[from the diary of Eliza Oswald Hill, refugee from Wilmington, N.C.]
Suday 13th We have all been to Church. Mr Hilliard gave us a very
good sermon but I felt disappointed at not hearing Mr Skinner who
arrived yesterday–The Church was fuller than usual. The weather be-
ing good–One letter to day–That from Sarah–She has concluded to come to
the Hotel to board-& we look for her next week–
MSS 6960
[from the diary of William M. Blackford, bank officer and former diplomat, with five sons in the Confederate Army]
Sunday 13 Took an anodyne last night
which as usual produced watch
-fulness – felt very disagreeable–Went
to the P.O. at 8 am. and on my re-
turn stopped at the hospital
while there talking with Dr
Mercer began to feel sick& dizzy
and was prevented from fainting
with great difficulty–lost my [?]
[?] almost [?] –but by
resolute will recovered. I was much
alarmed–Laid on the bed most
of the day. Charles & Fannie
came over to stay all night.
MSS 4763
[from the diary of Anne Madison Willis Ambler]
Sunday July14, 1862
A very warm day-we all went to church-
sis B & I on horseback, -Fanny & Mary walked,–
Mother’s foot is not well yet, so she staid with
the children,- Mr Duncan preached an
excellent sermon–Text–
[space left to insert chapter and verse on which sermon based, but was not filled in]
Nursed the children,-read later in
the evening- & talked about many things
which had better not be talked of on Sunday-
“Keep Holy the Sabbath Day,” I always feel
that I break this commandment. -It is very
hard to restrain your thoughts when you are in
company with those who spend Sunday as
we might spend any other day,–only
they do not sew, [or “sin” word is unclear]
Cousin Jaquelin brought us some shoes from
Orleans,-I took two pair,–one at 3.50–
the other 2.75
[transcript from 1972 by her granddaughter Anne Madison Wright Baylor]
MSS 15406
Camp in the Field near Harrisons Landing Va July 14th 1862
Dear Father—-I now take this Opportunity to write these few lines
knowing how anxious you are to hear form me as I suppose that you have heard of
the change in Position that General McClellan has made from the Chickahominy
to this river which was made in seven days by fighting all of these days & nights
& as this Division was a rear Guard you can Judge the Position that this Division
was in I can tell you I was about played out by the time I arrived to this place
but after A weeks rest I have improved & now feel Just as well as ever & I have Just
as much confidence in Genl. McLellan [sic] as ever so it is the way with the rest of the
Boys & there is one thing more & that is this McClellan is bound to go to Richmond &
he has got the Boys that will follow him Just where he leads Mc is loved by the whole
of his Troops I only wish that them that talk so much about him had to come out
here & fight the battles, I do not like to go into A battle Field but Just as soon as I am
called upon I am willing to do my duty when I am able & when I am not they cannot
expect me to but every one that this regiment has been in I have been so that
I have been will & been in every one of them & never shrinked from doing it when
called upon when you first enter the Field you will be all of A tremble but after
you have been in five minutes Just long enough to get worked up all of these
fears all go off & you do not care about going away I do not say this in A Bragging
way because I know that I had experience most for A year past this regiment
in in A bad predicament Just now being without A Colonel or Lieutenant Col
or Major but there is one thing about it & it is this we have got A good name from
our Division & Brigadier Generals & what move do we want our Flagg received
three bullets through it & as we were on the rear guard McCellan spoke to the
Senior Officer of this Regiment & asked him what Regiment it was & Captain
Edwards the officers name told him that it was the fifth of Maine Genl Mac
said bully for the Fifth & said that he had hearn[?] of their noble conduct of the
Regiment & he thought A good deal of it & all others that acted Nobly on the
Field & that he should give all of them their due this Regiment is not the Reg
iment it was when it left Portland A year ago when it could muster one thousa
nd & Forty men for duty strong but now cannot raise three hundred for duty
the others being killed wounded & taken Prisoners in the Battles that they went
into & there is others that have been discharged for sickness in this last Fight the
Regiment lost about sixty killed wounded & taken Prisoners but there is one
great loss to the Regiment & that is our Lieutenant-Colonel whose name was
Heath he was A good Military man and had courage & so it was the case
with the Colonel who was wounded & the Ajutant behaved nobly on the
Field & I must say it was so with all of the line Officers I am not ashamed
of the Fifth Maine our Chaplain who has preached to the Regiment
Sundays has gone home on A Furlough there is one Regiment that I must
mention & that is the seventh Virginia who is in General Shields Division
who came here the other day they are Advance sett of Fellows the other day
they was out on Picket & got in A skirmish with A Virginia Regiment on the
other side & they drove them about A Mile you see that it would not do for
them to be taken by the Rebels because they would not show any mercy to
them I must close this letter by saying that I have not recievd any from you
since I received yours of the twenty fifth & do not know what to make of it
because you must have received the one that I wrote to you after I got here
because Just after I arrived the first thing that I did after pitching my
tent was to go Y write to you & I have not received answer yet there is one
thing more that I will write & that is I know you will like to read &
that is this you have spoken to me about intoxicating Drinks & I have
never said anything about it & that is this the Regiment draws Whiskey
after being on fatigue duty such as building Forts & now I am comeing
to the best of it as I know you will say & be pleased & that is this I do not draw
nor drink any now as I told you I would not I shall keep y promise I have
felt Just as well without it as I know I would with it I am well & enjoying
good health give my love to all & tell Henry that I answered his letter the
same time that I did yours of the twenty fifth, Tell Lizzie that I see George
about every other day as his company is not farther than A quarter of A mile
from here, he got two slight wounds but is now as well as ever From you
Affectionate Son Joseph Leavitt
Letters of Joseph Leavitt of the 5th Maine and George Leavitt of the 5th New York were copied in a ledger in the fall of 1865 by their father as a remembrance of them. Both boys were mortally wounded in the war, George at 2nd Bull Run and Joseph at Spotsylvania.
