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Preferred Citation

B.H. Hibbard Letters, 1854-1865, Accession #11033, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was purchased by the Library from Charles Apfelbaum, Valley Stream, New York, on April 2, 1992.

Scope and Content Information

This collection consists of four Civil War letters, 1864-1865, from New York soldiers and a U. S. Christian Commission agent pertaining to personal, camp, and war-related events. Also present is a fragment from a Confederate warship, the Drewry .

Two letters were written by B. H. Hibbard of the U. S. Christian Commission, stationed at City Point, Virginia. The first (on Commission stationery), August 1, 1864, describes for "Brother George" his typical daily duties at the base hospital--dispensing food, clothing, religious reading material; promoting morale; and conducting meetings and services for the troops. 1 On August 10, Hibbard describes the grisly aftermath of the Confederate sabotage explosion at City Point (April 9): "I Saw the most appalling sight I ever witnessed. Men stretched on the Ground dead and dying . . . and such screeching such agony and writhing . . . arms and legs and head and bodys of men . . . there was barely room to set your foot without stepping on something that had been thrown up the explosion." 2

John H. Francis, camp of the 7th New York Independent Battery [7th Battery, New York Light Artillery], 24th Army Corps, during the siege of Petersburg writes on February 2, 1865 to "Friend George" that he has been detailed as a clerk for three months. He describes his quarters (a log house) and his company. An attack by Confederate vessels led to the destruction of the rebel ram (gunboat and tender) "Drury" [CSS Drewry; destroyed on the James River by Union artillery, January 24, 1865]; 3 Francis encloses a three-inch fragment (tied with red, white and blue ribbons). He recalls his visit to Baltimore three years previously and characterizes it as "a very fair city but the girls can't hold a candle-stick to the Brooklyn maidens, who in my opinion are No. 1, and can't be beat in any respect"; he also mentions the 24th regiment's (a New York infantry or militia regiment) selection of an armory site back home, an organization identified as "The Brotherhood of State Street," and being under fire at "Butler's Canal" [Dutch Gap Canal].

Another soldier, George F. Morse (perhaps the same "George" to whom the previous letters were addressed?), writes from Petersburg on April 11, 1865 to his father regarding his good opinion of the U. S. Christian Commission (this letter is on Commission stationery). He also claims that Confederate General Robert E. Lee has arrived in the city as a prisoner of war but he has not yet seen him. [Morse was mistaken. Lee was never held as a prisoner nor did he return to Petersburg after its April 2 evacuation. He remained in the Appomattox Court House area until April 12 before returning to his Richmond residence.] Morse informs his father that he is sending a note with a delegate of the U. S. Christian Commission 4 who plans to visit Brooklyn and concludes that with the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia "Everyone thinks the war is about over, the Rebs themselves say there is no use of fighting anymore."

1 The U. S. Christian Commission, under the auspices of the Y. M. C. A., provided spiritual guidance, distributed Bibles, newspapers and magazines, conducted wholesome diversions to relieve the boredom of camp life, sent soldiers' money home for their families and otherwise promoted the social, religious and psychological welfare of Union soldiers. The Commission had a large headquarters facility at City Point. Andrew Boyd Cross, The War and The Christian Commission (Baltimore, 1865), vol. I, 48; Edward P. Smith, Incidents of The United States Christian Commission (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co, 1871), 316-344.

2 See also the Civil War Diary of David Probert, accession number 10776, entry on page 8/7/64.

3 Paul H. Sliverstone, Warships of the Civil War Navies (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989), 242. For an outline of the 7th's career, see Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion (New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1959), vol. III, 1397-1398.

4 Commission workers were known as "delegates." Cross, The War and The Christian Commission , 48.