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Preferred Citation:

Thomas Jefferson Head Letter, 1861, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Acquisition Information:

Purchased with support from the James City Cavalry, Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 2095, Williamsburg, Virginia, through the Jean Keating - James City Cavalry Endowment.

Administrative History:

Thomas Jefferson Head was a Private in Company B of the 6th Georgia Infantry.  He enlisted May 20, 1861, in Dade County, GA.  Head received a disability discharge on September 20, 1861, while still stationed in the Yorktown area.  He served again in Co. H of the 6th Georgia Militia beginning April 15, 1864 and was discharged from service in Augusta on April 9, 1865. Thomas Jefferson Head died in Fulton County, GA on April 17, 1927.

Scope and Contents

Letter from Thomas Jefferson Head to his dearest Sallie dated 1861 June 15 from Yorktown, Va.  In it he describes Yorktown as a very old and neglected place, "...there has not been a house erected since Cornwallis delivered the sword to General Washington."  He further describes some of the visible ruins of Cornwallis's fortifications and writes in depth about the an manner in which the soldiers prepare for a fight they are certain will come upon them any day.  As a result of the paltry conditions, Head claims that he has been sick since arriving in Yorktown.  He describes the playing of a violin near him, drilling with drums, and as he writes how he longs for a quick return to his quiet country home far away from the confusion and chaos of his current status.

Head also relates in his letter a fight between North Carolina and Virginia Regiments with the abolitionists where the Confederate Regiments suffered little casualties while inflicting hundreds upon their enemy.  This reference is to the Battle of Big Bethel, Va.