"'Bread!' is now the cry from all quarters..."

Many soldiers campaigning in the trans-Mississippi eventually commented on the refugee problem. It seems to me that the campaigns particularly displaced civilians in the Indian Territory, northwestern Arkansas, as well as various locales in Missouri and Louisiana. The result was that some areas became eerily depopulated as refugees sought safe havens. Army camps were sometimes inundated with refugees desperately seeking food.

Writing from his camp in northwestern Arkansas, Federal officer Albert C. Ellithorpe of the First Indian Home Guards informed Chicago readers in February 1863 that “’Bread!’ is now the cry from all quarters, and hundreds are applying to our lines for something to eat. You will remember that in a former letter I predicted the approach of the ‘evil genius of war.’ He is here—famine is sitting upon the thresholds of almost every cabin in the country. All must flee before him, and where can they go but to our lines?” In the same time period Lieutenant Benjamin F. McIntyre stationed at Forsyth, Missouri, reported that “A large number of Arkansas families have sought protection in our lines and as their condition is a destitute one Uncle Sam from his abundance must care for them” (p. 114).

The Federals were not the only ones to grapple with the issue. Traveling near Shreveport, Louisiana, Private William Henry King of the 28^th Louisiana Infantry wrote on October 9, 1863, “On arriving at the ferry, a little after 1 o’clock, we find a crowd of refugees. They continue to cross until late in the evening, & crowds are still waiting to cross. Such heavy immigration will certainly cause great scarcity of bread stuffs in Texas. Indeed, I fear it will cause intestive war. Many of the citizens of Texas are opposed to refugees upon the ground that bread stuffs will be too scarce if so many go there” (p. 118).

Unlike the soldiers who viewed the refugees en masse, Mrs. Harriet Perry, residing near Marshall, Texas, informed her husband in early 1864 that “Dr. Haywood is boarding a family of refugees from Miss. a widow a Mrs Chevis, she has a grown daughter and a son, the young man has been discharged from the army on account of a wound received in the right arm which has rendered it useless—they have a man & maid servant, four mules & two horses, carriage & wagon” (p. 203). Several weeks later, Harriet described Mrs. Eliza Foote Chevis , the authoress and poetress…as the most incessant talker I ever heard” (p. 209).

Not many studies of refugees in the trans-Mississippi exist, but an in-depth one would probably be fascinating.

Sources:

Albert C. Ellithorpe quote: Chicago Evening Journal, 11 February 1863.

Benjamin F. McIntyre quote: Tilley, Nannie M., ed. Federals On The Frontier:: The Diary of Benjamin F. McIntyre, 1862-1864. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1963.

William Henry King quote: Joiner, Gary D, Marilyn S. Joiner, and Clifton D. Cardin, eds. No Pardons to Ask, nor Apologies to Make: The Journal of William Henry King, Gray’s 28^th Louisiana Infantry Regiment. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2006.

Harriet Perry quote: Johansson, M. Jane, ed. Widows by the Thousand: The Civil War Letters of Theophilus and Harriet Perry, 1862-1864. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000.

Mutiny!

Harriet Perry opened a letter written by her husband, Theophilus, on 9 March 1864 and read: “Our Regiment has been much corrupted with a spirit of Mutiny” (p. 224). Captain Perry's regiment, the 28^th Texas Cavalry (dismounted), served in Walker’s Texas division and had several complaints. The men were still disgruntled over being dismounted nearly two years previously, but the ongoing cotton trade with the enemy infuriated them. What? Trading with the enemy? For several months Confederate officials had actively traded cotton to the enemy in exchange for various supplies including medicine and clothing. Soldiers were suspicious that this trade was nothing more than a way for high-ranking officers to get luxury items such as coffee and other desirable items. At least three units (the 28^th Texas, Gould’s Battalion, and the 14^th Texas Infantry) in Colonel Horace Randal’s brigade of Walker’s Texas division were roiled by turmoil.

Captain Perry described the situation:

“Expecting to have their grievances redressed satisfacterly [sic] by a bold show of resistance a large number of them on last Friday and Saturday refused to do any duty whatever. My Company [F] was badly misled in this disgraceful affair. I have had to arrest four of them and prefer charges against them to be tried before a general Court Martial” (p. 225). The next scene in the drama occurred when Lieutenant Colonel Eli H. Baxter, the commanding officer of the 28^th Texas, arrested all five commanders of the companies involved in the mutiny—Captain Perry was part of the group. He explained to his wife that higher ranking officers pressured Baxter to arrest the company commanders. Perry observed that “Col. Baxter is alarmed. He is in the greatest trouble of mind. He knows, he feels that we will be able to show ourselves clean, and he already fears that we will fix the blame on him if any officer is to blame, for what they knew nothing at all about before hand. Col. Baxter says, he prays for a fight. Then all things will be dropped…He turns white when he thinks of what he has done” (p. 227-228).

