A Guide to Letters from Civil War Virginia
A Collection in the
Special Collections Department
Accession number 10911
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University of Virginia Library
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections LibraryUniversity of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
USA
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© 1997 By the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. All rights reserved.
Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Processed by: Special Collections Department Staff
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Collection is open to research.
Use Restrictions
See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.
Preferred Citation
A Guide to Letters from Civil War Virginia, Accession 10911, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library
Acquisition Information
These items were purchased by the Library on February 14, 1990.
Funding Note
Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
Scope and Content
This collection contains 7 items, 1861-1862, n.d,, chiefly letters written in Virginia during the Civil War, including two letters to William. T. Sutherlin (1822-1893) of Danville (both with typed transcripts), who served as chief quartermaster for Danville with the rank of major during the Civil War. Also present is a Valentine's Day (?) card and letters from members of Wise's Legion and Hampton's [South Carolina] Legion ; the topics of discussion include camp life, financial matters, cotton and tobacco speculation, and sentiments of love.
Significant Persons Associated With the Collection
- A. Willis
- Christopher D. Wright
- Dryden Wright
- E. B. Griffith
- G. W. Brown
- India A. Underwood
- James Willett Spaulding
- John M. Brown
- R. A. Jackson
- William T. Sutherlin
- William. T. Sutherlin
Significant Places Associated With the Collection
- Augusta, Georgia
- Danville
- Floyd County
- Macon
- North Carolina
- Richmond
- Virginia
Container List
requests he procure a Kentucky or a Mississippi rifle from a Richmond "gun establishment" and minie ball molds; asks advice on how to get a sword handle plated
an incomplete letter concerning a private financial situation
Wright, a sergeant in Co. C, 1st Regiment, Wise's Legion , writes about the outcome of a skirmish [27 September?] in which Colonel James Willett Spaulding was killed; the pending transfer of the Legion to North Carolina ; the scarcity of wagons, clothing, paper; sickness in the camp (mumps); wants flannel shirts
"nothing of interest to write"; his hopes for peace; soldiers who do not re-enlist are impressed into the service; expresses desire to be with her and asks her to "remain single" until he is killed or returns home to Floyd County and hints at marriage; refers to a previous furlough as having made him unpopular
discusses a financial transaction; cotton and tobacco crops; fears he will have to burn $10,000 worth of cotton "to keep it from falling into the hands of the Yankee Thieves & Scoundrals & Unprincipled Rascals"
references payment of a debt; wants his tobacco crop delivered to a purchaser; says if Macon or Augusta, Georgia , are captured by the Federals 1,000 bales of cotton will be burned
containing an unidentified news clipping of a poem "The Light of Home" ("The light of home! how bright it beams/When evening shades around us fall . . .") and a hand-colored Valentine's Day (?) card with a poem that pokes fun at the falseness of love; it includes a scene of a well-dressed gentleman seated on a couch --beneath this is a satiric depiction of his true appearance in his miserable living quarters: "You tolde that you loved me/And your heart appeared to speak . . ."