LETTERS FROM THREE MEMBERS OF TERRY'S TEXAS RANGERS, 1861 TO 1866 THESIS Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School ot The University of Texee in Partial Fulfill­ment ot the Requirement• lor the Degree ot JlASTER 01 ARTS Pauline Scott Goldmann, B. A. (Austin, Texas) Austin, Texee June, 1930 n 1 •.,. ~-" ., r: -. : 1 , .~ '; ';. ' ' To Mery Scott Hill Williama, a fine end noble character. PREJ'ACE The Bill letters were written by John, Robert, and D. ~. Hill during the War Between the States to Mary Scott Hill, my grandmother. In editing these letters, 1 have tried as neerly es possible to identify, in some way, each ne.me which is mentioned. As the letters were written al­most seventy yeers ago, there are e few names which could not be identified. 1 em deeply grateful to Dr. Barker for his assistance end for bis kindly criticism of this me.nuecript. I am also . ~ grateful for eseietance rendered by Mr. ~. o. Hill end Mr. Donald Joseph. I wish else to express my appreciation to my grandmother, .Mrs. Scottie Willie.ms, my mother, .Mrs. Paul H. Goldmann, end to my sister, Mary Goldmann, who have always encouraged me in my work, end for their meny helpful sugges­tions in the l'•ri ting of this paper. Pauline Goldmann Mey 18, 1930. CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I The First Members of the Hill Pamily in America•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• CHAPTER II The MoTe to Texas and the Hounding of Hill's Prairie••••••••••••••••• •••.•••.••••••··•··•••••••• 'I CHAPTER III .Mary Scott Hill, the PreserTer of these Letters•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 14 CHAPTER IV Dr. Robert Edwerd Hill•••••••••••••••••••••••• 20 CHAPTER V John Welker Foster Hill••••••••••••••••••••••• 23 CHAPTER VI Dionysiue Uliver, Often Referred to in the Letters as "Cap"••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 27 CHAPTER Vll DaTid Crockett Hill, Colored•••••••••••••••••• 30 T Ti Page CHAPTER VIII A Reaume of the History of Terry's Texee Rengers.... . . . • • • • • . • . . . . . . . . . • • • • • . • • . . . • • • . • . . • 33 CHAPTER IX Mueter Roll of Compeny D of Terry's Texas Rengers •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 40a APPENDIX The Hill Letter&•••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 41 A Tribute to the HillB•••••••••••••••••••••• 207 CHAPTER I THE FlRS T MEMBEHS CJ.F TH& HI LL F.AlllLY IN AMERICA Henry Hill of Nansemond County, Virginie, ia the first end earliest of the Hill family in America of whom there is any definite knowledee. The lose of the records of Nanee­ mond County he.s mede it impossible to connect Henry with hie oversees ancestors, and also to determine who were his par­ ents end grandparents. Family tradition hes always held that the f~mily wes of Scotch-Irish descent. Henry Hill was probably born around 1670. He died be­tween July 11, 1719, end April 18, 1720. He acquired one hundred snd fifty scree of lend in Naneemond County from e John ~atson of North Caroline, end two hundred end twenty acres in thie sPme county from Alexender Spotswood. Henry married ~ary, whose lest name is unknown, but it is very probable thet she was a Hinton, es the two families were closely releted end many of their descendsnts bear the name of Hint on. 111ary F nd Henry hPd en only son, LbrEJhsm, who wes born in 1697 or 1698. Frior to Lctober 20, 1729, AbrehFm Hill married Judith JordPn, End they h~d ei~ children, whose nemes were Henry, 1 2 J.breham, Isaac, '.:.'heophilus, Sarah, t>nd Hery Eat on. A short time after his marriage, Abraham Hill moved to the Procinct of Chowen County, now Gates County, North Caroline, where he deelt largely in reel estate. Abreh~n, the second by this nnme, was bcrn in Chowen County around 1732. He served in the French end lndian \fer in Ceptein John Summer's Company of North Ceroline Militia. Abraham Hill, the second, married on Jenuery 7, 1756, Chrietein Welton, end they had four deughters, Judie, Clore., Sereh, end Mery Pope, end eight sone, John, Abrehem, Henry, Theophilus, Noeh, Mjles, 'ivylie, end Thomas. About 1768, Abraham moved to whet ie now kncwn es ~ake County, North Caroline. "On June 4, 1771, he wvs Justice of the Peace snd e member of the first Court of Pleas end ~uar­ter Sessions for Weka County. Abraham served in this office until 1776 and was reelected December 23, 1778, by the Pro­vinciel Ccneress of Horth Carolina at Halifax, to serve for the ensuing yeer."1 I 11. ~. Hill, The P.ills of Wilkes County, Georgia, end kllj ed Families, 52:-liill continues: "'rhe chief leeel tri­bunel of a County in N.C. ~as called the 'lnferior Court of 1 less and (uerter Seasi one. ' l t was compoe ed of all (or a qucrum) Of the Justices of the .Peace meetine in joint session four times ye~rly. 7hcre were also Judicivl Districts in the Colony, composed of several counties, over s.11 of which the 'Superior Court'--the highest tribunal in the Colony--and their sessions presided over by the Chief Justice end two 'Assistant Judges', hed higher jurisdiction then the County Cc~rts. ~vke County wFs in Hillsboroufh District. The li~yere of thst dsy often cvme down from Eillsboroufh snd frc~ ether locelitiee, even Virginia, to appefir in the ~Eke Court of '~lees 8nd ~uarter Sessions.' ~his court C!l June 4, 1771, wr.s held at Bloomsbury--present eite of ~\eleifh•" Amone the Justices present vms l~braham Hill. "'w 1 The i{evolut iol'\ 1i1 ar record of tbrsha.m Hill is es fol­ 1OVIS : Abrehem Hill, Frivete in Cnpt. Grime's Co. 15th Vv.. ~icrt., commanded successi vcly by Lt. John Innes l~nd l1Iejor Gustavus 11sll~ce. He enlisted Jony. 8, 1777, to servo three yoers; trr;.nsferred Juno,1770, to Lt. John Cropper's Co., 11th vnd 15th Vf.·· .i.tee,t. conuncndod by Lieut. John CJ.·opper E-nd Col. lir.n I.lorgvn; about Lee., 1778, to Cc.pt • .Lie:vid .i.~ason's Co., 11th Vtt •.d.egt. com­mrnded by Col. j,.brohsm .Buford, and about IJE,y, l77 HILL TO MA.HY SCOTT HILL Camp Oekland Deeb. 22nd 1861 .Deer Sister It hes been so long since l wrote that I had elmoet con­cluded that l wes entirely out of practice. The lest letter 21 I wrote wee to Cousin Nish whilst l wee down et our other 2lcouein Nieh wee Dionyeius ~liver, who wes a brother of Mrs. T. B. J. Hill. Be lived in Bastrop. encempment, near Bowling Green. We were ordered out here to this plece which was the edvence post, lC or 12 miles in ed­vence of eny of the troops. On lest Mondey wee two weeks ago. ~e were ordered to have 7 days provisions prepared end we started on a trip toward the Yankees. we went on untill we got to Green River at e place called 'Noodsonvill or Mumfords­vill there are two places one on each side of the river, only the river betwen them The Yenkeee ere encemped et Mumfords­ 61 vill ~e sew their tents end could see them walking ebout their cempe. 1'here were more on this side of the river. 'w'ie found ou;--that they were making boete and brideee to cross on this side we ceme beck end c6mped ebout 10 miles from this river on the eundny following· we went up there e.eein end found some on this side .of the river we shot two of them end took one prisoner. On lest tueedey we went up there with some infantry troops to teer up the reilroed treck. when we erived et the plece where we bed fought them on eundsy we could see them moving jn lerge bodies they ceme out to meet ue end Col. Terry ordered e cherge when our boys reieed a shout that for e while drowned the reports of the guns -they dashed rieht into them end be~en shooting end the Yankees bege.n to run. Our breve Col~ wee killed while leading his men on. we hed 2 killed in our company. lJne named b,renk Loftin end w. ·w~. &11. 53 Cousin Nish knows both of them well. you can tell 63~·;. w • .Bell wee from Bastrop County. Cousin Nish that the Gov. Bell was shot twice once almost rieht through the region of the heart snd the other shot in the leg which almost cut it off. 1 did not get to see Boll wee busy with some of the boys that wee wounded trying to get them off end get their wounds dressed .Bell & Loftin were killed &: two men by the neme of Giles end one by the neme of 52 John Henry were wounded in Our Comp. Cept. Welker lost one men and had 3 wounded -Sem Fredberger had his horse killed end in the fell Sam had hie collar bone broken. we then csme beck to where our CF.mp wee end ever since then we heve been on the elert hardly sleeping or eating Our horses have been aedeled more then half the time and tho men prepared to spring into the aedel at a moments warning Neerly their ~hole arm_y are dutch thet have been here only a few yeere every one that we heve teken prisoner is dutch and .they aey they have joined to keep their families from suffering that they could not get aeything· to do end they could not let their f:raue -starve to death we captured several letters the other day with the knapsacks end they were from dutch women living in Cincinetti all begging tho1r hus­bands to send them some .money that what they could get there did not psy the rents end they would be turned out of doore if they did not pey up -it is perfectly outrageous that we have to fight such materiel whilst those vile ebolitioniete thet have broufht & urged thie .wer on should be securely left et home. Our Comp hes had e greet deal of sickness end some deaths John Llorgen died et Naehvill sometime ego 1 could not ret down to see him Brother John, Cep & Bob & myself ere all up Dr. rloyaton & ~ick23 ere both eick & l reckon will both go 23Vick Hoiston wee e brother of Dr. rloieton, who hes been mentioned. They lived in Hill's Prairie. 