“Chapter 1. 1863: From Soldier to Prisoner” in “Prison Pens”
CHAPTER 1
1863
From Soldier to Prisoner
Wash Nelson had been off fighting for the Confederacy, communicating with Mollie intermittently. He had recently visited with her at her home in northern Virginia, though the circumstances of his absence from the army are unclear because the sources do not refer to an official furlough or pass. Perhaps Wash took advantage of his position on General William Nelson Pendleton’s staff and surprised Mollie with a visit without leave. Because Wash’s command moved frequently, Mollie often did not know where to direct her letters and was usually anxious about her fiancé’s whereabouts. In the following letters, Wash reassured Mollie of his safety and reported news about the war, his capture, and imprisonment. Mollie returned news of family and friends. Wash wrote to Mollie nearly immediately after his capture, and the letters that follow his capture begin the central story of this collection.
“Home”1 July 6, 1863
My Dear Wash
Your kind and interesting letter gave me much pleasure, and although I do not know of any way to send you an answer I will write, hoping that Providence may soon favor me with an opportunity. We had not been able to hear anything definite from our army until the receipt of your letter. Of course reports of all kinds both good and bad are current, the latter of which I generally try not to believe.
Yesterday evening we heard that a severe fight had taken place near Gettysburg2 in which we had been rather unsuccessful losing ten thousand men3 &c &c.
I sincerely hope this report may not be true. Though I do not doubt there has been a fight, still I hope it has pleased a kind Providence again “to bless our arms with victory.”
What would we do in this world without hope? If I had been told when our army went out last fall that we were to be under Yankee rule until June I think I could scarcely have lived through the Winter, but as it was, though often cast down by repeated disappointments, still we hoped that each day would bring us some news of the approach of our army, and in this way we managed to get through the long, long Winter and Spring. I fear it will be sometime before we can hear any reliable news from the fight.
Please write as soon as you can, and tell us all about it. O! How it would grieve me to know that any of my dear relations had to be buried upon Yankee soil. Remember Wash if you get wounded, you are to come to Smithfield.4
Our cousin Jefferson Page5 left here on Thursday, having spent the night before with us. We feel anxious to hear how he stood the trip, for we did not think him well enough to go, though he seemed so anxious to get on to his command that our persuasions did not have much effect. We all fell desperately in love with our new cousin, indeed I don’t know that I ever saw anyone with whom I was more pleased, upon such a short acquaintance. Well! How do you like Yankee land upon further acquaintance? I am afraid you will all be so much pleased with the nice eating over there, you will not be able to stand confederate living. What do you think of the young ladies in those “diggins”?6 I hope they are not all like those captured at Winchester. They seem to think that if the “Secesh women”7 would come out and fight with them the war would soon end. There was a soldier here, who helped to guard them to Staunton,8 and he says he never in his life heard such oaths as came from the lips of the Colonels’ and Majors’ wives.9
I assure you we envy those Yankee people the presence of our dear soldiers. Since you all left we have been as lonesome as “old cats.” We seem to be in constant dread lest our army should fall back and leave us again in the hands of those miserable wretches. After you left we met with a great many of our friends, some of whom we had not dreamed of seeing, heard from a good many of our school mates through their Brothers and friends, who came up and introduced themselves, made many pleasant acquaintances and enjoyed ourselves generally. I think Genl Lee10 is the sweetest old fellow I ever saw. I had quite a nice little chat with him that morning at Uncle Manns.11 He told me that no soldier was to see his wife or sweet heart not until the war was over, so I concluded that he intended to end it before he came back from Pennsylvania. Mamma, Aunt Fannie and Harriot join me in much love to you.12 All our street would send love if they knew of my writing. Please write soon and tell us all the news. Direct your next letter to Middleway Jefferson Co. If you direct to Smithfield it may be miscarried and you know I should not like to lose it.13 Good bye. May a kind Providence shield you from all harm, and restore you in safety to your friends in “Dixie” is the sincere prayer of your cousin Mollie S—
Westwood,14 October 25th 1863
My own precious love
I got here safely this morning without an adventure of any kind; I did not meet a living soul the whole way though I kept the main road all the way. I have had about two hours sleep and feel quite fresh now. I made a good walk of it last night, getting here at five minutes past 3 oclock. The walk would have been a lovely one if I had not been so occupied with thoughts of the dear one I had just left behind me, and anxious as I was to get to my journeys end, I could not help wishing to linger near you. I can’t begin to describe to you, Mollie, what a gap your absence leaves; I love you, to compare it with what you feel this morning for I know, beloved one, that you do indeed love me, even as I love you, and thus you have by reference to your own heart, always at hand a far truer measure of my emotions than you could get from any description I might give you. But, my darling, it is a mighty great sorrow that I feel; the week I have just passed with you, is so filled with tender memories, so full of love & hope, that the present can but catch a tinge from it. And that picture I have, how I did bless Aunt Fannie, this morning for letting me have it! The sad look it has increases its value in my eyes, for a sad one was the last expression I saw in your face. When I passed under your window last night I was afraid to stop by but I might attract some ones attention to you & I merely kissed my hand in passing. Did you see the act? I have been uneasy ever since thinking you might not have noticed this slight acknowledgement of your presence. I half expected you at that window, darling, and I wanted so badly to stop & say one more good bye but, I was afraid.
