Offset Clinton May 8th 1862
My Dear Wife
Your very kind & interesting letter of the 28 April came to hand yesterday found me well. I also recd a letter in it from Beng, was glad to hear that he was at Franklin. I also recd a letter from him dated the next day 29, which I was very glad to hear that my uneasiness was to a great extent relieved, that is to say that you have a fine baby girl. All right we cannot have our choice in what sex we would desire, but am satisfied with my lot. I think we can raise girls if we cannot have boy babys to raise. I am so glad that you had Beng with you & that all was right & I sincerely hope you & my baby is well & doing well. I am very anxious to see you both & my other little girls. I reckon they are proud of their little sister, as Fannie use to say I wish Ma had had a baby so I could get to nurse it. I guess she can have plenty of that sort of amusement soon.
I have written you about 2 or 3 times every week since I have got back. I have nothing to write you my sick boys is all improving. Gibs got back from Knoxville yesterday & says all are out of danger or nearly & Wood Owens is the weaker. He is very weak but will get well with care. The others are all able to sit up & be up. My camp are needing some clothing which I suppose you know by a letter what was published in the Carolinian. Their clothing was left at Knoxville when they was first ordered to this place. They have been stolen or lost & myself don’t need much, would like a new coat such as my black alpaca coat, a summer vest or two black or dark colored & if Leon has not sold the boots that I was looking at would like a pair of them. I don’t need anything else in the clothing line. I am very sorry you cannot find Mr. Blakelys notes he gave me two one on D. Love & one on Nolen. I thought they was in the money box on the note book, maybe they are in the trunk in the letter case in the top of the trunk. I think they are not lost. As to the conscription, I think it is right if they had given 12 months volunteers a furlough, either now or at the end of their 12 months for 60 days & raised the age to 40 years in stead of 35. I should have thought it just the thing to get Jule McCoy, Joshua Ingraham, John Addington, Nath Allman, Joe Dobson, Jack Johnson & all such men that is staying at home growing fat off of soldiers wives & speculating. We have again this evening recd some very cheering war news & is said to be official. The fight near Yorktown come off yesterday our forces being successful killing & capturing nine thousand & driving them back. This is telegraphic news to Knoxville this evening. One of the cavalry captains has come & says he heard it in Knoxville & went to the telegraphic office & asked if it was so & the operator told him it was & he believed it was true. There has been no fight up at Jacksboro yet & wont be soon. I don’t think Gen. E. K. Smith & staff passed back yesterday to Knoxville, though they left Gen. Barton up there with 2 batterys, 1000 cavalry & 45 hundred infantry no news from Cumberland Gap since I wrote you a few days ago.
I have heard nothing from the 16 Regt only what I hear from home. I would write Beng but just think it hardly necessary as I reckon he will be here soon. I believe I wrote you that I saw Penlands John & knew him, but could not locate him when I was at Knoxville. Bill Bryson had seen both John & Angels son & they told him they belonged to the Virginia Battery. John J. Moore & myself then hunted for them but the battery had gone to Jacksboro. John Moore has caught them. Penlands John is very anxious to come to Ham in my company also Tom wants to come. Col. Owens is up there with his team & has hired John to drive one. Sam in with John Moore cooking for him or helping his boy cook. I don’t know what Ham will do with John when he comes. I reckon Moore has written their masters. You can send Angel word & reckon Ham has wrote his father. The steamboat has just arrived with supplies for the army at Jacksboro. It is now 12 o’clock Ill stop until tomorrow to finish. I wish I could sleep with you & my baby till morning but I cannot. I think I will before long. 10th Nothing new this morning, report yesterday that the fighting is going on at Cumberland Gap, Crointh & renewed at Yorktown, 22 of my boys that was left behind at Knoxville came yesterday my Co numbers here about 39 present & several more will come soon. I will close, Capt. Andy Coleman from Jackson Co & Capt. Howell of Haywood is ordered to join us & will be here in a few days. They originally belonged to the 16 Regt. We look for Crawford in a day or two. Write me often I will write again in a few days. Kiss my little baby for me, kiss my large babys also for me, tell them to kiss the baby for their Pa.
