My passion is studying American history leading up to & including the Civil War. I particularly enjoy reading, transcribing & researching primary sources such as letters and diaries.
This letter was written by 2nd Lt James Place Gay (1837-1916) who first entered the service as a private on 6 July 1861 in Co. H, 33rd Pennsylvania Infantry (4th Pennsylvania Reserves). He was commissioned an officer on 1 December 1862 and was still a 2nd Lieutenant when he mustered out of the service on 17 June 1864, just days after this letter was written. Oddly, Gay says nothing of his impending departure from the military.
James was the son of Ansel Gay (1809-1882) and Elizabeth Bunnell (1812-1864) of Auburn, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania. James wrote the letter to his brother Calvin Sterling Gay (1839-1916)—one of his 15 siblings.
Gay’s letter describes the taking of Lexington, Virginia, by the Army of West Virginia in June 1864. Confederate General John McCausland’s cavalry brigade of some 1,000 troopers were no match for the roughly 18,000 Union troops under George Crook and David Hunter who combined forces to descend on the town. Delay tactics only forestalled the inevitable. When Hunter’s men entered Lexington on June 12th—the day this letter was written—they looted almost every house, business and institution in the town but they only burned the barracks at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and the former home of Virginia Governor John Letcher. McCausland, a VMI graduate, would have his revenge a little over a month later when he put over 500 structures to the torch in Chambersburg, Virginia. [Source: Lexington and the Burning of the Virginia Military Institute]
Five of the Gay family letters were acquired by the Special Collection & University Archives, Virginia Tech in 1988.
[Note: This letter is from the private collection of Greg Herr and was transcribed and published on Spared & Shared by express consent.]
Transcription
Addressed to Mr. C. S. Gay, South Auburn, Susquehanna county, Penn.
Camp near Lexington, West Virginia June 12th 1864
Brother Cal,
I take this opportunity of dropping you a few lines to let you know that we are all well and hope these few lines may find you the same.
Lexington, Virginia (Ruins of VMI in background) Digital Collection, VMI Archives
We are now encamped about one mile from Lexington in sight of the town. This is a very nice little town and a very nice country around it. Brig. General [George] Crook captured Lexington the 10th with the loss of only five or six men killed. On the 9th of June we marched out from Staunton and our company was called out as skirmishers and we soon got underway and formed the skirmishers in the front of a woods and commenced to advance till we got through the woods and came out into a cornfield and got about halfway across the [when] the rebs opened up on us from behind their fortifications made out of rails. But lucky for us, they could not reach us with their guns. If they could, we would [have] met with a warm reception but most of the men in the company went to the left and got in the woods and slipped around on the flank of the Johnny Rebs and soon made them ge up and dust. They didn’t hurt a man in the company.
We don’t get any mail now. I will have to close this time for the mail is about to go out of camp. Write soon.
The following Prisoner of War (POW) Letter was written by Pvt. John W. Brett of Co. I, 5th Battalion Florida Cavalry. He enlisted on 9 January 1864 in Henry county, Alabama, and was taken prisoner on 23 September 1864 at Eucheeanna, Florida by Federal troops under command of Brig. General Asboth. After capture, he was forwarded to New Orleans, then to Ship Island, then to New York City, and finally to the prison at Elmira, New York, arriving there on 19 November 1864. Ten days later, he wrote the following letter.
At the time he took the Oath of Allegiance and was released from Elmira Prison on 19 June 1865, he gave his place of residence as Woodville, Alabama, and was described as standing 5′ 9″ tall, with a florid complexion, light hair and grey eyes.
Brett wrote the letter to William Gibbs Porter (1799-1877), a well-to-do business man of Philadelphia whose company had strong financial and personal ties to Apalachicola and the Florida panhandle that went back to the 1830s. Porter spent much of his time in Florida until his marriage in 1843 when he made Philadelphia his permanent residence. [See Historical Notes & Documents: Philadelphia Foundations of the Wm. G. Porter Company of Apalachicola, by Judith Y. Robertson, Florida Historical Quarterly, Vo. 83, No. 3]
An 1864 view of the Elmira Prison Camp (Rob Morgan Collection)
Transcription
Addressed to Wm. G. Porter, Esq., No. 1630 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Penn.
Military Prison Ward No. 31 Elmira, New York November 29th 1864
Wm. G. Porter, Esq., Dear Sir,
I am here a prisoner of war and in a very destitute condition. I write to ask of you the favor of sending me—say twenty (20) dollars in money care of Maj. Colt, commanding prisoners. The amount shall be promptly refunded as soon as circumstances will admit—and oblige your obedient servant, — Jno. W. Brett
Roswell A. Pool, photographed by J. Coss, Springfield, OH (courtesy of Isabella O’Madden)
The following letters were written by Roswell Asbury Pool (1843-1873), the son of Robert A. Pool (1817-1853) and Mary M. Martin (1820-1884). He had two siblings, Hetty Ann Pool (1840-1915) and Sarah Sabina Pool (1845-1922). All three children were born in Iowa. After Roswell’s father died in 1853, his mother married George Edward Albin (1790-1872) and gave birth to several half siblings, including several children of George’s by former marriages with the surname Albin. They all lived in the same household in Mad River, Clark county, Ohio, at the time of the 1860 US Census.
