Monthly Archives: December 2011

31 December 1861: “The fire which has swept through our dear old city is indeed an appalling calamity.”

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Item description: Letter from “Uncle Henry” to Carie (Carey) Pettigrew about the Charleston fire, 31 December 1861         Item citation: from folder 249 in Pettigrew Family Papers #592, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina … Continue reading →

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30 December 1861: “The Troops are reminded that the 57th Article of War makes punishable with death the giving intelligence to the enemy directly or indirectly.”

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Item description: General orders No. 98, dated 30 December 1861, from the Headquarters of the Department of Northern Virginia concerning the dissemination of intelligence. Item citation: From folder 18 of the William Nelson Pendleton Papers, #1466, Southern Historical Collection, The … Continue reading →

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29 December 1861: “I have got to fat to run quite so fast as I used to run after the hens, but I can’t find any boddy that can out run me now.”

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Item description: Letter, 29 December 1861, written by Jeremiah Stetson, from Annapolis, Maryland, to his wife Abbie F. “Happy” Stetson, in Hanson, Massachusetts. Stetson wrote of training maneuvers, the resolution of a debt owed to him, and of missing his … Continue reading →

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28 December 1861: “[Maryland] now lies prostrate & can only raise her hands clanking in chains & with one finger slyly beckon her southern friends to come to her rescue.”

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Item description: Letter, 28 December 1861, to Edward Porter Alexander from an unidentified writer (later identified by Alexander as simply “Chapman”).  Item citation: From folder 9 of the Edward Porter Alexander Papers, #7, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University … Continue reading →

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27 December 1861: “In my individual command we have not even a Pistol to defend us.”

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Item description: A letter, 27 December 1861, from Captain Charles E. Kanapaux of the Wagner Light Artillery, Palmetto Battalion, to William Porcher Miles, a member of the Confederate Congress. Kanapaux implored Miles to use his influence to secure arms for … Continue reading →

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26 December 1861: “I was promising myself much happiness in spending a few days with you at New Year’s, and am much grieved that it has to be deferred…”

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Item description: Letter from Elisha Franklin Paxton to his wife, Elizabeth, dated 26 December 1861. In the letter Paxton informs his wife that his hoped-for furlough would not come through in time for him to visit around New Year’s Day, … Continue reading →

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25 December 1861: “Today Being Christmas the Col has excused us from drill and we are trying to pass this hollyday as best we can.”

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Item description: Letter, 25 December 1861, from Emmett Cole, a Union soldier in Company F, 8th Michigan Infantry Regiment, encamped at Port Royal Island, S.C., to his sister Celestia. Cole commented on Christmas in the context of war, the Charleston fire, … Continue reading →

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24 December 1861: “I do heartily mourn the grief & desolation of this appalling destruction.”

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Item description: Letter from Jane Caroline North Pettigrew to her mother, 24 December 1861.       Item citation: from folder 249 in Pettigrew Family Papers #592, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Item … Continue reading →

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23 December 1861: “The DUPLIN RIFLES were RE-ORGANIZED by electing the following officers…”

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Item Description: This broadside publication announced the election of new officers for the “Duplin Rifles” and that they were recruiting new soldiers for the unit. Item transcription: ON SATURDAY LAST The DUPLIN RIFLES were RE-ORGANIZED by electing the following officers, … Continue reading →

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22 December 1861: “A camp is visible about halfway from the mouth of the river to Yorktown, the drums of which we can distinctly hear morning and evening.”

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Item description: Report of Acting Master Studley, U. S. Navy, commanding U. S. S. Young Rover, regarding batteries on the York and Poquosin rivers, and the crossing by small boats of the York River. To read more from the Official … Continue reading →

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