The following Prisoner of War (POW) Letter was penned by Reuben M. Colby (1839-1893) who served in Co. B, 20th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI). He entered the service on 27 April 1861 as a sergeant in Co. H and was promoted to sergeant in Co. B in September 1861. He was next commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in January 1863 and a 1st Lieutenant in July 1864. He finally mustered out as a Captain on 15 July 1865. In 1850, 10 year-old Reuben was living with his parents, Simeon and stepmother Marianne (Porter) Colby in Roxbury, Norfolk, Massachusetts. In 1860, Reuben was working as a carpenter in Louisville, Kentucky.
In his brief letter—limited to one page by military authorities—Reuben informs his correspondent that he was taken prisoner at the Battle of Atlanta on 22 July 1864 and was imprisoned a month later in Charleston, South Carolina, after being held briefly at Macon.
The Charleston City Jail was used to hold Union Officer Prisoners. Over 2,000 were held here in the fall of 1864 though many of them had to sleep outside.(LOC)
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Addressed to Mr. Eliphalet Smith, West Cambridge, Massachusetts
Military Prison, Charleston, S. C. August 21st 1864
Dear friend Lipha,
Here I am actually caged a Prisoner of War after so long. I was captured on the 22nd of July at or near Atlanta. I was sent from Atlanta to Macon, Georgia, and then here. We are receiving better treatment here than at any place we have been yet. I hope soon to be exchanged for this thing of being a prisoner is anything but pleasant I assure you.
Please write to Dr. L. W. Jenness, Lowell, Mass., and tell him of my misfortune. Give my love to Clara and all friends. Respectfully in haste. — Lieut. R. M. Colby
Please write me soon and let me know all the news. Also I would like you to write to Lieut. Colonel John C. Fry, commanding 20th Regiment O. V. Infantry and tell him to send you my personal effects as I had a valuable lot of things in my valise—that is, to me. Yours, — Rube
The following letter was written by John Francis Locke (1844-1924), the son of brick mason Jonathan Frost Locke (1806-Aft1880) and Mary Moore Adams (1812-1887) of North Somerville, Massachusetts.
When he was 18 years old, John enlisted as a private in Co. E, 39th Massachusetts Infantry. He was among the 2500 Union soldiers taken prisoner on 19 August 1864 in the Battle of Globe Tavern (2nd Weldon Railroad). Being a clerk with excellent handwriting, John probably enjoyed better than average privileges than some of his fellow prisoners and we learn from this letter datelined from Richmond on 1 April 1865 that his Confederate captives had placed him on “parole of honor” meaning he was trusted not to aid the enemy until formally exchanged. The very next day after writing his letter, Richmond was evacuated and we don’t know what happened to John between that date and his record of exchange two weeks later. The “boats” that John refers to were POW Exchange boats that carried prisoners from Richmond down the James river to City Point where they were loaded onto transports and taken to Camp Parole, Annapolis, Maryland.
[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 Mrs. Mary M. Locke, North Somerville, Massachusetts
Richmond, Virginia April 1st 1865
Dear Mother mine,
You must have been looking for your son John, after receiving that letter by Sergt. Wood, yet here I am still in the Confederate lines. We have been looking for instructions from Washington for some time past, but as yet they have not come. Meantime I have got about tired of waiting and think if asking Capt. Stewart to let me go on the next boat as I think I have done my duty thus far by him and my government, and, it is now time for someone else to take a hand and relieve me.
It has been a very pleasant stay for me. Capt. Stewart have been very kind indeed to me. I am acting as his clerk & cook. None of us have any money so we are obliged to do our own cooking which you may well know is not much of a burden to me. I get nice potato yeast and make quite light & nice bread. I have all I wish in the eating line. Being on parole of honor, I of course have more liberty than the rest of the prisoners, I have found some good friends among the sesesh. Capt. John M. West 1 of the Exchange Bureau, C. S. A.—a New Hampshire man by birth—has been very kind to me. Then there is a young Louisianan, messenger to Major [Thomas P.] Turner, Commandant of the Richmond Prison, with whom I am pretty intimate. 2 I have been presented with some sheet music—Southern though—by a young lady I have never seen, a niece of Capt. West’s. There is a nephew about Allie’s age also that is with me a great deal. Tell Allie that he has given me something to carry to him from Richmond.
Mother, I am actually fat. I may be exaggerating it & won’t say how much but my weight is less than two hundred. I have almost got a double chin. Mother dear, do you realize that you have no boys now—that they have all reached manhood. Those little babies that you used to rock to sleep and tended, nursed, cared & prayed for have all entered upon their duties of life. O Mother, may they be true to their early teachings and grow up in the way thou hast taught them.