63 down to Missipii or come home if they stey here they will both die lv:y peper is out Good Bye ­ Tell Cousin lHsh thet Ben Toliver thet lived in Missie­sippi is cP-ptain in en Arkensea Company and sends his love to all the reletions thet live in Te:xe.e. he hes two Brothers end one Uncle :f n Genl Hindmene .Brigade Uur ilegiment is at­tached to the eeme Brigade they are ell from Arkensea and ere the keenest men for e fieht l nearly ever sew Tell Uncle Tom24 that l would have writen to him again 24uncle Tom was Thomas Beytop Hill, e brother of Middle­ton Hill. He wee a founder of Hill's Freirie. but l have been esting end sleeping almost constantly in the seddle for the last 17. dsys end would now be up where our Cor~ is but Dr doyston is sick end not able to ettend the sick and l had to come down end teke cherge of them. l will write of­tener if l remein here end keep you ell posted with whet is goine on in this pert of Kentucky which ie to be emphaticelly the DErk & bloody ground. ~e heerd the other dPy thet Gelveeton wPe burned to the e·round end you cEn heve .no ides of my feelings I thoueht that my O\·.n loved atete wee to be inveded Eind l here in Kentucky fiehtint: those confounded dutch 54 Soy to Cousin Nish thst John Hunt hEd his papers all fixed up for n discheree from service end when 1 started on our l~st trip e~pected thst he would be Bble to start right str£'1ght home but throurh noeligence on the 1)ert of those who woro in commend they wore mislaid end John did not rot hold of them l expect to make out new ones for him and thus he will .bo nble ~o , ret off in a J . few days.• · Eis health is improv.. ine:-slowly he is hero with me now. Give my love to .ell enquiring friends end tell Mothor that l never lay down et night without asking the good lord to bless me end keep me untill we ell meet at Home around our fireside as we left l do hope that she may get well and th&t it may no~ be long untill we will be ell together ngein . . l think that l havewrit~enenoughto nie-ht so f,ooduy untill you beer from me again Your .Brother .Bob F. S if ycu see lJiss 1Jid25 shortly eive her my love end ssy 261:1es i1lid wss Mies Middle Hart from Fvyette County. lier parents lived in Winchester, ,Texns. to her thet l often remember her Your .Brother Bob 66 R~BERT HILL TO MARY SCOTT HILL Bowling Green Ky Jenu. 29th 1862 [Jenuary , 0 29, 186~ Deer Sister The lest letter I wrote home wee one to Brother Tom from Mr. Alexander's end mailed at Gellatin Tennessee l crune up to this place dey before yesterdey and have had no way to get up to where our boys far~ the Cera onl7 make occasional trips they will go up to day or tomorrow. coneequently I do not know how the boys ere getting along l feel that 1. em getting my strength again & will soon be es well es ever The weather here is very warm and reining untill it is ver7 unpleeeent and I fear [wilfJ osuee a great deal of sickness in the cempe of our troops. I sew one of our· Regiment who came down here on yesterday he eeye thet our Regiment were cemped in 12 miles of the Yenkeee .But he did not think thet they were going to edvence on us They are still at work here fortifying this place It will give the Yenkeee some Trouble should they attempt to take this place They may find it e secon ~enaeaa received your letter dated Jenuery 10 & yesterday got out of the office the one to Brother John of December the 29th so you see the mail ere very irregular. Scott give my love to ell enquirine· friends end when 1 get up to the Regiment 1 will then give you another good long letter And will try end get more peper so that l went have to cross l Knew Me would be uneasy when she heard that 1 was sick eo l write this to let her know that I em well enourh to again attend to duty .Bob D, o. BILL to MARY SC01'T BILL Camp Kore1ng at .Bell TaTern Jan 3lat 1862 Mies Scott Hill Dear Cousin As l have not stuck to my promise end wrote to you before this time l will now do so and try to be more faithtull in the tuture and all that I cen do is to ask your forgiveness and to forget the pest thie(ieaves] John bud Mo &myself in good health et present except bad colas• Dr & Dick Royston have both got discharges end going home l believe that Dick hes gon down into Mississippi to his sisters but Dr is at home by this time 1 ruesa [you) must excuse the dirt that is on this letter for eince I have got into camp you must know that I can not keep es clean ea we can et home. but you sey that Mies Meg~ie Jobn26 hes taken my anibrotype from you. you say that 26Mise Meggie Johna wee a niece of The Reverend l. G. Johns. He wee e Methodist minister who lived in Hill's Prairie. 67 you went me to send you another you must tell her to wait until l get home end I will give her the original. Ask her how she would like 1t. {it she does) tell her to wsi t until 1 get there end she cen have it. Tell her if ehe lets & cer­te:I n young lady eee her with my ,embrotype she will have e fight on her hands in little of no time Tell ell of the girls that we boys bed a fine christmass of it scouting in the rein in en enemies country. 1 thoueht on lest iedneedey morning that we were in for a fifht we rod up in eight of e body of cavalry but they turned out to be friends they Joined ue end we then went up to horse Cave but found nothing we then started down to a mill end received e diepech from Col 'llhorton to come home end then Cept Ferrill end some sevon or eight others went up in a mile or two from green rliver end were shot end had to turn eround end come in to cemp they found out ell thet they wanted to end ceme beck. Generel b HO.BERT EDWARD HILL TCi MARY SCOTT HILL Jenuary the 14th / 63 1~ry Deer Sister A Gentleman belonging to the 2nd Georgia mede hie escape after being carried to NP.shvill and Ssye that he sew one of our Regt. in Ueshvill by the name of Griffin end thet Griffin told him that .Brother John ~with several others were in the Penetentiery et Neshvill & Griffin wee taken pris­oner at Truin (?} several deye before .Brother John wee taken 1 feel very eure that John will be with us es soon es they can teke him to Louisville end doYvn to Vickeburg--Where they (keep] pri.eonere l hope that close confinement Yvill not make him sick Cap Kyle Seys thet he feels that he must write to Me tellirig her thet he hes done everything that he could do to seve Brother He eteyed with him trying to get John up behind him untill the Yflnkees were in thirty yerde of him end John told . him to save himself Cr:pt Kyle cen hardly keep from crying when anything is ssid He aEye that John WEB the 1!11ower of the Comp end if it could heve been eo he would have rather lost eny one els than Jobn--Alweye reedy for duty ever willing John bed won the good opinion of ell who knew him end bed won the esteem of ell the officers in the regiment-­ You must tell Mrs. Ship when you see her or any of the 109 Femily that Bob Ship is miesing l feel very sure that he js not wounded and will be with us again ea eoon as an ex­change can be eff~cted. Tell Cousin Dieh he cen eey to Mr. Rector that K. K. Rector wes wounded through the arm the boys say in two plecee end they think thet the bone was broke He wee very sick from the wound end they put him in en ambulance thet hed been captured but wee compelled to leave him in the. hEJnde of the Enemy if 1 bed known it when l wee with them 1 would have gone to see him but of course 1 knew not ~ho were wounded except those that I would work on untill after l got back to the Comp--'-'ur rlegt is just going out on out post duty again The l!;nemy show no signs yet of edvencing Write soon & often Give my love to ell enquirine Friends and accept a ehere ycur­ self. Your .Brother Bob AUTHOR UNKHOWN65 TO M.AHY SCOTT HILL 66Tbis letter wee likely written by Oliver or Bob Ship. lieedquertere Texas Rengers neer Louisberg, Tenn. Web 18th/63 Mies Scottie Hill. Deer Mies:--Your welcomed letter reach me yesterday ot 110 Dec. 13th. l wve highly pleased to learn that you ell were well elthough l muet ecknowlede-e thE;t l was diseppointed in the length of your letter, I expected e long letter from you, your first, hes not come to bend yet. ~hen you write you ought to rlemember the Golden Rule "Do unto others es you would heve them to do unto you." That is to eey, write long letters end if 1 fail to do the same, then shock my memory. We heve e greet deal to write about sometimes, but have not pen, ink, or peper. lf we could eet those things, we would write oftener We ere not situated, like you ell, when we write, we have to write on e Book or e piece of barrel head. You all write on e table, which is a decided advantage to one, so fer es comfort. Enough on that eubject. Now for the news. anon when last heard from he wee in good health. Sam. Watkins ie et Courtlend Ala sick he we.a quite sick when lest heard from There is several others of our Company sick .But none of them dengeroue ~d & P. rl~ Kenne­dy 75 .1.fobert shipp John B. Rector76 Wm De.vis77 Sam I>ipea78 75 ­Ed and P. R. Kennedy were from Bastrop County, Texas. 76 John B. Rector we.a from Bastrop County.771v1111am Devis wee from Trevis County.7Bsam Pipes was also from Trevis County. Rome Campbell. All the rest of the Company is (in) fine health. There is a rumor in camp that we will leave here soon And I hope that we will for . 1 had rather bee in active service. We have five Roll Calls per dey lnspection of armes & horses at 9 P .M. Dri11 from four to five Dress Perade at Sun-down I have not ben out of camps but three times sinae we have ben here which will bee four week tomorrow. Thie is e. soldiers · rest ~e heve plenty of Fruit of ell kinds Some the finest 131 Peaches that 1 ever sew There is plenty Aplea Peers ~uifnjce end other fruit in aboundence. Plenty Vegetables but they sell them very high lrieh Potatoes are worth six to eight dollers per .Bu The \'/beet ~ Corne Crops ere fine The Corne is geting too herd to eat except that ' that ws.e planted late. •Ve have bed plenty of reine of lete l t has ben raining eavry dey or two einee we have ben here We have bad sevrel letters from eur relations down in Ga they were ell well· when lest hesrd from e:J{cept cousin Cole Seey. They sent us a box. filled withe e·ood things three bottles of Gld Peach & Honey. 