The following letter was written by 1st Lieutenant Winslow D. Emery (1825-Aft1870) who served in Waddell’s Alabama Battery. The battery of six guns was commanded by James Fleming Waddell and nearly destroyed at the Battle of Champion Hill on 16 May 1863. He was later taken prisoner at the surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863 but soon after exchanged. He later rose in rank to Captain and commander of his own battery in Waddell’s Battalion. Winslow initially enlisted in May 1861 in Co. E, 6th Alabama Infantry at Montgomery. In the 1850 US Census, Winslow was identified as a native of Vermont and enumerated as a 23 year-old clerk residing in the household of W. T. Mitchell, a Montgomery merchant. He was still residing in Montgomery in 1870.

Emery wrote the letter to Sallie S. Green (1845-1917), the daughter of Bishop William Mercer Green (1798-1887) and the brother of Duncan Cameron Green (1844-1878) who was mentioned in this letter. Duncan was only 17 years old when in June 1861 he first enlisted in Co. K, 18th Mississippi Infantry. His name, “D. C. Green” was enumerated as a sergeant on the list of members in Waddell’s Battery submitted by their commander, J. F. Waddell, following the surrender at Vicksburg. Later in the war, Duncan was elevated to a 1st Lieutenant in Emery’s Battery A, 20th Alabama Light Artillery Battalion. Like his father, the Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Mississippi, Duncan was devout and after surviving the war became a minister of the gospel.

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Camp near Vicksburg, Mississippi
March 24th 1863

Miss Lilly (Susan S.) Green
Jackson, Miss.

I take great pleasure in returning thanks for the beautiful souvenir received through the politeness of your brother Duncan. I prize it highly for the donor’s sake. Your brother is with us now & is quite an acquisition to our Corps. With my best wishes for “your” happiness and that of your relatives, I am yours very truly,

— W. D. Emery, Lieut., C. S. A.