James Bradish papers

Collection

Identifier: c-00147

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The James Bradish papers consist of the letters Bradish wrote to his sister and friends in Michigan during the Civil War. Bradish served in Company A of the 18th Michigan Infantry and was stationed in Tennessee and Kentucky. The letters describe his experiences and the areas where he was stationed from 1862-1864. These letters have been transcribed, scanned and placed online at http://civilwar.archives.msu.edu/collection/7-1C-4C/bradish/.

Dates

Creation: 1862 - 1864

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from this collection must be obtained from University Archives & Historical Collections, Michigan State University.

Biographical/Historical

James W. Bradish was mustered in on August 6, 1862, in Company A of the 18th Michigan Infantry. He was stationed in Tennessee and Kentucky and was apparently captured and sent to a Confederate prison (the details of this are unknown). On April 27, 1865, Bradish was killed aboard the steamboat Sultana. The overcrowdered ship was filled with paroled Union prisoners, Bradish among them, when its boilers exploded, setting the Sultana ablaze and causing it to sink in the Mississippi River. Over 1,500 of the approximately 2,500 passengers died in the accident.