The following letter was written by Henry Dawson Wheatly (1831-1897) who enlisted in September 1862 as a private in Co. D, 50th Tennessee Infantry. He was taken prisoner in the surrender of Fort Donelson and “released as a doctor from Johnson Island” according to his muster rolls. He was elected 2nd Lieutenant of his company in June 1863 and three months later he was wounded in the Battle of Chickamauga and sent evenually to a hospital in Cassville, Georgia. The amputation of his right leg ended his military service in 1864.

Henry wrote the letter to his cousin, Major Samuel Hollingsworth Stout (1822-1903), a farmer with slaves in Giles county, Tennessee, before the Civil War, who volunteered his services as a surgeon to the Confederate Army of Tennessee. He had an M. D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Sam was a surgeon to the Third Tennessee Infantry from May to November 1861, and to Gordon Hospital in Nashville from November 1861 to February 1862.^[4] He subsequently moved to Chattanooga, where he was in charge of hospitals for the Army of Tennessee. By the summer of 1864, his responsibilities had expanded to sixty Confederate hospitals in the Southern states of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. By the end of the war, he had lost his Giles County farm.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Cassville, Georgia
May 5th 1864

Dr. S. H. Stout, my dear cousin,

I have intended writing to you ever since I have been able to go about, but it has ben almost impossible for me to confine myself long enough. Shortly after you left me, my wound ceased to heal altogether. We soon discovered that the Tibia had necrosis & of course would have to be removed. Dr. Wright performed the operation about six weeks ago since which time I have improved very fast. I am now able to go about everywhere I choose on my crutches. I hope that it will not be long before I am able to go to Atlanta & spend a few days with you. I feel that a short trip would be of great benefit to me now.

I received a letter from my sister, Mrs. Bradshaw, about four weeks since. Her family & my own were all well. She says that the Federals have broken Brother Will completely up. Poor fellow! he has ha a hard time of it. If I am not able to go to Atlanta before long, I do not know what is to become of me for I am pretty near out of clthing. Since you were here I have removed my Headquarters from Dr. Fry’s to Dr. Nichols’ ward, No. 4. It is much more convenient for me. I have a nice little room on the lower floor with the door openings on the street so that I can get in and out without any difficulty. I never can [ ] to thank you, cousin Sam, for sending me to this hospital for if I were an [ ] child, I could not be more kindly treated than I have been by Drs Hunter and Fry. And though I may live an hundred years, I can never remember them but with feelings of the deepest gratitude. If you have any spare time, please write to me. No news from the front.

Your affectionate cousin, — H. D. Wheatley