Illinois soldier's Cape Girardeau Civil War experience

Private George W. Shinn was born on May 29, 1841, in Canton, Illinois, to John W. and Elizabeth Shinn. Shinn worked as a clerk for his father's drugstore prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. On May 25, 1861, he enlisted in the Union Army in Peoria, Illinois, and served with Company H of the 17th Illinois Infantry.

Shinn's unit was tasked with pursuing Missouri State Guard Confederate Gen. M. Jeff Thompson across Southeast Missouri. The 17th Illinois and other units caught up with Thompson on Oct. 21, 1861, in Fredericktown. The battle lasted two hours with Thompson forced to retreat under the superior Union numbers. It is not clear from Shinn's letter whether he participated in this battle.

Shinn wrote six letters to his parents and sister while stationed in Camp Lyon at Byrd's Point, Missouri, and Camp Fremont in Cape Girardeau. He was stationed in Cape Girardeau from approximately August 1861 to February 1862. His letters mention camp life, picket duty and friends he encountered during his military service. In one letter to his mother, he notes that his camp was located behind the school at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church (now Old St. Vincent's) in Cape Girardeau. He wrote his sister Eliza on Christmas Eve 1861, "Tomorrow is Christmas and here we are, away down here in Cape Girardeau far away from the home and friends that we love, away down here playing Solider ... War the greatest Scourge of the Human Race has broken out among us and those that were brothers then under one Banner are arrayed against one another in deadly conflict."

The 17th Illinois Infantry marched from Cape Girardeau into Tennessee in February 1862. Shinn and his comrades participated in the Battle of Fort Donelson from Feb. 11-16. During this battle, Shinn was wounded. He was transferred to the General Hospital in St. Louis, where he died on April 4, 1862. He was not yet 21 years old. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Canton.