Monthly Archives: June 2011

30 June 1861: “I write to you as I talk to you, although you may be ashamed of such tame love letters.”

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Item description: Letter, 30 June 1861, from William Gaston Lewis to Martha (“Mittie” or “Mitt”) Lucinda Pender of Tarboro, N.C. Item citation: From the W. G. Lewis Papers #2314-z, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel … Continue reading →

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29 June 1861: “Delay is worth ten times as much to us as to them…for delay alone can conquer them by bankrupting them nationally & individually at a rapid rate…”

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Item description: Letter, 29 June 1861, from Edward Porter Alexander to his wife Bettie. In the letter Alexander describes his new role leading five artillery batteries, and discusses the effect that delays in between battles have on each side (claiming … Continue reading →

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28 June 1861: Autographs of the Members of the Convention of 1861

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Item description: Two images from an autograph booklet containing the signature and hometown of the members of the North Carolina Secession Convention. The first name in the booklet is that of Walter L. Steele, secretary of the convention and resident … Continue reading →

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27 June 1861: An Ordinance to Cede to the Confederate States, the Property in and Jurisdiction over the Forts, Light Houses, Beacons, Marine Hospitals and Mint in North Carolina

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Item description: An ordinance by the North Carolina Secession Convention ceding parcels of land formerly held by the United States government to the new government of the Confederate States of America. Item Transciption: [No. 29.] AN ORDINANCE TO CEDE TO … Continue reading →

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26 June 1861: “In reply to the resolution of the Convention, asking the Military Board to report on this day, at 10 o’clock, A.M., the number of State troops…”

Posted on 26 Jun ’11 by

Item description: Opening paragraphs of a report submitted to the Secession Convention by the Military Board of North Carolina. The document contains information on military appointees and other schedules related to the state’s attempt to raise troops. Item transcription: STATE … Continue reading →

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25 June 1861: “I can’t say anything about the people for are but the Negroes left on our landing here. Men that had property to the amount of $100,000 left all and went to Richmond and Yorktown.”

Posted on 25 Jun ’11 by

Item description: Letter from J. M. Drake of Company A, 4th Massachusetts Regiment, at Camp Butler, Newport News, Va., to his father, telling of his hopes that his company will be discharged soon; detailing the wrongs done by U.S. Army … Continue reading →

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24 June 1861: “I have received your letter of the 19th inst. in relation to the appointment of Col. D.H. Hill as Brigadier General…”

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Item description: North Carolina Governor John Ellis’ copy of a letter from Jefferson Davis to Warren Winslow (an aid to the ailing Gov. Ellis and chairman to the newly-created Military and Naval Board of North Carolina). This letter concerns the … Continue reading →

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23 June 1861: “Last night we travelled through lines of outposts, over danger-haunted bridges, by camps where the soldiers watched eagerly for their supply of bread…”

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Item description: Final entry, 23 June 1861, in a series of war dispatches written by Sir William Howard Russell (a British reporter writing for The London Times). Written as letters from various places in the South from April 30 to … Continue reading →

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22 June 1861: “…the inscription, above the star, in a semi-circular form, of ‘May 20th, 1775,’ and below the star, in a semi-circular form, ‘May 20th, 1861.’”

Posted on 22 Jun ’11 by

Item description: An ordinance, passed by the North Carolina Secession Convention, to create a flag for the State of North Carolina. The flag included the dates of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence and the date the state seceded from the … Continue reading →

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21 June 1861: “What we desire is a badge of distincton, not a mark for a bullet”

Posted on 21 Jun ’11 by

Item description: An editorial (reprinted from the Richmond Dispatch) in the Wilmington Daily Journal of 21 June 1861. In it, the editors of the Richmond newspaper call for the ladies of the city to make a different type of badge … Continue reading →

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