Category Archives: Southern Historical Collection

9 May 1863: “Twas a splendid charge, straight forward for two miles, while their cannon were pouring an iron hail into our ranks.”

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Item description: Letter, dated 9 May 1863, from Harrison Wells to his sweetheart Mollie Long.  Wells, a sergeant in the 13th Georgia Infantry Regiment, describes his homesickness and his experiences at the Battle of Chancellorsville.  He notes the injury of … Continue reading →

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8 May 1863: “I have just passed through another of the bloodiest battles of the war.”

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Item Description:  Letter, dated 8 May 1863, from Corporal William H. Proffit to his parents.  In this letter Cpl. Proffit provides some details of the the bloody battle on the Rappahannock River, as well as gives an account of the … Continue reading →

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

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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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5 May 1863: “We met the yank’s 8 miles above Fredericksberg, and had a morning fight … in which we killed a great many yankees with but slight loss on our side.”

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Item Description: Letter, 5 May 1863, from JD Joyner to his mother, Julia Joyner, recounting events surrounding the battle of Chancellorsville. Members of the Joyner family were planters and professionals from Franklin County, North Carolina. While William Joyner worked at the Department of … Continue reading →

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4 May 1863: ” [Commencement] came off without much excitement, eight graduates; the number in peace time was between eighty & ninety.”

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Item description:  Letter, May 4, 1863 from John Steele Henderson to his mother.  Henderson describes the significant loss of UNC’s student body due to the war.  While he shares his experience speaking at Commencement, Henderson express more concern with securing a pair of shoes. … 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.”

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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…”

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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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1 May 1863: “The Yankees Repulsed Above Fredericksburg. Great Battle Expected.”

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Item Description: Article from the Wilmington Daily Journal, announcing an expected battle near Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Item citation: Wilmington Daily Journal, 2 May 1863, page 3, column 1.  From Miscellaneous Newspapers in the North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, University of … 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.”

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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…”

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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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