Letters from an Alabama cavalryman.
John W. Cotton.
Letters from an Alabama cavalryman.
Various places, May 1862 to April 1863
20 Autograph Letters Signed to his wife Mariah in Mt. Olive, AL, various sizes, generally minor wear. Two letters are accompanied by original envelopes lacking their stamps and postmarks. With typed transcripts of each except the 3 April 1863 letter.
John Weaver Cotton (1831-1866) headed a large family on a farm near Mt. Olive in Coosa County, Alabama. He was not a slaveowner, but sometimes leased enslaved laborers. In April 1862, he enlisted as a cavalry private in Hilliard's Alabama Legion, with his battalion later transferred to the 10th Regiment Confederate Cavalry.
Most of these letters were written at a variety of camps in Tennessee. In addition to the typical life-and-death concerns of a soldier, he constantly worried about whether his wife could plant and manage a small farm while caring for their children in his absence.
He wrote on 2 October 1862 while convalescing from an illness at Atlanta Medical College, and concluded with a bit of verse: "Thoe in distant lands I rome, I will think the more about home. If on Yankey sol I bee, don't think ey'le ever forget the." In Knoxville, TN, he mentions serving with paroled soldiers: "There is three of our company here that the Yankeys took prisoners and parolled them." Provisions and morale were generally poor. On 9 December 1862 he noted: "A man told me today in Manchester that there had been as many as 50 of there briggade deserted in one nite." He complained on 7 January 1863: "We have herd that there is a talk of stopping the women from riting to there husbands in the war. Whenever that comes to pass and I know it to be so, I am comeing home and I will stay when I get there. There is rite smart of excitement about it here. I won't come by myself."
Cotton reported on high drama in Kingston, TN on 1 April 1863: "Some of our boys went out on a scout last week and brought in a man supposed to bee a bushwhacker and Colo. [Charles T.] Goode turned him loose, and some of our men went with him, and when they had got him about a half of a mile across the river, they tride to hang him, and they could not get him hy enough off of the ground to choke him to death, and they shot him twice and left him hanging there, and the Colonel found out and had six of them arrested and put in jail but I don't know what he will do with them."
Many of the letters discuss Manuel, an enslaved man who was rented from a neighboring plantation to cover the farm labor in Cotton's absence. He is thought to be the Manuel Brown (circa 1820-after 1880) who appears in postwar records. From distant cavalry camps, Cotton inquired regularly about Manuel's health and activities. On 5 May 1862, he wrote "I am glad to here that Manuel is trying to do something and getting along so well." On 25 September 1862, he asks "how Manuel is doing and so on," instructing on 2 October "Hire Manuel next year if you want him, and carry on your business as if you never expected me at home." The arrangement was spelled out on 21 December: "I am in hopes you will hire him again, for I don't no any other chance for you to make a crop. Pay old man Brown for this year's wages." On 2 February 1863, he discussed the arrangement at length: "You rote that you had hired Manuel again. I was glad to hear that, for I was afraid you would not get nobody to make a crop for you. . . . I would like very well to . . . see how Manuel is getting on with his crop, and show him how to plant his crop." Four days later, he expressed a wish to "see how Manuel is getting on farming." On 1 April, he added "I was glad to here that Manuel was getting on with his crop as well as he was." Regarding a possible windfall of cash, he added "If you get enough, buy you a waiter girl."
Some of these letters were published in 1951 as part of the book "Yours Till Death: Civil War Letters of John W. Cotton." The letters were also transcribed and annotated on the Spared and Shared website in 2022.
John W. Cotton.
Letters from an Alabama cavalryman.
Various places, May 1862 to April 1863
20 Autograph Letters Signed to his wife Mariah in Mt. Olive, AL, various sizes, generally minor wear. Two letters are accompanied by original envelopes lacking their stamps and postmarks. With typed transcripts of each except the 3 April 1863 letter.
John Weaver Cotton (1831-1866) headed a large family on a farm near Mt. Olive in Coosa County, Alabama. He was not a slaveowner, but sometimes leased enslaved laborers. In April 1862, he enlisted as a cavalry private in Hilliard's Alabama Legion, with his battalion later transferred to the 10th Regiment Confederate Cavalry.
Most of these letters were written at a variety of camps in Tennessee. In addition to the typical life-and-death concerns of a soldier, he constantly worried about whether his wife could plant and manage a small farm while caring for their children in his absence.
He wrote on 2 October 1862 while convalescing from an illness at Atlanta Medical College, and concluded with a bit of verse: "Thoe in distant lands I rome, I will think the more about home. If on Yankey sol I bee, don't think ey'le ever forget the." In Knoxville, TN, he mentions serving with paroled soldiers: "There is three of our company here that the Yankeys took prisoners and parolled them." Provisions and morale were generally poor. On 9 December 1862 he noted: "A man told me today in Manchester that there had been as many as 50 of there briggade deserted in one nite." He complained on 7 January 1863: "We have herd that there is a talk of stopping the women from riting to there husbands in the war. Whenever that comes to pass and I know it to be so, I am comeing home and I will stay when I get there. There is rite smart of excitement about it here. I won't come by myself."
Cotton reported on high drama in Kingston, TN on 1 April 1863: "Some of our boys went out on a scout last week and brought in a man supposed to bee a bushwhacker and Colo. [Charles T.] Goode turned him loose, and some of our men went with him, and when they had got him about a half of a mile across the river, they tride to hang him, and they could not get him hy enough off of the ground to choke him to death, and they shot him twice and left him hanging there, and the Colonel found out and had six of them arrested and put in jail but I don't know what he will do with them."
Many of the letters discuss Manuel, an enslaved man who was rented from a neighboring plantation to cover the farm labor in Cotton's absence. He is thought to be the Manuel Brown (circa 1820-after 1880) who appears in postwar records. From distant cavalry camps, Cotton inquired regularly about Manuel's health and activities. On 5 May 1862, he wrote "I am glad to here that Manuel is trying to do something and getting along so well." On 25 September 1862, he asks "how Manuel is doing and so on," instructing on 2 October "Hire Manuel next year if you want him, and carry on your business as if you never expected me at home." The arrangement was spelled out on 21 December: "I am in hopes you will hire him again, for I don't no any other chance for you to make a crop. Pay old man Brown for this year's wages." On 2 February 1863, he discussed the arrangement at length: "You rote that you had hired Manuel again. I was glad to hear that, for I was afraid you would not get nobody to make a crop for you. . . . I would like very well to . . . see how Manuel is getting on with his crop, and show him how to plant his crop." Four days later, he expressed a wish to "see how Manuel is getting on farming." On 1 April, he added "I was glad to here that Manuel was getting on with his crop as well as he was." Regarding a possible windfall of cash, he added "If you get enough, buy you a waiter girl."
Some of these letters were published in 1951 as part of the book "Yours Till Death: Civil War Letters of John W. Cotton." The letters were also transcribed and annotated on the Spared and Shared website in 2022.