The Yankees have been here looking for horses—they rode through the field my mare was in and within fifty yards of her, but by some means or other did not see her. Am I not fortunate? Or rather I should say, is not providence kind? Cousin Hugh15 has gone to Berryville to church16 I shall not go until he returns, and I can learn from you whether there are any Yankees about. Fifteen Yankee deserters from Meade’s army17 passed here yesterday making for the Potomac. They report that Meade attacked Lee Saturday weak & was badly whipped.18 Deserters can’t be relied on, so I don’t know whether to believe it or not. I can’t undertake to write a regular letter now, with the means before me. When I tell you that in addition to what you see of the ink & paper, I am writing with a Turkey quill pen, you may know how I am laboring. As soon as I get to camp I will write you a good long letter. I am almost ashamed to send you this, but I would be glad to get a letter from you if it was nothing but piece of clothing paper with your name signed to it & telling me you were well and you see I judge you by myself. Love to our Mother & to all our Aunts and Cousins, and for yourself call on my heart for love at pleasure it is all your own. Good bye my precious darling. May God keep you and bless you, and restore us to each other soon.
As ever your truly devoted
Wash
Winchester Oct. 28th 1863
I am caught at last, my darling Mollie, and that too when I thought I was all safe & sound. Tom Randolph19 & I were caught Monday while eating our dinner, and not dreaming that there was a Yankee in twenty miles of us. We are very fortunate however. Have been treated as well as we could have been. We stayed at night with the officer of the Regiment & if it were not for this fact of guards being all around us you would not know we were prisoners. It is through the kindness of the commanding officer, Col Boyden20 that I am now writing. Whither we will go from here I have no idea, nor in fact do I much care, if I am carried away from Dixie & from you, my own love, one place is as good as another. Probably I will pass thro’ Smithfield to morrow. If so I will leave this for you—even if I should be allowed I think it better not to try to see you it would be an excuse for the soldiers to poke about the house, which would be anything but agreeable to you all. As soon as I was captured I was asked for letters or papers but fortunately had neither. And now, my precious one, don’t grieve for me, I am as well off as a prisoner can be. Look forward to the time when we will meet again. I shall comfort myself with the idea that you are thus looking forward & not mourning my fate unnecessary. You may imagine what a comfort the time I spent with you will be to me. I have with me all your keepsakes. I have not time to write more. Love to all. If you have a chance, write to me & let me know what has become of you, will you dearest? And now, my beloved, good bye. We may not hear from each other for a long time but the fire of our love needs no more fuel. Our faith & trust cannot fail. God almighty bless and keep you & restore us to each other soon. Earnestly prays, your ever devoted
Wash
Middleway Dec 20th 1863
I found your letter here my dearest Wash on my return from Long Branch,21 where Aunt F. and myself went to see little Hugh,22 who had gotten his leg crushed in a wheat machine.23 The limb was amputated below the knee. He stands the pain wonderfully, and bears his loss with Christian resignation. While in Clarke I saw a good deal of cousin Bettie Randolph.24 She gave me all the details of your capture in which as you may imagine I was intensely interested. She read me a letter from her prisoner Brother, which was the first I had heard of you since your capture although I had made every possible effort to find out your whereabouts. The letter written from Camp Chase was never received. H. got a letter from your Ma in which she sent me word that she was gratified and thankful we had fancied each other. There was also a letter of sympathy from cousin Wm. P. He says Lieut. R.25 and yourself are so well known for your good soldiery qualities that this little mishap will not injure your standing, and “sooner or later they will return to gladden the hearts of their friends, do good service to their country, and claim from their sweet hearts the reward of so much injury incurred in their behalf.” How I would love to write more but I suppose my letters too are limited. Direct to care of L. P. W. Balch. Shepherdstown Va. All send love. Write again soon your loving and faithful friend M. N. S.
My kind regards and sympathy to Lieut Randolph. You must both keep cheerful hearts.