7le have heard that Cousin .Tom after the fall of Vicksburg bought him e mule end started home hope that he will make it through safe end thet long before this lie hes given you ell n hapy euprise I tryed to get a furlow to go down to Grifen but there was no use in my trying. l have not ben absent from the Com­pany more then two deys sinse I have ben in Service Except whilest 1 was a prisoner l Have ben in eavry fight that the Company has ben in ~ther men though get furlows end go and etsy es long as they like. l never intend to try to get leave of absence eny more Except I am sick or wounded We hoveI a protracted meting roing on in Camps it hes ben going on for about three weeks there hes ben about thirty converted And · about sjxty seeking religeon Tomorow is Sunday end they ere , going to sdminieter the Sacrament to thees that hsve Joined 132 the church We he.ve bed Mineatere from all the diferent de­nominations preaching to us 1.lr .&lnting our Chaplain hes been le.boring very herd to get up P-revival in the Regt. There 1e nothing new here that would interest you The yenke have not atempted to cross the Tenn River And Genl .Bragg withe his army is laying weiting for the Enemy Either to fight or runn .Either of which be cen do to perfection ·;1e have nothing late from Va Dr Yatea79 is up et Ringold Surgeon of the Hos­ 79­ Dr. Yetea married a cousin of the Hills. Sha is the Cousin Lizzie who ie later mentioned. They lived in Le Grange. pitel .Brother Bob got a letter from him He end Cousin Lizzy were bothe well. Frenk Mcguire got a letter e few deyes ego from Cousin ldlliam Walker80 he had ben home end he reported ao.~\iilliem Welker was the son of Mrs. Middleton Hill's brother. Aunt Marie Caldwell, John Caldwell, end John Glees­cock were all relatives of Mre. Middleton Hill's. Uncle .Alexender wee en uncle of .Mrs. Hill's. They all lived in Alebe.me. ell of Me's reletives well. We have seen William Walker sev­erel times He is let Lieut in Cevelrey Company. Aunt Maria Cerdwell is deed she hee ben dead ebout three monthee John Cardwell ~ John Glesecock wee et Vicksburg when it fell We heve not heard wheether they come out seve or not Uncle Alex­ender Glascock ie meried agein Be maried a young ledy I do 133 not know her neme. Scott 1 went you to tell .Me to send me some money the first good chance that presente itselfe 1 em out of money when I got back from the northe l had to pay i102.50 eta dollere for a six shooter. l Have never .Bet a eent on cards or anything else einse l have ban in the ermey which ie more than e majority cen say Boote are worthe from 50 to 76 dol­lars Hate from 26 to 60 end eevry thing else in proportion l Heard e men Sey in town e few dayes ego that he sold tenn dollars in Gold for one huudred end tw~nty dollars in Confed­rate money You must ~xcuse all mistakes end write soon end a long letter My Love to ell the relations end friends and r except e good portion for ycurselfe Your Brother John W. Hill tJ. s. Crocket says tell ell of the Drrkeys Howdy for him And hie love to Lizer JOHN W. HILL TO MARY SCOTT HILL Had my picture taken at Greevill end will send it to you 1 ff l do not find e ome Magnende.s (?) Gal that will ecept ' it end the giver to boot Ne have had a goodeal of cold weather here of lete Had snow on 21st. 22nd. of lest month Thot was 134 Eight or tenn inches in depth end es for rain it is end eevry dr.y bus 1neee The peach Trees were ell in bloom at the time of the snow eo the fruit wee ell dietroyed ive left Cousin Geo T. McGehee in Greevill sick es we ceme throue-h there. He had f eever But l hope that it is nothing·serious We left him et e good place where He will bee well teken cere of lie will come around et tho Cena es soon es He gets well. Sey to Scotty fhillipe that 1 never received her letter iff I bed 1 would have answered it I sew Net Rives this morning lie is well Wm Sayers went through Ve to see his relations All the .Boyes from our Country are well Jno. w. Hill iiOBERT EDWARD HILL TO MA.HY SCOTT HILL lid. ~uerters Texee ilengers Camp Neer Rome "Ge" Augat. 24th (1863) My Deer Sister A few deys ego 1 wrote to Uncle Tom & Aunt Scott by Char­lie Caldwell end Brother John wrote to you end now that 1 have another opportunity of writing end sending by bend l know thet you ell ere very en:xious about us end we let no oppor­tunity pees without writing. that meybe you mey get eome of them. 136 ~hen 1 wrote to Uncle Tom Cousin Csp he.d been quite sick but ie now in cemp egein he looks some~hat worsted but is geining strength es feet es could be expected. the other boys of us ere all well Llrs. Shipps boys ere both sick nothing serious I have the Fevers stopped on Bob e.nd Maj is out et e house close to cemp is doing well v.111 be able to be in cemp again in a few deys Hueh Allen bee been sick ever since he arrived here In feet wee eick before he reached us he ie up thouEh now but looks very bed. He took a no­tion to turn beck in Miaeippi end gave e portion of the mail that he had with him to eome one to mail end all the letters to me were lost or done something with I never received any Uncle Toms & Cousin Nish letters came safe to bend end ell were reed with eagerness Hugh is very aory thet my letters were lost end so em 1 .But I will not complain. 1 know that ycu ell et home think of me end write vw·henever you think you can get e letter through I do sincerely hope thet Cousin Tom Anderson reached home eefe & sound end gave you ell relief from the distress­ing uncerteinty of how he fared while in Vicksbure. He looked for Cousin Tom to visit us untill I received a letter from 81 Cousin Billy Seay stating that Tom hed crossed the Miseippi 81couein Billy Seey married a niece of Middleton Hill's. 136 end had gone home 1 would like very much to be there with him and enjoy home for a while once more, .But euch are the fates of wer that we must remein yet in the Field. Sister We heve been in .this camp for over one month resting end recruiting Our Horses end during the whole time we have had e protrected Meeting roing on Tho Cheplein of 0ur Hegt. with other Ministers of different denominstione have labored by dey end by nir-ht end their labors have been bleeeed by the Lord in that e good number of them have pro­fessed their sins forgiven I think about 40 e large number of beck sliders have been reclaimed 50 end now there are ·e lerge number who are enquiring the way of Salvation 100-­end seem .to be in earnest end yet strange to sey there baa been no whet I would cell rlevivel Sermons Preached lilt e general serioueness seems to have taken hold upon the Regt. and men heve gone forward from convictions .of duty there hes never et any time been any excitement. But the work has greduelly increased widened end deepened untill the entire rlegt is more or less under the influence of the spirit of God. You csn s·cercely now beer eny oath when too months ego nothing · else wes heard very little cerd playing end although they ere making Feech .Brandy all round ue and the boye have free access to it you do not see any drinking nor no Rowdiem eny where 1 believe that CJur Regt stends Heed and shoulders above any other in this dept. for Gellentry on the Field For our Good behavior while in cemp end for Intelligence emong the men--1 em Proud of the Taxes Rengers end I em f lnd that the People at home are Froud of us snd 1 hope & trust in f Od that ·• the dey mey soon come when this wer shall be over end we ell meet once again eround our Fireside and Family altor with no Hated yankee to molest nor disturb us In my letter to Uncle Tom I e:xpressed my fears that Cou­ sin Bobl1ie had been captured again by the Enemy He left us ·1n Tennessee end went one scout into Ky end wee sent by the uffi cer in commend of the Party to Hee onnoire the l!1orcee eround .lfranklin Ky end Gelletin Ten and up to the time that l wrote to Uncle I bed not heard from him l hsve since lerrned thet Cousin Bob is safe .end is with a party of our Regt end a portion of the 11th Texas who ere up in Tennessee watching the movements of the Enemy end bushwhacking them every ch~nce they cf.ln get .And now my De~r Sister the hour of Triel ·ie .coming for the Sout,h. The time thet is to try the .Patriotism of every menn--'.:i.1he En.emy ere gathering their Hoste for a fin&l crush­ ing act(?), end we must meet them. You must not become die­ coureged et nothing which may heppen. All shall work out right in 1!!!..!!B! Charleston may be teken Richmond "Va" me1 138 be evacuated Mobile may fell into the hands of the Enemy end etill we ere not conquered l believe that the Lord of Boats is pouring out his spirit upon our Armies for his own Good Purpose end I believe thet when the Mighty shock of Armies meet again that the about of Deliverance will go up from the He~rts of the People in these Southern Stutes "Let not your hearts be troubled" "Ye Believe" in "God" believe also in hie epeciel Providence end thet ell things shell work together for good to those who love end serve him in spirit & in Truth here holding the Middle Ground may fwel have your prayers for our success end for our safety. end for e . speedy return of peace to our diatrected end Desolated land. then c~n we return to our loved homee--end receive the love end cong-redule.tione of our Friends et borne and rest in peace. Our Boys ere in fine health Brother Tom .Brother John Cousin Cap George Mcgehee Jim & Bud Mcruire are ell in fine health end ere out on the front consequently csnnot write home end this must suffice for ue ell They ell send their love to you and to ell enquiring friends. I received e letter from Cousin Betty Seay who lives in Griffin Ge She sEys that she