According to military records, Roswell enlisted as a private in Co. A, 94th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI) on 11 August 1862 when he was 18 years of age. He remained in the regiment until mustering out at Washington D. C. on 5 June 1865. Though he survived the war, he did not live long. He died in 1873 and never married.
Roswell wrote the letters to his older sister, Hetty Ann (Pool) Long, the wife of John Edwin Long (1838-1913). The couple were married on 14 January 1864 in Clark county, Ohio. They settled in Corry, Erie county, Pennsylvania where John worked as a carpenter.
Letter 1
Addressed to John Long, Corry, Erie county, Pennsylvania
Camp at Tyner’s Station, 1 Tennessee March 10th, 1864
Dear Sister,
I take my pen in hand to inform you that I am well at present and that I received your kind letter of the 4th of March and I was very glad to hear that you were all well. We have a very pleasant camp now and fine weather. I am sitting in a room at the residence of a Mr. Robinson writing this. He is a very wealthy planter. He owns over five thousand acres of land and I carry the keys to his house in my pocket (pretty cool, isn’t it sister).
Well, sister, Captain [Amaziah] Winger just came in the room where I am writing and informed me that I am detailed a mounted orderly at Brigade Headquarters on Gen. [William] Carlin’s escort so you see I will have an easy time. I will have a nice horse to ride, a nigger to do my cooking & washing, & my knapsack will be hauled when we march. I say Bully for Ross.
Well, sister, I would like to know where you are going to live & what your husband Mr. Long’s trade is.
Well, sister, I have just been over to see Gen. [William] Carlin about being detailed as mounted orderly and I can’t tell whether I will be detailed or not. I was sorry to hear of the death of Daniel Hertzler. He & I used to be great cronies. Well, our time is going down hill. Tomorrow I will be in nineteen months. You said you would like to have one of my pictures. Well you can have one of those I sent home since I have been in the service.
You ought to see the young ladies here. They all chew tobacco and their teeth are as black as can be—even little children not more than 4 years old chew & smoke like old topers.
Well, I must close for this time for it is getting late & it looks like rain. From your affectionate brother, — Roswell A. Pool, Co. A, 94th O. V. I.
1st Brigade, 1st Division, 14th Army Corp
to his sister H. A. Long—how odd it sounds. My best wishes to all.
1 Tyner’s Station is about eight miles east of Chattanooga on the East Tennessee & Georgia Railroad.
Letter 2
In bivouac 9 miles from Atlanta, Georgia July 6th, 1864
Dear Brother and Sister,
I take the present opportunity of penning you a few lines to inform you that I am still in the land of the living and am well. I received your letter of the 27th of June on the 4th of July which was the best treat I had for my 4th as we were fortifying on that day. I was very glad to hear from you and to hear that you were well. I was a little surprised to hear of Sarah getting married. I thought she had intended to wait until the Blue-Coats came home. I should have liked to have been at home to attend both weddings but I was afraid Uncle Sam would not give me a furlough so I did not ask him for one.
We have very warm weather down here in the Bogus Confederacy. At present, we are in sight of the great city of Atlanta and we have fought Joe Johnston’s army three hard battles and about a dozen skirmishes on this campaign and whipped him every time. He has now made a stand at this place but it was [only] because he had to. He is hurrying his baggage across the Chattahoochee River as fast as he can. We captured about half of his train yesterday, and we have taken a great many prisoners. Deserters are coming in everyday by the dozen and they tell the old tale—that the Rebels won’t fight. They are discouraged.
We marched through Marietta on the 3rd. It has been a very pretty place before the war broke out but it is mostly destroyed now. Today is the fifty-ninth day of the campaign, and there has not been a single day in that time but what I have heard cannonading more or less and I think it has been a great deal more some days for one day I was on the skirmish line and there was two of our batteries and two of the Reb’s opened out on each other and fired right over our heads. And it kept a Yankee my size pretty busy dodging the limbs and tree tops that were cut off by the shot and shell. But I escaped with “nary a scratch.”
Hoping this will find you in good health, I shall close for the present. From your affectionate brother, — Roswell A. Pool.
I could not find an image of Horace but here is James N. Crawford of Co. H, 2nd Iowa Infantry who was about the same age. James did not reenlist either. (Mike Huston Collection)
The following letters were written by 27 year-old Horace Nichols Beadle (1836-1918), the son of John Fish Beadle (1803-1874) and Mary Waite (1802-1885) of Easton, Washington county, New York. All of the letters were addressed to Horace’s younger sister, Olive Beadle (1843-1927). Horace had two older brothers who died during the Civil War and his brother Marcus also served but survived being captivity after he was taken prisoner at Gettysburg.
It isn’t clear how Horace came to be in Iowa prior to the start of the Civil War but when he enlisted as a private on 4 May 1861, have gave Keokuk as his residence. Horace signed on to serve three years in Co. A, 2nd Iowa Infantry. In early 1864, he resisted the temptation to “veteranize” or reenlist with others of his regiment and therefore mustered out on 27 May 1864.
Letter 1
LaGrange, Tennessee September 24, 1863
Dear Sister,
Your kind letter of the 19th came to hand today & I assure you it was most welcome. I have written to Father since I wrote to you & enclosed the same amount of money. I will enclose but $20 in this as the signs of the times indicate that we may be on the wing before a great while & the probability is that we will not be paid again for some time. There is various rumors afloat about Old Rosey [Rosecran’s] Battle in northern Georgia [see Battle of Chickamauga] which has been progressing these last few days but we have no fears in regard to the result for we know that he has some troops that will fight & we also know that he is a fighting man for we have been under him in battle.