Mother, this boy will never be free from his love for his mother. He will always come when he is in trouble & affliction and lay his head in his mother’s lap and pour out his joy or sorrow, sure of your sympathy. Seems to me these beautiful words; My mother dear, my mother sweet, my gentle, gentle mother never were so dear to me. Also that beautiful hymn you learnt us. Father! what ‘ere of earthly bliss thy sovereign will denies, how often have they been on my life. But for those beautiful songs of Christian faith and my memories of my younger days, it seems I could not have stood what I have. I have been so confident all along that things would turn out right and I should be permitted to see you again that it seems as if it was an answer for my faith.
Ask Mary & Willie if they remember Capt. Swords. 3 He was home winter before last and danced with Mary at Belmont. He was also at home last winter and brought me news from Uncle George’s family. He is now on Maj. Gen. [Orlando B.] Willcox’s staff, well acquainted with the Bowman’s. He was captured at Petersburg when they attacked the 9th Corps [see Battle of Fort Stedman] this day week. He promised to take a letter for as he is going on the first boat, being a friend of Col. [William H.] Hatch—a commissioner of exchange, CSA. Hoping that I may greet you with a kiss instead of a letter, I close. From your dutiful son, — John F. Locke.
Love to Father, sisters & brother. Also Allie and all good friends, — John
1 Probably the John M. West (b. 1828 in New Hampshire) who was working as a bookseller in Richmond as early as 1850.
2 Major Thomas P. Turner, commandant of Libby Prison and Belle Isle late in the Civil War, fled from Richmond on April 3rd on the day Union forces entered the city. His escape to Cuba was told in a letter which can be found in the following: Major Turner’s Escape.
3 Capt. Henry Leonard Swords (1843-1929), of the 59th Massachusetts Infantry. He was taken prisoner at Fort Stedman on 25 March 1865.
Recognizing the haphazard administration of the various POW camps in the Union, Colonel William Hoffman attempted to impose order through a uniform set of regulations. Of particular interest is the decision to withhold rations, sell the resulting surplus, and create a general prison fund with the proceeds, to improve the conditions for the prisoners.
The controversial Col. William Hoffman stands at right under the Office sign. (LOC)
Transcription
CIRCULAR.
The following regulations will be observed at all stations where prisoners of war are held:
I. The Commanding Officer at each station is held accountable for the discipline and good order of his command, and for the security of the prisoners, and will take such measures as will best secure these results. He will divide the prisoners into companies, and will cause written reports to be made to him of their condition every morning, showing the changes made during the preceding twenty-four hours, giving the names of the “joined,” “transferred,” “deaths,” &c. At the end of every month, commanders will send to the Commissary General of Prisoners a Return of Prisoners, giving names and details to explain “alterations.” Where rolls of “joined” or “transferred” have been forwarded during the month, it will be sufficient to refer to them on the Return.
II. On the arrival of prisoners at any station, a careful comparison of them with the rolls which accompany them will be made, and all errors on the rolls will be corrected. When no roll accompanies the prisoners, one will immediately be made out, containing all the information required, as correct as can be from the stater ents of the prisoners them-selves. When the prisoners are citizens, the town, county, and State from which they come will be given on the rolls under the heads—rank, regiment, and company. At the same time they will be required to give up all arms and weapons of every description, and all moneys which they may have in their possession, for which the Commanding Officer will give receipts.
III. The Hospital will be under the immediate charge of the senior Surgeon, who will be held responsible to the Commanding Officer for its good order and the good condition of the sick. The “Fund” of this Hospital will be kept separate from the fund of the Hospital for the troops, and will be disbursed for the sole benefit of the sick prisoners, on the requisition of the Surgeon, approved by Commanding Officer. When the fund is sufficiently large, there will be bought with it, besides the articles usually purchased, all articles of table furniture, kitchen utensils, articles for policing, shirts and drawers for the sick, the expense of washing, and all articles that may be indispensably necessary to promote the sanitary condition of the Hospital.
IV. The Commanding Officer will cause requisitions to be made by his Quartermaster, on the nearest depot, for such clothing as may be absolutely necessary for the prisoners, which requisition will be approved by him after a careful inquiry as to the necessity, and submitted for the approval of the Commissary General of Prisoners. The clothing will be issued by the Quartermaster to the prisoners, with the assistance and under the supervision of an officer detailed for the purpose, whose certificate that the issue has been made in his presence, will be the Quartermaster’s voucher for the clothing issued. From the 30th of April to the 1st of October, neither drawers nor socks will be allowed, except to the sick.
