Category Archives: Southern Historical Collection

25 April 1865: “I have about recovered the entire use of my leg and havent thrown away my crutch yet as I do not wish to suffer any further from my wound”

Item Description: Letter from Robert D. Graham to his mother, Susannah Sarah Washington. He is writing from a hospital under Union control at Petersburg, VA. He is healing from his wound and hopes to be paroled from the hospital soon. … Continue reading

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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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22 April 1865 : “everything seems to indicate a speedy termination of the Confederacy & a restoration to the old state of affairs which though it is very humiliating to us still has its pleasant features”

Item Description: Letter from George P. Collins to his wife Anne Cameron Collins. He writes about his duty in a Confederate camp in Greensboro and how he believes the end of the war is imminent.  He is relieved that the … Continue reading

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21 April 1865: “Hurrah! Old Abe Lincoln has been assassinated!”

Item Description: Diary entry dated 21 April by Emma LeConte. LeConte lived in Columbia, South Carolina and was the daughter of the scientist Joseph LeConte. She reacts to the news that Abraham Lincoln has been assassinated. Item Citation: Folder 1, … Continue reading

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20 April 1865: “I used to dream about peace – to pray for it – but this is worse than war.”

Item Description: Diary entry dated 20 April by Emma LeConte. LeConte lived in Columbia, South Carolina and was the daughter of the scientist Joseph LeConte. She expresses her anguish over the defeat of the Confederate Army. Item Citation: Folder 1, … Continue reading

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19 April 1865: “By accepting the terms proposed, you will preserve Western Louisiana and Texas from the devastation and misery which have been the lot of nearly every Southern State”

Item Description: This is a copy of an official communication regarding negotiations between Grant and General Lee to the confederate army in Missouri. The communication asks for surrender to the terms made by the representing U.S. military official. Item Citation: From … Continue reading

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18 April 1865: “I feel provoked to hear the college bell sounding on as though the college was in full blast—a miserable set— not one true man among them and they desire to hand it down in History that the dear Yankees, did not interfere with the regular exercise of the college—when in truth there were not five students here when Wheeler left us.”

Item Description: Letter from Charles P. Mallet to his son Charles B. Mallet.  Written over the course of a few weeks, he describes the Confederate retreat from Chapel Hill and the Union occupation.  He describes the pillaging and foraging going … Continue reading

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17 April 1865: “we were aroused by the report that General Johnson had surrendered his army to Sherman and you can have no idea of the excitement that reigned around the city at the announcement as it is surrounded by our army.”

Item Description: Letter from George Washington Baker to his mother from Raleigh, NC. He writes about General Johnston’s (who he refers to as Johnson) surrender to General Sherman. He talks about the feeling amongst the Union soldiers and in the … Continue reading

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16 April 1865: “…we got the news of Lee’s capture you had aught to have seen the excitement…”

Item Description: Letter dated 16 April 1865 from I. Shoger to his wife. A Union soldier stationed in Raleigh, North Carolina, Shoger writes to his wife about the excitement surrounding Lee’s surrender. Item Citation: Folder 49, Federal Soldiers Letters, #3185, … Continue reading

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15 April 1865: “Yesterday so beautiful & the air so dry & clear with a Happy President and a happy people- Today a Dead President murdered by a citizen of the United States”

Item Description: April 15th, 1865 diary entry in Henry Clay Warmoth’s Civil War diary.  Warmoth was stationed in Washington D.C. and describes the somber mood in the city after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.  Henry Clay Warmoth was a lieutenant … Continue reading

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