George Sawyer Letters, 1862-1863

George Sawyer was a Civil War soldier from Medford, Minnesota. He enlisted in the First Minnesota regiment on April 29, 1861. At some point within the next two years, he became engaged to Helen Sanborn, a teenager in Medford. Sawyer wrote her several letters from Maryland and Virginia. With the First Minnesota, Sawyer first saw combat at the First Battle of Bull Run and went on to participate in General George McClellan's Peninsula Campaign. He eventually rose to the rank of Corporal and fought in many battles, including the Battle of Antietam, which is often cited as the bloodiest one-day battle of the war. Sawyer died at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863. Sanborn eventually married Walter Wilkins, another Union veteran. The documents include photocopied correspondence from George Sawyer to his fiancée, Helen Sanborn from the years 1862-1863. The letters provide one soldier's view of the war. Sawyer was patriotic but also commented on the rigors of camp life, his homesickness and his plans to marry Helen. He was often preoccupied with events in Minnesota, including the 1862 Sioux Uprising in the southern part of the state. Sawyer died at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863. The collection is two folders in length. The first folder contains photocopies of the twenty-four existing complete letters. The second folder contains unassembled fragments of several letters. These records were donated to the Carleton Elliott Simensen Military Heritage Collection by Arlem Bryngelson of Bemidji, Minnesota in July, 1993. Bryngelson is the great grandson of Helen Sanborn, the recipient of Sawyer's letters (Accession # 93-1898).