Governor’s Correspondence: Abram Riddick to Gov. Henry Toole Clark, Feb. 3, 1862

Governor’s Correspondence: J. S. Browne to Gov. Henry Toole Clark, Feb. 11, 1862

Governor’s Correspondence: John Ragland to Gov. Henry Toole Clark, Feb. 11, 1862

Letter: B.A. Capehart to Thomas Goode Tucker Esq., Feb. 24, 1862

• First Wednesdays – Murmur of the Burnside Expedition
• First Wednesdays – Burnside Expedition Proclamation
• Medal of Honor recipients during the Burnside Expedition

• Love in the Archives
• The Emblem of Language of Flowers
• North Carolina’s Cyrano de Bergerac
• Love on the Dark Side

I’ve also been adding a few love letters to the North Carolina Digital Collections that may be of interest to the readers of this blog. The letters are from a young University of North Carolina student named Zebulon Baird Vance and are written to a young woman he eventually married, although from the letters I posted today his prospects looked less than promising:

From Zebulon Baird Vance to Harriett N. Espy, April 2, 1851:

…The cant of false and unfeeling hypocrites I despise, and unwilling to cultivate hopes, which if too long and too fondly cherished without sufficient reason, might, if blasted, reduce me to the verge of distraction and despair. I deem it preferable for my own peace to say directly and frankly, Miss Espy, that you have inspired me with a sentiment of love deep and lasting, and of the most sanguine and even enthusiastic character – I make this declaration with a deep impression of my pre-sumption, of my entire unworthiness…

From Zebulon Baird Vance to Harriett N. Espy, May 20, 1851:

For near one month I turned from my empty box at the post office, sickened with disappointment and despair. I came to the conclusion that I was not only rejected but despised, and that you had determined to deny me the mournful favour of seeing your opinion of myself expressed on paper, and would leave me to infer from your silence your intention toward me – At length I heard you had been very ill, which caused me to excuse your delay immediately, and I reproached myself for my uncharitable suspicions – Your answer came. I took it from the box, but trembled to open it. 0 what a moment of suspense is that which precedes the opening of a letter! What a world of joy or sorrow is contained within the four corners of that little inanimate paper, so lifeless within itself yet
rendered by the ingenuity of man, so eloquently expressive of weal or wo I – I tore it open and read———–

Probably Miss Espy, your sympathising soul can imagine something of the pang which I suffered then. How void, how useless this existence seemed to me – My spirit was crushed, bitterly crushed, and my heart sank within me – Active and enthusiastic Hope had before conjured up the brightest most blissful visions of the future, so brilliant that the eye of imagination turned dazled and overpowered, as does the naked eye from the contemplation of the Tropical sun, now my gaze rested upon nought but the shadowy forms of black despair, grim and horrible as hell – What a terrible transition for the mind to experiance! 0 why is not my reason destroyed that I might bury those recolections in insanity, in blessed madness…

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

The diary begins on May 4, 1862 as the Seventh Regiment N.C. troops leave Kinston North Carolina and heads to Gordonsville Virginia. Howard recounts, in great detail, his company’s movements in Northern Virginia and recalls the numerous battles he fought in. The detailed information Howard provides in his diary helped us identify the battles he fought in. He also describes the amount of prisoners taken, supplies captured, as well the number of soldiers wounded and or killed after nearly every battle.

Listed below are battles that Howard fought in. Each item will link you directly to the page in Howard’s diary that corresponds to the battle.

Battle of Mechanicsville, June 26, 1862

Battle of Glendale or Frayser’s Farm, June 30, 1862

Battle of Cedar Run, August 9, 1862

Second Manassas, August 28-29, 1862

Battle of Chantilly or Ox Hill, September 1, 1862

Battle of Harpers Ferry (Capture of Harpers Ferry), September 14, 1862

The Battle of Shepherdstown, September 19-20, 1862

Battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862

Chancellorsville, May 2, 1863

The diary ends on June 27, 1863 with Howard’s company marching into Pennsylvania

Howard seems to have very optimistic view of the war and the Confederacy. He writes of the brave men and the cause in which they fight, which is a contrast compared to letters that are also part of this collection. To view the letters from other members of the family, you can key word search Williams-Womble.