had just received a letter from Cousin Tom he was in fine health and anxious for the yanks to keep on making their ettacks She says thet Cousin rom was in fine Spirits end seemed perfectly confident that they could 139 whip eny number of the Yanks that they could bring against them The Feople of Ga. are helping us in every wey that they 82 cen Cousin BettyeFya that every evening in Griffin prayers 82 f Cousin .Eetty wee Mre. Billey Seay, who wee e niece o Middleton Hill's. ere offered up for Our safety end especially for Genrl Wher­ tone commend There is a great ilevivel of Heligeon going on in the in­fantry hundreds yee thousands heve professed Heligeon e.nd the work is still going on Cur Chaple.in evye that they can­not supply the Army with Bibles and hymn books and Heligious trecte such is the Greet demand. for them Do you think such men who are thus favored of God can be conquored. I tell you the History will soon hear the thunderings of Genl Lees· Cennon answering No Thie revivel hes not yet extended to eny of the Cevelry thet 1 have heard of .But still I do not think that there is as much wickedness i·n our .rlegt es there used to be et night it resembles more a cEmp meeting than it used to seated around the fires you cen see Groteer Sister 1 do not wish you to become dis­coureged at any reverses we may meet with nor neither let ·yotir spirits run wild at our success within (either) shows a went of firmness that ehould mark & cherecteriee us who ere strugfling for ell that makes life worth living for if it should be our fortune to meet with success in the coming campeirn let your heert go out to Him who is the Author of all good gifts in thenks end Freise not jubilant for Remember thst Our success is peid for by the life blood thet shell leeve some heerth stones v~cant end should we meet with re­verse Oh! let your heert bow with humble submission to the chastisement still never loosing faith that we will eventually trijmph over our Enemya 1 tell you My Deer Sister thc.t how­ever dark end Gloomy the clouds may look above us seeming just reedy to break end overwhelm us in one chaos of rain 163 they hide behind them the smiling face of en offended God '.l.'he clouds are skirted with silver linine end the Heinbow of hope still spans the Heevens to the eyes of the faithful Our ship of State is freighted with the hopes end preyere of the noblest Women the world ever sew end she can­not nor will not be stranded Your prayers will move the arm of her helsmen to guide her into the port of National secur­ity where she will teke her plece among the nations of the Eerth es Gode chosen People end bless the world with her coun­cil we cen ·never yield the bleaching bones of en hundred thousand gellent comrades as ever trod the soil would rise end shake their gory fingers end cry shame upon ua Their tonr-ues wo·uld be clothed in living fire to curse to eternal jnfemy the men who would whisper yield. The·re is honor in extermination but Dishonor Disgrace end eternal Degradation foll"ow in the trsin of Submission The surfs of .aussia would be a happy people compared to our condition ~ith the yenkee black Jepublicsn for our lord end teak master And, now my Deer Sister there is another thing 1 would wern you aeeinst i~hen .vou write to s.ny of us or to e.ny one with whom you me.y be in correspondence in the ar!J\V Ohl try end let your letters breath e spirit of cheerfulness end Pa­triotism you know not how it cheers vur hearts to get cheer­ful letters from loved ones e.t heme end equelly Depressing 164 to get letters that breath e spirit of Discontent. l tell you Sister Scottie that . one half of the Desertions from the southern Army is c~used by the letters they receive from mieteken friendship at home--We would ell like to be at home yet we know and feel that our first end hirhest duty ie to the God who mede,ue 6nd who has preserved end who has re­deemed us Ctur next Duty is to ~ur country because to it we owe our Liberty our .die-ht of property our laws end our so­ciety end lest though not least is the duty which we owe to ourselves end to our ~emily I e.m sorry to ssy that some of the Texas .i:~angers have forsaken their ColCJrs end have gone home; among them Cousin Jim lvlcGu1re103 they have acted very 103This wee en error, es will later be brought out in t-he letters. Jim McGuire wee at home on leave, end hed not yet returned, due to illness. wrong in a three fold sense first they acted wrong in for­saking the rlegt. et e time when we needed every men to assist us in sustaining ourselves in East Tennessee Then they acted very wrong in violating their pledged feith of honor. thet they would return et the expiration of forty days and that they would not attempt to cross the 11nemy's line--& third they heYe ~cted in bad feith to the .Regt. now when we could get furloughs in order to get summer clothing we ere deprived of the privilege and a stein cast upon the whole Regt by the 165 action of those who have gone heme. If l should come home under such circumstances l feel that l would deserve to be driven from home and if I know you my sister l think yo~ would rather drop the teer .over me in en honorable grave than to receive me with a stein upon my name and although those boys have not deserted end gone to the Enomy yet they have deserted their colors end left their comredee in ermee here to beer the burden Their names will be Published and handed down to posterity through the records of the country es Deserters. l wee once in hopes that we would be transfered to the trensmisei Dept. but now I em·willinf to confess that I do not wish to see the Regt on that side of the Hiver end were it le~ to a vote 1 would certainly vote against it. tly letter he·s already reached too long a length or I think 1 could eive you satisfactory. reasons for whet l have just aeid end in my next I may do so I know well you think it strange and six months ago if any one bed told me l would oppose the Regt going to Tex I would have told him he was e fool. And now Deer Scott you must give my love to all inquir­ing friends l forgot to stete thet your last letter was so badly burned 1 could only meke out e pert of it it wee dated Jen 7th Cousin Csp hes received letters up to the 28th 166 Give my lcve to Uncle end Aunt Scott Cousin Pe1104 end 104couein Pel wee l'elmyre A. w. McGehee, the wife of Dr. J~mes Dicnysiue Lliver of Bastrop County. She now lives in Sen Marcos. to every body end everything thet you care for even to my horse Whengdoodle--.And eepecie.lly to our Dear Alother Mey the Lord watch over you end bless and keep you & us es in the Hollow of his bend untill we can all meet honor­able ie the prayer of your Devoted .Brother· Bob JOHN HILL TO MRS. M. E. .B.dOOKSl05 l06Mrs. M. B. .Brooks was Me.rthe Elizebeth Hill, a daugh­ter of Middleton Hill's. I send e few lines to Scott Ph1111pe106 Send it to her 106scott Phillips wee a cousin of the Hills'• 1 have but one Envelope Marietta Ge June 11th 1864 Mrs M. E. Brooks Deer Sister Your thrice welcome letter ceme to bend e few deya Sins of April 15th Sent by Mr Hornsbey Alao·two for Bro Tom one for Cap from Aunt Scott one for Cousin Bob Hill from Cos M Wetson. 107 ~his is the first letter that 1 107Mery Hill "//ate on w&s the daughter of iVylie Hill, end e first cousin of John Hill's. She married John Watson. 167 have received from eny of you sinee lest fell. But Still I write by Every opportunity that presents itself. Thie leaves us ell well thet is here. Bro Bob is et Maritte in the Ho~­pital v•eiting on the wounded They have about fifteen hundred (1500) of the wouree cases from the front .there. the others have bin sent ferther 3outh Cosin Ge6. McGehee is still in' s. C. Sick. Be wee improvine very feet when last heard from We fire looking for him up eoon Coein Tom. A. Hill is off wounded We heve-not heerd from him latly He is et Forsythe In my lest letter writen ·whileet at Dalton 1 mentioned the u 108 C H i deethe of C• T• .celhem . of our ompeny e we.a k lled on 108c. T. Pelh~m wee from Trevis County. the 9th of lest monthe. He wee inteligent high-minded And es ·breve as ever fell upon any Bettle field J. H. Cheshier wee also wounded through the hend ' just after we had come out of the fieht by his Horse Knocking down Tom Teylore Gun which wes by e tree He hed to heve hie hand tfken off He is off some wheres et e Hospitte~ he woe e good Soldier and e rood men When l wrote last at Dalton I he.d no idea thct our Army was fOing to fall back .But the Enemy did not choose to give us battle. But rnther to flsnk. We have EOt the best of ~very · fifht that we have bed with them .They report there loss Sinee · the comenced to advance to be thirty thousand whilest ours 168 is not over tenn thousend iff that me.ny. .·~a went around in their reer end eteck them et Ceevill on the 24th of lest monthe ~e tock about two hundred prieonere about the eeme number of weggone of v.:hich we bureoed about one hundred end brought the rest off G B. .Burk of our Company I med[e) e inletP.ke in turnine the peper you will reed by the numbere on page wee wounded Slightly (in the] Shoulder John l/t Claibornel09 109John 1.1. Cle.1borne we.a from Travis County. was wounded in the erme not serious We bed seven wounded in the Regt. Some of them severe .But none of them that you know Sine the knight of the 26th We heve bin diemounted end in the ditches nearly ell the time There hes bin more or lees fighting every day But The Enemy up to the present time have failed to advance upon our Brees Works .&cept at Some point along the lines end they have ben verey easily repulsed When ever they do firht which 1 hope will bee very soon 1 think you will heer a good account from us for our men ere sll right 1 heve just ret from the other side of the Etwa (Ets.we) lUver T. A. Gill, 110 1 end Si~ others crossed the river on the fourth 110T. A. Gill wee from Bastrop County. of this monthe And went up in the Neighborhood of Celhoon & Jdensvill We were gone seven or eifht deyes in amongst the Yenks ell the time watching theme T~~y are runine the csrs to · the l!;tewe River. 