Editor’s Note: Theodore Lyman was General George G. Meade’s aide-de-camp from the fall of 1863 through Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. An intelligent and outspoken individual, Lyman’s letters to his wife provide great insight into the happenings at Meade’s headquarters. These letters, taken from the now public domain book Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865; Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox and written by Lyman to his wife, appear here at the Siege of Petersburg Online exactly 150 years to the day after they are written. Since this site is concerned solely with the Siege of Petersburg, the letters start on June 12, 1864 and end on April 3, 1865. See the bottom of this and every other letter for a list of all the letters which have appeared to date.
August 11, 1864
Sheridan has been appointed to command all the upper Potomac forces, which is saying that he is to command all the troops to drive Early out of the Shenandoah Valley. He is a Major-General, and is an energetic and very brave officer. This command, however, is a very large one, larger than he ever before had. I have little doubt, that, for field-service, he is superior to any officer there. Things are cooking, and the Rebels will find they must fag away still, as well as we. I do not exactly know if Meade likes this appointment: you see they have taken one of his corps, added much of his cavalry and many other troops to it, and then given the command to his Chief of Cavalry, while he [Meade] is left, with a reduced force, at this somewhat negative Petersburg business. I rode out just at dark, and from an “elevated position,” as Smith would say, watched the flashes of the sharpshooters, and the fires of the camp.1
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- LT: June 12, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: June 13, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: June 15, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: June 16, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: June 17, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: June 18, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: June 19, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: June 23, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: June 24, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: June 25, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: July 1, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: July 4, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: July 5, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: July 6, 1864 Theodore Lyman
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- LT: July 10, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: July 12, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: July 13, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: July 20, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: July 22, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: July 24, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: July 30, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: July 31, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: August 1, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: August 4, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: August 6, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: August 8, 1864 Theodore Lyman
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- LT: August 11, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: August 12, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: August 13, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: August 14, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: August 16, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: August 18, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: August 19, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: August 20, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: August 21, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: August 23, 1864 Theodore Lyman
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- LT: August 26, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: August 27, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: September 28, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: September 29, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: September 30, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: October 2, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: October 3, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: October 4, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: October 6, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: October 7, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: October 10, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: October 11, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: October 14, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: October 17, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: October 27, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: October 28, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: October 29, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: October 30, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: November 6, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: November 10, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: November 11, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: November 12, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: November 13, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: November 14, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: November 16, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: November 18, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: November 19, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: November 22, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: November 24, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: November 27, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: November 28, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: November 29, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: November 30, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: December 1, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: December 3, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: December 5, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: December 6, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: December 8, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: December 9, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: December 10, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: December 11, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: December 12, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: December 13, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: December 14, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: December 15, 1864 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 1, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 2, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 3, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 4, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 5, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 6, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 8, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 10, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 11, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 13, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 18, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 25, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 26, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 28, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 29, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 30, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: March 31, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: April 1, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: April 2, 1865 Theodore Lyman
- LT: April 3, 1865 Theodore Lyman
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Source/Notes:
- Agassiz, George R. Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865; Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox. Boston: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1922, pp. 210–211 ↩