Middleway December 30th 1863
My dearest Wash
I have risen early this morning, so that I may not miss an opportunity of sending you another assurance of my love. Two whole months have passed since your capture, and only one single letter have I gotten in all that time. Do write as often as you can for I shall feel so anxious about you this Winter. In my last letter I did not have room to tell you of your Uncle Lucius Minor’s death.26 We did not hear any of the particulars, except that he died from the effects of his previous bad habits. He left cousin Fanny a double portion of his property. Cousin Jennie has gone back to H. H.27 Gets 1,000 dollars a year, but intends staying only five months. I wrote to Aunt Jane28 by Phil. He has gone partially engaged to Fannie. Don’t some strange things happen in this world? Mamma and I send love. Aunt F. is still in Clarke. We heard from her last night. Is there a Lieut Newman29 at Johnson’s Island? Try and find him out. He is a nephew of our neighbor Mrs Hank,30 and she is anxious to hear something about him. I should love to write a more satisfactory letter, but I have tried to say as much as possible in a small space. Heaven bless you, and soon restore you to me in safety is the constant prayer of your devoted.
M
1. Middleway, Jefferson County, Va.
2. The Battle of Gettysburg, Pa., took place on July 1–3, 1863.
3. Mollie reports ten thousand Confederate casualties. In actuality, the Confederacy lost nearly twenty-eight thousand men. James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1988), 664.
4. Smithfield was the earlier name for the town that became Middleway. Another historic name for the town was “Wizard Clip,” which Mollie references in a letter to Wash on January 16, 1864 (see chap. 2). Middleway Historic District, Jefferson County, W.Va., Nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, 1973, on West Virginia Division of Culture and History website, http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/jefferson/80004025.pdf
5. Possibly Thomas Jefferson Page (1808–99), who, prior to the outbreak of war, was a captain in the United States Navy, and after secession, a captain in the Confederate navy. Historical Data Systems, comp., U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861–1865, American Civil War Research Database (hereinafter ACWRD). Also see Page, Genealogy of the Page Family in Virginia, 92.
6. A nineteenth-century colloquialism, meaning “vicinity.”
7. Women who supported secession.
8. Staunton, Va.
9. These were Union women captured with their husbands at the Second Battle of Winchester in June 1863. At least eleven women were taken to Castle Thunder, a Confederate prison for civilians in Richmond. Although it appears they were soon released, this caused an uproar within the U.S. War Department, and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton mulled the possibility of arresting the wives of Confederate officers to ensure their safe return. Edwin M. Stanton to Colonel Ludlow, June 30, 1863, War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (70 vols. in 128; Washington, 1880–1901) Ser. II, 6:62.
10. Major General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia.
11. Mann P. Nelson, a physician and neighbor of the Scollay family, was married to Hannah E. Nelson and had two children, Elizabeth and Mann P., aged fifteen and thirteen, respectively. 1860 U.S. Census, Jefferson County, Va., population schedule, Middle-way, p. 908, dwelling 417, family 401, Mann P. Nelson; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : accessed April 24, 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 1355.
12. Harriot Scollay was Mollie’s older sister. Frances B. “Fannie” Nelson was Mollie’s aunt on the side of her mother, Sarah P. Nelson Scollay. All four lived together in 1860. See 1860 U.S. Census, Jefferson County, Va., population schedule, Middleway, p. 908, dwelling 416, family 400, Sarah P. Scollay; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : accessed April 24, 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 1355.
13. Mollie knew that there is a town named “Smithfield” in Virginia’s Tidewater region and anticipated the confusion that might occur if Wash used the local and historic name of Smithfield to direct letters to a town known officially as Middleway.
14. Possibly a farm or plantation in Clarke County, Va., in the vicinity of Winchester, where Wash was arrested. Thomas Daniel Gold refers to a “Westwood farm” in History of Clarke County, Virginia, and Its Connection with the War between the States (Berryville, Va.: Printed by C. R. Hughs, 1914), 115.
15. Hugh Mortimer Nelson, II (1847–1915), lived in Clarke County, Va., and was the son of Hugh Mortimer Nelson (1811–62) and Anna Marie Adelaide Holker (1816–75). “Virginia Deaths, 1912–2014,” database, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : accessed April 24, 2017), entry for Hugh Mortimer Nelson, November 17, 1915, Clarke; citing “Virginia, Deaths, 1912–2014, Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia.”
16. Berryville is located near Winchester in Clarke County, Va. Hugh probably attended Old Chapel, the Episcopal Church in Berryville.
17. George Gordon Meade, whom President Abraham Lincoln appointed to replace Joseph Hooker on June 28, 1863. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, 652.