Somehow, these soldiers put the controversy and turmoil behind them and performed effectively during the Red River campaign. Captain Perry fell mortally wounded at the battle of Pleasant Hill on 9 April 1864, just a month after he first mentioned the mutiny to his wife.

Note: all quotes are from Johansson, M. Jane, ed. Widows by the Thousand: The Civil War Letters of Theophilus and Harriet Perry, 1862-1864 (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000).

April 17, 1864: A Soldier's Death

“Died—At Mansfield La, on Sunday April 17^th Capt. Theophilus Perry of Harrison Co. Texas, of a wound received at the battle of Pleasant Hill on the 9^th while gallantly heading his Company. He was born in Franklin Co. N. C. on Feb. 5^th 1833— “

These were the first words of the eulogy written by Harriet Perry in memory of her husband Theophilus, an officer in the 28^th Texas Cavalry (dismounted) of Walker’s Texas Division. The 10 May 1864 issue of the Galveston Weekly News detailed the seriousness of his wound:

Harriet closed her eulogy by quoting from William Cullen Bryant’s poem, Thanatopsis:

“’So live that when thy summons comes to join

The innumerable caravan which moves

To that mysterious realm, where each shall take

His Chamber in the silent halls of death,

Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night,

Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and sooth’d

By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,

Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch

About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams’”

[All quotes are from Johansson, M. Jane, ed., Widows by the Thousand: The Civil War Letters of Theophilus and Harriet Perry, 1862-1864 (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000), p. 243-244.]

A Belated Valentine's Day Posting

Oops! I intended to post this yesterday…

As I cruised through the local Hallmark store the other day purchasing Valentine’s Day candy, it occurred to me that judging from the large display of cards, the prettily wrapped boxes of candy, and the array of knick-knacks for sale that this is certainly a significant Day in our society. It hasn’t always been that way…

Take, for example, a letter written by Harriet Perry to her soldier husband, Theophilus on 14 February 1864. Harriet penned the letter from near Marshall, Texas, and it was sent to Captain Perry, stationed with the 28^th Texas Cavalry (dismounted) in Louisiana. Her letter was lengthy and a number of topics were discussed: clothing purchases, visits from friends, financial matters, neighborhood news, etc. In the midst of these newsy comments is this comment rather casually tucked in:

“…I shall send up the note the next time your Father goes. that will pay our Taxes which are to be paid soon[.] You must take this letter for a Valentine as it is written on St. Valentine’s Day—I did not think of it until I began to write—I received three letters from you while in Marshall [crossed out] written on the 18^th 21^st & 29^th of Jan. I am very glad to hear you are getting on so well…” (Johansson, M. Jane, ed., Widows by the Thousand: The Civil War Correspondence of Theophilus and Harriet Perry, 1862-1864, Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000, p. 209).

This marks one of the few mentions of Valentine’s Day that I have seen in correspondence from the Civil War. If you have any examples, particularly relating to the trans-Mississippi, then please let me know.

A Confederate Casualty

So many soldiers died during the Civil War that it is a bit difficult to comprehend the large scale of human suffering in that time period. Has anyone ever calculated the number of people directly affected by the deaths of soldiers during the war? It seems to me that a significant proportion of American families spent at least part of the war in mourning.

One-hundred and forty-six years ago today, Captain Theophilus Perry, the commander of Company F of the 28^th Texas Cavalry (dismounted), was mortally wounded during the battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana. An attorney, 31 year old Perry’s survivors included a wife, a son, his father, his stepmother, a brother, five half sisters, and one half brother. His wife, Harriet, made her way back to her family home in North Carolina at war’s end and eventually remarried.

This part of the casualty record for the 28^th Texas that appeared in the Galveston Weekly News on 10 May 1864 lists Theophilus Perry:

Such casualty lists were a regular, and dismal, feature of Civil War era newspapers. All too many families learned the truth of what Harriet Perry wrote in one of her letters: “war makes its widows by the thousand” (Harriet Perry to her sister Mary Temperance Person, 22 October 1862).

Supplies to and from the Texas home front

The flow of supplies to soldiers in the field is of interest to me. An important source of supplies was the home front. And, although it is not often considered, what supplies did soldiers send to their families? I hope you’re not weary of the correspondence of Theophilus and Harriet Perry, but their letters provide some interesting information on the type of supplies that flowed to and from Confederate soldiers in the trans-Mississippi. Theophilus served in the 28^th Texas Cavalry (dismounted) that was part of Walker’s Texas division. His wife, Harriet, lived in and near Marshall, Texas, throughout the time period of her correspondence with her husband. Below is a list of supplies that the couple sent to each other via courier with the date of the letter that mentions the item. All of the quotes are from Widows by the Thousand: The Civil War Correspondence of Theophilus and Harriet Perry (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000).