V. A general fund for the benefit of the prisoners will be made by withholding from their rations all that can be spared without inconvenience to them, and selling this surplus, under existing regulations, to the Commissary, who will hold the funds in his hands and be accountable for them, subject to the Commanding Officer’s order to cover purchases. The purchases with this fund will be made by or through the Quartermaster, with the approval or order of the Commanding Officer, the bills being paid by the Commissary, who will keep an account book, in which will be carefully entered all receipts and payments, with the vouchers; and he will keep the Commanding Officer advised, from time to time, of the amount of this fund. At the end of the month he will furnish the Commanding Officer with an account of the fund for the month, showing the receipts and disbursements, which account will be forwarded to the Commissary General of Prisoners, with the remarks of the Commanding Officer. With this fund will be purchased all such articles as may be necessary for the health and comfort of the prisoners, and which would otherwise have to be purchased by the Government. Among these articles are all table furniture and cooking utensils, articles for policing purposes, bedticks and straw, the means of improving or enlarging the barrack accommodations, extra pay to clerks who have charge of the Camp Post Office, and who keep the accounts of moneys deposited with the Commanding Officer, &c., &c.
VI. The Sutler is entirely under the control of the Commanding Officer, who will see that he furnishes proper articles, and at reasonable rates. For his privilege, the Sutler will be taxed a small amount by the Commanding Officer, according to the amount of his trade, which tax will make a part of the general fund.
VII. Prisoners will not be permitted to hold or receive money. AIl moneys in possession or received will be taken charge of by the Commanding Officer, who will give receipts for it to those to whom it belongs. They will purchase from the Sutler such articles as they may wish, which are not prohibited, and on the bill of the articles they will give an order on the Commanding Officer for the amount, and this will be kept as a voucher with the individual’s account. The Commanding Officer will keep a book in which the accounts of all those who have money deposited with him will be kept; and this book, with the vouchers, must be always ready for the inspection of the Commissary General of Prisoners.
VIII. All articles contributed by friends, for the prisoners, in whatever shape they come, if proper to be received, will be carefully distributed as the donors may request; such articles as are intended for the sick passing through the hands of the Surgeon, who will be responsible for their proper use. Contributions must be received by an officer, who must be held responsible that they are delivered to the persons for whom they are intended.
IX. Visitors to these Stations, out of mere curiosity, will in no case be permitted. Persons having business with the Commanding Officer or Quartermaster, may, with the permission of the Commanding Officer, enter the camp, to remain only long enough to transact their business. When prisoners are seriously ill, their nearest relatives, parents, wives, brothers or sisters, if they are loyal people, may be permitted to make them short visits; but under no other circumstance will visitors be allowed to see them without the approval of the Commissary General of Prisoners.
X. Prisoners will not be permitted to write letters of more than one page of common letter paper, the matter to be strictly of a private nature, or the letter must be destroyed.
XI. Prisoners will be paroled or released only by authority of the War Department, or by direction of the Commissary General of Prisoners.
W. HOFFMAN, Colonel 3d Infantry, Commissary General of Prisoners.
OFFICE COMMISSARY GENERAL OF PRISONERS, Washington, D. C., , 186 .
The following letter was written by Godfrey D. Dotson (1827-1919) of Lawrence county, Kentucky, enquiring on the life of his son, Andrew Dotson, an exchanged prisoner in the hospital at Annapolis, Maryland. Unfortunately I cannot conform Godfrey Dotson’s residency in Lawrence county, nor do I find a son of his by the name of Andrew in on-line genealogical and census records. I cannot even find a military record or POW record for Andrew searching under the name Dotson and Dodson.
Transcription
State of Kentucky Lawrence county August 7, 1863
To the Stewards of the General Hospital of Annapolis, Md.
Dear sir I take my pen in hand to inform you that I have a son that was captured a prisoner on the 7th day of December last by John B. Floyd’s Brigade of Rebels and sent to Richmond, Virginia, and was swapped out by the Yankees party on the 4th of April last. My son was in the hospital at Maryland, Annapolis, on the 3rd day of May. That is the account we have heard of him to be sure.
We heard that he deceased at that place. We then heard that he did not so I want as a friend to make strict inquiry and write to me if you please and you will oblige a friend and distressed parents on the account of a lovely son. Also write to me where to mail my letters and what will satisfy you for your trouble and I will send you the money.
