Tag Archives: picket duty

17 November 1863: “I hope we that we will not have any more fighting to do this winter; for I am not so fond of fighting as anybody might suppose.”

Item Description: Letter, dated 17 November 1863 from James Augustus Graham to his mother. In it, Graham describes a picket shift, an encounter with Yankees, rumors about the progress of the war, and asks for food items from his mother. Item … Continue reading

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31 March 1863: “A man in the 23rd NC deserted to the Yankees on picket…”

Item Description: Letter, of 31 March 1863, from F.J. Haywood Jr.  The letter is addressed to “My Dear Captain” and relates bits of camp gossip and chatter about the sighting of a “Yankee Balloon,” a desertion across enemy lines, and … Continue reading

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18 February 1863: “Of the colored race those the nearest white are the most to be pitied they look kind of sad as tho they do not like the position they occupy”

Item Description: Letter, 18 February 1863, from Silas Everett Fales, a soldier with the 42nd Massachusetts Infantry, to his wife Mary. Fales wrote from Bayou Gentilly and then New Orleans, about army life, the climate and bustling activity in the … Continue reading

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10 February 1863: “When we first began the life of a soldier our biscuits would have given a mule the despipsia; now rolls, light and luscious, grace our table.”

Item description: Letter, 10 February 1863, from Ruffin Thomson, 18th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, to his “Pa” (William H. Thomson). More about Ruffin Thomson: Ruffin Thomson was the oldest child and only son of William H. Thomson and Hannah Lavinia Thomson. He studied … Continue reading

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30 May 1862: “I sent an officer to them yesterday morning to attempt to give him some instruction. Apparently to little purpose.”

Item description: In this letter, 30 May 1862, General Joseph E. Johnston wrote to another Confederate general (possibly General Stonewall Jackson), regarding the improper behavior of cavalry pickets from the 10th Virginia Cavalry, “Wise’s Legion,” as reported by General Robert … Continue reading

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9 December 1861: “It would do you good to hear the slaves tell about their masters leaving”

Item description: Letter from Emmett Cole, Company F, 8th Michigan Infantry Regiment, to his sister, Celestia. His letter describes the work of striking camp at Hilton Head; the scenery while traveling by boat on the Port Royal River to Beaufort, … Continue reading

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