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St. Norbert College Yearbooks
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Mount Mary College Yearbooks
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Alfalfa production at Cornfalfa Farms, New Berlin Historical Society
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Badger Highways, Wisconsin Department of Transportation Library
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Brodhead Historical Society Online Image Archive
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Postcards from Middleton Area Historical Society
More than 60 postcards illustrating the city of Middleton, Wisconsin in the early 20th century are now available online from the Middleton Area Historical Society. […]
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Civil War letters of Francis Deleglise, Langlade County Historical Society
Francis Deleglise was a young man of 25, living in Appleton with his wife and children, when he enlisted in the Iron Brigade, Wisconsin’s most […]
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Crandon High School Yearbooks, Crandon Public Library
“The Cardinal endeavors not only to record a year in our School’s history, but to serve as a stimulus for recollecting our thoughts in future […]
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Senator William Proxmire Collection, Wisconsin Historical Society
When Senator William Proxmire retired in 1989 after 32 years in the U.S. Senate, he and his staff donated more than 200 boxes of office […]
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Jay “Ding” Darling Collection, Beloit College
This month we added the Jay “Ding” Darling Collection from the Beloit College Archives to our search engine. Jay Norwood Darling, better known as “Ding,” spent most […]
Civil War letters of Francis Deleglise, Langlade County Historical Society
Francis Deleglise was a young man of 25, living in Appleton with his wife and children, when he enlisted in the Iron Brigade, Wisconsin’s most famous Civil War unit. The Iron Brigade fought in the Army of the Potomac, suffering unusually high casualties at Gainesville, Antietam (the Civil War’s bloodiest battle), and Gettysburg. Throughout his service, Francis Deleglise wrote home to his wife and father in Appleton and to his uncles in his native Switzerland. The letters describe his training at Camp Randall, battles he fought in and wounds he received at Antietam and Gettysburg, and his rehabilitation in hospitals in New York and Madison.
Deleglise’s first letter to his wife Mary (above), sent from Camp Randall in Madison in 1861, is written in his native French, as are the letters to his father and uncles. Later letters to Mary are in English, including the example below, sent from Arlington, Virginia in 1862.
In June 1864, while recuperating in Harvey Hospital in Madison, Deleglise wrote to ask his father to pick out some land for him to purchase, planning for when he would be discharged and receive a land grant promised for his military service. The land he was considering was in the area of what is now Leopolis (Shawano County), a community he would settle in 1871 before moving on to survey and plan the city of Antigo in 1876.
The Langlade County Historical Society in Antigo has made available online a collection of nineteen of Deleglise’s letters home. The digital versions of the letters consist of two parts: scans of the original handwritten letters, some in French and some in English; and scans of typed translations and transcriptions of the letters. The translations were created by the Society in the 1970s and include additional historical notes on some of the people and events Deleglise describes.
Typed translation of letter to Mary Deleglise from Camp Randall, July 1861. Langlade County Historical Society.
View the Francis Deleglise Civil War letters collection from the Langlade County Historical Society.
This article was adapted from a feature on Antigo city founder Francis Deleglise’s Civil War service written by Joe Hermolin, president of the Langlade County Historical Society, for the Antigo Daily Journal.