Use Restrictions

Public Domain. There are no known restrictions.

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions.

Existence and Location of Copies

This collection has been digitized and is available to view here.

Preferred Citation

Letter from unidentified Confederate soldier to his mother, C0368, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Acquisition Information

The letter was transferred to Special Collections after it was found in the George Mason University Libraries department formerly known as Collection Management Services. The original donor/dealer is unknown.

Processing Information

Reprocessing completed by Amanda Brent in July 2019. EAD markup completed by Amanda Brent in July 2019.

Historical Information

The United States Civil War lasted from 1861 - 1865, pitting southern (Confederacy) and northern states (Union) against each other. The central conflicts of state sovereignty and the institution of slavery were at stake, and though the Union eventually won, the war resulted in over 600,000 casualities. The Civil War was marked as the most devastating conflict the United States had seen up to that point in its history. Around the time this letter was written, command of the U.S. (Union) Army changed over to Joseph Hooker, and he headed towards Richmond, Virginia with his troops. This activity would eventually lead to the Battle of Chancellorsville, one of the major battles of the Civil War, in Virginia in May 1863. The battle was won by the Confederates, under the leadership of General Robert E. Lee.

Scope and Content

A single signed letter from an unknown Confederate soldier written on January 29, 1863. The location is listed as "Camp Burton's Farm," which probably refers to an area controlled by the Confederates during the U.S. Civil War. The author also mentions being formerly stationed at Camp Lee. In the letter, the soldier tells his "ma" about camp life, the poor winter weather, and sends birthday wishes home to his "pa," which he had forgotten to send in his last letter.

Arrangement

This is a single item collection.

Related Material

The Special Collections Research Center holds other collections pertaining to the Civil War and Civil War soldiers, including the Alexander Haight family collection, the Randolph H. Lytton Historic Virginia, and the Northern Virginia Civil War images collection.

The Special Collections Research Center also holds the Letter from Corporal Francis Ronien of the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry to his brother Henry.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Confederate States of America -- History, Military
• Correspondence
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives