18 January 1863
[Southgate, William] Wallace
Autograph letter signed
Title: to R. W. Southgate
Written by a soldier in the 12th Vermont Militia. Argues that soldiers generally oppose the emancipation of enslaved people. He writes "It is seldom indeed not more than one soldier in a hundred that I see but that is utterly opposed to the emancipation proclamation - ...almost unanimously wants to go home and let the Southern Confederacy - Niggers our own Administration and all go to the devil together...Many are sick of fighting if it is merely on the nigger question and now that seems to be made the whole question..." Mentions James Ewell Brown [Jeb] Stuart's Cavalry charge upon them…
GLC02617