I could not find an image of Richard but here is one of Gus Hale who was about the same age and also served in the 9th Virginia Cavalry. He was also from Stony Hill, Richmond county, Va. (Ancestry.com)
The following letter was written by Richard J. Norris (1831-1863) who enlisted as a private in Co. D, 9th Virginia Cavalry in mid-September 1861. He was wounded in the Battle of Brandy Station on 9 June 1863 and died at Richmond on 2 July 1863.
Richard addressed the letter to Mary C. Hinton (1843-1917), the daughter of George Crowther Hinton (a house carpenter) and Margaret A. Brown of Stony Hill, Richmond county, Va. Mary never married. In the 1860 US Census, 29 year-old Richard Norris was employed as a laborer on the adjacent farm of Joseph R. Haynie. Joseph was married to Elizabeth Norris (b. 1828), almost certainly Richard’s older sister. Joseph also served the Confederacy, first as a foot soldier in the 37th Virginia Militia, and then later as a member of the 9th Virginia Cavalry, Co. K. Both Joseph and his wife Elizabeth were born in Lancaster, Virginia, as was Richard.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Addressed to Miss M. C. Hinton, Richmond county, Virginia
Fort Lowry, Essex county, Virginia October 31, 1861
To Miss M. C. Hinton
As I have a leisure hour to spare, I will employ myself by writing you a few lines. I arrived at the fort yesterday with a few others of our company. We were encamped at Dunnsville when we first came over on this side, but Monday Col. [George E.] Pickett got a dispatch from Richmond stating a fleet would attack him at the fort in the evening at 2 o’clock and our company and the Essex Cavalry 1 were ordered down here immediately last Tuesday week.
I was taken with a chill and have been confined to the bed ever since until today, I went out about 12 o’clock. I was carried to a private house when I was first taken where I remained until yesterday when I was removed down here to Mr. Warren’s where I expect to stay until I get fit for service which I hope I will be soon. Dr. [Thaddeus Constantine] Montague pronounced my sickness to be the bilious fever. Several of our company over here is sick and six in Lancaster, making thirteen in all on the sick list. The sick are treated very well over here. They have no right to complain.
I hope this may find you and all the family well and I hope also you may continue so. Give my respects to the people in the neighborhood—especially to Betsy and all the children and sister and her children Frances and Margaret, and everybody. But don’t forget to retain a portion for yourself. I cannot tell when I shall be over. It may be long or it may be short.
Since I have been writing, Capt. [Meriweather] Lewis received orders not to let a man leave the camp. The enemy is expected every minute. There has been a steamer in sight this evening. If there is no fleet up here in a week or so, we will be sent to Yorktown. It has already been rumored if we go down there, there we will stay until next spring. Nearly every man in our company are wishing for the fleet to come in sight. Capt. Lewis is quite a big man over here. He has command of two companies of 80 each.
Though we are separated by the deep waters, yet I think of thee and hope you have not forgotten me. If you feel disposed to answer this, I shall be very glad to receive the answer. I would be very glad to hear from you and everybody in the neighborhood. I intend to write to sister Betsy and Fanny. If you write, direct your letter to Dunnsville, Essex county, Va. in the care of Capt. Lewis. You can send a letter from Heathville or the church in ten or twelve hours to Dunnsville which is only two miles from here.
I must now close by asking you to excuse my pencil as pen and ink is hard to come at. I still remain your devoted admirer and hope the same from you. — Richard J. Norris
1 The “Essex Cavalry” refers to the Essex Light Dragoons ( or Co. F of the 9th Virginia Cavalry). They were located at Camp Bryon near Dunnsville until October 1861 when they were ordered to Fort Lowry to assist in the fort’s defense and to conduct scouting missions.
The following letter was written by Henry Basye (1835-1916), the son of William Falcon Basye (1790-1846) and Harriet Caroline Deshields (1801-1860) of Northumberland county, Virginia. Henry was married in December 1859 to Annie Ball Harding (1840-1915) and the couple were enumerated in the household of Annie’s father, Washington William Harding, who had a farm near Lottsburg, Virginia.
I could not find an image of Henry but here is one of Pvt. William B. Todd of Co. E, 9th Virginia Cavalry (LOC)
Henry enlisted in April 1861 as private in Co. D, 9th Virginia Cavalry. After a year’s service, he accepted a bounty of $50 to reenlist for three more years. Muster rolls suggest he was present for duty most of the time he was in the service except for the spring of 1864 when he was absent on sick leave and without leave. In this letter, dated early September 1863, he writes considerably about his desire to obtain a furlough to return home but informs his wife that his horse is too lame to make the trip. His muster rolls inform us that he was finally detailed to go home “to get a horse” in late October 1863.
Henry’s letter was datelined from Culpeper, Virginia, where the men and horses were recruiting from their long campaign into Pennsylvania and back. Referring to the Gettysburg Campaign, Henry wrote: “Annie, you say if we were not whipped in Pennsylvania, we did not make [achieve] anything by going over there, but we done them so bad that they would not attack us when we waited for them three days at Hagerstown. Meade has tried to get them to come over here, but he can’t get them to come over. They say they won’t come over here to be murdered, so you may know that a burnt child dreads the fire.”