18. Wash must be referring to the Battle of Bristoe Station, October 14, 1863. The Union was actually successful.
19. Thomas H. B. Randolph (1843–1900) was the seventh of eight children of Robert C. Randolph, a physician and farmer, and Lucy M. Randolph. His brothers, William W. and Philip B. are mentioned in this collection. 1850 U.S. Census, Clarke County, Va., population schedule, 12th District, p. 200B, dwelling 462, family 462, Thomas H. Randolph; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : accessed April 24, 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 930. He was a student at the University of Virginia before the Civil War and enlisted in April 1861 as a corporal near his residence in Millwood, Clarke County, Va. He suffered a wound to the chest at the First Battle of Bull Run (June 1861) but returned to the army that December. He served as a member of General William Nelson Pendleton’s staff. He was promoted to second lieutenant. He was captured at Rappahannock Station, Va., in December 1862. As a prisoner of war, he was confined at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C., and released in early 1863. As Wash notes in this letter, he was captured again in October 1863 and confined first at Camp Chase and then Johnson’s Island. “Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861–65,” database, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : accessed on April 24, 2017), entry for Thomas Hugh Burwell Randolph. On June 12, 1865, he was released from prison after taking the Oath of Allegiance. On the subject of his imprisonment, see entry for Thomas H. B. Randolph, ACWRD.
20. Wash incorrectly identifies his captor as Boyden in both the letters and the memoir. He was perhaps captured by Colonel William H. Boyd (21st Pennsylvania Cavalry), who is listed as Wash’s arresting officer in his service records. See Albert G. Brackett, History of the United States Cavalry, from the Formation of the Federal Government to the 1st of June, 1863 (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1865), 329. Boyd was active in the vicinity of Middletown in the fall of 1863. Chester G. Hearn, Six Years of Hell: Harpers Ferry during the Civil War (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1996), 231.
21. Long Branch Plantation is listed on the national register of historic places and is located in Millwood, Va. Hugh Mortimer Nelson purchased Long Branch Plantation from his uncle Phillip Nelson in about 1842. In 1860, the white members of the family consisted of Hugh M. Nelson Sr.; Adelaide Nelson (Hugh’s wife); and two children, Nannie and Hugh Nelson Jr. In 1860, the plantation also had a population of twenty enslaved people. 1860 U.S. Census, Clarke County, Va., population schedule, p. 656 (stamped), dwelling 430, family 410, Hugh M. Nelson, NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 1341; 1860 U.S. Census, Clarke County, Va., slave schedules, p. 24, Hugh M. Nelson NARA microfilm publication M653, roll not identified.
22. Hugh Nelson Jr.
23. Probably a horse-powered reaper, or mechanical harvester, developed in the early 1830s and distributed fairly widely thereafter. After a steep decline in tobacco sales, upper-South states such as Virginia turned to wheat production. William L. Barney, The Passage of the Republic: An Interdisciplinary History of Nineteenth Century America (Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath, 1987), 24, 66.
24. Bettie B. Randolph (b. ca. 1831) lived in Clarke County, Va.
25. William Nelson Pendleton and Thomas Randolph, respectively.
26. Lucius Horatio Minor (1810–63) was the fourth of six children of John Minor (1761–1816) and Lucy Landon Carter (1776–1855) of Fredericksburg, Va. He attended Yale College in the 1830s and is listed in the 1832 membership records of the secret literary society called the Brothers of Unity. “School Catalogs, 1765–1935,” database, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : accessed April 24, 2017), entry for Lucius Horatio Minor, 1880, Connecticut; citing “Educational Institutions, American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts.”
27. Hickory Hill. See Mollie’s letter to Wash dated June 22, 1864 (chap. 3).
28. Jane Crease Nelson, Wash’s mother.
29. Possibly Anderson Moffett Newman Jr. (b. ca. 1840), a physician’s son from Rockingham County, Va., who enlisted in Company I of the 1st Virginia Cavalry in May 1861. By February 1863, he had been promoted to second lieutenant. He was captured at Gettysburg, Pa., confined at Johnson’s Island, Ohio, and exchanged on February 24, 1865. 1860 U.S. Census, Rockingham County, Va., population schedule, Harrisonburg, p. 452, dwelling 849, family 825, A. M. Newman, NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 1379; “Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861–1865,” database, Ancestry.com, entry for Anderson Moffett Newman; citing The Virginia Regimental Histories Series. Also see entry for Anderson Moffett Newman, ACWRD.
30. Serena Peale Hank, wife of William Hank (1796–1869), a traveling Methodist preacher. They lived in Frederick, Md., before moving to Middleway. See J. W. Hedges, ed., Crowned Victors: The Memoirs of Over Four Hundred Methodist Preachers, Including the First Two Hundred and Fifty Who Died on This Continent (Baltimore: Methodist Episcopal Book Depository, 1878), 509–11.
We use cookies to analyze our traffic. Please decide if you are willing to accept cookies from our website. You can change this setting anytime in Privacy Settings.