UVa Library Press Releases 1999 - 2000
FOUR CIVIL WAR LETTERS GIVEN TO THE
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LIBRARY
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT
Contact: Michael Plunkett, director of Special Collections at (804) 924-3998 or e-mail: mfp@virginia.edu
January 17, 2000 - Four letters written by well-known Confederate generals Robert E. Lee, J.E.B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, and Joseph E. Johnston have been donated to the University of Virginia Library Special Collections Department.
The letters, three written during the Civil War and one after, are the gift of U.Va. Alumnus Robert M. Hughes and his wife, Jean. Mr. Hughes is a relative of the late General Joseph E. Johnston, who wrote one of the donated letters to Hughes‰ grandfather, Robert M. Hughes, Sr., the great grand nephew of Johnston. In the letter, dated January 15, 1884, Johnston boasts of a Civil War naval battle between the CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor where in talking of the Monitor‰s defeat, he said it "ran away of the fight."
"These letters are important to Civil War history and are indicative of personal and military relationships between four of the Confederacy‰s greatest generals," said Research Archivist and author of books on the Civil War Ervin L. Jordan. For example, in Lieutenant-General Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson‰s letter to Major General James Ewell Brown (J.E.B.) Stuart on April 14, 1863, the normally secretive and solemn Jackson discusses plans for the capture of Manassas Junction. Not generally given to cracking jokes, Jackson writes: "I hope that you may have your ëitching to get hold of [Union General Robert H.] Milroy‰ removed without being badly scratched by him." Jackson closes the letter with "Very truly, your friend."
In General Robert E. Lee‰s July 24, 1861 letter to "My Dear General" Joseph E. Johnston, Lee congratulates Johnston for his role in the Confederate victory at the Civil War‰s first major land battle, First Manassas (also known as First Bull Run, Virginia, July 21, 1861). "Lee's letter reveals a strong attachment to the Confederacy, a sentiment that stands somewhat at odds with his reputation as a reluctant convert to secession," said Gary W. Gallagher, U.Va. John L. Nau III Professor in the History of the American Civil War.
J.E.B. Stuart reveals a tender side in the May 18, 1861 letter to his wife, Flora, addressing her as "Dearest One." He informs her that he has received a pistol mailed to him and concludes with a touching request that she "kiss the dear ones" for him. "Reading the letters gives one a feeling of the generals as people and not just historical figures," said Director of Special Collections Mike Plunkett.
The four letters add to an already impressive collection of Civil War documents. The Special Collections Department currently holds approximately 3,000 Civil War collections, 170 collections in which Robert E. Lee is correspondent or subject, 40 J.E.B. Stuart collections, 29 Joseph E. Johnston collections, and 63 Stonewall Jackson collections. Lee‰s letter is a noteworthy complement to another letter recently acquired by the Department. Dated March 24, 1863, this letter to Lee‰s older brother Charles Carter Lee discusses recent military events, family members, and several prominent Confederate soldiers.
A 1951 graduate of the University‰s College of Arts and Sciences and a 1957 graduate of the Law School, and realizing the historical value of the letters, Mr. Hughes wanted to give the letters to U.Va. where they would be made available for study by Civil War and other scholars. Gallagher concludes that the letters are a significant addition to the University of Virginia Library Special Collections Department, as they should "attract considerable attention from scholars and others interested in the Confederate high command." They will be described fully in the Library‰s on-line catalog and Special Collections staff will produce a finding aid to the collection.
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