I should think that it was almost time for the Army of the Potomac to have another round. I see by the papers that it is all quiet on the Rappahannock. I was sorry to hear that Marcus 1 was taken prisoner. You very probably will hear from him by the bye. they are not exchanging prisoners at present
Tell Uncle Elijah 2 that he may expect to see me next summer sometime for we are only eight months men now & then we will let some of the new ones go in for awhile. I saw several names on the list that you sent of persons that I knew & there are other names that I could mention that I would like to have seen in place of some that were on it. I cannot think of anything more to write so I will draw this to a close. Give my respects to all enquiring friends.
From your brother, — H. Beadle
N. B. Write as soon as you receive this.
1 Marcus Beadle (1834-1913) served as 1st Lieutenant in the 123rd New York Infantry. He was taken wounded at Chancellorsville on 1 May 1863 but not so badly that he couldn’t be on duty at Gettysburg on 2 July 1863 where he was taken a prisoner. He escaped captivity at Winnsboro, South Carolina, on 14 February 1865 and mustered out of the service on 8 June 1865. 123rd New York Infantry.
2 Horace’s bachelor uncle Elijah Beadle (1795-1866) was a farmer in Washington county, New York. In the 1855 State Census, Horace was enumerated in Elijah’s household.
Letter 2
Addressed to Miss Olive Beadle, South Easton, Washington county, New York
Pulaski, Tennessee December 27, 1863
Dear Sister,
Your kind favor of December 13th was duly received & I now seat myself to write a few lines in reply. We are having very wet, disagreeable weather in this vicinity. There is nothing but mud. There has been about 175 of our regiment reenlisted & gone to Iowa on furloughs. I made up my mind that I would wait awhile. I want to see them draft a few of those Copperheads up North first.
We had a very nice dinner Christmas. It was sent to us by the Ladies of Keokuk & you had better believe that we enjoyed it much. I received that letter of yours that had the picture in about one week ago. It looks first rate.
I had a letter from Lewis Phelps a few days ago. He was well. There is nothing of any importance transpiring so I will draw this to a close. Give my love to all inquiring friends. Hoping to hear from you soon again, I remain as ever your brother, — Horace Beadle
Co. A, 2nd Iowa Infantry Pulaski, Tennessee
Letter 3
Pulaski, Tennessee January 29th 1864
Dear Sister,
Your kind letter of the 17th has this moment come to hand. I was much pleased to hear from you but was sorry to hear that Mother was unwell.
I am enjoying good health as is the whole command. The surgeons have but very little to do at present as there is not many left here now. As all the Vets have gone home on furloughs, we have a great deal of duty to do. Besides, guerrillas are taking advantage of our weakness & trying to bother us all they can. They attacked a couple of wagons yesterday and captured 8 men & killed one. Our train was only about 1 mile behind. They could not get up in time to assist them though they did not have time to destroy the wagons.
I do not think that I shall reenlist for awhile at least. I had a letter from Lewis Phelps a few days ago. He was well. There is a good many Rebel deserters coming inside of our lines now & taking the Oath of Allegiance.
Well, Olive, there is so much noise here tonight that I can’t write. Give my love to all. Hoping to hear from you again, I remain as ever your brother, — Horace Beadle
The following Prisoner of War letter was written by Pvt. Josiah Lawson Rainey (1832-1905), the son of Thomas Muttor Rainey (1799-1859) and Mary Claiborne Echols (1797-1847) of Maury county, Tennessee. Josiah was married to Nancy Ann Jones (1837-1912) in June 1854 and by the time this letter was written in 1864, the couple had three young boys—William (b. 1857), Josiah (b. 1860), and John (b. 1862).
I could not find an image of Josiah but here is one of Hiram Hendley, also of Maury county, who served in Co. A, 9th Tennessee Cavalry(M. Williams Colorizations)
Josiah enlisted in October 1862 in Co. E. of Biffle’s 19th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry [his name sometimes appearing as Raines on roster]. This regiment—usually known as “Biffle’s 9th Cavalry“—fought at Parker’s Cross Roads, Thompson’s Station, Brentwood, and Chickamauga. Later it skirmished in Tennessee and was then active in the Atlanta Campaign and Forrest’s operations during Hood’s Campaign. I could not find the date of Josiah’s capture but presume it was in 1864.
At the time of his release from prison, upon signing the Oath of Allegiance at Camp Morton on 25 October 1864, Josiah was described as standing 5’10” tall, with brown hair and grey eyes. After the war, Josiah settled in Henry county, Tennessee, where he served his community as a physician.
