Tag Archives: Seven Days Battles

7 October 1862: “we all landed safe but one man… he was drunk & fell out of the cars and broke his leg.”

Item description: Letter, dated 7 October 1862, from soldier A.M. Kee, Richmond, V.A., to Andrew Baxter Springs (1819-1886), Springfield Plantation, York District, S.C. The Springs family were stockholders and directors of various banks, railroads, and manufacturing firms. Item citation: In … Continue reading

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12 July 1862: “I myself found a Yankee in a thicket on Friday who had been shot through the lungs the previous Monday & was still alive.”

Item description: Letter, 12 July 1862, from Benjamin Lewis Blackford, in camp near Chesterfield, Va., to his mother Mary B. Blackford. Blackford, an accomplished draftsman, was at this time employed as a topographical engineer in the Confederate army. This letter … Continue reading

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8 July 1862: “The remainder will march to the cannons mouth and Stab The yankee gunners to The heart Unawed by superior numbers or the display of burnished weppons and dazling unaforms”

Item description: Letter, 8 July 1862, from William C. McClellan of the 9th Alabama Infantry to his brother, Robert Anderson McClellan, in which he described the Seven Days Battle with McClellan’s forces near Richmond. He wrote of the heavy Confederate … Continue reading

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7 July 1862: “Our company engaged in a very sad duty on yesterday in escorting the remains of Lieut. Col. Faison to his last resting place.”

Item description: Letter, 7 July 1862, from Edmund Jones Williams (1841-1926), a soldier in the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry and the 31st North Carolina Regiment, from a camp in Sampson County, N.C., to his mother in Cumberland County, N.C. Item … Continue reading

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6 July 1862: “It seems strange but nevertheless true that most of the boys from our neighborhood have either been killed wounded or died of sickness.”

Item description: Entry, dated 6 July 1862, from the diary of Robert W. Parker (2nd Virginia Cavalry, CSA), near Culpeper, Va., to his wife, Rebecca Louise Fitzhugh Walker Parker. [Transcription available below images.] Item citation: From volume 2 in the … Continue reading

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3 July 1862: “It fell to my lot – being officer of the guard today – to give him a burial…”

Item description: Letter, 3 July 1862, from Union soldier Stephen Tippet Andrews to his beloved, Margaret (Maggie) Little. For an introduction to the correspondence between Andrews and Little, please see our post of 11 February 1862. [Transcription available below images.] … Continue reading

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2 July 1862: “It becomes my painful duty to inform you of the death of your son John. R. Smith, a member of my company.”

Item description: Letter, 2 July 1862, from Edward M. Hardy, Captain of Company G, 6th Virginia Infantry Regiment, informing Rev. Aristides Spyker Smith (1809-1892) of the death of his son Johnathan “Johnnie” Reynolds Smith (1836-1862). Johnnie was killed on 1 … Continue reading

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1 July 1862: “…McClellan is reported mortally wounded. His army is fighting for existence. It is at bay and desperate.”

Item description: The Wilmington Daily Journal of 1 July 1862 included this update of action near Richmond, Virginia. Containing an erroneous report of Union General George B. McClellan’s mortal wound, the article presents a somewhat upbeat outlook on what would … Continue reading

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29 June 1862: “The west or right bank of James River is entirely in the hands of the rebels. Nearly the whole power of the Southern Confederacy is within a few miles of us.”

Item description: “Report of Commander [John] Rodgers, U. S. Navy, of the sending the submarine propeller back to Fortress Monroe for further orders.” The report discusses naval actions in support of the Union Army’s movements during the Seven Days Battle, … Continue reading

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28 June 1862: “THE RICHMOND BATTLE — ENEMY DEFEATED — THEY BURN THEIR STORES — CONFEDERATE SUCCESS — OUR WOUNDED ARRIVING — YORK RIVER RAILROAD AND BATTERIES CAPTURED — NO PRISONERS REPORTED”

Item description: The Wilmington Daily Journal of 28 June 1862 included this report, received by telegraph, of military action around Richmond, Virginia. The article was published on the fourth day of the Seven Days Battles. Item citation: The Daily Journal. … Continue reading

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