Caspar Nolte to Francis A. Hoffman

Effingham, Ills, Jan 1/64

Hon. Francis A Hoffmann

Chicago, Ills

Sir

My son, Charles Nolte, a boy but 15 years old, of very light complexion blue eyes, & very light flaxen hair, of rather tall but slender & weak forms for a boy of his age, very quick & forward spoken and easily noticed on that account, was most shamefully kidnapped, mustered into the United States service and shipped

off as a private to the 17th Illinois Cavalry Regiment now forming at St Charles, near Chicago, by a couple of most villainous & unscrupulous recruiting officers belonging to said Regiment & whose names are believed to be Capt Davis & Lieutenant Hamilton, this being the only authentic & reliable account that has reached me, of the fate of my son & verified by concurring statements from a number of respectable men at Mattoon. You may readily imagine my deep & terrible sorrow when I heard what fate had befallen my son. Were it not for the late decision by the Attorney General which is to this effect that the suspension of the Writ of the Habeas Corpus did also apply to the case of minors

enlisted in the Army, I should at once have gone to St Charles & with a Writ of Habeas Corpus demanded the Release of my son. As it is, I am entirely powerless and unable to do anything for the release of my dearly beloved son by whose loss my family & my once happy home has been filled with the deepest sorrow & affliction. I cannot obtain the release of my son except through the kind interference of those whose voice is of weight & authority & sure to be respected even by those who committed this most lawless & dastardly act; and I should accordingly have applied to Governor Yates for the immediate release of my son, but being entirely unacquainted with him thought I had better apply to you first & see whether

you would be so kind as to lend me the weight of your influence in this matter, and by so doing save a wretched boy from impending ruin and his disconsolate parents from despair. I need not assure you, Sir, that whatever you will do for me in this matter, will be most gratefully remembered as long as I live, and that my warmest regard & friendship & all that I have & possess, is sure never to fail him who will have rendered such an all important service to a well nigh heartbroken father. You will please, Sir, to excuse the feelings, accept the assurance of the highest esteem of &, I trust, do everything in your power for

Yours most truly

Caspar Nolte.