Josiah L. Rainey’s signed Oath of Allegiance, dated 25 October 1864, Camp Morton(Fold 3)
Transcription
Camp Morton, Ind[ianapolis, Indiana] Sunday evening, July 3rd 1864
My Dear Annie,
This is the 5th [letter] I shall have written you since receiving one from you. My health is much the same as when I wrote last. Mrs. Lawrence’s letter was dated June 3rd but she must have meant 23rd for your last was dated the 5th June. I immediately answered it and am much grieved that you are all sick and particularly that you are sick for when you are not able to wait upon the little children who are sick too, I fear that they and you will suffer for want of nursing. But I do hope that e’re this, you are all better, if not entirely well. I have a letter from Mug stating that sister was packed up and ready to start here to see me and then to go on to Tennessee, if able to travel. But she is in very bad health and I am very doubtful of her being able to go on to see you immediately. but if she is, she will go on without any more than necessary delay. In the mean time if you are able, you had better return home and make such arrangements for her reception and comfort as best you can for she will need all the attention that you will be able to give her. And should anything occur to prevent her going on, I will let you know it if possible. Please write to me immediately for it would seem that you had forgotten that I am intensely anxious always to hear from you and the poor “little ones.” Give them my love and kiss them by sister. Goodbye. Write soon.
Eternally, — Jo. L. Rainey
Address Jo. L. Rainey (Prisoner of War) Camp Morton, Indiana
to Mrs. Jo. L. Rainey, Culleoka, Tennessee In care of commanding office of Post
I could not find an image of Alexander or Richard but here is one of Stephen Burkdall of Co. G, 67th Indiana (Photo Sleuth)
This letter was written by two soldiers serving as privates in Co. H, 67th Indiana Infantry while being held prisoner at Camp Morton near Indianapolis in November 1862. The letter had been previously sold as having been written by Confederate soldiers but the content suggested Union to me which led me to the discovery of their identity. Co. H and most all of the 67th Indiana Infantry—yet raw and untrained—participated in the Battle of Munfordville in Kentucky in mid-September 1862 where they were all captured. Too many prisoners for Confederate military prisons to handle, they were paroled and sent back to Indianapolis to await exchange. That exchange did not occur until early December 1862, when the regiment headed west to the Mississippi River to become part of the Vicksburg campaign.
Co. H. was recruited from Lawrence county in southern Indiana and it was here that I found our two boys. Alexander Edwards (1844-1923) was the son of Henderson Edwards but seems to have been raised by the Cox family. He married Sarah Jane Pipher (1846-1915) in 1874.
Richard Cox (1844-1917) was the son of Alexander and Mary Cox of Spice Valley. Lawrence county, Indiana. This letter was written to Richard’s younger brother, William D. Cox (b. 1846).
Transcription
Camp Morton Indianapolis [Indiana] November 9th 1862
Dear Brother,
I take my pen in hand to let you know that I am well and I hope when these few lines come to hand, they may find you well and doing well. I would like to see [you] the best kind. I would like to come home and spend a few more days with you and I hope when the day will come when I can come home to stay with you.
I can say to you that we are exchanged and I guess that we will not stay here long. This is the muddiest place I ever seen. We like to swimmed off last night.
You must write to me and let me know how you are getting along. I guess that I have wrote all that is of any use. I will close by asking you to write to me. This from R. Cox to D. Cox.
This from your dear brother to my dear brother. Write soon as you get this.
A few lines from A. E. D. Cox to let you know that I am well and I hope when these few lines comes to hand, they may find you well and doing well.
Well, Dave, you must hug and kiss the girls for me and tell them how that I love them and you can guess how I love them. I do hope when the time will come when I can come home and go to the little red house.
We are exchanged and bound for Dixie. I must close. The boys has come in and I can’t write to do no good and I will close by asking you to write. This from Alexander Edward to William D. Cox
When this you see, remember me. Write soon as you get this and don’t forget to write about the girls.
This letter was written by William Hazzard Wigg (1809-1875), a South Carolina native who worked in the District of Columbia prior to and during the Civil War as a government worker. He was married in July 1853 to Emma Maria Stevens (1825-1899) of Connecticut—the sister of Admiral Thomas Holdup Stevens, Jr., U. S. Navy. By his first wife, Margaret Euphemia Patterson (1809-1848), Wigg had at least three children before she died in 1848, one of which was Samuel Patterson Wigg (1842-1862) who met his death on the battlefield at Sharpsburg in September 1862 carrying the regimental banner in Co. H, 1st South Carolina Infantry. Wigg recovered his son’s remains from the battlefield the following January though his final resting place remains unknown.
William was the son of William Hutson Wigg (1777-1827) and Sarah Galt Martin (1783-1809). He was sometimes referred to as “Capt.” or “Maj.” Wigg though I’m unaware if he was ever in the military. Clearly the Civil War tested his loyalty and he may have, indeed, clandestinely done all in his power to aid the Southern cause. Newspaper notices from the period indicate he was frequently harassed and arrested by the military authorities and he was the object of derision by loyalists who knew of his southern heritage and family connections. He was still working for the Internal Revenue Service as late as 1870.
Charles Jones Colcock Hutson
Wigg wrote the letter to his relative, Lieut. Charles Jones Colcock Hutson of Co. H, 1st South Carolina Infantry, who was Adjutant of the regiment when he was taken prisoner at Harper’s Farm, Virginia, on 6 April 1865 and sent to Johnson’s Island on 17 April 1865. He was released on Oath of Allegiance on 6 June 1865. At the time of his release from prison he was described as 23 years old and a resident of Pocotaligo, South Carolina. Charles’ father was Richard Woodward Hutson. Readers will notice that Charles served in the same regiment and company as Wigg’s son, Samuel P. Wigg.