Ever your husband
A.W. Bell
Camp Starvation, 20 miles from Richmond
May 13th 1862
Mrs. Capt. Bell
Dear Madam I write you to let you know that I am alive and kicking, but that is about all I can say for my self. We have evacuated Yorktown and the Yankees are chasing us but we are too swift for them. We have been marching day and night for about 12 days with scarcely anything to eat or tents to lie in. It is a little the toughest time I ever experienced. We get four crackers and one ration of bacon per day, though it will not be as long for we have about cleared the peninsula and out of danger of being flanked by yankee doodle. We will make a stand on Chickahomony River which is 7 or 8 miles from here on the road to Richmond . We have a large army here enough to whip old Mc and his free ruffians suffrage. We have been fighting a little nearly every day since we left Yorktown, that is our cavalry has. There has been but two fights of any note. The one at Williamsburg and at Barnville. Our regiment was in neither. We was in about half mile of the one at Barneville, we had no commander or we would have been in it. Col. Davis was sick and the rest didn’t know how. Some of our regt was in it under Col. Hampton, two or three got lost from our Reg and fell in with the legion about the time it went into the fight. The fight lasted about 4 hours. Sam was detailed to go with the ambulance to bring off the wounded. He was just flying around with his eyes as big as goose eggs and his nose as big and as red as an african yam and didn’t take time to get a yankee knapsack or overcoat or anything to remember them. I reckon I will have to close as I haven’t much time to write and a bad chance to write. The boys are all about well and in fine spirits. I reckon you have heard of the death of Wm. Morrow before now. I have never heard from Pat Roane since we left Fredricksburg. I reckon you all have forgotten how to write. Tell Pap I believe I could read his hand writing to try me with a letter.
Good bye Jas. W. Bell
PS where is Alf? I understood he whipt 400 yankees and union men together & with his company killing 200 and taking the rest prisoners some where in Tenn. We have orders to pack up and be ready for a march.
Jas.W.Bell
Sweet Water, Tenn.
May 14th 1862
My Dear Wife
Your letter & Matties was recd last night & I assure you both that I was glad to hear from you & my babys & friends. I came to Knoxville Monday evening, day before yesterday. I found that Rev. Jahew Amons had left on the 2 o’clock train with the remains of his brother Thomas & said the wagons would start back yesterday morning. Gibs, John Moore & myself come down to meet the company, met Capt. Crawford & he informed us that probably his Company would not leave here until this morning so we turned him back, we all landed here found his Company very well, Willie Woodfin complaining a little. Capt. Jarrett had just arrived here with the request of Mrs. G W. J. Moore, Mr. Dalton & Mrs. Matlock to send the remains of their husband & sons home by the wagons.
I have tried to get them to stay until I could go back to Knoxville & bring the corpse here but have failed. They wont stay, they have the remains of Thos Amons & will start this morning. If we can find out when the wagon will come with the clothing for my boys I will try & have the corpse here, but if we fail I think the friends ought to send a good strong wagon after the corpse.
I have nothing new to write you. I wrote you a few days ago. My boys is all improving we are still at Clinton. We will start up in a few minutes, we will get there tomorrow. Sorry to hear of the death of John Morrow. I will write you in a few days write me often. Kiss all my babys for me & tell them to kiss you for me, my love to Mattie & Pa & relations. Marthy Ann Martin is at Knoxville with James I hope he will be able to squeeze her a little. I will write again in a few days.
Ever your loving husband
A.W. Bell
Franklin May 15th 1862
My Dear Husband
I seat myself again to write you a few lines had I known that the boys were going to start to Crawfords company this morning I would have written by them, but I did not know it until it was too late. I reckon you will wonder how long I lay in bed for I think I have written you as often as I did before I took sick. The last letter I wrote you I did myself injustice I wrote so long that I had a bad headache that night and was quite sick. I am truly thankful to you for being so prompt to write me. I attribute my getting along so well as much to that as anything else. It done me so much good to think that I had a dear good husband who loved me and thought of me if he could not be with me. I would not have taken a thousand dollars for the letter I received the evening after the baby was born nor indeed for any of them. I believe I have received a letter every mail since the babe was born, until last mail and I was very much disappointed then but I cannot grumble. The babe and me are getting along finely. She did not sleep as well last night as common, kept me awake which makes me feel quite dull today. While I am writing I am sitting by her crib to keep her asleep. I do wish you could see the sweet little thing. I know you would be glad to see her and would think her a great child, if she is not a boy. Leon Siler says that they not going to let you have any more furloughs because you have not done anything for the south. I tell them I am glad she is a girl, that if I ever do get my husband home that I do not want any boys for the next war, that I will here after keep all I have at home.