The name of the boy is Andrew Dotson. His age is 17. His complexion is reasonable fair, yellow hair, blue eyes, and raw bond. His form is tall & spare built. I will say, dear son, if you be on the stage of action and gets word from your parents, come without delay to Louisa, Kentucky, and then inquire for me.
Another line to the steward of hospital [and] that is to direct your letters to Lawrence county, Kentucky, Louisa Post Office. Write to me, let the case be as it may. So no more at present—only remaining your friend until death. From Godfrey D. Dotson
to the steward of the General Hospital of Maryland, Annapolis.
“I have letters of Civil War soldier Charles C. Palmer of Exeter Maine to his sisters. Charlie served in the 1st Maine Cavalry in Washington DC and then in Virginia. He was captured in late 1864 and died at Salisbury prison in January 1865. Would you like to take a look at his letters from Camp Butler and Fredericksburg?” So wrote Kathleen Mikaelian to me recently after discovering the box of letters among her husband’s family heirlooms. She later told me that she hoped to keep Charley’s history alive by showcasing his letters on Spared & Shared.
Charles C. Palmer, 1st D. C. Cavalry
Charles C. Palmer (1837-1865) was the son of William Palmer (1789-1865) and Susanna Treadwell (1793-1864) of Exeter, Penobscot county, Maine. He was married in October 1858 to Nancy Jane (“Jennie”) Neal (1838-1863), was childless and working as a miller in Exeter when he enlisted as a corporal in Co. L, 1st Maine Cavalry early in the war. After this initial stint in the service, Charlie returned to Exeter where tragedy greeted him. In October 1863, Charlie’s wife delivered stillborn twins and suffered so much physically and emotionally that she died two months later, leaving a grieving husband to mourn the loss of his entire family. With nothing to hold him in Exeter any longer, Charlie left his teaching job and re-entered the service, this time in Co. G, 1st District of Columbia Cavalry. His muster date was given as 19 February 1864 at which time he was described as 24 years old, standing 5 foot 11 inches tall, with hazel eyes and brown hair.
Charlie was no long with the D. C. Cavalry when he was promoted to corporal. Except for a period of time when he was hospitalized at the Point of Rocks in mid-summer, Charlie appears to have been with his regiment though he may have found it dull at times. So much so that on 25 May 1864 he was known to have sent a letter to General George F. Shepley requesting special duty. His letter was found in military records and reads as follows:
Camp Conger, 20 May 1864 General Shepley, Sir, I trust you will pardon me for intruding upon your much valued time. But my object in so doing is to see if through you or your influence I can obtain a position on one of the many confiscated plantations under your jurisdiction, and if not, some other position which may be of better advantage to me and also serve my country truly for I would scorn the thought of trying to obtain any position where I could not serve my country in this her hour of peril. I am a native of Exeter, Maine, and for the few years past have been engaged in teaching. But in my younger years was a farmer’s boy. If you wish for any recommendations, I can get them and good too in my own regiment—and also from many influential men in Maine, among them Adjt. General Hodson. But if I get anything, I had rather my own merit would claim it as rightly its own. I came into my company after it was organized and am now corporal.
I trust you will give this note due consideration and shall hope soon to hear from [you]. But yet I know that your time must well nigh be occupied and labors hard. Yours respectfully, — Charles C. Palmer, 1st D. C. Cavalry.
The position Charley sought was to oversee the work on one of the many plantations in Virginia that were being operated by the Federal government to employ the slaves who had come under federal protection. School for the freedmen were also being set up on or near these plantations. It does not appear that Charlie was ever offered such a position and his aspiration for such an assignment may have waned when he became ill later in the summer. It seems he remained with his regiment until 16 September 1864 when he was taken prisoner at Sycamore Church, six miles below City Point on the James River, along with other members of the 1st D. C. Cavalry who were caught by surprise in their beds by Confederate Major General Wade Hampton in what has come to be known as the Great Beefstake Raid. In 30 minutes, the Confederates killed, wounded, or captured 219 startled troopers. Charlie was initially confined in Richmond but then sent to Danville on 24 September and admitted to the hospital at Salisbury, North Carolina, on 31 December 1864 suffering from chronic diarrhea. He died on 26 January 1865.
Waud’s sketch of the Great Beefstake Raid, 16 September 1864
Letter 1
Camp Butler, Virginia May 3rd 1864
Beloved sisters,
Your kind and welcome letters came to hand this morning and was glad to hear from you both again. I did not receive any mail from the time I left Washington until today and then I get 11 letters and this is the last I have to answer. We have not been here but a few days yet our work has been very hard, there being but a few troops here and the Rebs have been trying to break our center but in vain. We have lost but a few men and only one from our regiment.
