A TOUCHING POSTHUMOUS GIFT TO A FORMER STUDENT BY A MORTALLY WOUNDED SOLDIER OF THE 36th ILLINOIS

A TOUCHING POSTHUMOUS GIFT TO A FORMER STUDENT BY A MORTALLY WOUNDED SOLDIER OF THE 36th ILLINOIS

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$750.00

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Item Code: 844-143

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A book of etiquette for young girls titled, “I Will Be A Lady” by Mrs. Tuthill. This is cloth bound, the 38th edition, dated 1863, published in Boston by Crosby and Nichols, and is inscribed on the flyleaf in period ink as having been sent as a “Reward of Merit” to a former student, likely a Sunday School student, at the request of her teacher, Walter V. Reeder, while he lay mortally wounded in hospital at Chattanooga after being wounded November 25, 1863, at Missionary Ridge. Reeder died December 13 and the inscription, likely penned by Reeder’s brother Carvasso, who served beside him in Co. C of the 36th Illinois and likely attended him in hospital, presents the book to her as Walter’s dying wish.

The inscription is in ink, light, but legible, and reads: “A reward of merit to /  Emily Murry from her / teacher Walter V. Reeder who was mortally wounded / at Missionary Ridge,/ Chattanooga, Tenn Dec. 13, 1863. / It was a dying request / that this reward should be / given. May you be as sincere / a lover of the/  Good, Beautiful & True as was the dying Soldier Boy-” The date, of course, is Reeder’s date of death rather than his wounding. Missionary Ridge was fought November 25 and, immediately following Lookout Mountain, effectively broke the Confederate siege of Chattanooga. Reeder’s regiment served in Phil Sheridan’s division, in Thomas’s Army of the Cumberland. When Sherman’s attacks on the Confederate right stalled, Thomas launched an attack intended to be diversionary, but which turned into an all-out, successful assault that drove Confederate defenders from the crest.

Walter V. Reeder, then age 18, and his brother Carvasso, then 19, had enlisted the same day, Aug. 24, 1861, at Young America, Illinois, listing their residence as Aurora, Ill. They mustered into Co. C of the 36th Illinois as privates on September 23. By the time of Missionary Ridge, the regiment had seen action at Pea Ridge, Perryville, Stones River, and Chickamauga. According to a newspaper account of regiment’s doings, Walter had received a wound in the thigh at Stones River. How long he was sidelined is unclear, but he was in the ranks to receive a second wound, also in the thigh during the regiment’s charge up Missionary Ridge. The regimental history includes the following detail: “Among all the noble spirits that that day struggled so grandly for their country's flag, there was none more heroic than Walter V. Reeder, Company C of the 36th, who, having received the wound in the thigh, of which he died in about two weeks, lay bleeding on the hill-side, and taking a handkerchief out of his pocket, waved it towards the top of the ridge, silently inspiring his comrades to complete what he had so gallantly helped to commence.”

He was eventually taken to a hospital in Chattanooga, where the regimental Chaplain, who had returned to the unit on December 12, found him. “In the various wards of this hospital, services were held from time to time, as opportunity offered. Sometimes in the evening, when all work, dressing wounds, etc., had ceased, Scripture was read, a hymn sung and prayer offered, and on Sabbath, a short discourse was preached in each room. A large quantity of reading matter was also distributed. Many interesting incidents occurred, bringing out the religious feelings of the men. Immediately after his arrival, the Chaplain looked up the wounded of the 36th; found W. Reeder hopeful, and apparently doing well, but that night he was sent for to visit him, as he was fast sinking. He spoke most confidently of his trust in Christ, and, as on the battle-field, he was now ready for death in the hospital. During the night he passed away, and was buried in the National Cemetery, on the 14th.”

The Reeder brothers came from a religious family. The 1860 census finds them in Kendall County, Illinois, where their father is listed as a clergyman and Carvasso, then 18 is listed as a “Teacher,” followed by “CS” or “SS,” likely indicating Church, Congregation, or Sunday School. Walter thus seems to have followed suit. “Rewards of Merit,” often an ornately engraved card, were frequently given to students as recognition and encouragement. Emily Murry’s identity remains uncertain. We see an Emily Murry in the 1860 census for Aurora, but she is only 3 months old. An Emily Ann Murray, born 1846, who married a Lewis Shiffer in Kendall County in 1866, might be a better candidate. Whether Reeder’s interest was purely academic or something more is a mystery for the ages. Carvasso Reeder survived to muster out Sept. 23, 1864, at Atlanta.

The book is complete, but with the front cover and spine split from the text block, but the inscription is complete and fully legible. Please see our photos. This is a very telling memento.   [ss][ph:L]

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