A letter from Frederick Grimke to Anna R. Frost describing his trip to and arrival in Philadelphia. Grimke discusses a recent election and the ways in which local newspapers have reported on the political situation.
A letter from Frederick Grimke to Anna R. Frost focusing on war news and politics, the usurping of power by the Federal government, postal relations between the Confederacy and the USA, and France and Great Britain's failure to formally recognize the Southern Confederacy.
A letter from Frederick Grimke to Anna R. Frost, giving a description of Walterboro, South Carolina circa 1815, and mentioning his meeting decades earlier with Richard Anderson, father of the commander of Robert Anderson of Ft. Sumter, who had served in the Revolutionary War in Charleston and had been imprisoned with Grimke's father, John F. Grimke.
Samuel Wragg Ferguson, aide-de-camp to General P.G.T. Beauregard, writes to his godmother from Manassas Junction two weeks after the First Battle of Bull Run. He writes "another such blow as that struck two weeks ago, would I think put an end to the war." He writes of bunking with "Dr. Brodie from our state" in "the grand tent sent to Genl B, as he occupies a room in the house." 6p.
Letter from Edward Barnwell Heyward to James B. Heyward telling James that he is moving all his father's slaves from Combahee and Pocotaligo to Wateree, SC, for safety. He offers James some land nearby to move his slaves to and "rough it out" a while with him. His plan includes putting all his father's slaves in a camp in the woods "out of the wind, and driving rain, plenty of firewood, and dry ground." 8p.
Samuel Wragg Ferguson, aide-de-camp to General P.G.T. Beauregard, writes to his godmother from Manassas Junction, on July 10th, 1861, just days before the First Battle of Bull Run. He mentions preparations being made to set up hospitals for the sick and wounded, the capture of the privateer Savannah and Jefferson Davis' warning to Lincoln not to deal harshly with the crew. He writes that Union prisoners in Richmond, who were allowed to roam freely, were "arrested and confined in consequence of the accounts received of the trial of the crew of the Savannah." 4p.
Letter from Susan S. Keith to her daughter giving her a first hand account of the great fire that devastated Charleston in December, 1861. "The City is nearly destroyed," she writes, "such a scene of desolation and destruction I never beheld." 4p. December 14, 1861.
Letter from James B. Heyward to an unknown recipient carried by one of his overseers, C. R. Hains, who is reporting for duty. In his letter, James protests the conscription of plantation overseers into the Confederate army claiming they "have large numbers of negroes under their charge" and that "in his absence the timid become panic struck and the bold mischievous." He also argues that the overseers "by means of espionage know every thing that is going on" and that well run plantations can better provide supplies to the war cause. 4p. November 12, 1861.
Letter from Lacklison & Co. in Savannah to James B. Heyward. The letter states that "owing to all communication being cut off from the South," the company is unable to secure from Philadelphia the boilers James had ordered for Fife Plantation. 1p. May 31, 1861.