Quarter Gunner John Davis’ story was quite extraordinary and reflected quick thinking as well as self sacrifice.  Davis was onboard the USS Valley City during the naval engagement at Elizabeth City February 10, 1862.  The Valley City took a cannon ball to the side, which passed through the magazine and exploded inside the vessel.  Davis was stationed to pass powder from below decks to the guns above.  The explosion shattered bulkheads that screened the powder area and set fire to the forward berth deck.  In the midst of the wreckage sat an open keg of powder.  In a flash Davis knew he must seal that powder-keg before a spark from the fire ignited the open keg.  Having no other item with which to seal the top of the keg, Davis jumped on the keg and placed his hindquarters in the open barrel thus sealing it.  When the lieutenant commander arrived to help suppress the fire he found Davis perched coolly on the keg while continuing to pass powder to the decks above.

Image of John Davis on the powder keg.

The next three men – James Thompson, John Terry and Orlando Caruana – all earned the Medal for their actions during the Battle of New Bern, March 14, 1862.  Thompson who as a surgeon was a noncombatant offered his services to reconnoiter the Confederate force’s positions.  Additionally, he volunteered to carry orders to men under heavy fire from Confederate positions.  Terry, a Sgt. in company E, 23^rd Massachusetts Infantry, was wounded in a leg while fighting in the woods to the left (west) of the Beaufort Road and near the rail road line.  Despite a wound so severe that he would eventually lose the leg, Terry continued to encourage his men to attack until he was carried off the battlefield.  Pvt. Caruana, born in Malta, won the first of two medals of honor for his actions in the New Bern fight.  Part of the 51^st NY Infantry, Caruana’s Company K attacked along the rail road line.  Suddenly the 51^st New Yorkers found themselves in an opening looking headlong at nearby Confederate redans.  The Confederates opened fire on the exposed Yankees.  The 51^st Regiment advanced and returned fire but took heavy casualties.  During this exchange the color sergeant was wounded and fell.  Pvt. Caruana seized the regimental flag and helped the color sergeant off the battlefield.  Caruana would receive a second Medal of Honor for his actions at South Mountain, MD, in late 1862.

On April 19, 1862, Union and Confederate forces clashed at the Battle of South Mills in Camden County, N.C.  During the fight Adjutant Thomas Bartholomew of the 9^th New York Infantry – know as Hawkins’ Zouaves – was struck by a Confederate shell.  In April 1861 Bartholomew had agreed to look after a young family friend who insisted upon joining the Zouaves as a drummer boy.  Julius Langbein was all of fourteen years old when Bartholomew promised Langbein’s mother that he would take care of the young soldier.  The shell that struck Bartholomew also dazed him and he stumbled forward towards the enemy lines after being hit.  Seeing his mentor wounded and heading into heavy gun fire, Langbein dashed to Bartholomew’s side and guided him from the battlefield and towards medical aid.

The last two men earned their medals in skirmishes fought to secure the occupied areas.  John Kenyon on May 15, 1862, voluntarily returned from a retreating column of men and in the face of enemy gun fire helped a wounded man mount a horse and escape to safety.  William B. Avery was a lieutenant in the 1^st New York marine artillery.  In action at Tranters Creek (about 8 miles from Washington, N.C.), Avery, directing a battery of two boat howitzers, engaged Confederate forces near Hodge’s Mill.  Although the Confederate small arms fire was “hot,” Lt. Avery coolly handled the battery and eventually suppressed the small arms fire of the Confederates.  After the war, Avery published a memoire of his time in the 1^st New York Marine Artillery: The Marine Artillery with the Burnside Expedition and the Battle of Camden, N.C.

William B. Avery’s book.

The Burnside Expedition made several people famous and introduced into the lexicon of North Carolina Civil War such names as Zebulon Vance, Henry King Burgwyn, Ambrose Burnside, Stephen C. Rowan, Lawrence O’Bryan Branch, Ambrose A. Wright, Charles Flusser, Vincent Colyer, Rush Hawkins, and Edward Stanly, to name but a few.  These seven Medal of Honor recipients, with perhaps the exception of John Davis, however, are little remembered.  On the 150^th anniversary of the start of the Burnside Expedition I call your attention to them.

Burnside Expedition Proclamation

Other lectures scheduled for 2012:

• May 14: “Sacred Bodies: Caring for the Dead During and After the War” – Bill Brown, Debbi Blake, Chris Meekins, N.C. State Archives
• August 13: “Bringing in the Dead: The North Carolina Civil War Atlas and Death Study” – Josh Howard, Office of Archives and History, Research Branch
• November 19: “Confederate Conscription Laws: A Primer” – Bill Brown, N.C. State Archives

Keep an eye on this space; I’ll add a link to the PDF flyer for the 2012 Second Mondays lectures soon. Hope to see you all in February.

Addendum (2/06/2012): The PDF poster for the lecture series is now available online.