MSS 66
Camp on White House Farm
New Kent County
July 12th 1862
I wrote you a short note, my darling wife,
day before yesterday, and i send this today
only to let you know I am well and to
tell you once again how dearly & how
truly I love you. shortly after my
last note was written an order came
from Genl Lee directing us to intercept
& attack some of the enemies cavalry
that were reported crossing the Mataponi
we marched that day to Piping Tree ferry
on the Pamunkey in Hanover County
and there learned that there was no
enemy crossing the Mataponi & we
returned to this camp yesterday.
I am very mutch obliged to you
for your purchase of the Hams.
For the present you must keep them
So soon as we get near Richmond
again I will write you how & where
to send them.
In reply to your question as to
whether our Regiment will be ordered
[page 2]
away I can only say I have had no
information of any such orders.
If any such comes of course I will
advise you of it at once————-
You speak of coming to Richmond
to see me. I would that you could
come there and that I could meet
you I pine for your society, my own
darling wife. If we go back to the
neighbourhood of the capital I
wish you would come down to see
me. It is impossible for me to say when
I could obtain a leave of absence
to go home. Certainly not now. If God
spares my life I shall ask for such
a leave at the earliest day I think
it will be granted—-
Good bye, dearest, I pray God in his
mercy to protect us both, to re-unite
us again, and to give peace to our
bleeding country–Kiss the children for me.
Love to Mrs Riddle. Remember me to the
servants Yr affec husband,
John T. Thornton
John Thruston Thornton, Captain, Co. K, 3rd Virginia Cavalry
MSS 4021
Marion Hill Near Richmond St Evening July the 12 1862
Dear Susan I am well this evening, good appetite and in good Spirits considering my
unpleasant situation, Seperation from all that is dear to me But I try to bair it with the
fortitude of a soldier and I hope you may be able to bair up under the trying sircum-
stance by which you are surrounded, bee of good cheer for who can tell what the lord
may doo for us yet, for all those that fear him, the children and you and all the neighbours
would bee glad to see but wee must bair our seperation yet a little longer but I hope
the time is not far distant when I will bee restored to you all again.
