Tag Archives: South Carolina

9 October 1862: “They asked me who I was, I told them that I was a ‘Rebel,’ they said ‘don’t shoot’ we surrender.'”

Item description: This letter, dated 9 October 1862, was written by James Munnerlyn to his sister, Mrs. D. S. Stocking of Charleston, S.C. Munnerlyn describes a battle with Union cavalry in the town of Frederick, Maryland. The townspeople had been cheering the … Continue reading

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25 August 1862: “Every night she suffers terrors for fear of an attack by the rebels.”

Item description: Diary entry from Laura Towne, dated 25 August 1862. [Transcription available below images]  

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23 August 1862: “He came too, to take away slaves. He wanted two especially – Rina, who was washer and ironer for the family, and the childs nurse called Bella…”

Image description: Entry, dated 23 August 1862, from the diary of Laura Towne. Towne (1825-1901) came to St. Helena as part of the Port Royal Relief Group of Pennsylvania, an abolitionist group that came to Beaufort, S.C. and the surrounding … Continue reading

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23 July 1862: “There are very many ill of the fever & Ellen & I spend a good deal of time driving to Eustis’s, where there is a crowded & sickly set of people…”

Item citation: Diary entry of Laura Towne, dated 23 July 1862. In this entry Towne notes gathering provisions for the formerly enslaved men and women of Edisto Island, as well as the health of the African American population on St. … Continue reading

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27 June 1862: “he says he fears a famine for the country. isn’t it a fearful prospect?”

Item description: Letter, 27 June 1862, from Jane Caroline North Pettigrew (wife of Charles Lockhart Pettigrew) to her brother-in-law, William S. Pettigrew. The letter illustrates how dispersed the Pettigrew family has become at this point in the war. The writer, … Continue reading

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22 June 1862: “Dear Parents…Well I was in the fight on the 16th & got slightly wounded in the Right Arm just below the Shoulder.”

Item description: This letter, dated 22 June 1862, was written by William Cooley to his parents in Connecticutt. A member of the Connecticutt Volunteers, Cooley recounts the horror of assaulting fixed Confederate positions near Hilton Head, South Carolina. Wounded in … Continue reading

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11 May 1862: “I hope I shall not have to tell of another wholesale murder while I stay in S.C.”

Item description: Letter, 11 May 1862, from Emmett Cole, Union soldier in Company F of the 8th Michigan Infantry Regiment, from Beaufort, S.C., to his sister Celestia. Cole describes camp life, including a musical performance to honor fallen soldiers and … Continue reading

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18 April 1862: “…at this time, out of 800 men who formerly were active firemen 500 of them are in active service.”

Item description: Letter, dated 18 April 1862, from Moses Henry Nathan, Chief Engineer of the Charleston Fire Department, to William Porcher Miles, member of the Confederate House of Representatives and chair of its Military Affairs Committee. Nathan writes to ask … Continue reading

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15 April 1862: “What are our forts worth – what safety can we feel even for Sumter?”

Item description: Letter, dated 15 April 1862, from William Henry Trescot to William Porcher Miles. In the letter, Trescot expresses his concerns over the defense of Charleston Harbor. William H. Trescot was a diplomat, legislator, and military officer born in Charleston, … Continue reading

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17 March 1862: “I had heared of his death before your last letter reached me, and have written since, but Celestia when I saw the curly lock of hair, I had to weep again…”

Item description: In a 9 March 1862 letter that we recently featured, Union soldier Emmett Cole wrote to his sister Celestia that he had just learned from a mutual acquaintance that Emmett and Celestia’s younger brother Edgar, who was too … Continue reading

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