The
following letter from Mrs. Louis T. Wigfall of Texas to her daughter in
early 1861 relates the Fort Sumter affair in which Senator Wigfall
obtained the surrender of Major Robert Anderson, and a very low opinion
of how Northern volunteers were attracted to the colors
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
Twenty Dollars Additional Pay for Volunteers:
“Montgomery, April 26 [1861].
“The
people here are all in fine spirits….No one doubts our success…I
suppose the chief fighting will be in Maryland and Virginia…..
April
29: You allude to reports given in the Northern papers of the Fort
Sumter affair. It is only what might have been expected of them, that
they would garble and misrepresent the truth; but I must confess that
Major Anderson’s silence, and the disingenuous bulletin he sent to
Cameron have surprised me.
He
takes care not to tell the whole truth, and any one to read his
statement would suppose he had only come out on those conditions,
whereas, he surrendered unconditionally – the US flag was lowered
without salute while your father was in the fort. This was seen, not
only by your father, but by the thousands who were on the watch, and it
was only owing to General Beauregard’s generosity (misplaced, it seems,
now) that he was allowed to raise it again, and to salute it on coming
out of the Fort, and take it with him….And this conduct too, after the
kind and generous treatment he met with from the Carolinians.
I
don’t think though that the military enthusiasm can be very high at the
North as I see they are offering $20 additional pay to volunteers a
month. That speaks volumes. I suppose it is to be accounted for in the
anxiety to get rid of the mod population who might be troublesome at
home.”
(A
Southern Girl in ’61, The War-Time Memories of a Confederate Senator’s
Daughter, Mrs. D. Giraud Wright, Doubleday, Page & Company, 1905,
pp. 49 -51)
I really enjoy when you post letters.
ReplyDeleteHow else would we learn? Must make ANOTHER trip to the library to find out more...
Phyllis (N/W Jersey)
:) Thank, sweetie.
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