A Soldier Writes Home: Letters from Jonas Horn, 1862
In the summer of 1862, Private Jonas Horn (1823–1907) of Company D, 85th Pennsylvania Infantry wrote a series of letters home from Virginia, offering a firsthand glimpse into the daily life of a Civil War soldier.
Several of these letters were addressed to his brother, Andrew Horn, in Zollarsville, Washington County, Pennsylvania, firmly connecting his family to that community. Through these letters, written between June and September of 1862, a picture emerges not only of military service, but of the constant pull between the battlefield and home.
Horn, about thirty-nine years old at the time, was part of a regiment organized in the fall of 1861. After spending its early months around Washington, the 85th Pennsylvania moved south in March 1862 as part of the Peninsula Campaign. There, the regiment saw action at Williamsburg and at the Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks), where Union forces faced heavy Confederate assaults.
Writing from Poplar Hill, Virginia, on June 22, Horn described what he called a “narrow escape” during battle. His company had been on picket when Confederate forces attacked, and they were quickly overwhelmed. He noted that they were forced to give way under heavy pressure, offering a brief but vivid account of the dangers faced by soldiers in the field.
In that same letter, he mentioned several others from his company, including Hezekiah Horn, who he believed had been wounded and taken to a hospital, and Elias Horn, who had been ill but was recovering. These references indicate connections to others in the regiment who may have been from the same region or local community.
By July, the regiment had withdrawn to Harrison’s Landing along the James River. From there, on July 20, 1862, Horn wrote again:
Transcription of Letter
Harrison’s Landing, Virginia
July 20, 1862
I received your letter and I was glad to hear from home. I am well at this time and I hope these few lines may find you in the same state of health. We are camped one mile from the James river in the woods. We have to get up in the morning before daylight and form a battle line. There will be no firing done for sixty days. Hezekiah {[Horn]is taken prisoner. He is in North Carolina. He will be at home as soon as we will.
We have to go out on picket. We was out one night and it was raining. Me and Harry [were] lying under a log. It is now Sunday. We have got preaching every Sunday at eleven o’clock.
I sent twenty dollars in this letter and you may keep it or put it on interest. I have got ten dollars more to send. I haven’t got much to write at this time. I want to know if Mary Ann is well. You never write about her. I would like to see her.
I must come to a close with my letter. I want you to write soon and tell me if you got this money. So goodbye, brother Andrew.
— Jonas Horn
Horn’s letters continue through the summer. Writing again from Harrison’s Landing in early August, he described the heat, daily drills, and the high cost of goods, noting butter and cheese at fifty cents a pound. He also mentioned swimming in the river and the discomfort of insects, recalling how gnats had caused his hands and face to swell.
By September, Horn was stationed in Suffolk, Virginia. In a letter dated September 24, he wrote of standing guard, the conditions in the town, and the continued uncertainty of army life. Despite everything, his thoughts remained fixed on home. He asked about the corn crop and sent greetings to family members, including Andrew, Mary, and Alexander.
Across all of these letters, certain themes remain constant: the strain of military life, the importance of routine, and the enduring connection to home. Horn wrote not only of battles and conditions, but of money sent back, family health, and even instructions about retrieving personal belongings left behind.
He was discharged on a surgeon’s certificate on November 24, 1862, and lived until 1907. Though some details of his family connections remain uncertain, his letters provide a rare and personal record of a soldier’s experience—one that remains closely tied to Zollarsville and the broader history of Washington County during the Civil War.
Primary source material includes original Civil War letters written by Private Jonas Horn. Supporting information was obtained through genealogical research using Ancestry and related historical records.
