If the Yankees come to see you and they want [our slave] Sam, tell them to take him and hang him if they want to. I want them to leave me the balance. The Yankees may strip you and look for money…hide everything you have. I don’t want them to get anything of mine. Stand right up to them. Don’t be afraid of them. - John T. English
This lot contains two letters. The first is dated August 3rd, 1863, and is written by Sallie English of Giles County, Tennessee to her husband, John, a Confederate soldier. The second letter is John's response. While his service record deserves more research, John English seems to have been a Private in the 3rd Tennessee Regiment and confined for a period of time as prisoner-of-war.
In her letter to John, Sallie opens by saying that she does not know whether he is alive or dead, but is writing all the same and wants to "hear so bad [from him]. I don't know what to do." Sallie reports that all is well, but "the Yankees is around us now taking all the horses and Negroes they can get." She goes on to describe more details of life at home, her pessimism regarding the South's odds of winning the war, and mentions General Bragg's retreat. Sallie concludes by telling her husband that "if he is alive" to take care of himself, and that she is well-fed but "bare footed," as she unable to find leather for shoes.
John's response is terse but jarring. He commands Sallie to give up their slave Sam to the "yankees" if they want him, and that she is to say that they can hang Sam if they'd like. John further demands that Sallie hide everything they have of value and to stand up to the Union soldiers- "don't be afraid of them."
Extraordinary pair of letters. Condition as shown.
[Civil War, Union, Confederate] ] [Abolition][Slavery] [Abraham Lincoln] [Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Abolitionist, Abolition, Slave, Slavery, Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln]