Tag Archives: African Americans

31 May 1862: “That fifteen lashes be inflicted upon any colored man or woman, who, for the sake of convenience, and unaccompanied by any white person, may walk on forbidden ground…”

Posted on 31 May ’12 by

Item description: At the 31 May 1862 meeting of the Philanthropic Society, a committee recommended passage of the following law: “That fifteen lashes be inflicted upon any colored man or woman, who, for the sake of convenience, and unaccompanied by … Continue reading →

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10 May 1862: “when our troops first landed here they were attacked by a party of negroes and a number of us slashed up with nives and had their throats cut.”

Posted on 10 May ’12 by

Item description: Letter, dated 10 May 1862, from William Ray Wells, private in the 12th New York Infantry Regiment (“Onondaga Regiment”), to his family in New York. Wells makes mention of a secondhand report of an attack by “a party of … Continue reading →

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4 April 1862: “they told hir that may be the yankys would not pay hir she said she did not care if they did not she would wash for them gest as soon as the rhumaties was out of hir arm pay or no pay…”

Posted on 4 Apr ’12 by

Item description: Letter written from New Bern, N.C., by Union soldier Jeremiah Stetson to his wife, Abbie F. Stetson. Stetson references his son Edwin Leforrest Stetson (“E”), who was serving with his father, and describes a “negro woman” who did washing for … Continue reading →

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2 January 1862: “…yesterday was New Year down here in Dixie and one I shall never forget…”

Posted on 2 Jan ’12 by

Item description: Letter, 2 January 1862, from Emmett Cole, a Union soldier in Company F, 8th Michigan Infantry Regiment, encamped at Port Royal Island, S.C., to his sister describing the Battle of Port Royal Ferry, fought on New Year’s Day … Continue reading →

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22 September 1861: “I cannot explain what my place is exactly because I don’t know but one man I can trust and because this letter might get in the wrong hands…”

Posted on 22 Sep ’11 by

Item description: Letter, dated 22 September 1861, addressed to Union General George McClellan from an unnamed correspondent. According to a note penciled at the bottom of the letter, this letter was in fact a piece of counterintelligence employed by Confederate … Continue reading →

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14 July 1861: “The Communion was administered to the white members and then to the negroes; I thought the Communion of the negroes was very affecting…”

Posted on 14 Jul ’11 by

Item description: Sarah Lois Wadley was the daughter of William Morrill Wadley (1812?-1882) and Rebecca Barnard Everingham Wadley (fl. 1840-1884) and lived with her family in homes near Amite in Tangipahoa Parish, Monroe and Oakland in Ouachita Parish, La., and … 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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