The Bixby Letter

[Steve]

(01-07-2021 09:56 AM)Gene C Wrote:  For me, the interesting feature to the Bixby letter is whether or not the circumstances behind the letter are true.
Did Mrs. Bixby have five sons who died on the field of battle?

If we are to examine who wrote it, examining John Hay's direct answer to that question carries more weight in my mind than second and third hand comments
or computerized stylometric analysis.

Gene,
Here's the info on the Bixby sons:

Sgt. Charles N. Bixby D Co. 20th Mass. - killed near Fredericksburg on May 3, 1863.

Pvt. Oliver Cromwell Bixby E Co. 58th Mass. - killed near Petersburg on July 30, 1864.

Cpl. Henry Cromwell Bixby K Co. 32nd Mass. - captured during the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863. Paroled at City Point on March 7, 1864. First taken to the hospital at Camp Parole in Maryland, then transferred to the Union Army hospital in York, PA. Discharged from the Army hospital at York in early October 1864 and furloughed. After his furlough was over he was readmitted to the Army hospital in Readville Mass., which is where he was when the letter arrived on 25 Nov. 1864. Mrs. Bixby thought he had been killed at Gettysburg when she visited Adjutant-General Schouler sometime in late August or early September. Henry was hospitalized at the time and probably was unable to contact his mother based on her address changes since he had been captured the previous year. He died of tuberculosis on Nov. 8, 1871; so it's possible he could've contracted it during his time as a POW. This letter to the editor printed on page 7 of the April 4, 1874 Boston Globe says that Henry's tuberculosis was contracted during his military service:



Pvt. George Way Bixby B Co. 56th Mass. - captured near Petersburg on July 30, 1864 (the same day Oliver had been killed). He was first taken to Richmond but was later transferred to Salisbury Prison on Oct. 9, 1864. He died there sometime between then and late February 1865 when POWs began to be paroled from Salisbury Prison. Mrs. Bixby believed George had been killed when she went to see Schouler sometime in late August or early September 1864. He may have been still alive when the letter was sent. The report of George's death by a paroled Salisbury POW didn't say when he had died. Please note, another Salisbury POW (who actually escaped and wasn't paroled) claimed George deserted by joining the Confederate army but he seems to have confused George for another POW from the 56th Mass. who did join the Confederate Army at Salisbury.

Pvt. Arthur Edward Bixby C Co. 1st Mass. Heavy Artillery - deserted from Ft. Richardson (one of the defensive forts around Washington DC) on 28 May 1862. In October 1862, Mrs Bixby visited Adjutant-General Schouler asking for a discharge for Edward for enlisting underage and also for help to visit son Charles who was hospitalized for illness shortly after the Battle of Anteitam. It's unknown whether she knew Edward had deserted or not, but I suspect she knew that he had and this was some sort of "Mom solution" to get rid of the desertion charge. Here's an image of Mrs. Bixby's affidavit at that time:



Two years later, Mrs. Bixby visited Schouler again sometime in late August or early September 1864, for unknown money reasons. Perhaps, it was because she had become the legal guardian of Oliver's son from his first marriage following his death a month or so earlier and she wanted a temporary increase in her widow's pension to reflect that. My suspicion/theory is that when Schouler asked her what happened to her younger son from 2 years before, she was like "Oh, he... died"

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Lane, your article was well written I'll share my thoughts on it in a little bit.