I feel glad now that you went when you did. I would hate to see you sneaking off to some company now like a great many are to avoid the conscript. There is a great many going that never would have gone if it had not have been for that. I reckon you have heard ere this that Wm. Morrow died in the hospital at Petersburg. John went to see him stayed with him until he died, brought him home. They got home last Sunday was a week ago and last Sunday John was buried. He took sick before he left the hospital was quite sick when he got home, took his bed and broke out with measles. Old Morrow talked of letting the negros bury Bill the next day in the rain and John heard of it, got out of his bed, went to see about it in the rain, took a relapse and died on Friday, was buried here on Sunday in Masonic honor. I think old Morrow is the cause of his death. He is just like and old brute. John had Bill fixed so nice and in a metallic coffin and then his old daddy wanted him to be buried just by the negores and it raining as hard as it could rain and when he was buried he would not be buried in the honors of war because he said he did not want any frolicking over his son, neither would he have a preacher because he said he did not have any confidence in the preachers. Tom Gribble had a little boy buried here last Monday, died of fever had roseola first and turned to the fever. Dr. Woodfin came from Asheville yesterday and brought news that there had been a big fight at Yorktown. Our side lost 2000 the yanks 6000. I am afraid when we hear from there that we will hear that some of our friends are killed. Your Pa got a letter from Joe the other day. He said when that battle came off it was bound to be a bloody one. He asked where you was and said to tell you to write to him. I have not received one line from Sallie since John left. I wrote to her after I heard John was gone. I wrote to Ben and received an answer. He talks a little like he would go to Knoxville after awhile. You had better write to him to Clayton. I want you folks to hurry and reorganize and you to come home as soon as you can. I hope that will be soon for I do want to see you so badly and show you my fine daughter. Her Grand Pa thinks a great deal of her. He comes up here and nurses her. He nurses her more than any one else. Fannie can nurse first rate. Fannie and Sallie have gone to Mr. Hopkins visiting today. Mrs. H. and Mary Raone spent the day here yesterday. Mary and Sallie stayed all night and I had to let the children go home with them. I send my cow to Jules pasture up by Mr. Hopkins and Liza took them and will bring them back as she brings the cow this evening. I had to get Jule to let me put her in there until they would get our fence done for she kept running off to her old range. They will have the fence done in a day or two. Alicy and Matt have just come with their hands full of radishes. They have been running over town hunting them. I think it is a bad sign or would be for a married lady. It is turning quite cool this evening. I reckon it is to late now for cold weather to injure the fruit. I think I will dry fruit enough of one kind and another to do me this winter for I guess that will be about all I will have to live on. When can I look for you home? Soon I do hope. Be sure and come as soon as you can, for if the war last long I suppose I will have to be contented with what furloughs you can get, as the conscript takes you, but I tell you it is very hard to take for I did look forward to the time when your twelve months would be out with so much delight. If the war was to last three years it would seem like a thousand to me. I will close as I have allowanced myself on paper for fear I would give myself the headache again. They all scold me for writing so soon for fear of injuring my eyes. They were very sore a few days but I think it was because the room was to light. Excuse this badly written letter, farewell may the time soon come when you can come home to stay is the wish of your devoted wife. May you have pleasant dreams of home and loved ones tonight. How do you fare since you got back to your old camping ground? Do you get anything fit to eat? Liza says howdy.
