Below is the scan
of a May 1, 1864, letter from Sergeant Albert Pancake, 80th
Indiana Infantry, Company H, to his sweetheart and future
wife, Elizabeth J. Huffman residing in Pike County,
Indiana. The letter below speaks volumes about
Albert’s loneliness. It was apparent that at their
last meeting Elizabeth expressed to Albert her assumption
that he would be married to a Southern gal by the end of
the war and that there was no point to her waiting for him.
Albert denies this in his response below and hints that he
indeed wants her to wait for him until the war ends when
they can be together. Note the uncharacteristic, for
Albert, inclusion of a poem at the end of the letter.
There were
several love letters to his future wife, Elizabeth. This is
the only letter written on this unusual aquamarine paper.
The top scan is of pages 1 and 4. The bottom scan is of
pages 2 and 3 of the letter.
My thanks to Tad
Berlin for these materials and the permission to post
them.