Considerable information may be found on-line about Henry Basye and his farm at Cherry Point near Lottsburg, Virginia, in the publication, “The Confederate Philatelist,” Vol. 65, No. 3. It was written by Patricia A. Kaufmann in 2020. See Jenkins Express—A New Listing.
Transcription
Addressed to Mrs. Annie B. Basye, Lottsburg, Northumberland county, Virginia, Cherry Point
[Culpeper, Virginia] September 4th [1863]
Dear Annie, I expected to have been home this week but owing to my detail being sent in too late for this time, can’t come. Gus Betts and myself both were to come home together, but our details were disapproved, but we will come the next time I think. I don’t expect to come home before the 15th of October, if then. Our boys ought to have been here last Monday but they are not here yet. That is the reason that we can’t get off no sooner We have got to wait until they come and then wait until the details that were in ahead of us go and come back. They have 20 days so you may judge how long it will be before I can come home. I tell you, I am very sorry that I can’t come home, but [even] if my detail had been in time, I don’t think I could come home now. [My horse] Kate is very lame at this time. I would have to wait until she gets well. She is getting a great deal better than she was a few days ago. We are getting good feed for our horses. We are getting green corn and old corn and hay. Kate is thriving every day. I hope by the time my detail cones in, she will be well, and then I can come home in double quick time.
Everything is quiet up here at this time but I am afraid this is a calm which precedes a great storm. We are in Culpeper yet. Our pickets and the Yankee pickets are in the same field. They talk to each other everyday, exchange papers, trade tobacco for sugar and coffee, and so on.
Annie, I got the letter you sent by Captain Cox. It reads like you would like to see me. I am very sorry that you were disappointed. You must not look for me until you see me. I am looking for our boys to come in every day and I expect to send this letter by one of the detail that is now waiting to go down I am afraid you will not send me a letter by Dick. You say you want my likeness. Well, if the man that takes ambrotypes comes from Orange Court House before we leave here, you shall certainly have it. I have been waiting for him a long time.
Annie, when you write to me, let me know what your Pa has done with his colt and let me know how your colt is coming on. Let me know if Pa has put Isabella to a horse or not. If he has not, he ought to have done so. But he knows best.
Annie, Captain [John F.] Hughlett got a letter from William [J.] Middleton the other day. He was taken prisoner at Hagerstown, Maryland. He said in his letter that he was in Baltimore. He also said that Ben Sanze was there and several others that belonged to the 40th Regiment that was taken the same time that he was. He did not say a word about him. I can’t find out whether be was killed or taken prisoner. He was numbered with the prisoners but I have not heard a word from him. I reckon Missy and Ma are very uneasy about him. 1 Bill says he is doing very well in Baltimore.
Annie, I could have sent & letter to your sister Lucy last week by the Yankees but we don’t talk to them now. The 7th Virginia Regiment went down on picket the other night and took every one of the Yankee pickets [prisoners]. It made General [J. E. B.] Stuart very mad. He won’t let us talk to them now for he wants them to come over the river. If they will come, he is waiting for them.
Annie, you say you have lots of news to tell me when I come home. I want you to write it to me. I am looking every day for Joe and Everett to come up. I would be glad to see them, but I tell you, this is a bad old place to come to. But I hope they may not see as hard a time as we have seen. If they do, they will smart worse than a dog in a mole hole. Annie, some of the 15th have got details and haven’t got but ten days. I don’t expect to get but ten days if I get any but I will come on a 2 days detail.
The Richmond Enquirer states that Thomas Redman died in New York the other day. I am very sorry to hear it. Annie, you say if we were not whipped in Pennsylvania, we did not make anything by going over there, but we done them so bad that they would not attack us when we waited for them three days at Hagerstown. Meade has tried to get them to come over here, but he can’t get them to come over. They say they won’t come over here to be murdered, so you may know that a burnt child dreads the fire.
Annie, when I come home, I will tell you all about the fight over there—[all] that I know about it. Give my love and respects to the rest of the family. Give my love to Ma [ ] and to sister Betsy’s family. Tell me all about everybody and everything else… Annie, you don’t know how glad I would be to see my little children. When you write, you never say a word about them. Who do they look Like? I want you to tell me who Stonewall looks like. I know who Novella looks like. She looks like her father. Joe Moone says Stonewall is a fine looking boy. I would like to see him.