1 went over there to try to get Dr .Bob 8 169 ' horse ae he ie a foot but did-not Succeede we did not fell in with any small squads of the ~nemy .But sew plenty of them There is some Deaertere · over there moat of them from the third Ga Cavalry Some of them heve taken the ~athe ltt is herd that we have to fight a Nation of twice our nombers. Recruited from the Lld world the Negroes that fall into the federal hande And Some of our own people ~ithe theme I do not believe there is a State in the Southe .But they hsve got more or less from where they. have got a foot hold But Deer Sister I em Sorry to hear through Some of the .Boyes that Some of the people of Texas are gating dispondent .But thanks to God I have not received any Sutch letters from any of you Shel we give it up after So many of our Bravest & .Best men he.ve fallen no Never they may over run us for a time withe there Ernenee Armies .But They will never whip us ~Ve have Whiped them in Va West of the .Miss. R And we will whip them here whenever they fieht They may Flank till we get beck to the Chetahoocha River this Side of Atlanta .But they will have to fipht Some time end the father they get Southe the worst it is for them The crops here looks fine corne the beet is about Knee high Wheat & Berley Rye & Oats all looke fine end v1ill soon bee ready to harvest The fruit crops will bee good We received a letter several deyes. ago from Uncle ~m Gresham They were ell well except Aunt bmley She 170 wee improving We hr.ve heard throurh e yenkey prisoner that wee taken by some of the Hegt. Thet there was one of the .dangers in Neehvill thet hed taken the oethe end wee married to e Ledy from Ky He described .Bob Hill .But hed forgot the Ueme When asked iff hie name wee Hill he eeid that he beleived it wee. I will never believe thie till 1 know it to bee true. I See thet Cousin M Weteon Seyee that none of ut have Ever written to any of them 1 heve writen to her end to uncle Wiley bothe since Bob baa been gone And 1 know thst Bro Bob wrote to them My Love to All And except the Seme for you &yours Kise the Children for me Your Devoted Bro Jno. w. Hill JOHN W. HILL TO MARY SCOTT HILL Camp West of .M&rietta three miles on left ·of J.nfsntry June 26, 1864 .Mise lvle.ry. 3. Iii11 .Bestrop l>eer Sister. I wrote to Sister Matt e few deyee ego • .But es C6pt Littlefield of Co I of this Regt. is going to start to Texas next Monday l thought l would net feil to write Thie leevee us Pll well .Bro Bo'h is still et 1~tf rietta in Eospitle 1 received ~ letter fro~ Cousin Geo McGehee a few 171 deyes eeo Be sEid thet he hed got almost well end ~ould be up in s few dryes Frank received e letter e few dayes aeo from Cynthe Welkerlll She seid that ell of the relations were 111cynths Welker wee a relative of Mrs. l1iiddleton Hill's. The "reletione" mentioned were·from Alabama. well. Deer Sister 1 heve done e greet deal of herd service Eut sins the fourth (4th) of Mey the time wo left Heeace We heve bin on the pad ell the time Some times in the Ditches Some times Building Breast Works Have bin on three (3) reide in the rear of the ~nemy The last was mutch the · h~rdeet We were gon Cle) tenn deyes We went to Clevel1:nd in Tenn We were on our Horses nearly all the time Knieht [.ind Dey Msjor Christian wee in ComD withe about (200). two bun­dred of the best mounted men of our Regt We took some Tor­pedoes along to put under the il. Hoed l h~ve not heard yet v;het demege they done the enemy But hope they blowed the en­gine r:nd TrFins loaded with troops on the other side of Jor­don or eo~e worse place. ~hilest we were on the trip I stoped to get some foder for my horse end es l wee passing Co E one of the men wes leading end old half eterved yenkey Horse He meid e greb et the fodder which I hed tied before me And He got hold of my leg and like to have taken out a piece Since then I have ben eo lame 1 cen hardly welk for that reeaon I em not 1 n the Ditchee to dfJY with the rest of the Company 172 Cine of Co ( B) v.as Killed yesterday his nsme wee King He wee sitting down under e Gin-House rubing his pistol And woe shot by one of the Enernye Sharp Shooters the Bell Entered his Bree.et end came out et his beck He hed not bin withe the Regt. e greet while he wee from Tennessee ~e have never e·ot ~ chance et the Enemy es yet from Breast-Works .But iff we do I think we will show them that we cen do es rood work there es on Eoree .Peck There is not e. Cavalry Rogt. in the Yenkey ermy in this Department But whet knows us. The Bnemy Show no di~poeiticn to give us Bettle But ere throwing up works in front of ours the Skirmishes in mf'.ny places ere vory close together. And Knig·ht & Dey they keep up a constant fire withe now end then the Boom of e cennon. Sometime the mue­keterey rettles ewey es iff they bed begpn in good esrnest. Our Batteries on top Kenisew I1lountr;;in ere firing now Crops here look very well the corne is from knee to hip high Wheat is ripe end ready fer harvest vates .Barley and ell other emall greine look well The fruit crops bids fer to baa good In all the old fields there is Thousands of Du­beries which is e great treat to a Soldier ~hen he cvn get out to get them Black-beries the Soldiers Desert will soon bee ripe ~here hes bin mor rain this Spring than I ever sew befor itt rained for neFJrly two monthes fut et present the weElther 173 is very drye and hot 7ha news from Ve is very little Grant aeemes to bee trying to get Feteraburg But Genl Beauregard is there And he whiped Grvnt once and 1 think withe a little hlep from Genl Lee he will do it again 7ie have not heerd enything from Cousin Tom Hill Sine He left They ere going to stert withe the letters in a few min­utes· So 1 must close Others of the .Boyes would have writen had they known it in time Yc·ur Brother Jno w. Hill F. S Give my love to all and Axcept the eEme youreelfe .Bro Tom is well and would have writen hEid he known it in time JOHN ~\'. HILL TO MAHY SCOTT HILL Camp st Covington Ga Aug 7th 1864 Miss 1'1. S. Hi11 Bastrop Deer Sister As we are in camp this morning 1 thoug·ht l v. ould drop you e few lines to let you know that we a.re ell well. \~e have just ret from the left wing of our srmy We went over there efter e naid the Enemy. _ We first ceught up with them et Joneeburoueh on the Atlanta & Macon iieil. R where we h6d a fight with them They had done very little drmege to the l~eil Hoed when we ceme up withe them. 174 They with-Drew there forces after Knieht in the direction of Newman Coweta Co We caught up withe there rear Guard at Shake­ilag a little place between Feyetteevill & Nev/lllen end csptured ebout one hundred fifty (150) prisoners vnd killed several And 1 em Sorry to informe you that in the fight that Major Thornton of Co F wee killed He was shot in the face end killed deed 1 was close to him but did not see him fsll but do not think He ever spoke. He wee a good soldier and a brave men And ought to have hed e good position in the army .But lie never Soufht itt After riding ell knight end nearly all of two dsyes we ceme up to them again about three (3) miles from New­man Vu.r ilegt & the fourth Tenn was dismounted We drove them a short distance when they gave us sutch e heevey voley thet we hed to fell back When rloeeee Taxes .Brigade ceme to our essietsnce and we drove them from The field. I ceptured a prienor And had taken him beck & Delivered .him to the gerd which was neer our horses ~·•hen the Enemy Maid a cherge on our Horses. which· bed bin left without any Suport l mounted my horse end with about tenn or twelve others kept , them beck untill they could get off with the horses We ·-h:Pd very few men in the fifht es we he.d riden so herd that .:·e ,-'.:!!7eet meny of .... ... our horses bed given out ~e had two killed an~-~enn or twelve wounded in the Regt. V Catronll2 of our Company wee wounded . ·. . ll2v. Catron wee from Travis County. 176 in the leg We killed end wounded about one hundred end fiftey 150 of the Enemy and captured sbout one thousand _(1,000) And got nearly all of there horses ~e got two pieies of Artilery Some wagfons & Amblancee I got a Six Shooter And a Spencer Gun which shoots Seven (7) times .But as l had two Six Shooters before I let Bro Tom have the Fistol Bro Tom got him a very good horse Bro Bob is at Est Point in the Hoeppital We sew Cousin Tom Hill about two weeks ego he wee well Couein Cap got a mule in the fir-ht end went down to Griffen end left hie horse end is riding the mule He got back last knight all well down there. Cep got e letter from s. Blanton lest knight Sha is down et Uncle Billye they .ere ell well down there H Williamson ie in State Service After the fight wee over at Newmen I f Ot e pass end went to See Mrs Honeycutt Mr 1?arks113 113Iiir. Parks married Mary Hill, who wee e sister of Mid­dleton Hill. J\lery Hill died end he married .Mrs. Honeycutt. second kvife She had just got e letter from Cousin John 1?erks he is sick in the Hospittal at Petersburg V~ l etEyed one knight withe them They eeked a thousand questions about you ell She hes two daughters one wee married But her husband .