Letters
of the Overpack Brothers
1841–1865
1839–1927
"we air compt on a mans farm that has too suns in the ce cesh armey but he claims to be a union man"
— George & Mathew Overpack, October 27, 1862
The Brothers
George Overpack (1839–1927) and Mathew Overpack (1841–1865) enlisted in the 110th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company I in August 1862. Over the next three years, they wrote 41 letters home to their mother Sarah in Ohio — letters full of misspellings, battlefield accounts, family business, and the everyday reality of war.
George was wounded at the Battle of Winchester in June 1863. Both brothers were captured and held as prisoners. Mathew was promoted from Private to Corporal to Orderly Sergeant over the course of the war. He was wounded in action near Petersburg, Virginia on April 2, 1865 — just days before Lee's surrender — and died on April 5, 1865, at age 24.
George survived the war and lived to age 87.
The Transcriber
These unedited letters were typewritten from the original handwritten pages by Betty McCullough (born Stout), the great-granddaughter of George Overpack. She preserved the original spelling, grammar, and voice of the soldiers exactly as they wrote.
we air compt on a mans farm that has too suns in the ce cesh armey but he claims to be a union man
there is talk of a fight here with jaxon but I don't think he wal come nere here for we wating for him and wil give him the best trim in the shop
We get five crackers aday and cofey and meat twist a day and potatos onst aday
we sent the cavlery after them they took to there heals like al courds do
the curnel sed boys the prospick for a fight looks more faverabl than it has yet
some geriles a fooling around here atacting the pickets evrey few days
letter not completewe had a little snow hear the other night it was about eigh inches deap
we are hivery now than we ever was before Math weigh 203 p and I 173 p