Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Joseph W. Parrish Civil War Letters, Accession 10305, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library

Acquisition Information

Accession #10305 was a gift to the Library by Mrs. Helen G. Pace of Charlottesville, Virginia, through O. Allan Gianniny, on December 4, 1978. Accession #10305-a was a gift to the Library by Ms. Cynthia Harrison Burton of Keswick, Virginia, on June 25, 1990.

Funding Note

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

Scope and Content

There are six letters, 1861-1862, written by Joseph W. Parrish , a Confederate soldier in Richmond and Yorktown, Virginia , to his sister, Mary S. Parrish . In his letter of March 27, 1861, he discusses the city of Richmond in regard to secession, claims a large part of the delegates to be fools, and reveals that "the general impression is that Virginia will ultimately secede," joining the other southern states, claiming that this would be the signal for war. On April 14, 1861, he mentions that possibility of his services being required in South Carolina or elsewhere, and refers to the troops in Charlestown capturing Fort Sumter. From Yorktown , he writes on June 8, 1861, commenting that "it is very doubtful whether I shall return to you all again, the position occupied by our Company is a perilous one and few will escape with life should we have a regular battle..." He mentions the proximity of the enemy, his joining Peyton's Artillery , and their battery of cannons on the brink of the York River . He reveals the hardships that the soldiers must endure, and his concern over the odds in battle. On April 10, 1862, writing from Yorktown , he expresses encouragement over the Confederate victories elsewhere and mentions skirmishes near the Naval Battery. On May 14, 1862, he writes from Richmond , having returned without having fought.