Letters

Henry C. Burnett Letter

MS10-22 includes a letter written by United States Congressman Henry C. Burnett of Cadiz to John F. Galbraith of Madisonville, Kentucky on February 9, 1861. The letter describes Burnett’s concerns over peace measures, President Abraham Lincoln’s call for volunteers to suppress rebellious states and his support for the “Crittenden propositions,” an unsuccessful push from United State Senator John J. Crittenden to end the slavery debate by enshrining the right to own human property in the constitution. Burnett soon after defected to the Confederacy, serving as a senator from 1862 to 1865. His actions earned him a postwar charge of treason that he never faced in court thanks to a case of cholera that killed him in September of 1865. A transcription of the letter is included with the collection.

Henry C. Burnett Letter Collection: MS 10-22, Box 1, File 1.

Alexander Hamilton Polk Letter

MS12-11 features of a letter written by Captain Alexander Hamilton Polk, serving as Aide de Camp for his father, Confederate Major General Leonidas Polk, from Columbus, Kentucky to Captain James J. Neely of the 6th Tennessee Cavalry (Logwood’s) Battalion. The letter directs Captain Neely to take a scouting patrol between Milburn and Lovelaceville, Kentucky.

Alexander Hamilton Polk Letter Collection: MS 12-11, Box 1, File 1

Robert E. Lee Letter

MS12-15 is a letter written by Confederate General Robert E. Lee to Eliza Anne MacKay Stiles, wife of former United States Congressman and Georgia Speaker of the House William H. Stiles from Savannah, Georgia on March 3, 1862. General Lee writes Mrs. Stiles in regards to collecting his wardrobe before departing Savannah for Richmond.

Robert E. Lee Letter Collection: MS 12-15, Box 1, File 1

John J. Hamlett Letter

MS73-03 consists of three letters written by John J. Hamlett, a Graves County Confederate soldier, when he was stationed at Camp Moore near Columbus, Kentucky from November 1861 to January 1862. He mentions a cannon that burst and killed seven soldiers while firing at a Union gunboat in November 1861. He also describes camp life, the price of food, and the troops being well fed. Hamlett died of injuries sustained during the Battle of Shiloh in May 1862.

This letter is from John Hamlett to his uncle, dated November 17, 1861. In it are details of an attack which "cilled [sic] (?) seven or eight men and wounded a good many more."

John J. Hamlett Letter Collection: MS 73-03, Box 1, File 1.