I am in the preliminary stages of research into the Union veteran, Pvt. George W. Shinn, Co. H 17th Illinois Infantry who fought at the Battle of Fredericktown. I am negotiating for a collection of his letters which is but a part of the total he wrote home to Canton, Illinois. These latter letters reflect the time he was at Bird's Point and Cape Girardeau but do not include the ones from October 1861. I suspect the collection was broken up (into at least three parts) as two letters from June 1861, when the regiment was in Illinois, are transcribed on the Internet. Perhaps someone who reads this forum may know of the existence of Shinn's Letters in the missing time frame? Bob