·· died in the armey. She has one child the other is a young Lady e very nice girl She bed two 8one in the armey one of 176 them ie deed 1 Also called on John. Hille114 family in New­ 114 John Meriwether Hill wee e second cousin of Middle­ton Hill's. Burwell Hill wee John l1ieriwether Hill's brother. man He ie Col of e Hegt. of State troops .Burwell Hill lost hie arme by a wound received at Getesburg lie was at home Int 1 did not get to see him He lives some distance from town lfrank 1~cGuire got a letter a few dsye ego from Cynthia Welker115 She reports all well down there She says She will 115 see Note 111. go to Taxes withe us efter the war ie over iff we will go by after her .But I am effreid that time will never come There ie e report in the Regt. thet there will two officers bee sent from the tlegt. thie winter eft~r the men that heve gone home from the Regt. fie ere resting at thie place for e few df.yee I Expect in less tbvn e week we \\'111 turne up in the rear of the Enemy The Enemy maid e reid -to MFJcon whilest we were after the other raid .But they did not get Off mutch .Better that the ones that we were after es they got Gen1 Stonemon end about helf of his ccmend Crops here is fine We have Roeting Ears for Breekfaet Diner & Supper Fruit crop is very good. But how I lcng to bee at home e.nd rest where the Sound of the Bugle will not arouse me nor the sound of .Artilery & musketry will not disturb my repose Scott 1 feel 177 like l could write a week iff 1 knew that this would ever resch you But I heve wr1tten so mutch and yet no enswer re­ turns that 1 elmoet dispare of ever hearing from home any more All the Boyes are well There is nothing new or strange You must excuse all mietekes end write often end lcne let­ ters for you do not know how-mutch l went to hear from home Cousin Geo 1JCGehee has rone withe Lt Black to the reer of the Enemy after horses All Join me in mutch iove to you all Your .Brother Jno w. Hill u. }). Sgt Co D HO.BKHT EDWARD HILL TO MARY SCOTT BILL East Ioint "Ga" August 8th. 1864 Sister Mery As l have en opportunity .to write you e few ·lines this morning I embrace it gledly-­ I em in e·ood heelth end ell the boys in the Regt that you ere ecqueinted with l believe are doing very well I have been ordered to assist in Hospitel for the entire cevelry corps s.nd l have not seen Brother Tom John & Cousin Cep for ~ ome time l beer from them:.· occs.sionally end they are ell well--Couein Tom Anderson wee wounded at Reeecc& in the foot. he wee absent from his commend about one month and ie beck age.in with his commend Ho went to see Uncle .Billy and Aunt Emily while he wes wounded--Tom wvs in fine Heelth when I sew him e few days ago--The Col. is waiting and so are the Core. Give my love to Everybody and accept the aeme for yt·ur­ self From 1our Deer .Brother Bob JuHN W. HILL TO MARY SCOTT HILL Camp Nevr Florence Ala Sept 16th 1864 Miss M. S. Hill Bastrop Deer Sister I wrote to you e few dftyes before we sterted on this trip And eent it through by one of the 3rd Ark 1 els(~ v:.rote to S.ieter Matt by Cspt Kyle c few dEJyes ego. But es one of ·the fourthe Texea is here that is wounded And is going to start home in the morning I thought 1 would write you e few lines. This leevee us ell well Brother Tom went off e few deyes ago to have hie horse shod end one of the boyee th~t ceme in lest knight eeyes He has gone to Aber­den Mia to vis1t our J.telatione on a french furlow There has 179 ben about twenty or thirty of the third Ark Hegt. left for home sinse we got back on this aid of the river Als(o) some of the Eleventh (11) Taxes And there may bee some of our rlegt. gone the seme wey lff so l hope they will never come beck And that there names will be sent throueh so they can be published as .De­eertere · For Atlente bee fellen into the hands of tho Enemy liur Army hes ban forced beck b.nd now is the time thet we need every man And the men thet leaves at sutch time as this is no men stell. Cep wee sent off on duty yesterday morning ~nd is not in Cemp. Lt G M Decherd116 cEme beck to the Company 116G. H. ~echerd was from Bastrop County. this morning He hes ben on Col Herrieone Staff Thjs is the most deeolet looking country you ever sew lote of femleye thst were wealthy before this wEr Thet now have not got e pound of meet. There Negroes ell gone there fencing all burned And many of there hcuees All there etcck hes ben taken. And the country stands e Desolate west Some of the bcyes went to see w. H. Caldwe11117 yester­ ll7w. H. Caldwell wee from Bastrop County. He was wounded September 7, 1864. dey · He ie getting elong very well l hope that he will soon 180 bee well again end thst hie wound will prove nothinf serious ·\t'e hEive not heerd eny thing from our relations sinse my lest letter to you ell "e ere it ie ssid reetinf here for a few deyee for enother reid into Tennessee Lnd that Genl Forest is going withe uss I got e good pr. boots a Hat two Six Shooters three horses end saddles the horse 1 gave to the Company I sold the saddles for fifty (60) dollars e piece got e silver Watch for \\·hich l took fifty-five de in green back.· Scott you ma1 think thie is robing them But you do not know es mutch about the 1ankeys as l do l have seen them take the l~et sent from our boyee And they would have taken mine when they had me iff they could You found them out. 1 sls.o got three pocket knives. ehot one felow in the beck not more then five feet from him and he fell from hie horse but I did not stop to see whether 1:1 i!itd r:­ ::rt ~t :-1.:.:1 cc. till l t!'d Shc·t t'· ~t every lced F.ni · then eot three prisnore .My love to ell . Your Bro John. w. Hill JOHU W. Hl~L TO M.AHY SCuTT HILL Camp near Jacksonville Ala Oct 29th 1864 Miss M. 3. Hill B~strop Deer Sister l wrote e long letter to Sister 181 Mstt • .hnd expected to send itt by Mr. Gerrett .But es 1 did not think he would stert so soon 1 sent by the meil to the JJongomery Advetiser to be sent through by Major Adams We ere ell well this morning We crossed the Goosey River dsy before yesterday and ceme to this place to guard I supose eeeinst reids of the enemy We have not heerd anything from the erII\Y since they started ecroee the mountains All of the relations were well when I lest heard from. We lost our flag that wee sent to us by the Ladies of Neshvill They had stoped end rolled it up end going through the brush it pulled off end they did not mies it for some time after werds the yen­keye fOt it the next day they found it in the woods We re­gret looeinr it very mutch es it was a beeutifull flag end es it was presented to us by the Ladies of Tenneeaee118 J. H. 118The loss cf the fler wee e source of regret to the Terry ae.ngers. lt wee returned to the .1.1egiment in 1898. ln L. B. Giles' Terr,'s Texes Hangers, 91, there is r. letter from J. J. •'d ler, e enkee officer who found the flee:. His description of the finding of the flag beers cut the details ~iven in this letter. Ford119 of our compeny hes bin wounded since I wrote to Sister ll9J. R~ Ford was from Trevis County. Mett He wee shot throug·h the right Band I do not think He will loose 1 t .BrQ Bob is withe the Hegt. now He is fat es 182 e beer Bro Tom120 left the .degt in Horth /.la l1nd as we have . l20Thomes Hill bed gone to Aberdeen, Mississippi, where he wes visiting some of his relatives by the name of Strong.While there, he was taken very ill, snd this accounts for his deley in returning. lie later rejoined hie regiment, and re­mained with it until the end of the war. not heard a word from him sinse l suppae that He has gone to Texes. Tell him iff he is there that l did not think he ~culd g.o off without letting me know where he was goinf. We he.ve me.de cplicetion for furlows for the ~hole .iiegt to fO home this winter 1 do not h~ve mutch hopes of ever gettine to Texee untill the war is over which I am effreid v:ill bee e long time from present prospects. lff we do get off l want you to have plenty to eat. And tell ell the young Ladies to look out for the Boyes all say they ere roing to marry that is of course iff they can get the Girls consent. Scott 1 heard that there wee e young Conscript going to see you. Have you lost all your patriotism Send him off to the wer and tell him to wait untill the war is ever For l would not give e cent for e me.n thEJt would ·not serve his country. l also heerd that .Bro .Mid121 wanted to go into service. Tell him for me that 121Brother Mid was Middleton Hill, Junior. He was at this time about seventeen years of age. He bad better stey at home and go to school end trye to im~ press hie time the beet he cen untill Be getes e year or two 183 older. Ae the most of Boyes of his ege do not etend the service like older men lfot Hi Ve!;! i.e with the Waggona on a leme Horse l heve not seen E. Jobn122 for e long time I 122E. Johns lived in Hill's Frairie. believe He is eleo withe the weggone .l!1re.nk Cep Geo .U.cGehee Sem & Jno Watkins123 all well. And all the· .Boyes of your ac­ 123George McGehee, Sem end John Watkins were from Heyes County. que.intence e.re well :le have received a great mtmy letters from home latley i3ome from Uncle Tom Aunt Scott124 Cousins l?a1126 124uncle Tom end Aunt Scott were Mr. end Mrs. T. B. J. Hill. 125cousin Fal--sae note 1C4. Henry \Jliver Moly Watson126 Sister Mat~ Scotty l?hillips127 126.. ., t foOly ·~e. s on--s ee note 107.1273ee note 106. yourselfe snd severel others. Some of them ~ritten in 1863 .But they were ell very i ntereeting to us. Bro Bob sent a letter from Cousin Bob Hill to me home 1 did ~ot ret to see the letter But am very Eltd that lie sent it Hope th~t it msy reach home sefely lt wes writen from Rock-llend. 