Author Archives: dcbh

10 May 1863: “Harriet we have bin living fine since we came to Va. I not seen any corn bread since I left N.C. or that is we have not had any but we only get a quarter pound of meate a day & a quarter pound of sugar how long it will last I don’t know.”

Item description: Letter, dated 10 May 1863, from Robert Sifford, Hanover Junction, Va., to Harriet McIntosh, Mecklenburg County, N.C. During the war, Sifford served with the 52th North Carolina Troops (within “Pettigrew’s Brigade”). In this letter, Sifford gives a detailed … Continue reading

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6 May 1863: “List of Negroes working on the fortifications at Fort Pemberton”

Item description: ”List of Negroes working on the fortifications at Fort Pemberton,” dated 6 May 1863. Fort Pemberton was a Confederate fortification constructed on a narrow strip of land between the Tallahatchie and Yazoo Rivers, near Greenwood, Mississippi. Item citation: From … Continue reading

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3 May 1863: “The Genl. says Genl. Anderson is on your left watching for any movement down the river, has not yet heard from him, thinks his presence there will render your left flank secure.”

Item description: A short note, dated “about 12 – o’c[lock] – night 3 May ’63,” written by Walter H. Taylor, Chief Aide-de-Camp of Robert E. Lee, to Gen. Lafayette McLaws. Item citation: From folder 7 in the Lafayette McLaws Papers, Southern Historical Collection, … Continue reading

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2 May 1863: “Resolved that we have full confidence that Col. Logan will assign to the negroes of Morehouse a ward in the hospital, or a separate building, and that he will place the negroes from this Parish under the medical treatment of the Physician employed by the Planters…”

Item description: Resolution, 2 May 1863, from area planters concerning slaves who were being impresssed into Confederate service at Fort Beauregard, La. More about George W. Logan: George William Logan (1828-1896) was born in Charleston, S.C., to George William Logan … Continue reading

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30 April 1863: “I would not therefore encumber myself with artillery, but would take the best guns and horses. Use however your judgment.”

Item description: Letter, dated 30 April 1863, from Robert E. Lee to Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. According to a note pasted on the letter, it was Lee’s last official letter to Jackson prior to the Battle of Chancellorsville. Jackson was wounded on 2 May … Continue reading

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29 April 1863: “Today Genl Lee came over to my position and we had a long con-versation with each other…”

Item Description: Letter, dated 29 April 1863, from General Lafayette McLaws, a Confederate officer from Savannah, Georgia. It it he writes to his wife, Emily Allison Taylor McLaws, discussing the Chancellorsville campaign, relating a story of a North Carolina regiment … Continue reading

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28 April 1863: “Warm and rainy. Our guard is the same, however, rain or no rain.”

Item description: Brief entry, dated 28 April 1863, from Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass., Dep’t of No. Carolina, an account, written by John Jasper Wyeth of Co. E, of the experiences of the 44th Massachusetts … Continue reading

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25 April 1863: Nine iron clad Monitors attacked Fort Sumter and the other defences of Charleston on the 10th and were signally defeated

Item description: Diary entry, April 25, 1863 of David Schenck (1835-1902). Item citation: From folder 4 (volume 3) of the David Schenck Papers #652, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Item transcription: The … Continue reading

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24 April 1863: “Every day serves to increase my anxiety to exchange my present service for some other less laborious and equally necessary branch.”

Item description: Letter, dated April 24th, 1863 from Ruffin Thompson to his father, William H. Thompson.  In it he recounts details of camp life and his failed attempts to transfer to a less physically taxing position. Item citation: From folder … Continue reading

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22 April 1863: “The whole district is against us & no certain information can be gained any where.”

Item Description: Letter, 22 April 1863, from John McRae to Peter Mallett about McRae’s efforts to round up deserters in Wake County, N.C.John McRae (1793-1880) served as postmaster at Fayetteville, N.C., with his father, Duncan, 1801-1853. He then went into private business … Continue reading

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