I and D J King have sent a bag each up by [?] King mine has in it 5 blankets and
two flanner shirt that came off the battle field one old shir[t] I wore at camp Lee and did
not think it worth washing one of the flanner shirts I got on the yankeys cant[sic] where I went
the 4th July the other came from the battlefield and I gave one dollar for it you can
have them put in order and if I should live and have to stay in camp this winter
I shall kneed them and some of the blankets allso, Davy took a horse and went down
and got a load of blankets and he gave me the ones that I sent you, have them washed
and I think they will bee of some use to you thousand have bin taken from the Battle
ground and still their are more not only blankets but things of evry discrition tents cut
and slited, Davy wrote to his wife to send to go Kings after the bundle and perhaps
by the time you get this you may have got yours
wee have moved from where we were when cosin Jimmy King was down here wee have moved
across the branch on the hill opposite and in full view of the same camp also in view
of the city and in a mutch better place on a high hill in an orchard good shade and
good water you can see from the heding of this that it is the same hill cap Magruders
company ware at last year and about 500 yds from the house they stayed in i hope it
not be necsary to move us from hear till peace is made but I see no sign of it yet
but who can tell what may happen to bring about a peace cosin Jimmy spoke of coming
down again after he got done plowing corn and I would bee glad if gid would come with
him it would not cost mutch and he could assist him in any thing that he might
bring or you might have to send, vegatables good gracious how high they sell=
[page 2]
yesterday we bought a cabage at 75cts today John Lane bought 3 unions about as
large as a goose egg and had to give a shiling a piece 50 cts for the three and everything
else in propotion Henry Irving offerd 50 cts pr dozen for ten dozen eggs yesterday
and could not get them at that what doo you doo with sutch things if you
have any to sell small chickens 75cts to 1000$ I recon your pap is makeing
a fortune this summer, we are geting very good Bacon and Flour some time beens
and peas sometimes a tast of molases and rice but they never Both come at once
so the rice is not fit to eat without sweetning
I will stop for the present
[letter of Andrew J. Gillespie, Ancell’s Company, Virginia Light Artillery, will continue on the 13th]
MSS 9564
Hospital July 12th 11862
Mrs Mary E. Noland
Present
Dear Madam
I recd from you son
the eatables so necessary for my sick. The bacon
I would have sent you, but disposed of it
yesterday, but expect a fresh supply today &
will certainly send to you tomorrow or Monday
The cow & woman you are so kind as to
offer at present I will decline but should I
need them, will feel no hesitation in asking
you for them. With many thanks in the name
of the sick and suffering soldiers.
I remain respectfully yours
C. Hunter Lambert
MSS 6463
[from the diary of Daniel D. Logan, younger brother of General Thomas M. Logan, formerly a Sgt, Co. B, 1st Special Battalion (Rightor’s), now with the Hampton Legion]
Saturday – July 12th 1862
After breakfast went down town, & saw
Capt Harrison & others at the Exchange
Hotel – saw Mullie & started out to Camp
Randolph to get his business arranged for
him – had to spend the whole day there
as Capt Goodwin did not return
until dinner time – Henry Conner & the
Capt road in with me – we did not find
Mullie at home – Mrs Dunlop having taken
him to ride – after paying Col Jim Conner
a visit I left Capt Goodwin with Mullie &
went to the stable with my mare – saw Capt
Harrison & pa sold him my Yankee saddle
Came home at 9 ½ o’c & took supper with
Mrs H, before Mr H returned from the farm
Dined with Genl Hampton & a pleasant party
in Camp today, Darby, Barkys, Conners, young
Hampton & Dr ____ – Brother got through [-]
& is ready to start for SoCa tomorrow –
Retire at 12 o’c
[transcript by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards]
MSS 6154
Brookmould near Boston 12 July 1862
Your letter of 15 June, dearest Maria, reached Boston two days ago and was sent to me here when your aunt Cornelia and myself are on a visit to Ellen. It made me very happy to get some tidings from my family whom I love the more tenderly just in proportion to the sorrow I feel at my separation from them. Yours is the first letter and the first direct intelligence I have received since a letter of Carrie’s dated 22 January. In March I had a visit from Major Revere, who while a prisoner in Richmond had been kindly treated by George and Mary, and who brought me a verbal message from George to say that all my friends were well. Afterward I saw in a newspaper an account of a ball in Richmond at which Hetty Cary was present and I knew so near a relation of your mother’s and yours could not be at a ball if harm had happened to any of your brothers. After the occupation of Fredericksburg by the Federals I got a letter from Maria Woodward. She said nothing about my relations and this was negative evidence that she had heard no bad news. I saw too your father’s name in the newspaper when he was spoken of as present at Col. Gihby’s [sp?] funeral. I could have missed the paper which contained that name. I never see a Southern paper- have not seen one since I was in Canada last August. You see, dear Marie, how scattered and dispersed and meager are the details on which I have lived, like a starving beggar, since your welcome packet after the Battle of Manassas. I think the last winter was perhaps the most unhappy of my life. I was ill and suffering in body and still more in mind. Confined a great part of the time to my chamber, weak and languishing and often in panic and hearing of nothing but battle and murder and death- never certain that I might not see the name of one of my nephews or of my brother George, before he was Secretary of War, among the killed or wounded. I saw Lewis Carter Randolph’s name in the list of prisoners after the battle of Roanoke, and at one time thought he might be sent to Fort Harrer [sp?] where I could have communicated with him freely by letter although I should not have been permitted to see him. I afterward hear that Randolph Talcott and himself had been discharged on parole. I thought more I think of your brother Tom than of anyone else. His letter after Bull Run was such a fine thing, so full of noble spirit and with such an entire absence of unfairness, that it kept his image always before my eyes. Wilson too with his young wife and one child when I saw him (Carrie wrote me he had a second) and Lewis whom I had parted with so full of life and youthful promise! Thank heaven, at the date of your letter you had heard no ill news but there has been terrible fighting since then. God grant that none of the blood spilt has come from the hearts of my kindred whom I love as my own heart’s blood!
