| Summary: | During the Civil War, Semple served as a captain of an artillery battery organized in Montgomery (known as Semple's Battery). He was later appointed a major and transferred to Mobile. In the letter he reflects on the anniversary of his company's organization: "...it makes me feel sad to think of the losses we have sustained, the hardships we have endured and that we seem to be no nearer now to the end of the war than then." He then stresses the need for "some signal victory" over the Union forces: "We must destroy the army, so as to be able to march without obstruction over the country it guards and to leave that we defend, in security behind us. Then the danger of exposing Alabama, Georgia, South Car & East Tenn, by risking our army as ours must be risked in order to gain such a victory! No great victory...can be gained by a General who does not expose himself at the same time to danger of great defeat." A transcription is included.
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