This Civil War prisoner-of-war (POW) letter was written by Lt. Edward Visart in August 1864 while imprisoned at Fort Delaware, a Union prison camp. Visart was serving as a 2nd Lieutenant in Capt. Blocher’s Arkansas Battery when he was taken prisoner in October of 1863 while scouting in Arkansas. He was held at St. Louis for a time but transferred across country to Fort Delaware the following March, where he would suffer for nearly a year.

Blocher’s Battery served in the Trans-Mississippi Department throughout the War, and campaigned in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and the Indian Territory. Their most significant engagements include Helena, the Little Rock campaign, and Price’s Missouri Expedition.  During his long imprisonment, Lt. Visart began the study of medicine. After the War he earned got his degree from the University of Michigan Medical School and then returned to Arkansas to practice in DeWitt.

The letter itself is written to Visart’s friend, Myra, who became the wife of a fellow officer. Visart thanks Mira for her correspondence, relates some news from prison, and thanks her for sending him an anatomy book. He obliges her question to and asks for a copy of Grey’s Anatomy, Little Rock newspapers, and a ham to eat. He informs her that he has enough warm clothing to “get along” in the winter.

Letters from Confederate prisoners are scarce. This is an excellent example that remains in excellent condition, and still retains its original envelope, which is stamped: “Prisoner’s Letter, Examined."





[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln, Historic Signatures, Autograph]