Wigg’s letter conveys $50 to his young relative, Charles Hutson, for his use with two other officers from South Carolina, to make their way from Johnson’s Island Prison, as soon as they were released, to Alexandria, Virginia, where he would meet them, give them lodging and the means to make the rest of their journey home to South Carolina. He advises them to make sure their papers are in order and to go immediately to the Provost Marshal’s office in Alexandria when they arrive, not taking time “to kick a dog out of your path” in order to show their papers and avoid arrest.
Transcription
Alexandria, Virginia May 2, 1865
Charles J. Hutson, Adjutant & Prisoner of War Johnson’s Island, Block 3, Room 18
My dear young relative,
The restriction to my correspondence with rebels having been removed by the cancelling of my prohibitive [ ], I write to say that from Miss Stewart (who with her sisters are noble-minded, benevolent & devoted ladies), I learn that her brother (a Capt. & fellow prisoner of yours) has written to her stating that the prisoners at your prison have been generally determined to take the oath [of allegiance] and take their discharge.
Advertisement for rent of home placed by W. H. Wigg in the Alexandria Gazette on 8 July 1865
Poor fellows. I sympathize with them, one and all, and cannot think otherwise than they have acted wisely. He states also that no transportation will be furnished them but they must get home the best way they can. I consider yourself, Col. George W. C. Miller, & Lieut. Crawford all from poor, lost, and subjugated South Carolina as under my special protection & therefore, to enable you three to get here on your way home, I enclose you fifty dollars—all I have at this moment to share. And when you reach here (on landing at the wharf, enquire for No. 9, South Fairfax Street), I will accommodate you as best I may & will provide you with the means of going on.
On reference to the railroad map, I find there is no shorter or better road home than via this place, via Relay House near Baltimore, via Wheeling, Va., via Cambridge, OH, via Zanesville, OH, via Newark, OH, via Mt. Vernon, OH, via Mansfield, OH, via Sandusky, OH. This I am told is the most direct and cheapest rout & from here you can get on to Richmond without difficulty and thence home.
I hope the $50 will serve to bring all of you on here although it will be close shaving. If I am misinformed as to the intention of your (or either of you) obtaining release by taking the oath, then you may appropriate the money enclosed according to your discretion.
Hoping I shall see you all in health very shortly, I remain truly your affectionate cousin, &c. &c, — W. Haz. Wigg
P. S. If you come here, you must take care to provide yourself with all of the right kind of papers, else you will fall under the tender care of our Provost Marshal who has but a single opinion of all rebels & the method of their treatment. By the by, on landing, you had better proceed at once from the boat up King Street to his office & report before you say a word to any living human being, or even tarrying to kick a dog out of your path. If you do start for this place, do give us a little notice of your coming.
These letters were written by Alexander Hamilton Phillips (1804-1880), a native of Montgomery county, New York, who graduated from Union College in 1826, studied law until 1830, and then taught in the Lawrenceville, New Jersey, prep school for boys. He came to Texas in 1837, was admitted to the Texas Bar the following year and practiced law in Houston and Galveston. From 1839 to 1841 he was in partnership with Milford Phillips Norton. After both men visited Refugio County in the interests of a client, Phillips settled in Lamar, where he married Susan B. MacRae. He represented Refugio County in the Eighth Congress of the Republic of Texas, in 1843–44. He moved to Victoria and served the district after annexation as a senator in the first three state legislatures, 1846–50. From 1852 to 1861 Phillips practiced law in partnership with John McClanahan. The 1860 census listed him as owning $35,000 in real and personal property, including seven slaves. After the Civil War he served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1866. He was an incorporator of the Central Transit Company Railroad, chartered in November 1866 and intended to connect Texas with the Pacific coast but never built. He formed a partnership with Samuel A. Neville in 1868 and in 1870 joined the firm of Samuel C. Lackey and future Texas Supreme Court chief justice John William Stayton; the firm was renamed Phillips, Lackey, and Stayton. In the 1870s Phillips was senior member of the Victoria bar, whose members claimed that “his was a name to conjure by.” Phillips was an elder of the Presbyterian church at Victoria for thirty years and was one of the founders and incorporators of Aranama College. He died in Victoria on June 24, 1880.
Two sons, Alexander H. Phillips, Jr., and William Phillips, both served the Confederacy as officers in the Sixth Texas Infantry. Alexander served as major of that unit until his death in Montgomery, Alabama, on June 4, 1863. William was captured at Arkansas Post in 1863 and taken to the notorious Camp Chase, Ohio, where he died. [Source Handbook of Texas]
Letter 1
Addressed to Master A. H. & Wm W. Phillips, Lawrenceville, New Jersey
[The Republic of Texas] 15th February 1838
My dear little boys,
I think you are quite big enough to receive a letter from your father. It is about three thousand miles from where I am now writing to Lawrenceville. After your Aunt Sarah and cousin William Cochran and I had traveled a great ways in the carriage, we took our horses and all on a steamboat and came the rest of the way by water, first on one boat, then on another. Little Juno was with us all the time and don’t you think that a very naughty man here in Texas wanted to buy Juno of me! When he found I would not sell her, he watched for a chance and early in the morning he stole here and went away off to the Brazos River. It was two weeks before I could hear anything of her. But the man who take care of her for me was out that way buying cattle and saw her and brought her back. She was so glad she barked and whined and almost talked.