Mary
Camp Kirby Smith, near Clinton
May 20th 1862
My Dear Wife
As I have not written you for several days. I think it time to write you again as Lieut. Bird will start home tomorrow our reorganization took place yesterday there was some changes made to some of the companys. In my company none of us had any opposition except Lieut.Bird & Thos. Roane was elected 2nd Lieut. over Bird. No hard feelings exist, Bird will go home. Both Hugh & Billy Bearden was beaten, also their Capt. Gaines. Lieuts. Farmer & Sutherds of Davidson Company was beaten. Then come our field officers Wm. H. Thomas of Jackson Co was almost the unanimous wish of the men for Col., but D. Coleman with his political men working succeeded in getting 3 Co. officers for him, that is Davidsons, Hughs & Gaines, them all having 4 votes apiece. There was 5 Cos. against him, but their officers was about half absent, but enough present to give us 15 to their 12 but Crawford came in with his Co. yesterday morning. I had saw him & his officers & they said they did not know anything about it but they would take our word & was with us, but Coleman sent for them & he Coleman & Davisdon promised Crawford if he would go for them Coleman for Col. & Davidson for Leiut. Col. they would go for him Maj. He Crawford readily sold himself for a song to (?) and forgot his friends. It was a unanimous among the 5 comps for me. I told him & told him that I cared nothing about the office & I would take him round & introduce him & if he was the choice I was for him. I was for beating the click, but no he had sold himself & thought his election safe. I told my friends that we would run our (?) Reynolds son, by so doing we would take some of Crawfords treacherous friends as they had made him their tool & had their purposes accomplished & was waiting to show him what a traitor to his friends deserved.
We run nobody against Coleman or Davidson but we run Reynolds against Crawford & beat him two to one, luck won. I never saw a man look so bad, his men or several is cursing him & say they would not vote for him again for corporal. I am not sorry for him, had he stuck to his friends he could have been elected to any position that we would have agreed on but no he is for office regardless of his friends or the wishes of the men & just coming in a stranger to a large number of our regt & take sides against his own county boys & succeeding in getting them against him. He ought to have known that it would ruin him at home as well as here. They have made a tool of him & we all laugh at him a great deal for selling him self to treacherous men. He is done politically with good many of his own men & all the sharp shooters is out & out eternally against him hence forth & for ever. My sick are improving. Thos Rhodes I thought a few days would die & I got Gibs Mc to write to his father but he is much better & I hope now will soon recover. I am looking Beng every day John J. Moore is at Knoxville yet. I am looking him to pass up every day. You must pay old Uncle Joshua Ammons $13.40 thirteen dollars & forty cts for me. It’s the money that his son Thos had when he died. He had 17 but the box cost four that we had the coffin put in. Joshua Franks requested me to take the money & have you pay it to Thos father. Franks is writing Mr. Amons to call on you for the money. It suits me very well as I am about out of money. I think we will be paid off soon, if so I will send you the most of it.
21st, John J. Moore came last night on his way to Big Creek Gap to rejoin his regt. He is well. Robt Anderson, Ervin Moore, Joe Reid & Posey Wilds arrived last night. Thos Rhodes & John Anderson is still improving slowly. Lieut. Bird will start home this morning. He will take George W. Moores horse & go up Tennessee River. I don’t know when I will come home but will the first opportunity. If I could get my Co. out from under Coleman I would come soon. I will try to do that thing. I have no war news at present but I think there will be some fighting soon. I have nothing else to write. Give my love to Pa & Mattie & relations kiss my babys for me & tell that little babe that its Pa is very anxious to see it. I will go to Knoxville in a few days. I have hired Alf Angels negro Sam to Leiuts. Holbrooks & Roane for 12 dollars per month. Ham Penland has took his fathers to cook for him. I have to close for want of something to write. I will write you again in a few days, write me oftentimes. I ever remain your devoted husband.
A.W. Bell
Franklin May 22nd 1862
My Dear Husband
I write again as that is all the way I have of convening with you, but I do assure you I am getting very tired of such conversations, although it is a pleasure to me to write you and an exquisite pleasure to receive your letters, but still it is not like being with you it seems almost an age since I saw you. I feel sometimes like I could not wait a day longer. I get perfectly restless and then to think that I cannot even look for you and that I perhaps will have to endure this suspense for three years, it is too much, more it seems to me than I can bear. I have often heard it said that there is a bright side to the picture and all is for the best. I wish I could think so. There is a saying too that the darkest hour is just before daylight, if that can apply to this war. I think surely daylight will soon come, for according to my feelings the darkest hour has come, but I cannot even get a glimpse of daylight through the darkness, or in other words I cannot feel now like the war will end soon. I know you will think I wish Mollie would not write such desponding letters, but it has always been my notion to confide to my best friend my worst fears. It is such a relief especially if that friend will sympathize with you. I have not much news of interest to write. We have not heard from Capt. Robinsons company for three mails. We are looking anxiously for news from them as they have been in a fight poor fellows. I dread to hear from them as it will almost be an impossibility for them to go through such a battle without some of them getting killed. I do hope not one of them are killed.