October 4, 1862: Harriet sent a beeswax candle.

October 26, 1862: Harriet sent “a bottle of Tomato catsup, [and] a few dried peaches”, “candy and apples”, “over pants”, “three pair of yarn socks, comforter & cap”, and “red pepper to cook with your fresh meat.” She sent Norflet, Theophilus’ slave, two pairs of socks and his suit. Also she gave Theophilus “patches for Norflet to mend his clothes & yours too if they need it” and “your pistols”.

Feb. 1863: Theophilus sent “Sugar Lumpy [his daughter] a great sheet of paper filled with pictures of animals.”

Feb. 19, 1863: Harriet gave Theophilus “one pair of pants, two pair of drawers, a few candles & a little coffee (all I had) a towel which I designed for you to use in wiping your dishes & a piece of cloth to wash them with”.

Feb. 19, 1863: “Your Mother sends Norflet one pair of pants, two pair of drawers & a shirt—Fanny, Norflets wife sends him two pair of socks & the comforter.”

March 8, 1863: Theophilus reported that he received gloves and winter clothing in November including “overhaul pantaloons”.

July 28, 1863: Harriet mentions sending items to Theophilus, but she does not detail the items that she sent.

Dec. 18, 1863: Theophilus sent her a handkerchief, a baby’s blanket, sheepskins, bed ticks, pecans, and some cloth. Harriet said she would send him some tobacco and some shoes as well as paper if she could get it.

Dec. 20, 1863: Theophilus gave Harriet “the balance of the fifteen yards of cloth I bought.” In his January 29, 1864 letter he says that 10 yards of it was calico that he paid $10 a yard for and 4 ¾ yards were “Government Cloth” that he paid $5.50 a yard for.

Jan. 20, 1864: Harriet refers to recently sending him socks.

Jan. 29, 1864: Theophilus mentions receiving candy, apples, and pound cakes.

Feb. 14, 1864: Harriet had a bundle prepared with “flannel drawers” and “Sugared fruit” [this consisted of “figs, pears, and two qualities of Peaches”] and “two shirts nicely done up” plus a “cravat”.

Feb. 14, 1864: Theophilus reported buying “six yards of Cotton ade for pantaloons at a dollar & half a yard” that he planned to send to Harriet.

Feb. 21, 1864: Theophilus purchased “two large fine Combs & one black toilet comb” for Harriet and mentioned purchasing “Ware Cloth” and “Overcoat cloth”.

March 9, 1864: Theophilus received pantaloons from Harriet.

March 27, 1864: Harriet sent “bacon and flour” to Theophilus.

April 5, 1864: Theophilus asked Harriet to send him “two cakes, sponge cake or pound cake. Gingerbread is unhealthy.”

The correspondence ended with the death of Theophilus on April 17, 1864 as the result of a wound received at the battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana.

A Bit of Postal History

Several years ago I edited a collection of letters written between Theophilus Perry of the 28^th Texas Cavalry (dismounted) and his wife, Harriet, who lived in the Marshall, Texas, area. Widows by the Thousand: The Civil War Correspondence of Theophilus and Harriet Perry, 1862-1864 was published in 2000 by the University of Arkansas Press. Theophilus and Harriet were faithful correspondents who wrote nicely detailed letters recounting their daily lives; much is revealed about their personalities and their marriage in these well crafted missives. Captain Perry served in Walker’s Texas Division throughout his soldier life, and, tragically, he was mortally wounded at the battle of Pleasant Hill (Louisiana) on 9 April 1864. His letters recount much marching but little fighting—the only letter that discusses battle action is a letter where he writes of being held in reserve at the battle of Milliken’s Bend. Harriet’s letters offer a fascinating portrayal of the life of an upper-class woman on the home front. She had an interesting personality with some of my readers feeling much sympathy for her while others think she was a whiner. After the book was published I “googled” Theophilus Perry and came up with a hit on a website run by Dr. John Kimbrough who buys and sells Confederate philately. Surprisingly, he had a “turned cover” actually used by Theophilus and Harriet in their correspondence. Talk about serendipity! Of course, I had to purchase it…. Dr. Kimbrough believes that Theophilus first used the cover. Here is the side addressed by Theophilus to Harriet who was living with her in-laws at the time:

Harriet then turned the cover and reused it in a letter to her husband.

She addresses him as “Captain,” a rank that he achieved in July 1863. So the cover was used sometime between then and the spring of 1864 when Theophilus died during the Red River campaign.