Torn letter fragment, July 16, 1862 — Civil War news from Virginia (page 1)
Book 1, Page 87 ·1862
Transcription
A torn and fragmentary handwritten letter, mounted at the upper portion of the page in flowing dark ink. The upper-left half of the original sheet is preserved relatively intact; the right half is torn away, leaving narrow vertical strips with line endings. Several small fragments are pasted below at right.
Walhalla, July 16th 1862
Dear Sir,
We got by last mail, another note in pencil, which I will copy for you — It took a week to come here, so that by the time you see this, all interest in the news it contains, will to you be still newer — to see what Tady wrote of [illegible] [from?] Charleston, July 5th.
I have endeavored by Telegraph, to ease you of the [necessarily produced] anxiety, which the last week must have caused — We are within two miles of the river — The enemy in [front] protected by a creek, & either flanks protected by their gun boats, with heavy guns. We rested here yesterday & today are in statu quo — The men have [illegible — line torn] What is to be the next move, is hard to tell or guess. In the guidance of Providence which has saved us from our own errors, I feel a grateful [illegible] that it will all prove for the best — & the non-capture of M[c]Clellan, may be the surest avenue to peace. We have shed enough of their blood, & God knows of our own, to make me rejoice at [any?] sun going down, without a battle. If the North rallies to another campaign in Va., it will not be because we have failed to cut their force here to pieces. Our pursuit has not been complete enough to leave us elated, & our losses & fatigues, keep us calm in the existing statu[s] of things. We have — cause to feel profoundly grateful; and those who have [remainder of left portion trails off]
Torn fragment at right preserves these line endings (continuations of the same letter):
[…] a [illegible] for Hope, have, rep[eat?] with […]
[…] [ou]r affairs — We are […]
[…] Ft. Donelson, & have join[ed] […]
[…] not very remote[ly]. We [illegible]
[…] to hope for the [ma??d] ^mediation^ […] [the word “mediation” is interlined above as a correction]
[…] [ou]r cities, & thier popula[tion] […]
[…] almost a ground for an [illegible]
AI Notes
A torn and fragmentary handwritten letter mounted at the upper portion of the page, with narrow torn-edge strips preserving line-endings at right. Written in flowing cursive ink. Dateline reads ‘Walhalla, July 16th 1862’ – placing this just after the Seven Days Battles outside Richmond. The writer reports news forwarded by telegraph, describes a position two miles from a river opposite an enemy protected by a creek and gun boats, references the Confederate failure to capture Gen. McClellan, and reflects with grim relief on the absence of further battle. Mentions Fort Donelson and refers to a correspondent who wrote from Charleston on July 5th. Large portions of the sheet are torn away; only edge fragments remain at right and bottom. Letter continues onto the next scan.
Letter continues on next scan; large portions of the sheet are torn away and lost.
The 16 July 1862 date places the writing two weeks after the close of the Seven Days Battles (25 June – 1 July), in which Robert E. Lee drove George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac away from Richmond and back to a defensive base at Harrison’s Landing on the James River — exactly the position the writer describes (“within two miles of the river — The enemy in front protected by a creek, & either flanks protected by their gun boats”). The “non-capture of M[c]Clellan” refers to the Confederate army’s failure to destroy that retreating force at Malvern Hill on 1 July, a missed-opportunity narrative that would shape Southern reflection on the campaign for decades. The Walhalla dateline reflects the wider pattern visible across the album: Charleston families who “refugeed” upcountry from 1862 onward to escape blockade, bombardment, and yellow fever.