And I have something to tell you about Nero, Bravo, and Fidel too. The men did not take good care of them and Bravo and Nero got away in the woods and hunted by themselves and would not come into the houses. Bravo, after a few days, was caught in a wolf trap and brought to a house but was not hurt by the trap. This happened before I got here. And Nero still stayed in the woods and was found in about the time I got here, lying dead, apparently bit by the wolves. But I think had just been short. The wolves here are too coward to attack a dog and I think the man who found him had shot him himself. Well, I was very sorry for you know I thought a great deal of Nero and because he was Hammy’s dog. Well, I found Bravo and Fidel but when I started to go up the country with them, I had to put a rope on Bravo for he wanted all the time to chase the rabbits and other things.
The day after I got up to where I intended to leave them, I took my rifle and went out to shhot a deer. I started one very soon but did not mean to let the dogs run after it till after I had shot. But they started before I shot and as soon as the dogs came to the track, they went off after the deer full drive—Fidel too.
It began to rain and I went to the house but the dogs did not come back before the fifth day for they got lost. At last they came back and were very hungry. The deer are very handsome and the meat is better than mutton. There are so many here that as soon as you know the grounds, it is easy to shoot one every day. There are very curious squirrels here. They are very large & handsome and yellow in color, inclined to grey. I shot one’s head off with my rifle and found him very fat and excellent eating. The wolves bark something like a dog and are very destructive to the sheep. They are about as large as Nero was. Some black like Don and some are grey. I chased one in the prairie with my horse and got quite near him but the ground became too soft for the horse, and so the wolf got away.
Elias shot a raccoon that was very fat. The raccoons and bears and squirrels often destroy the corn very much so that the people have to watch the fields and keep a great many dogs to keep them off. Many people lost their dogs during the War [of Texas Independence] and good ones now are very scarce. A man offered me fifty dollars for Little Juno but I knew you would not want me to sell her. I told him he could not have her.
The people here travel altogether on horseback in the winter because the roads are bad and there are no bridges yet to cross the creeks, In the summer, they ride in wagons and some have carriages. They have no schools and churches yet but by next fall they will have schools. And now they have preaching in private houses. In cold weather, many people cut a hole in a blanket big enough to put their heads through and so keep warm. Some of them are Mexican blankets and are very handsome. The Indians here shoot deer, turkeys, and squirrels for the white people but they spend most of their money for whiskey and get drunk.
You might let your little sister read this letter too and when she gets one, she must let you and Willy read hers too. You must let Cousin Emily keep your letter for you. Remember and be very good children and then when I come home, I will tell you a great many more things about Texas. You must tell Mr. Johnes Boerly that I mean to write to him after I return from San Antonio.
Adieu, — A. H. Phillips
I have sent by this mail the necessary payment to H. Green for the making of his deed and given directions about the money….There are a variety of sleeping apartments in this country. I have observed one man with a hogstand sheltered from winter and rain. Those behind logs are not so well off as the wind changes sometimes before morning. This morning it was very cold—the first of any note that pinched me.
The steamer Constitution (between N. O. and Galveston) has been wrecked. No lives lost She was at N. O. when I left was then considered unseaworthy. Much property lost by her.
On Monday I start on a tour of about 600 miles. Elias run 100 balls for the expedition beside some pistol balls. Don’t be alarmed. I shall take good care to keep out of shooting distance. I have written to Dr. Breckinridge by this mail of matters in general. What has become of the large sheet so warmly promised? Your last letter will probably remain at N. O. till the next boat as they have commanded to go over but I have been disobeyed. — A. H. P.
Letter 2
Addressed to Miss Emily Van Dervier, Lawrenceville, New Jersey
Bexar [Republic of Texas] March 8, 1839
My Dear Emily,
Before I left Houston two months ago, I wrote to Cochran to detain your letters at New Orleans till I apprised him of my return to Houston. This accounts for my not having heard from you in a long time as well as for your not receiving letters from me lately with as much regularity as usual. At this place, the population is mostly Mexican. I have been much amused here in learning the manners and customs of the people. I have devoted all my leisure hours to the Spanish grammar and have advanced so far in the acquisition of the language that I can understand the run of their conversation generally and can so far speak it as to make myself understood with regard to anything I wish to communicate. Some few of them understand a little English or American as they universally call our language. The Spanish is the easiest language I ever undertook to learn. The greatest difficulty is the pronunciation though when you hear it hourly this may be mastered in a very short time. The vowels have one invariable sound, whatever their position with regard to other letters. The consonants are altogether different in pronunciation from any and vary according to their position. The vowels are sounded differently from ours but having always the same sound are easily mastered.
I will not occupy my paper in details about the people. This will answer us when we have nothing else to talk of during the summer.
I have about completed the several objects of my coming here and have some idea of leaving for Houston in the course of two weeks. I have two surveys to make before I can go. As the excitement of speculation begins to wear off by the completion of my business, I begin to feel the first movings of the excitement so natural and unavoidable to one who has so long been absent and is about making preparations to meet all that is dear to him on earth/ I don’t know yet how soon I shall be able to leave for the States but we have limited ourselves to the 1st of May—if circumstances will permit.
