Edwin W. Arnold Correspondence (MSS 006)

Biographical note

Edwin Whipple Arnold was born in Rhode Island on June 28, 1844 to his parents Russell G. Arnold and Sarah Phillips Arnold (maiden name Whipple). He had two older brothers, Frederick and Henry, and one younger brother George. The family resided at 113 Friendship Street in Providence, RI.

During the Civil War, Arnold joined the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment of the Union Army on October 1, 1861. He served as a Private in Company D of that regiment until September 1862, when he took ill at U.S. General Hospital. He spent time recovering at a convalescent camp in Washington D.C. until July 1863. On July 16, 1863 he became a member of the Invalid Corps., or as it was later renamed, the Veteran Reserve Corps. He served as a Corporal in Company F of the 13th Regiment of the Veteran Reserve Corps. in West Lebanon and Concord, New Hampshire until November 1865. On November 13, 1865, he was mustered out of the Union Army.

In August of 1865, while serving his time in New Hampshire, Arnold met and married Louisa Armand, a French-Canadian. There is no record of the couple having children. Arnold died in Providence, Rhode Island on September 22, 1904. He is buried with the rest of his family in Pocasset Cemetery in Cranston, RI.