Tag Archives: Robert E. Lee

23 April 1865: “Mankind has lost its best friend since the crusifiction of Christ” and “How I loved him! He was my hero.”

As this blog’s end draws near, we present two different accounts of grief. The first letter mourns the loss of Abraham Lincoln, while the second diary entry laments the loss of Stonewall Jackson. Item Description: Letter dated 23 April 1865 … Continue reading

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10 April 1865: “the conviction had become established in the minds of a large majority of our best officers, + men that the army in its extremely reduced state could not be extricated from its perilous condition”

Item description: Three items from the day after the surrender at Appomattox Court House. The first is a paroled prisoner’s pass. Upon surrender, Confederate soldiers received paroles allowing them to return home without fear of arrest as long as they did … Continue reading

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28 September, 1864: “He desires you to move to the North side of James River”

Item Description: Letter to General R. H. Anderson commanding him to move across the James River to take command of the line of defense and establish a line of communication between General Lee and Major Generals Field and Pickett. Item … Continue reading

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4 June 1864: “I apprehend from the quietude the enemy has preserved today that he is preparing to leave us tonight, and I fear will cross the Chickahominy.”

Item description: Dispatch, dated 4 June 1864, from Robert E. Lee to Richard H. Anderson, written during the Battle of Cold Harbor. Item Citation: From the Edward Porter Alexander Papers #00007, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Item transcription: … Continue reading

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26 April 1864: “I had a long conversation with Gen Lee, a day or two ago since. He is in the highest of spirits…”

Item Description: Letter, dated 26 April 1864, from John Thomas Jones to his father, Edmund Walter Jones.  He describes movements in southern Virginia near Fredericksburg, camp life, and Lee’s North Carolina and Virginia strategy leading up to the Battle of … Continue reading

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1 December 1863: “The status of the Yankees is mysterious.”

Item description: Entry, dated 1 December 1863, in the Samuel A. Agnew Diary.  In this entry, Agnew describes a miscommunication about the whereabouts and strength of Forrest, Ferguson, and Lee’s units and uncertainty about the location of Union troops.  Agnew … Continue reading

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26 November 1863: “I know of no more fitting resting place for a brave soldier than the battle field in which he has laid down his life in the defense of the rights of his Country”

Item description: letter, 26 November 1863, from Robert E. Lee to R.H. Graves in which he regretfully acknowledges the loss of Captain H. A. Gordan at Gettysburg and the impossibility of recovering his body. He concludes that the battlefield is … Continue reading

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1 October 1863: “I had a conversation yesterday with General Lee yesterday in which I spoke of your letters and he expressed a desire to see it.”

Item Description: Letter dated 1 October 1863 from General R. S. Ewell to Robert Lewis Dabney. R. L. Dabney was a clergyman, teacher, Confederate staff officer and chaplain. This letter responds to an earlier letter of Dabney’s regarding suggestions for the … Continue reading

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12 August 1863: “…no one seems to think of marriage, the times being too hard.”

Item description: Letter, dated 12 August 1863, from Lafayette McLaws to his wife.  In this letter he discusses the various talents of their children and the family on whose farm his division is camped. Item citation: From folder 8, Lafayette … Continue reading

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16 June 1863: “…I tell you we are going to give it to them this time…”

 Item description: Letter, dated 16 June 1863, from Eldridge B. Platt to his family, including parents Enoch and Sallie Bronson Platt, of Waterbury, Connecticut. Eldridge B. Platt (b. 1847) enlisted as a drummer in the 2nd Connecticut Light Battery on 12 … Continue reading

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