Letter from Jack Shackelford aboard the steamboat Kentuckian on the Mississippi River, fifteen miles north of Vicksburg, Mississippi, to his daughter, Harriet McMahon, in Courtland, Alabama.
Shackelford wrote to his daughter en route to Texas, where he the Red Rovers (a group of volunteers from Lawrence County, Alabama) were headed to participate in the Texas Revolution. In the letter, he describes the journey and his fellow passengers: "You will discover our progress has been very...
| Format: | Electronic |
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| Published: |
Alabama Department of Archives and History
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| Online Access: | http://cdm17217.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/voices/id/23748 |
| Summary: | Shackelford wrote to his daughter en route to Texas, where he the Red Rovers (a group of volunteers from Lawrence County, Alabama) were headed to participate in the Texas Revolution. In the letter, he describes the journey and his fellow passengers: "You will discover our progress has been very tardy - we expect to reach Orleans on Sunday next, though we are crowded with freight and passengers, and have a large stack boat on each side of us in tow - What would you think of three hundred passengers - men women and children of every land kindred and tongue? The deck of our boat exhibits a diversified scene indeed - some reading the Bible - some other books - others cursing and swearing - some singing - others playing cards and throwing dice as though they were as happy as Lords - at Vicksburg we loose most of our passengers - particularly deck ones - thank the Lord for it." He also asks his daughter to support her mother and to not worry about the outcome of the conflict in Texas: "dont despond yourself and indulge in gloomy foreboding - all may be well." |
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