*Update (2/07/2012): The date of this lecture has been changed from February 13, 2012 to February 20, 2012 due to unforeseen circumstances; we apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause those planning to attend.

This diary was bought at City Point for 50 cents in greenbacks on October 3, 1864 while William was a prisoner of war. If you read the last diary you know that William had just returned to active duty on September 21, 1864 after recuperating from a leg wound. The diary recounts William’s days just prior to his capture with entries being made for September 29 with some very detailed recounts of the battle. “By the time we got in about 70 yards of their works our line was entirely broken not from any falling back but literatly from men being cut down by piles by the terific fire… I though falling down twice from my spurs catching in the grass kept up with the men tho I would not go ahead as I generally do as I promised my father I would not. From the time we lay down about 3 PM till dusk there we lay about 70 yds from the Enemy’s line some entirely exposed + some weeds + grass but all entirely at the mercy of the Enemy but they did not fire on us knowing we could not get away (tho some did) except we faced almost certain death to do so. About dusk as I was getting ready to run the gauntlett favored by the encreasing darkness when the Enemy sent forward a line of skirmishes who captured almost without a single exception all who had not surrendered. As I got up to see if I would have to surrender or not I saw a Yankee about 10 yards with his gun pointed towards me calling out to surrender or he would shoot I then took out my handerchief + waved it + gave up my sward to a Yankee Captain + was hastened to their lines + sent from there to Genl Wietzels HdQrs + from his to Genl Butlers about 4 miles off.  At Genl W’s Hd Qrs we were treated very gentlemanly + also at Genl Butlers. As I began to examine about me I found my clothes pierced through in several places + my haversack was shot off me.”After Williams capture he was first brought to City Point. From City point he was transported to Capitol Prison in “Washington City” from there is transported to Fort Delaware.

William was a prisoner of war from September 29, 1864 until March 2, 1865. Many days in prison are rather dull and boring for William so he had to find ways to pass the time. Many of his diary entries deal with information he has received from newspapers about the war and the movements of different Generals both Union and Confederate.  On Thursday January 18, 1865 he writes “Was much depressed by the news that Fort Fisher had fallen under the combined attack of Porter + Terry.” William wrote many letters to his acquaintances and relatives, some of whom were well known and respected in the North. The relatives and friends sent William money and clothing to help him bide his time in prison. He gives credit to one of these relatives for getting him an early parole from prison: “was very unexpectedly taken out + paroled to go on exchange tomorrow through Cousin Hills B influence. My gratitude knows no bounds.” William also read many books to pass the time. One of the books he enjoyed was the works of Shakespeare and at the end of the diary there are quotations taken from some of Shakespeare’s works that fit his mood at the time.

We have recently decided to add William’s letters to the collection so keep an eye on the blog for information concerning their release. His letters have vast amounts of detailed information dealing with military life, battles he fought in as well as his feelings on the war. I have truly enjoyed being able to read William’s diaries and look forward to adding the letters to the collection. I am also working on adding some other diaries to the collection, one of which should be added to the collection in February.

Tiffanie Mazanek is still working on scanning and doing the metadata for Civil War diaries in our collection. In fact, you should soon see a blog post from her about the last of the William H.S. Burgwyn diaries.

Tiffanie and Alexis Pittman, one of our Meredith College interns, spent the latter part of 2011 working on materials from the Williams-Womble Papers. I’m currently reviewing those and adding them to the NC Digital Collections. For some context, here’s the description of the collection from our online catalog MARS:

Papers of three soldiers in Co. G, 7th Regt. NCST. Letters from Pvt. George A. Williams of Wake Co. are from Carolina City (1861), Kinston (1862), and Virginia, describing Battle of Bristoe Station, lack of food and clothing, speeches to soldiers by Gov. Zebulon Vance, and preference for W. W. Holden (Apr., 1864). Three letters are from brother-in-law Pvt. Richard Womble, and a few papers (1843-1876) relate to his father Jacob Womble of Wake Co. and other family members. Unidentified diary kept by a noncombatant in the company may have belonged to musician William B. Howard (Harward) of Chatham Co., killed at Gettysburg. The diary describes marches and battles from May 4, 1862, to June 28, 1863, including Seven Days’ Campaign, Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas, Harpers Ferry, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville; crossing the Blue Ridge (Nov., 1862); and reception in Maryland and Pennsylvania towns en route to Gettysburg.