Swett writes me that our notes are not paid punctually but that business is very good. I don’t wish to start home with less than four thousand dollars, This will be of but little account of the loan obtained by Texas does not help to enhance the values of Texas money. If it does not, I shall not sacrifice it at the value it has had in the States during the winter. I am satisfied that the time is not far distant when there will be more silver & gold in circulation in Texas for the population it contains, than in any other country. Here are the mines and these have only to be opened and worked to enrich the country and to furnish a source of currency.
An expedition is now getting up against the Indians and as soon as they are thoroughly whipped, capital will be inverted to develop the resources of these tremendous mountains. The Mexicans were at one time exclusively engaged in these operations as is clear from report not only but from actual remains of their labor. Our plan, we have located on, still had a ladder in it. Another has been worked to an extent which it would take our men a whole year to effect the work. Copper & Coal mines are also so abundant & Lead, that they are not considered worth locating.
If we leave the first of May, we shall probably be at Philadelphia about the 3rd week to rig up. You would be amused to see our present style of living. Sometimes we live well and at others we have parched corn for bread & meat, and corn coffee for drink. It depends on where we are. For the last two months I have twice undressed and went to bed. we sleep in our blankets. I have, however, had all along clean under clothes and shirts, but my stockings sometimes are rather sorry, showing more toe than is altogether “agabable” as the Mexicans say. Make me a few shirts with ruffles.
Kiss the children for me. There is a little boy here (American father & Mexican mother) whom looks so much like Hammy that the first time I saw him, I followed him about the streets for an hour. I could not leave him. Adieu “Señorita” — A. H. P.
This letter was written by a Revolutionary War Soldier named John Mix (1753-1817) of New Haven, Connecticut. John’s biography was published in 1886 and includes a length description of his activities during the Revolutionary War as a Lieutenant of Marines, including his capture and imprisonment on the famous Prison Ship Jersey in New York Harbor for six months.
The biography does not say much about John’s activities after the American Revolution, simply stating that “in business, he was unsuccessful, and in 1808 he removed to New York and again engaged in trade, but gave it up at the breaking out of the War of 1812. From this letter we learn that at the age of 60, he was still engaged in supporting his country in the disposition of arms on behalf of his state. A search of newspapers from the period reveals that John had been servings as Quarter Master General for the State Militia of Connecticut until he resigned in November 1814.
The letter was addressed to Gen. Enoch Foote who served as a Connecticut militia officer before and during the War of 1812. Enoch was tasked by the Governor to maintain a militia to be called out on short notice to protect the coastal region between Stratford Point and Black Rock, thus protecting Bridgeport itself.
The guns provided were not identified but may have been the 1795 Model Springfield which came with a detachable bayonet.
Transcription
Addressed to General Enoch Foot, Bridgeport, [Connecticut]
New Haven [Connecticut] April 27, 1814
General E. Foot, Sir,
I shall forward to you in a short time by order of his Excellency, Gov. [John Cotton] Smith, one box of muskets (25) for the use of the matross [artillery] company at Bridgeport. For these guns you will consider yourself responsible (casualties of war excepted) and are not to be given out to individuals except on a pressing emergency, to be returned to you again when such emergency ceases. It will be found that the bayonet has the same character on it as there is on the sight of the gun which it fits; flints and cartridges you will find in your magazine.
The bills you forwarded to me a few weeks ago since had some informality in them, but not having them with me, do not now recollect and cannot point out what it is; will endeavor to do it on my return home. The bill for transporting the baggage of the second detachment was paid at New London when dismissed by my assistant at that place by Mr. Hez[ekiah] Goddard.
Hugh Mortimer Nelson’s Long Branch House in Clarke county, Va.
The following letter was penned in Clarke county, Virginia, by Hugh Mortimer Nelson (1811-1862). An on-line biographical sketch produced by his Long Branch estate informs us that:
Hugh Mortimer Nelson, born in Hanover County, Virginia, on October 20, 1811, was a well-educated and scholarly teacher, an enterprising and progressive farmer, and a cavalry officer for the Confederacy. Hugh was the fourteenth of fifteen children to Francis Nelson and Lucy Page, and grandson of politician John Page and Declaration of Independence signer, Thomas Nelson Jr.
During his childhood, Hugh Nelson received an early education at home from an elder brother. At the age of fourteen he was sent to a classical school four miles from his home, and at sixteen he entered the Academy at Winchester. Moving on to the University of Virginia in 1830, Hugh graduated with a Master of Arts, one of the University’s first graduates to earn the degree. It is said that while at UVa, “when worn down by work, he would get a fellow student to pump water on his head, to arouse him for renewed efforts.” After graduation, Hugh became a teacher in Charles City County – the university’s first graduate to enter the profession in Virginia.
In 1836, while on a visit to a Virginia spring, Hugh met 20-year-old Anna Maria Adelaide Holker. The two were married that November, honeymooned in Europe, and finally settled in Baltimore where Hugh, after more study, was admitted to the bar. However, before establishing himself in the legal profession, the Nelsons returned to Virginia, a decision which Hugh felt was the great mistake of his life. In a speech at the Virginia Secession Convention in 1861, it seems evident that his reason for returning to Virginia was homesickness. Back in Virginia, Hugh Nelson bought Long Branch from his uncle Philip Nelson for $32,000. They moved in with Adelaide’s mother, Nancy D. Holker, and their 3-year-old daughter “Nannie.” (A son, Hugh Nelson Jr was born a few years later). It was at this time the couple renovated Long Branch. One of these changes included putting a distinct Greek Revival stamp on the manor. They built the grand circular staircase in the entry hall and the rooftop belvedere, as well as enclosed the loggia and most likely added both porticos and the Gothic battlements to the house. The house was not the only part of the plantation that changed once Nelson bought the land. New technologies and techniques in farming started to influence the landowners in Virginia who looked to increase their already rich fields. Hugh rarely returned home from state agricultural fairs, and spent his leisure hours reading both modern and ancient literature. Unfortunately, due to an accident on the farm around 1848, Nelson was advised to go to Europe for surgical treatment. There he witnessed street fighting and protests against the Second French Republic.