I like it much and am glad that I am here. We have a line of defenses on the James and Appomattox rivers and we are bound to hold them and I think we can without any trouble. We came here with 5,000 dismounted cavalry but soon expect to have our horses and then we shall be relieved by other troops. I do not expect to get any of the things you sent me for it is hard getting a box down here.
I am nicely [situated] now. I must close now. Write soon. Direct to Bermuda Hundred by way of Fortress Monroe, Va.
Yours affectionately, — Charley
The bugle’s call is why I close so soon. Write soon.
A cenotaph in Exeter Maine to the memory of Charles C. Palmer
The following War Department memo written and signed by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton pertains to the confinement of James Washington and Herbert Alexander, Prisoners of War (POW), at Ft. McHenry in Baltimore.
Edwin M. Stanton
Herbert Lee Alexander (1846-1866) was the son of William Pearson Alexander (1801-1863) and Hannah Lee Washington (1811-1881) of Claymont (name of farm), just west of Charlestown, Jefferson county, [West] Virginia. According to a letter by Col. John Peter Shindel Gobin, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry, Herbert was arrested in his own home when a note was found in his pocketbook identifying him as a conscript and with instructions to report to the 12th Virginia Cavalry. He was unarmed and apparently frail in constitution. “His mother, an estimable lady [with ancestral ties to George Washington], is exceedingly fearful a rigorous confinement will completely prostrate her son, his health being naturally precarious.”
Muster roll records for Co. A, 12th Va. Cavalry, state that Herbert was captured on 31, 1865 and confined at Fort McHenry on 8 February 1865. In the remarks, he is identified as a “Guerrilla: not to be exchanged during the war. By order of Maj. Gen. Sheridan, commanding Middle Military Division.” While at POW at Ft. McHenry, Herbert was sent to the post hospital suffering from anemia. He was eventually released from Ft. McHenry on 27 April 1865 and he died at home on 3 October 1866, probably from tuberculosis.
The other prisoner identified in the memo only as “James” was Pvt. James Cunningham Washington (1847-1865). Though James and Herbert were relatives, they were not brothers as might have been presumed by Edwin Stanton. James was a member of Co. B, 12th Virginia Cavalry and he was taken prisoner with Herbert at the Claymont Farm near Charlestown, also labeled a “Guerrilla, not to be exchanged during the war.” According to family legend, 17 year-old James was starved and inhumanely treated by his Yankee captors and he died in the post hospital on 24 February 1865, less than four weeks after he was taken prisoner. Curiously, the National Park Service website for Fort McHenry claims that, “in contrast to the high death tolls at other prisons, the death toll at Fort McHenry was only 15.” Color me skeptical of that number.
Mrs. Lyle, mentioned in the memo, was Herbert Alexander’s aunt.
Transcription
Memo kept in an envelope with the annotation: “Letters referring to the most heart-rending grief of my life, March 1865.”
War Department, February 20, 1865
Case of James [Washington] & Herbert Alexander, Prisoner of War in Ft. McHenry
Referred to General [William Walton] Morris to permit Mrs. Lyle to have an interview with them under usual regulation. — Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War
I could not find an image of Amos but here is one of Henry Benjamin Davis who served in the 64th Illinois and was killed at Marietta, Georgia, in August 1864. (Ancestry.com)
The following remarkable letter was written by Amos Reeves (1835-Aft1910) of Sterling, Whiteside county, Illinois, who enlisted as a private in Co. B of the 64th Illinois Infantry (“Yates’ Sharpshooters”) in November 1861. In his four-page letter to his cousin, Amos tells the tale of his capture along with James Fitzgerald of his company by Gen. Philip Roddey’s guerrillas in northwest Alabama on 29 May 1863. For the next several weeks the captives were shuffled under guard from one Confederate encampment to another while Amos says he tried “to make the best of a bad bargain.”
While a prisoner, Reeves learned that many of the rebels who guarded him were conscripts and had little interest in waging war. He says that he worked deceptively with his captors to gain favor whenever possible and to encourage rebels to desert, reassuring them that they would not be exchanged back to the Confederate army where they would be shot as deserters. Eventually Reeves and Fitzgerald were delivered to Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, where Reeves claimed they remained but four days before being exchanged and delivered to Camp Parole in Annapolis and later to Washington D. C. where he wrote the letter in August 1863.
