Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Douglas Southall Freeman Letters, Accession 5220-a, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library

Acquisition Information

This collection was made a gift to the Library on December 10, 1986 by John Page Elliott of Charlottesville, Virginia.

Funding Note

Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

Scope and Content

These twenty-two letters, 1930-1938, from Douglas Southall Freeman , historian and author, to Misses Betty Page and M. Louise Cocke , concern letters and manuscripts of their grandfather, Philip St. George Cocke , during the Civil War. During 1930, Freeman was gathering material for R. E. Lee, A Biography , which was eventually published 1934-1935. While researching this book, he came to the belief that Cocke was one of Lee's "most valued counsellors" and that he was "largely responsible for the plan of operations that led to the great victory at First Manassas." While Freeman was unable to include much material on Cocke in his biography of Robert E. Lee, he made an effort to write a detailed sketch of him in Lee's Lieutenants, A Study in Command , published in the early 1942-1946. In November 1937, Freeman asks the Misses Cocke if it is permissible to quote from General Cocke's report on First Manassas in the sketch, and relates that he thinks it best not to quote extensively so as not to reduce the value of the document in case they wish to sell at a later date. These letters reveal a friendly and cooperative relationship in which Freeman researched the letters and manuscripts of Cocke that were in the possession of Misses Betty Page and M. Louise Cocke. Freeman also assisted the ladies by working with Dr. [Hamilton James] Eckenrode to find a suitable biographer for Philip St. George Cocke.