In 1861, when the question of Secession was forced upon Virginia, a Convention was called to decide the answer. Nelson remained firm for the Union, and was elected by a large majority to represent Clarke County. Hugh wrote several letters home while the Convention was in session, in which he gives interesting insight into the tensions in the room. After an ordinance of Secession was passed, he wrote, “When I think of the past, and look forward to the future, it almost unnerves me.”After raising a company of cavalry in Clarke, he served under J.E.B. Stuart before being reassigned as the aide-de-camp, with the rank of Major of Cavalry, for General Richard S. Ewell, one of Stonewall Jackson’s division commanders. In May of 1862, under General Ewell, Hugh Nelson joined Jackson’s Valley Campaign.
Hugh was one of 6,402 Confederate soldiers wounded during the Battle of at Gaines Mill on June 27. Given a leave of absence, he went to the house of his cousin, Mr. Keating Nelson, in Abermarle County where he succumbed to typhoid fever, and passed away on August 6, 1862. He is buried in the Old Chapel Cemetery in Millwood, VA. Hugh had been the first layman to serve at Christ Church in Millwood. Upon his death, the Vestry wrote that they feel “…each one of them has lost a warm and valued friend; the community a public-spirited citizen; the country a devoted patriot, and the Church one of its most useful members.” An ever devoted Virginian, Hugh said on March 26, 1861, in a speech to the Chairman of the Virginia Secession Convention, “…of all the stars upon our national flag, the star of Virginia ‘is the bright particular star’ which fills my vision…All my ancestors, for near two hundred years, have lived and died in Virginia…Stern necessity, sir, once compelled me to leave her border—I felt like an exile from my native land —I thought of her by day, I dreamed of her by night. When laid upon the bed of sickness, in the delirium of fever, I was singing ‘carry me back to Old Virginia.’ I never breathed freely till I got back within her bounds. …the potent associations of my childhood bind me to her—all the joys and all the griefs of my manhood have daguerreotyped her on my heart—and I can say, as Mary of England said of Calais, when I am dead, take out my heart and you will find Virginia engraved upon it. May she be my home through life, and when I am dead, may my ashes repose within her soil.” Hugh’s death left his wife Adelaide in charge of Long Branch’s affairs, marking a change in the history of the plantation. Not only was the area devastated by war, but Long Branch also suffered from the financial hardships of the now deceased Hugh Nelson. Thus, the future of Long Branch fell into the hands of the unprepared, but forever resilient, Adelaide.
In the 1850 Slave Schedules, Hugh M. Nelson is reported to have owned 19 slaves ranging in age from 1 to 60. his brother, Philip Nelson owned as many as 35 slaves.
This letter informs us that, on occasion, the Nelson brothers used the slave auction house of R. H. Dickinson & Bro. of Richmond, Virginia, to buy and sell slaves. Their usual business entailed the purchase of slaves in Virginia and Maryland for resale in bigger, Deep South markets. Richard Henry Dickinson went in the slave-trading business about 1844. By the late 1840’s, he (with his brothers) was selling as many as 2,000 slaves annually. The biographical sketch of Dickinson and his company can be found at Encyclopedia Virginia.
This building at the corner of Franklin and Wall Streets in Richmond was used by slave traders, including R. H. Dickinson, to sell slaves. It was originally used as a tobacco warehouse.
Transcription
Near Millwood, Clark County, Va. 1 March 23rd 1850
R. H. Dickinson Richmond Va.
Dear Sir, I sent a Negro woman to you to sell for me—or rather I’d gotten me a boy at the junction to do so—ever since the 17th of Feb. and have written no less than three times to you about her, and have as yet received no answer from you with regard to her. I will thank you as soon as you receive this to write to me and let me hear whether you even got her. If you have, I will thank you to let me know if you think she will sell for about what I gave for her. My price for her $650.
I wrote you in my letters to keep her about ten days and unless Mr. John Pass of Hanover wrote to you to send her up to Hanover to him, to sell her to the highest bidder for cash. If you haven’t sold her as yet, unless she will clear me $650, I will thank you to send her up to Beaver Dam Depot, Hanover. My brother, Mr. Philip Nelson, and I will pay all expenses.
I like the woman I purchased from you very much and should like to get her husband. I have several servants which do not suit me whom I intended to send to you to sell for me & to purchase others in their stead but I have had so much difficulty about hearing about this one that I reckon I had better sell them up here for what I can get. I shall hope however to hear from you by the return mail.
Respectfully, — Hugh M. Nelson
Direct to me near Millwood, Clark county, Va.
1 Millwood grew up around Burwell’s Mill, built in 1760 by Daniel Morgan. In October 1862, Gen. Stonewall Jackson established his headquarters at Carter Hall.
Spared & Shared 23 