Reeves was eventually sent back to Illinois, reenlisted as a veteran, and then ordered to his regiment where he resumed service and mustered out on 11 July 1865 at Louisville, Kentucky. Apparently Fitzgerald had had enough, He did not reenlist as a veteran and mustered out on 31 October 1864.
It does not appear that Amos ever married. He was enumerated in the 1910 US Census and he was mentioned in The Rockford Daily Register-Gazette in April 1897 where he was credited with having invented a “shoe scraper and cleaner which can be opened and closed so that is it not dangerous when there are children around…it cleans both the sole and the side of the foot.”
[Note: This letter is from the personal collection of Richard Weiner and was transcribed and published on Spared & Shared by express consent.]
Transcription
Addressed to Miss A. E. McClane, Sterling, Illinois
Parole Camp, Virginia August 11, 1863
My dear Cousin Lida.
Though far away and long silent, I often think of thee and memory and fancy bring many pleasing pictures to my mind, and though I see many dark pictures and gloomy clouds, the bright ones are the prettiest and I love to look at them.
It has been a long time since I have had an exchange of thought & sentiment with you though I have heard from you (I saw a letter Jennie sent to Stephen) and I always think you are among friends and enjoying life.
Well, my dear cousin, I am enjoying life. Life is as dear to me as ever though I remain in the army. I expect that you have heard that I have been making the Rebs a visit. So I have and had an interesting time of it though I was an unwilling guest. A sergeant of my company, Joseph Fitzgerald, and I were captured on the 29th of May and were robbed of our money, hats, and boots, &c. and we found ourselves among robbers, murderers, highwaymen, and that we would have to take things easy and not hoist false colors but keep our colors covered at times and then sometimes I could hoist before them the good old flag with all its glories and blessings and the pictures of the American Revolution, its heroes, the levers of justice, the cowboys and skinners, the tories and savages, and then I showed them their own perfidy and treachery.
But while I was with Gen. Roddey’s Guerrillas, I passed for a good Vallandigham man among the officers and most of the men and I found many of them that were conscripts and only wanted a chance to escape. They were ashamed of their crowd and as they had been told by their officer we made every deserter enlist or we sent them around for exchange so as to get one of our soldiers for them, they were afraid to come over. So I told them the truth and during the ten days that I stayed in their camp, there were over 30 of them deserted and went to our camp. Then I was taken to Tuscumbia, Alabama, where I stayed a week and found friends. Some of the men who were guarding us were good Union men and a good lady sent us a plenty of milk and some nice biscuits and butter twice and some ginger cake once. Then we were taken to Huntsville—Gen. Pillow’s Headquarters. From there to Chattanooga, then almost to Knoxville when the Yankees came in ahead of us and tore up the road and we had to go back, and then down to Atlanta, Ga., and from there to Augusta, Ga., then to Columbia, S. C., and Raleigh, N. C., Petersburg, and Richmond, Va. Stopped in Richmond in Libby Prison four days, then came by the way of the James River & Fort Monroe to Annapolis and from there to Washington D. C.
And here I found lots of friends (of whom I will tell in my next) and have been seeing the sights & learning all I could and trying to make the best of a bad bargain. I am sorry that I delayed writing so long and I wish I could give you a full history of my expedition.
The following letter was sold to a client of mine stating that it was penned by a Union soldier named “Frank Prior” to his father, “Capt. Samuel Prior, Jr.” but I am unable to see a signature and I cannot identify the Prior family correspondents. It’s possible this information was simply made up but on the outside chance it’s true, I pass on the “provenance.”
The letter describes an August 1864 incident pertaining to the Major Reybold, a steamer operating on the Delaware River, in which a number of Confederate prisoners were transported by her from Philadelphia to Fort Delaware. After dropping off the prisoners, it was discovered they were one short which triggered the whole fiasco.
The Major Rebold was built in 1853 in Wilmington, Delaware. She was the first iron vessel to see service on the Delaware, plying between Salem, New Jersey, and Philadelphia until 1906. During the Civil War she was retained on the river on account of Fort Delaware and was for a long time the only steamboat running below Wilmington, carrying thousands of troops and prisoners to the fort.
The Major Reybold, ca. 1908. She remained in regular service until 1906.
Transcription
Steamer Major Reybold August 15, 1864
Dear Pa,
Your very welcome letter was received Friday evening. I was glad to hear you had found the boat so soon. By what Captain Loomis (who was on board of us Friday in Philadelphia) said, I was afraid you would have trouble finding her.