111 have enewered it hope thst it mey nvt be. long before him 184 end Cousin Tom are bothe released for it is very ~imiliat­ ing to a men withe any pride to be shut up in a northern prison ;athe .But 11ttle .a.com to take exercise Mixed up withe a thous­and diferant kinds of people And withe as many lice as mutch fjlthe end dirt es to almost make a man si~k to look in one mutch less spend e many long-winter driy withe but little fire and poorly clad. .But 1 hope that something may turn up to shorten their stay end that they may eoon be permited to ret. to there Homes end friene There to spend many e happy hour ercund the fe.mily fire sides relating the many trials through which they have pessed• . Cousin Sue Blenton128 eleo received 128see .note 87. a letter from Cousin Tom McGuire & think Tom Bob sent to uncle Tom he is at Johnson llend A prison for the officers I will send this in e lettet that Cap Hae written es envelopes ere rather scarce And as I am willing for all to reed. The weather is werme end cleere withe cold knights You mus give my Love to ell the reletio.ns end friends and ex­cept the eeme for yourself ~rite often and long letters. Your .Bro John w. Hill JOHN W. HILL TOMA.HY SCOTT HILL Grehemeville s. Cerolina Jen 7th 1866 Miss Mery s. Hill Bastrop Deer Sister Meny monthe bee peeeed sins& I .186 etemped to write Home and 1 have no asursnce that this will ever reach you. ifo wrote meny letters in Horth l:.le Si nae that time we have ben on Duty ell the time end we have not had eny opportunity towrite· , After we left Horth Ala We were ordered to Atlante. fut before we got there Shesrmon comenced hie advance through Georgie. The first place that we had any firhting withe him wBs et Macon on 10th &: on 12th at Griele­ville [?] the first Station below Macon We had a co[n]eider­ able fig·ht. We took about Eighty l?risnors & killed twenty or thirty. T. J. Watkins of our Company wE,s wounded the left erme Slight Lt Friend of Co. E was also wounded end several 'others there nsmes l Do not remember We then rode knight and day eweme one Hiver to get in Sheermen'e front which wee ac­complished et Sendereville where we had e rather coneidreble fight with them Adda .h!i.oore of Co. H. wee killed end eevrel others wounded. l Got two l'risnors a Good over coat 8c one hundred Dollars in Green-Beck fiftey of ~hich l gave to .Bro Bob to send to Cousins ~om & Bob Hill. We have not heerd any thing from either of them sinse the lest letters that we wrote We then started after Kilpatrick ~boo hsd started on a reid in the direction Cf Augusta ~e first ceurht up withe him at 'v'ieyneabourough on the 24th Nov end on the 26th et .lllckliead­Churcbe where we rioted him end ·took e f;OOd many l'risnore & killed e good meny. .But here wee s. Wynn of our Company fell 186 He wee from .Burleson Co And es Breve and true ~ Soldier ea ever fell in hie Countreys defence The seme day late in the ~vening we ceme upon them ageine where they had put· up good Breast l\orke out of .deiles where they intended to spend the knight The third Ark Regt. wee ordered to charge l!nd ·we were formed in Squadrons to euport them We were in an and openen field whileet the 3rd Ark wee by fours in the road When the Bugle sounded the Charge on we went like Mezepha on hie Wild Horse. The Enemy held there fire un('9il we got about one .hundred end fifty yards And then turned loose on us They had a .Battery of Eight Guns. 1 have ben a greet meny Hard places But this we.a the worst l evf1r saw. Gre.pe Cf,nes ter Shell & Solid Shot whistled through the air end ploughed the ground in Every Direction whilest the Hineys cvme more like e swerme of Bees thvn enything else We got right up to the Breast iforks but did not take them (But the Enemy left them) es soon as we fell bsck and we did not come up withe them any more untill they got back to there Infantry Dave Mackle of Co K was Kill vnd eevrel wounde'i But l do not see how it wee ltt looks like they OUfht to have killed eavry man The 3rd Ark lest e great many ·iie then went .Back to the Bridge over .Briar Creek to gard the road to Auguste while Shearman passed ~a had e fight on the 3rd of Dec And on the fifth ~e hed a fight et Wayneebourough D. D. Uunn & T. H. Kennedy of our 187 Compeny were killed They were es eood soldiers end ea brave men as ever fell And there Relations and friends et Home have the Simpathies of the Company .But iff we continue to fieht like ·we have for the lest few months But few will Ever reach Home of this little Band to tell the S.ed tale. ~·~e left Macon withe about one hundred & fifty fighting men And sinse thet time we have had thirty men killed & wounded We folowed old Sheermon to within 10 or 16 miles of Save.nab where the roede got so bed that it was impoeebile to folow him eny father We then went up end crossed the Saveneh Hiver end went down within sight of Seveneh to cover the tletreet of our forces from that plece we then Stayed there snd picketed the iliver untille yesterday when we moved up to this place to rest and bee paid off. Cousin Cap Bills horse geve out whiles we were after Kilpatrick end he went up to ~glethorp after hie horse end I have not heard from him einse .But look for him in eevry dey This is the wourst country we have bed to Soldier in yet. After we left Macon we went a monthe without e bite of Breed & ~e have bed but little einse that time Potatoes & Pork and sometimes but little of that. We have had .But little to feed our Horses on t;xcept Hice but plenty of that The country is low vnd flat .BUt little else but Fine timber the roads ere ell thrown up end to get off of there is to get · into a Bog for it rleins nearly eevry dey. lie heve eiven up ell 188 hopes of getting Home thi a Winter or untill the Wer ie over. We have bed little or no cold weather. Bro Bob got e letter from Georgia Strong which informed ue that Bro Tom bed gone to Texas hope that he mey heve e pleesent time of it Tell him 1 got his old mere end left my horse es he wee so lame he could not trevel And that I got the old mere wounded .But it . did not hurt her this is the fifth Horse 1 have had killod & wounded Jan 7th 1866 Miss Mery 3. Hill Bastrop Deer Sister I Thought that 1 would finish my 1 ot­ ter on the five paees But es 1 have a house for we are en­camped in houses built of Pine logs where the third S Caro­line Cavalry have ben camped for two years Picketing on the coast for it is only four miles from this place blld as they were kind enough to leave ue e table to write upon bnd es I Have nothing else to do .But cell the Holle end m&ke the de­teile l will continue to write. When we got to Legrsnge Ge on our way from Northe Ale l Got s. peas to go to Newmon af­ter .Brothers mere which ~ _hed left ?vi the Mrs Huneycutt ~•hen 1 got there 1 found cousin J~ J. Perke129 et home Ho had come 129 See note 113. 169 home on furlow from Ve 1 stsyed withe them three doyes. They hsve elweys treated me es kindloy es they could you cen sey to Aunt Evie130 the first time you see her thet Mr 130Aunt Evie wee Mrs. ~"iylie Hill. Norths femly were all well when I wee there. We heve had more eicknees ainee we have ben in this country than et s.ny other time einee we come in Service. J. -B. itector131 & A. J. 131 J. B. Hect or wee from .Bastrop Count¥. Kylel32 of our Compeny ere sick But neither of them dengeroua .: 132A. · J. Kyle was from Heyes County. Net. rlieves Co {F) is eleo eick .But l do not think it is any­thing eerjcue They have ell ben sent of to a private House Geo T. McGehee wee left in 11. l1la on s Sc out end on his wey to the degt. whiles on the other side of the rliver He fell in withe . one cf Genl Herdys Steff end went withe Him on a Scout they nun into the Enemy end George lost hie Horee and Every thinr on him • . the .b;nemy drove the swamp for him i;nd e.t one time got very close. to him But He eot e.wr-,y from them with­out beeing seen There is nothing new or Strang here that would interest you. ·.ve hear that Genl Hood hes fallen back to the Tennessee Hiver. There is nothing new from Va The 190 people and some of the Soldiers ere Subjugated But we must never give up the ship Some times when I see our cavalry whiped end . driv,n beck by the Enemy and we have to come to the front to hold them in check untill they can get awey 133 Sutch wes the ceee at Weyneeburough where D. Munn & Ken­ 133n. Nunn lived across the river from the Hille in .&strop County. nedy134 fell lt mekee my heert sink and I am nlmoat reedy to l34Kennedy wee from Bastrop County. give 1t up .l!1or it is allweyee the beet Soldiers and the &av... eet men that fell And iff we geine our independence How few ere the nombers thet cen lay there hande on there Hearts end say that they done ell they could for their .Bleeding Country Some hang eround the waggons some ere allweys away from there comands some shirk out on little Detailes nnd some go withe there comands end when the Bells begin to flye they alweye have some E:xcuse to go to the rear end when it comes to the fieht­ing men there that one elweys there They are few yes l run sorry to say it too few A Greet many of our cavalry are not worthe the provieions thet they consume They will not fight And are worse to plunder the Countrey than the yankes are The Enemy comited many out regee on there Reid thr.ough Georfie too hor­ 191 eble for me to write They took a greet meny Negroes many got away end cr:me back to there home the moat reched look­ing object I ever saw Many the Yenkeys took along for e few dayes untill there feet got s~ sore that they could not walk end then turne them loose without anything to eat to tr~vel beck over a country that they have striped of ~avrey thing to live upon they killed eavrey thing from a chicken up The Burle hes sounded the Saddle up as we are looking for it to give ue the Mount your Horse to go where et that is some­thing we never know until we get there l must close ~ say­ 136 ing thst Dr Eobl!'rank Geo McGehee SEt.m Watkins end ell 136 Dr. Eob wes Robert Hill. l!'rvak wee lrEink McGuire. your Heletions end friends ere well you must give my love to ell the ilelations end friends and Axcept for yourselfe Your Brother John w. Hill F. s. Sey to Bro Tom iff He intends coming be.ck I \',·ould like to have e Saddle iff He csn menege eny ,woy to bring it a Mexicr.n Hat and a pr of Spures I have plenty of money I have about two hundred in Con-fed fifty in Green .Backs which is wortbe tenn to one in Con-fed lff they pey us off and I get whet is