I think that this was is the most unparallel of any that stands on record, taking place as it has done in the nineteenth century the most civilized in the annals of man, and among a people blessed beyond all the people of earth with every good gift, liberty, peace, plenty, unexampled growth and prosperity, respected and feared abroad, overflowing with all that the heart of man could wish at home! No foreign nation however mighty, would have dared to attack or invade [sp?] them, the time seemed approaching when America should give law to the world- and what return has this chosen people made to the Giver of all this good! To set his laws at defiance and rush into a bloody, murderous, patricidal struggle which unless His mercy prevails over the wrath of man, can end only in the rain and subjugation of the South, and the overthrow of literal institutions in a consolidated government and standing army of the North! And both parties in the conflict having the firm conviction that they are in the right! Each considering their cause as a sacred cause for the triumph of which they may pray with uplift hearts and hands to the God of justice, righteousness and love! When Pilate asked What is Truth? The question was one that shall never be answered till the last day- for what is truth, holy and sacred to one, is falsehood and abomination to another. I sit and think of my own people at the South who are fighting for home, fireside, wives and children, freedom, and to repel invasion and devastation of their land, and I see and hear around me all the glow and enthusiasm of a people who are fighting for their honor, their flag, their country, their institutions, their national greatness! Even the abolitionists, one of the wickedest parties that ever profaned the name of right, and whose leaders for their base ambition and fiendish hypocrisy deserve the execration of mankind, even they contract in their ranks many honest and genuine enthusiasts. What is to become of us all, how order is ever to be brought out of this frightful disorder, and good from this fearful evil only God can say. With man it is impossible, with God all things are possible. We must trust in Him!
You describe a very bad state of things where you are and near Fredericksburg- servants abandoning their masters- crops likely to rot on the ground- deplorable for the whites- still more deplorable for the colored people who have been leading easy lives, taken care of and provided for, and who are as incapable as children for providing for themselves. They will die like flys when the hardships of a Northern life and the necessity of taking care of themselves falls upon them. I wish it were possible, by Express, or any other way, to send you some necessary articles the prices of which have not as yet risen in this part of the country. Writing paper, calicos, ginghams, any good in general are very cheap. Groceries are high as so to make economy in the use of them very desirable. I passed five weeks in Philadelphia in April and May with my sister Virginia whose health I thought very tolerable for her. Mary was in Alexandria with Patty and her children and Cornelia returned home with me for a visit. The Meiklehens [sp?] are well; so, thank heaven, are my children. Randolph has a fine little boy, two months old called after his father. Ellen has not become stout, looks young and has no family. She sends her love to you whom she has not seen since she was your bridesmaid. Alfernor [sp?] is in the service of the Sanitary Commission with the army now on James River and in the service of his profession is devoted to the relief of suffering. He has had several of the Confederates under his care. His letters are full of interest. He has two very fine boys at home with their mother. Sidney, a Major of the 16th Regiment of U.S. Repellers [sp?], has never been called into active service, but kept recruiting in Ohio and Chicago. Jefferson, Hetty and their three little girls are living quietly at home. Farewell, dearest niece- I hope you may receive my letter and I do hope to hear from you again. I shall be very anxious to know about Ellen Wagner and am glad that Bart [sp?] is at her home again. Kiss your children for me and give my kindest regards to Mr. Mason. Cornelia is writing to you. Mr. Coolidge wishes particularly to be remembered to you. Ever your most affectionate aunt, E.W.C.
[Written around the edge of the first page] I was very glad to hear something of Isaette. I did not know that she had become a mother. I am with Ellen at some dillance [sp?] from Boston and see little of my other children who are all dispersed for the summer. Mr. C. comes when he can to see me.
Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge, granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson to Maria, possibly Mrs. Charles Mason.
[transcript by Rowan Sprague]
MSS 8937
[from the diary of James Dinsmore Templeton, musician and private in the 23rd Ohio]
Saturday July 12, 1862
Guard mounting
practiced
Heard we will leave
tomorrow probably
to go to Jumping branch
Went this afternoon
to the 12th Regt with
Gillett & saw Sam
& we [?] the [?]
of Mrs Chambers bull
her good[?] She wants
me to come to see them
Got my watch charged
$1.60
Parade as usual
no drill-
Drew rations
Had little missunderstanding
with Arthur
MSS 10317