We were fired into by a gunboat from the Fort on Friday evening. The way of it was this. We landed some forty-five prisoners there that evening and after we had left, they found out that there was one short. They fired two musket shots to attract our attention but there being a very stiff breeze from the eastward, we did not hear them. They then ordered their gunboat which lay at the East wharf after us. It was high water and we were running directly across and by the time the gunboat got under weigh, we were pretty well over.
She fired a blank shot at us as she left the wharf but it was not heard on board by us owing, I suppose, to the wind and the noise of the machinery. They then fired three more shots—the last one, which was a shell, exploded about twenty-five yards from our stern and was the only one which was heard or seen by anyone on board.
The Daily State Gazette, 22 August 1864
Captain and I were in the office and did not know anything about the firing until some of the passengers who saw the shell explode came and told us. Captain came out immediately and ordered the boat to turn around and go back. We were then in “Hinchman’s reach,” We went about and run back. When we got to mouth of creek, we were met by a small boat from off the gunboat with an officer in charge who ordered us to proceed to Ft. Delaware at once, which we did. When we got there, we were informed that the man had got away in Philadelphia and that they were very sorry they had caused us so much trouble. It seems that when they found out that there was one man short, they did not even wait to ask the officer in charge where he was but sent the boat immediately after us. After she left, they found out where the man escaped and tried to recall her but could not for the same reason I suppose that prevented us from hearing.
The idea of the boat shooting at us with the intention of hitting us as the Lieutenant in charge of her says he did, is preposterous and should be reported from his actions. When he boarded us, I should say he was drunk and that may have been a reason for his firing at us. If the shell had struck us in the saloon, it would have caused a great loss of life in there at the time.
Thomas Bond has a claim against you of $32 for hay. Shall I settle it? We told John Mulford about it and John told me.
The following letters were written by Joseph Stras Peery (1839-1925), the son of Harvey George Peery (1801-1869) and Rebecca Williams (1805-1890) of Tazewell county, Virginia. After receiving an elementary education in Tazewell, he attended Emory and Henry College.
At the start of the Civil War, Joseph enlisted in August 1861 in Co. G, 45th Virginia Infantry at Gauley. He was promoted to sergeant by April 1862 and commissioned a lieutenant by July 1862. He was captured at the Battle of Winchester on 19 September 1864 and sent to Ft. Delaware shortly after. On the date of his release, 17 June 1865, he was described as standing 6 feet tall, with blue eyes and light hair.
In 1868 married Livonia Ravina Brown. His post war occupation was farmer and merchant. He died 7/7/1925 at Glade Spring, Washington County, Virginia at the age of 87.
These letters, like others Joseph wrote from prison, were strictly censored. They were not allowed to discuss what was going on inside the prison nor share their attitude about events occurring outside. Rules required that all letters be written on one side of the paper and they could only be sent to relatives in the North or to relatives in Union-occupied southern states unless under a flag-of-truce. If correspondents were not actually relatives, letters were often addressed as “dear cousin.”
Letter 1
United States Military Prison Fort Delaware, Delaware February 1st 1865
My dear cousin,
Your kind and interesting letter was received this morning and was certainly glad to hear from you once more. I was just wondering what could be the matter that you did not answer my last. Had attributed it to frozen streams & bays. Never dreamed of you visiting the sunny land of flowers. I know you must have enjoyed yourself finely. couldn’t help it. I am glad you had the opportunity of seeing your Brothers. Hope that peace may soon be declared and that all may have the privilege of enjoying freely the society if friends and relations and the comforts of home.
Have had two letters from home lately—one from Mother, 9th December, All were well at that time. Also one from Sarah to Frank. Everything seemingly doing well. Little Bobbie had gotten almost entirely well. Sarah’s letter was very short. So much so I almost became offended. I’ve written to Maggie and I know she’ll give me all the news. She is always so precise in every little item of news.
I received a few days since a letter from R. S. B. He is very kind and offers anything that he is able to do for us. He has already done much tending to the wants of Brother J[ames] and therefore I think it would be ungenerous and unkind in us to ask more. I received the money you sent and am indeed very grateful and feel under many obligations to you. As regards the clothing, we have just applied for permits to send to an old business friend (in Baltimore) who wrote us a few days ago to do so. I will let you know how we success. I don’t know how to express my gratitude for your kind offers rendered more dear to me for certain reasons which I hope some day to be able to explain.
