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 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 of thanks from R.W. Barnwell in Charlottesville to unknown recipient. The thank you stems from an unspecified "contribution" to the Confederate cause, possibly a donation of money to the hospital in Charlottesville. 1p. September 14, 1861.
Samuel Wragg Ferguson, aide-de-camp to General P.G.T. Beauregard, writes to his godmother from Fairfax Court House, Virginia, September 13th, 1861. Ferguson details a recent skirmish in Lewinsville pitting Union troops against Confederate Col. J.E.B. Stuart's men in which "we got seven killed, wounded and prisoners and know that they carried off many of their dead...fact is they wont stay to be killed." He writes of the secret construction of a battery along the Potomac that "will entirely stop the navigation of the river" and warns his godmother not to let "any communicative person hear any thing of this." On the envelope is written "there is a secret in this." 5p.
The Account Book of Enslaved Persons Belonging to Henry and Rene Ravenel, 1771-1867 records the enslaved children born under the ownership of Henry or Rene Ravenel. The lists include the first name of the child, their parents, date of birth and occasionally includes notes of death or if purchased by another slave owner. This book contains a second use written upside down and back to front.
The Weehaw Plantation Journal, 1855-1861, is a journal of Weehaw Plantation, near Georgetown regarding birth, death, duties, vaccinations, tasks and allowances of enslaved people, plantation expenses, names of overseers, listings of rice crops, clothing for enslaved people, cattle, yearly accounts, tools, usage of fields, vegetable garden production, medicines, house groceries and contracts. The journal is also used as a partial diary regarding the plantation with comments on Abraham Lincoln's inaugural address, secession of South Carolina, the days leading up to the attack on Fort Sumpter, the day of the attack on Fort Sumpter, lists of enslaved persons winter and summer clothes and mentions of recruiting for Hampton's Legion for the Confederate States of America. Loose papers found within the journal contain names of enslaved persons and notes on the plantation.
