Letter, 'Walhalla June' (page 2)
Book 1, Page 94 ·1864–1864
Transcription
A handwritten letter page in brown ink, page 2 of the letter begun on page 093 (the previous page ends ‘I am so glad to’). Heavy red wash or staining covers the right side and lower right portion of the sheet, and small tears run down the centre fold. The hand is small and crowded.
hear that you are so comfortably and pleasantly fixed — the children to be in the country and you to be so near the news. I only wish we were near you. Your letter was a real treat — something of home. It is dreadful to be so far away from home as this little place is — so out of the world. The hotel is quite full now. Lots of spoilt children (you know my aversion to that article). There are constantly wounded soldiers ^stopping here^ from the cars going home. Some of them look so sick and exhausted after their journey. One from Hampton’s Legion stopped at the hotel on his way home, he spoke so pleasantly of Brother Theodore. “He was always with the troops and ahead of them marching out and arranging the camp ground so that when they got to the place every thing was fixed for them, & that whenever you spoke to him he would ^always^ listen and have a smile for you, & that whenever they were sick he was attentive to them.” It was right pleasant to hear — was it not? Miss Malvina wrote Nell that Joe Huger, who was taken prisoner in the Bermud[a] and was exchanged, passed through Greenville on his way home; his Father & Mother knew nothing of [the] exchange — imagine their delight. He carried a letter for Miss Ellen King that had come to Charleston from New Orleans. I suppose it contained some news ^of^
fromFrank Campbell. I am so glad she has heard at last. We have not heard from him so that I cant tell you what it was about. Fannie Wigfall is a great deal better. She has lost her fever today, it is a very mild form of Scarlet Fever. The last news of Fannie was she was better but very weak — her mouth sore.
AI Notes
A handwritten letter page in brown ink, continuation of the letter begun on page 093 (Walhalla June). Heavy reddish stain covers the right side and lower right portion of the sheet, and several small tears at the gutter. The writer says she is glad the recipient is comfortably and pleasantly fixed, with the children in the country and the recipient near the news. The hotel is full of spoilt children (the writer remarks on her aversion to ‘that article’), and wounded soldiers are constantly stopping at Walhalla in the cars going home. A soldier of Hampton’s Legion passed through on his way home and spoke pleasantly of Brother Theodore — always with the troops and ahead of them marching out, arranging the camp ground so that everything was fixed when they arrived, with a smile and a kind word for everyone and attentive to the sick. Miss Malvina wrote Nell that Joe Huger, taken prisoner at Bermuda [Hundred] and exchanged, passed through Greenville on his way home, his Father & Mother knowing nothing of the exchange; he carried a letter for Miss Ellen King that had come to Charleston from New Orleans, supposed to contain news from Frank Campbell. Fannie Wigfall is much improved from a mild form of Scarlet Fever — has lost her fever today; the last news of (another) Fannie was that she was better but very weak with a sore mouth.
The reference to Joe Huger “taken prisoner in the Bermuda” anchors the letter to the spring/summer of 1864: the Bermuda Hundred Campaign ran 5 May–7 June 1864 south of Richmond, generating Confederate prisoners who were soon exchanged. The Hampton Legion soldier passing through Walhalla and the “wounded soldiers in the cars going home” place the writer at a refugee hotel on the Blue Ridge Railroad, watching the war’s casualties move westward from the Virginia front.
Letter continues on next page.