We have very hard fare but very good quarters. Don’t get too much to eat. Frank sends his best love to you. You must not laugh at my ill composed scroll for you must remember I’m in no secluded spot noted to the purpose. Be sure and write often. I am very fond of reading letters. Excuse all mistakes and accept this the kindest regards of your devoted cousin, — Joseph S. Peery
Letter 2
Fort Delaware, Delaware March 29, 1865
Dear Cousin,
According to your request, I write again on the reception of your kind letter. It is pretty much as you said—nothing to do, but you know that no one is apt to be fond of writing unless they get answers equally in number to letters written. Now I think you must be a long time answering my letter—so long I’d given it up—that you did not intend doing so. Consequently I wrote you another and sent you a ring, the workmanship of a prisoner. A very poor thing it was. However, I thought you would value it as it was from your lovely cousin. Well, I was very agreeably surprised this morning with a letter from my dear sister. I’d written home and complained of sister Sarah not writing. She claimed that she was not indebted to me in that respect. One thing I know—that is, I’ve written to her often enough but it may be that she has never received any or but few.
Mr. Brittain had been at home, only for a short time, ten days. Would leave the day she wrote, the 6th of March. All were well. I intend writing soon. Will give them your message. As to me forgiving you for not sending such as you mentioned, I don’t think that there is anything to forgive for I am already indebted to you more perhaps that I’ll ever be able to return. We are all well and getting along as well as usual. Get “hard tack” twice a week for dinner, something new of late.
Frank sends much love to you. Noe I don’t want you to delay answering this letter. Never trouble yourself about those articles mentioned. I received a few lines from a friend at Johnson’s Island. James was well and I expect he was thinking like myself—that you was not very prompt in reply. I shall expect to hear from you soon.
Believe me as ever your devoted cousin, — Jo. S. Peery
The following POW letter was written by Lt. John P. Seabrook (1835-1927) of Co. I (“Alabama Grey’s”), 38th Alabama Infantry. Seabrook’s regiment was organized at Mobile in May 1862 and took an active role in the campaigns of the Army of Tennessee from Chickamauga to Nashville. Seabrook was taken prisoner in the fighting at Missionary Ridge on 25 November 1863. He was first taken to Louisville, then Camp Chase in Ohio, and finally to Fort Delaware. According to muster rolls, Seabrook had most of his right arm amputated at the US Hospital in Nashville before being released into the prisoner system in mid-February 1864. Seabrook was finally paroled at Fort Delaware on 14 September 1864 and forwarded for exchange to Aiken’s Landing, Virginia. He returned to duty on 27 September 1864 and was with his regiment at Fort Blakely when it was surrendered on 9 April 1865. He was sent for a few weeks to Ship Island as a POW until exchanged on 6 May 1865.
Seabrook wrote the letter to Susan Lucy (Barry) Taylor (1807-1881), the wife of Col. James Jones Taylor (1802-1883) of Newport, Kentucky—located adjacent to Covington. The couple were wed in 1824 and had at least six children—three of who are mentioned in this letter; James Taylor (1833-1876), John Taylor (1836-1914), and Barry Taylor (1839-1887). Mrs. Taylor was the daughter of Hon. William T. Barry (1785-1835) who was a Kentucky Democratic politician who served as the first Cabinet level Postmaster General under President Andrew Jackson. Susan operated a benevolent society out of Newport, Kentucky, that supplied aid and comfort to Confederate prisoners of war confined in Yankee prisons.
Confederate prisoners arriving at Fort Delaware
Transcription
Fort Delaware July 21, 1864
My dear friend,
The box of provisions forwarded to our mess was received on the 18th and gladly received. I wrote you on the 12th in answer to yours of the 30th June and hope it has reached you by this time. Having heard “Picciola” highly commended as a work specially adapted to prison reading, I am pleased to have an opportunity of reading it, and tender you my sincere thanks for your kindness in sending it. I will finish Caesar by the last of the month, being now engaged on the fifth book. I shall then begin anew and study it more critically. For some time I have been tasking myself to five pages a day—the balance of the time devoted to other reading. By so doing, my time passes away more lightly and pleasantly and thoughts of home are restrained to some extent.
We now look forward no longer to an early exchange, but have made up our minds to endure imprisonment till the close of the war or exchange of administration. But we are not dispirited. Several colds are prevalent in the prison but we enjoy better health otherwise than we were led to expect from our first impressions of the place and the representations of others.
My wound has never entirely healed and from some irritating cause within (perhaps a particle of bone) it does not seem disposed to heal. There has been no change in it for the past two months and has never for a moment been free from pain. I have become so accustomed to it, however, that I scarcely ever think of it except when perfectly idle.
Please accept my thanks for your many kindnesses and present my regards to Mrs. Abert. I have the honor to be very truly your friend, — John P. Seabrook
Spared & Shared 23 