If you want to see items from this collection, you can find them here. I’d also like to share some quotes from letters written by George A. Williams that caught my eye recently:

George A. Williams to his wife Mary Williams, October 23, 1863:

“Dear wife I will know will tell you a little about the movements of this army for the last 15 days on the morning of 9th of this just we commanced marching and we just marched rite towards the yankess we expected to get in to a fite ride off but as luck would have it just as sonn as the yankess found that we was advancing…on them they began to fall Back and they kept on on falling falling back until we persued them close till they got to Bright Station which is near mannasses…”

George A. Williams to his wife Mary Williams, December 6, 1863:

“…I have seen some heard times in the cors of the last two weeks all lay in line of Battle 4 days and Knights in the cold time that we have had this um [illegible] all come very neare freesing and starving to death we draws 3 days rations in 8 days and one of them was a hogs head and a hook bone and 3 crackers to the man for 30 men and thought that we was doing well to get that thear is one third of the men in the Brigade Barefooted and in thear drawrs and no Blankets at all and them is hundreds of them that cant hide thear nakedness at all I cant ware Britches more than a day or two more I never was as naked before in my life and I intend to quit doing duty untill they get me some cloths for I dont intend to by any thing to ware at all…”

George A. Williams to his family, April 5, 1864:

“…The great Governer Vance has Bin out hear making speaches though I dont think they will have a much affect more than he will loose many voat by speeking in the way he did he wants to fight untill hell freases over and then figt on the ice and we ar not willing to figth so long as that and thinks Mr Holden is not for fighting that long and he is our choice By a large majoety…”

“…it has bin snowing or raining most every day for two weeks and is still raining now and the mountins and the Blue ridge it covered with snow and ice and has bin for 2 or 3 weeks and the weather cold though as soon as the weather settals I am confident that we will have to try our hands though if reports as true…”

“…it isssomend in camps that Col. Haywood is likely to get the 7th Regement to camp Homes he has bin home on furlow and is 8 or 10 days Behind Time and col Davidson recieve a mesage from him yesterday that all of his papers was rite so far and he has bin to Richmond and has gone Back to Raleigh and we are all in hopes that he Bee scuccesful in his undertaking and are anctious to see him return…”

George A. Williams to his children, June 17, 1864 [George A. Williams was killed in battle on July 28, 1864.]:

“…children I want you to be Smart and all ways have respect for olde peples dont gave them any provication of corsecting you I want you to be smart and take good advise from a friend who is capable of advising you I will aclose I remain as ever your fearther [father] untill death G. A. Williams…”

RALEIGH – Amputations were the most common operation performed during the American Civil War, constituting roughly 75% of surgeries.  Confederate veterans returning home found a collapsed economy, friends and family members lost to the war, and little opportunity to resume a normal life.  Many 21^st century veterans face similar challenges and hardships.

In January 1866, North Carolina became the first Confederate state to authorize funds for the purchase of artificial limbs for veterans.  The Federal government began providing money to Union soldiers for artificial limbs in 1862.  The book “Phantom Pain,” by Ansley Herring Wegner, research historian in the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources’ Office of Archives and History, details the development and implementation of the program in North Carolina, and compares it to other states. The book is available through the Historical Publications Section of the Office of Archives and History (http://nc-historical-publications.stores.yahoo.net search by title).

The post war General Assembly passed a resolution for the veterans to expend state funds, “to procure necessary limbs, and thus restore them, as far as practicable, to the comfortable use of their persons, to the enjoyment of life and to the ability to earn a subsistence.”

In addition to physical and psychological discomfort, veterans were vexed by phantom pain, when nerves sent messages to the brain that were perceived as being from the missing limb. That condition still is reported by amputees today.  The vets were provided travel to Raleigh for examination and a place to stay while there being fitted for a limb.  Several models of wooden legs and arms were created to meet the extensive need.  North Carolina contracted with the Jewett’s Patent Leg Company, paying $75 for legs and $50 for arms.  Some veterans accepted the equivalent amount of cash rather than an ill-fitting prosthetic.  Technology lagged behind the new realities caused by war.

“Phantom Pain” includes the names and county of residence of everyone who contacted the state regarding a prosthetic limb, along with anecdotes of some of the recipients’ experiences.  In March, Wegner will speak at a conference at the Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City that will examine the subject.  To learn more about North Carolina’s Civil War experience, visit www.nccivilwar150.com.

For information, call (919) 807-7389.  The Historical Publications Section and the Museum of the Albemarle are part of the Office of Archives and History in the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.

About the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources

The N.C. Department of Cultural Resources annually serves more than 19 million people through its 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, the nation’s first state-supported  Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the N.C. Arts Council, and the State Archives. Cultural Resources champions North Carolina’s creative industry, which employs nearly 300,000 North Carolinians and contributes more than $41 billion to the state’s economy.  To learn more, visit www.ncculture.com.