Letter from Hubert Dent in camp near Tupelo, Mississippi, to his wife, Anna.
At the start of the Civil War, Dent was a 1st lieutenant of the Eufaula Rifles, which became Company B of the 1st Alabama Infantry; he was eventually promoted to captain and commanded Dent's Battery (formerly Robertson's Battery). In the letter he discusses mutual acquaintances and family...
| Format: | Electronic |
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Alabama Department of Archives and History
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| Online Access: | http://cdm17217.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/voices/id/3962 |
| Summary: | At the start of the Civil War, Dent was a 1st lieutenant of the Eufaula Rifles, which became Company B of the 1st Alabama Infantry; he was eventually promoted to captain and commanded Dent's Battery (formerly Robertson's Battery). In the letter he discusses mutual acquaintances and family members (mentioning one woman in Maryland who was "arrested...for communicating with the rebels"); conditions and health in camp; the possibility of obtaining a furlough; military medical practices ("these surgeons are too fond of cutting off limbs"); troop movements; and a report of a recent Confederate success near Richmond ("I shall look anxiously for the particulars. We have so often been successful at first and then lost all the fruits of victory that I shall wait to hear more before I throw up my hat and shout hurrah!"). He also addresses the possibility of European intervention: "I believe that if McLellan [sic] is whipped before Richmond that it will postpone instead of hastening foreign intervention - certainly as far as England is concerned My idea is that Europe wishes to see a final separation of this country - but that she wants both countries to be badly used up before peace is made - hence I think England would be more apt to interfere to prevent our subjugation than any thing else - as long as we seem able to hold our own she will 'let us alone.' The war I think is certain to last some years." A transcription is included. |
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