I would like so much to come hone about this time to get some watermelons, peaches, fish, and several other things too numerous to mention. There is no fruit up here nor anything else except (I don’t know that I have a right to partake of the “except”). Annie, our boys details have come. They haven’t got but fifteen days. That is five more than the 15th got. I am going to send in for twenty-five days and maybe I will get twenty, That is little enough for a man to have that has to go from here to the Northern Neck. It will take three days to come home and six to go back. Our boys will start home this morning as their details have come but the others have not come. Goodbye. God bless you. I hope to see you before long. Your affectionate husband, — Henry Basye
1 I believe this is a reference to Henry’s younger brother, Louis Octavous Basye (1838-1895) who served as a private in Co. F, 40th Virginia Infantry and rose to the rank of 3rd Sergeant. He was captured at Falling Waters, Md., July 14, 1863, during the retreat from the Battle of Gettysburg when Lee’s men could not cross the Potomac due to rain-swollen rivers and the loss of a pontoon bridge at nearby Falling Waters to a Union cavalry raid. Octavous was exchanged at Baltimore on March 3, 1864.
This letter was written by John Nathan Peed (1843-1935) of Co. I (“Potomac Rangers”), 9th Virginia Cavalry who were recruited from King George county in April 1861. Their first captain was John Taylor, Sr., but after he resigned, John A. Billingsley took command. Also serving with “Nathaniel” in the same company was his paternal Uncle Lt. Philip M. Peed, maternal Uncle Pvt. John E. Owens (Acting Company Commissary Sgt.), and brother Pvt. James Oscar Peed.
Nathaniel began his service in the company as the bugler of Co. I. The 9th Virginia Cavalry fought in the Seven Days’ Battles, the conflicts at Gainesville, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Dumfries, Rapidan Station, Brandy Station, Upperville, Hanover, Gettysburg, Williamsport, Funkstown, Culpeper Court House, Bristoe, Mine Run, The Wilderness, and Todd’s Tavern. Later it skirmished around Richmond and Petersburg, then was active in the Appomattox operations. Nathaniel was reported slightly wounded twice.
Many of Nathaniel’s wartime letters are housed in the Dept. of Special Collections, University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Other wartime letters are housed in the Library of Va.: Letters, 1864-1865, from John Nathaniel Peed (1843-1935), 9th Virginia Cavalry.
I intended writing to you some time ago but failed to do so. Jimmy got to camp yesterday morning safe. He somewhat surprised me for I made sure that the Yankees had captured him. His horse stood the ride very well all to his feet—they got very sore. But he has had him shod now.
We had a Grand Review today of five brigades of cavalry and Hood’s Division infantry. It was a grand show. The general supposition [is] that Longstreet is to threaten Washington this way and Lee to press in the front at Fredericksburg.
I suppose you have heard the news from Vicksburg. It was a desperate fight. It lasted some three or four days, thereby was immense. It is rumored in the Yankee camp that their loss is from ten to thirty thousand and our loss very small. Last night news came to camp that Grant had charged our fortifications with 20,000 men and not a single man went back. That is asserted for the fact. I should think that fight would shorten the war a good deal.
Jimmy is a little poorly, He had slight chills and fever—very slight though. I suppose you heard of the death of poor George McClanahan. He was poorly when Uncle John left but not sick enough to go to the hospital. He left camp & went to a private house on a Monday morning & died the next morning. I was never so surprised when I heard it in my life for I thought he had nothing but a cold. How is Jed getting along? Tell him we are faring very well now. We get half a pound of bacon, peas, rice, and sugar and molasses sometimes.
Joseph Billingsley is our company commissary. The men are not at all satisfied with him. He tries to use too much authority with the men for a private. They very often remind him of Commissary [John E.] Owens [and] how he use to give the rations out. Capt. Billingsley is very unpopular with the men then too. Hardly a man that likes him. He tries to be strict but he don’t know how to carry it out. It is a great deal worse than it was when Uncle John left though I have no right to grumble for he treats me as well as he can. He treated the company very badly about the election of officers. Bob Coakley has been elected Jr. Second Lieutenant & because would not select Phil Peed, he had him appointed ahead of Bob Coakley. The company is very much dissatisfied. We had the right to elect our officers and we wanted to use it. The company to a man wanted Jim McKinny. Billlingsley kicked up a fuss about Coakley being elected. He didn’t want. I am sure he is a religious, moral man. He got 3/4 of the votes.
Phil Peed & I don’t speak. We had a falling out about a month ago. He was in fault. He cursed me and ordered me not to speak to him anymore and i intend to fulfill his orders. he is the second man that I have had a fuss with since I have been in camp. Lieut. [William F.] King told me to say to Uncle John that he has seen Dr. [Joseph S.] Gilliam this morning in reference to his discharge. He told the circumstances in which you are situated over there with Yankees. The Dr. says it is not any doubt about your discharge & he will hurry it up and send King’s [ ] he gets it.
John Washington got to camp yesterday. Tell Uncle that Old Kiah [Hezekiah Potts] is about as he was when he left. Talks of you often. Don’t say anything about what I said about Billingsley, Mother. The first chance you have, send my comb for I have use for it. Don’t forget it. Our horses was valued yesterday. Mine was valued at $500 [ ].
Give my best regards to all enquiring friends. Write soon. From your dutiful son, — Nathaniel P.
June 6, 1863
P. S. I write in a hurry and for fear you should not understand, I put plain before you. Phil Peed [ ]
Spared & Shared 23 