Letter from Bolling Hall, Jr., in Knoxville, Tennessee, to his father in Alabama.
From June 1862 to November 1863, Bolling Hall, Jr., was lieutenant colonel of the 2nd Battalion, Hilliard's Legion. In the letter he discusses troop movements; officers commanding different brigades; the death of General Stonewall Jackson ("We are all very much dispirited by Stonewall Jack...
| Format: | Electronic |
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| Published: |
Alabama Department of Archives and History
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://cdm17217.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/voices/id/4847 |
| Summary: | From June 1862 to November 1863, Bolling Hall, Jr., was lieutenant colonel of the 2nd Battalion, Hilliard's Legion. In the letter he discusses troop movements; officers commanding different brigades; the death of General Stonewall Jackson ("We are all very much dispirited by Stonewall Jackson's death. It does seem we are truly unfortunate in losing our best officers"); the arrest of Clement Vallandigham ("I think that will close the mouths of anti-war-men North"); England's reaction to the war ("The English are also pretending to growl at the U. States but we have ceased to regard her pretensions"); the availability of food in camp; and the condition of crops in the South. He also expresses his aversion to compromise and reconciliation with the North: "Do you think it possible that the old revolution could have brought on more suffering than this? Could the feelings of the parties engaged have been as intensely bitter. It seems to me impossible ever to reconcile myself to favor any treaty of friendship with our enemies at all. When the war is over I desire them to stay in their own country & let us remain here & have nothing at all to do with each other. I can but think of them as preventing me, even at the present moment when I most desire it, from going home. They are robbers & murderers of the most cruel & relentless kind. I do not think it right for our friends to enter into treaties of friendship with the murderers of their brothers fathers & children merely for the sake of interest." A transcription is included. |
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