Capt. Angel come walking into town just now. This is the first time he has been to town. He came home last Sunday. I suppose the ladies are getting up a subscription here for to make a gunboat for the defense of North Carolina. Mrs. Ellis wrote to Mrs. Jule Siler about it. What do you think of it, don’t you think it is to late to think of making gunboats? Matt & me could only go 50 cts apiece. Fannie and Sallie 25 cts apiece, their Grand Pa gave them to throw in. I told the girls I had sent all the gunboat I thought I ought to send, that I would be willing to subscribe a good deal more if I had you at home, but as it was I was not able to go more than 50cts. Jule Siler had runners out last Friday trying to make up a company, but I suppose he failed, as I have heard nothing of it since his campaign ended quite soon. I am of your opinion about the conscript. I said it ought to have been from 18 to 45, for there are men at 45 just as able and who have just as much right to go as men at 35, but we cannot have our wishes every time. I hope it will all be right. I know it will be with me, if you only get home once more to stay. Dee has lost Copper Ratton. He died last Saturday. He thinks Tom and Sip had a hand in his death as they were mad at him because he wanted to bring Sip to town for saying that when the leaves put out it would be dangerous for a woman to pass from one house to another. Tom said to Mr. Keener that he reckoned Dee would behave himself now. Tom has been at Dillards all week. I do not know what he is doing or whether he intends coming back or not. He does as he pleases. I thought if he did not come next week, that I would write a note to Mr. Love, to send him or send me another hand as Tom did not get the pasture fence done and I had to take my cow out of Jules pasture, as she got into his meadow once and he said when I put her in I would have to take her out if she got into his meadow. I do not expect anything else only for her to get out in her old range and go dry which I should hate as she gives a great deal of milk. Your Pa does not control Tom, as he ought to. He lets him have his own way too much. I wish I could be man and woman both until this war ends. I intend to make my arrangements to get out of this hateful place in the fall, for it is a hard matter to get Liza to do her work. She always has to gad about with Dillards niggers when they are in town, which you know is often. If I cannot get to the Trammel place I will break up house keeping. One thing certain I will not stay in town this winter and have to do as I have done, half my time with no wood cut and the other expecting to be rooted out of the house by my neighbors hogs. If I was out of town I could keep Liza at home and get her to work. I reckon no person would trouble us there, if they did we would have to fight our way out. Matt and me think there was some person at the door the other night. We may be mistaken but it waked us both at the same time. She was in the back room and me in the front one. It sounded like some person beating on the door with both hands as hard as they could. She thought it was Liza as she had been sleeping up here and her and Barbara had gone to Fords that night. Matt called her several times before she got up to look out. The dogs barked out about Mr. Allmans, like they saw someone. I hope you will come home soon and then we can talk over all things. I cannot write all I want to. If I thought you would not get to come soon I would go with Bob Cuningham to see you as he goes. Cousin James Roane is talking about getting several to join and get Bob to take some clothes as there is not much probability of a wagon being sent to take the clothes as Leon told Cousin James that some of the boys wrote home that they were not needing clothes. I reckon I could go as well as Martha Ann Martin. I reckon in such a place as Knoxville you never find out anyone. I should like to know if the widow Harper still lives there. She lived in the suburbs of town I think. I shall have to quit writing for the children are about to run me crazy. I have to stop every few minutes to scold them. It is raining and Fannie and Sallie are romping over the floor and the baby in the crib fretting and my husband gone to war. I wonder sometimes that I have any sense at all. Sallie is now pulling at my paper. I would not be surprised if I did not rise directly and get a switch. I know you would laugh if you could peep in and see me get mad and get to whipping sometimes but I tell you its no fun to me.