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Williams, George M., fl. 1862 Collection of Confederate soldier George Morton Williams] [Decimalized: .01-.62]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC06582 Author/Creator: Williams, George M., fl. 1862 Place Written: Various Places Type: Header Record Date: February-December 1862 Pagination: 62 items Order a Copy

Includes 56 complete and 3 incomplete letters written to his wife. Williams was a captain in the 9th Virginia, Hansbrough's Battalion. Discusses family matters, and important military information including the surrender of Fort Donelson, and the Merrimac blow up. Mentions Jackson's good news in the valley: "Vicksburg is relieved and New Orleans will soon be retaken -- then to Butler the Beast... if he had forty lives he should lose them all by hanging." During the period of these letters, Williams, the adopted son of Congressman John S. Pendleton, had been ordered to Richmond for recruiting duty. His place in Richmond away from combat kept him better informed. His later letters, written after his plantation "Redwood" had been occupied by Union troops, are more concerned with his family's safety. These later letters were said to have been smuggled to his family through Union lines.

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