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Ellie Reutch, letter

November 18, 1862

Thomas Clark was wounded in the Battle of Antietam. He stayed with Ellie Reutch in Shepherdstown, Virginia for two or three days before he died. She fed him and cared for him. “It becomes my painful duty to inform you of the death of your husband. He died in this town some two or three days ago.
He was wounded in the breast and leg in the battle of Maryland. I attended to him myself some two or three weeks before he died, and took him his meals. He told me to write and tell you that he was getting along very well and would try to get home as soon as he was able. He got worse afterwards and died…”


Author

Name: Ellie Reutch

Unit: N/A

Document Information

Type: Letter

Subject(s):

  • Hospitals/Medical Care
  • Soldier/Civilian Interaction

Event Location: Sheperdstown, Jefferson Co., WV

Document Origin: Sheperdstown, Jefferson Co., WV

Notes

Ellie Reutch, of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, wrote to Martha (Law) Clark, of Hamilton County, Florida, to inform her of the death of the soldier Thomas J. Clark - Martha’s husband. Ellie Reutch had been caring for Thomas Clark because he had been injured during the Battle of Antietam in 1862 - those were the wounds from which he died.

Source

Ellie Reutch to Martha Clark. November 18, 1862.Transcription by Janice Cox Brown. Obtained from http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wvjeffer/thomasClark.htm. Accessed on February 8, 2010.