owing to mee will have ebout a thouarnd dollers end that is es nrntch money es I went here You cEn say to Ma that I heve plenty of clothing eutch es they are they are 192 ccerse .But rued enough for e Soldier .Plenty of .Blankets ~ell the negroee ell Bowdey for mee You muet excuee ell mietekee end write eoon end e long letter Tell Sister Matt thet .l will write to her Soon Ae Ever your. Bro John W. Hill RO.BERT ED\'JAHlJ HILL TO 111'.dY SCl:TT HILL Gr~hamsville South Cerolina January the 8th 1865 My Deer .Sister lt hes been a long time since l had an opportunity to write to you. And even now 1 do not know when or how I shell get this started to you. We heYe been in very active duty ever since Genl. Shermon started from Dalton Ge and more es­pecielly sin·ce he left /1tlante.. We heve been fiehting him ell the wey through Georgia But the people would not respond to the .csll of the .Authorities but a great meny staid at home end 3hermon wes allowed to welk over the track ~lmost without opposition except from the c~velry l made out e few d&ys ego e list of cssuelities end sent it on to Pfirson .Buntine who is now et Auburn Hospital in Alabama 1 suppose thrit he will send it on to be published in Texaa--You will eee that by that list thet Our Hegt hes lost very heavily end especially Comp 193 "D" .But the Good Lord in bis wonderful Mercy has still con­tinued hie protecting Kindness over us end we are still spared• .Brother John has just obtained a leave of absence of (10) ten Daye end will go to see Aunt .l!inily and Uncle Billy Cousin Cap left us as we were comine down in the track of Sherman for the purpose of going to Uncle .Billye efter e horse & for Crockett who hes been staying at Aunt imlileys ever,. since Cousin Tom wee captured et Atlante Cep has not yet reJoined hie commend Cousin .l!1renk McGuire has been vd th the commend end in every fight but is eefe & eound· e.nd in fine health Cousin George McGehee is with ue end is in good health. We have been trying for some time pest to get the Regt all iur­lourhed Fut Shermens Advance through Georgie hes for tho pres­ent suspended ell exertions However, ~x. Gov. Lubbock end The Hon. l1ir. Reegan hes promised to use every exertion to get the negt • .l!"'urloughed. And Me.j Genr Wheeler, who is in com­ mend & who thinke that another euch e Reet is not in the Con­federate Stet ea he.a pledged himself in our 1!1evor. And he.a endorsed to the War .Dept. that if we ere furlouehed he will ste.nd security that the iiegt. will return I think perchance eo soon ea the Storm lulls e little that perhspe we may get them l suppose before this reaches you ~ill have been sur­prised by Brother Tom's return home I wss not with the com­mend when Brother loft end did not know what to think when 194 1 received e letter from Cousin Georgie Strong telling me that Brother bed been there end was then on his· v;ay to the Trenemiseippi l could hardly believe it for a time but hope · that he bee reeched home in eefety & thet he will return with 1~j. Christian & Cept. Kyle · if he does there will hothing be done or seid--Put if not the consequence will be on hie own heed end the Stirme upon the v1hole Family. 1 have not heard anything more from Cousin Tom Anderson nor From Cousin .Bob. In feet 1 have had no letters from any one in so long l dont know when end have bed no chance to write since Genl. Sbermon begen moving from Atlante untill the present time We are now in South Ceroline--and where we will go next I em unable to tell you et this time or whet will be the move­ments of the Armiee--Genl Hood is out of Tennessee end is now et Corrinth where Genl A. Sidney Johnson wee when he moved to the .1!1ield of Shiloh nearly three years ago God Grant th&t Genl Hood may move to a more glorious victory , Genr Lee seems to be holdinf his own in "Ve" .But Shermtm hes oert&inly had ,;· his own wvy here in this Dept. The People of Georgia seemed to have become .Pa.relieed end set down et home end cell upon President Devis to come to their help I was astonished to find so many men et home end they never came to the Rescue Genl Shermen ought to heve been totally Defeated end ruined lbt the eed feet will be handed down to posterity that while 195 Shermanminione were devesteting the country with Fire & Committing all kind of Vu.tregea upon Lefenceleea ~omen the men of Georgie staid at home or et least e large portion of them trying to save whet they hed end many of them vol­untarely taking the oath of allegiance to the Government thet had a little while before thoy had denounced es every thing mien and deepiceble--But such ie humen neture I thought et one time thet Hichmond "Ve" would hnve been given up to Capture & Destroy Sherman and l believe it would have been very much better for us to have done eo. But 1 must confess that tho movements of the Armies new upon the chess BoEJrd of Wer ere toe complicated for me to see throueh them. We had to fifht Sherman alone with the Cevelry end we lost some of the best men in the negt. and ell for no g-ood. D. D. llunn & F. R. Kennedy were Killed from Company "D" neer Waynesboro Georgia where we fought the whole of Shermen's Cavalry end a divieion of lnf~ntry Wm. Nicholson Foor Fellow fell while gsllently fighting them neer Home Georria on the 13th of ~c­t ober Our Regt is n~w in very good health But unused to such a Country as this 1 do not know how l.ong this will continue The water here is very bed indeed and the entire Country You msy sry e marsh, low very flat so much eo that the wster scarcely runs off even when it reine ln fact this ie the Hice region of South Csrolina between here & Ssvanah 196 'iiell Scottie l have trod upon the Soil where Lwrion trod and have rode c·ver ground where 11aricn led his chosen bend of Heroes end heve stood beside the tomb where sleeps some of the Heroes of the Hevolution of 1776 end l have no lenguege to convey to you my feelings l felt. That l was in the presence of those who strugfled as we ere now strug­gling & felt elmoet that l ought to pull off my shoes for the plece ought to be secred l have seen one of the pieces of Artillery thet Merion ceptured from the Brit:ish at Furys­burg it is old end nearly eat up with rust. Puryeburg wee once in the early settlement of this country a .Flourishing place numbering neerly 8000 inhabitants was once a Welch colony-~but new, it is old Delepidated snd but few Houses standing end one ~ould ride through it end never know unless told Thus it is: time mskee sad changes with things snd places as well es men end nations. Well Scottie it is now verging on 4 years since l left home end this struggle seems no nearer the ond then it did e.t that time fut Still whet else c~n we do than strugfle on leaving our csuee in the hands of Him Who Doeth sll thines well. Doing our duty end leave the rest to "God", All the boys ere very anxious to get home to see loved ones once more But our .1!,irst .l.Juty is to the "God" who made us Our next Duty ie to Our Country & V\lr Country needs us now end here end we 197 must ~tend et 011r post now thet the derk Clouds e.re towering end seem reedy to break over us. lf every man would do hie duty & now come to the rescue it would not be iong before the Heert of the Country would be made glad, on account of victory & I think every wom~n should use ell her influence to get men to perform their duty If the women in the whole South would know the fete thet ewaite them should we be sub­jugated let them leern from those who heve fellen in the Yankee lines--! think then that they would learn to look upon those who Desert their Colors with lee2 favor 1 felt very much mortified when I learned that the troops in the trans Llissippi Dept had refused to cross the a1ver snd come over here and help us hed Genl Hood hed two Divisions more of in­fantry or even one ho wculd have taken Heshville and would have ruined Thomes Army--Then we would have obtained many recruits in Tenn. end elso would have been able to have e-one into Ky .But we did net have the men Your eide of the Rivor is comparatively quite while we ere strugeling here age.inst heevy odds and it does seem that to me thvt they heve committed e very greet blunder jn refusing to cross tho River; it would be vary much for Texas to fifht her battles here in Georgie then to have {to) fifht them upon the soil of Texas or Even La or Arksnses the Father we fifht them from our homes the better. .And fighting the battles her ere certainly to some 198 extent fiehti ng for Texes. We may not live here as well es the troops do over there end per ha.pa do not heve as many rood clothes to wear lnd l em sure that we do not get to hear frcm home often All of which l will allow. Still we hEive made out to live for over three yeurs snd they might live 6 months or even 12 as we do to gain vur independence · vVe cook our meet on e stick (we get 1/3 pound of bacon or 3/7 of e pound of fresh beef) & bake our bread on a boerd. Sometimes we do not see a cooking ves~el for weeke--now however they ere issuing corn meel We heve e peck to the Compeny end the boys csrry e Skillet or two along .to bake breed And 1 run ectg Surgeon of the ~{egt. I cen carry mine in my .brnbulance-­1 am ~oree off now for clothes & bootes then l heve ·ever been l~ bootee are neerly worn out they ere in the water untill I em not much better off then If I were bare footed end my .Pe.nts--Well I would say anything about them l hardly think you would know your Brother were you to meet him ·in the road .Brother John will go up to Uncle .Billy end l hope to get a supply soon, Our Relations have been very kind indeed to us furnish us with whet ever we need when they can get a chance 1 have never yet had an opportunity of visiting Oglethorpe or in feet leaving the command there ie elws.ya enough to do to keep me conetently on hend and l never meke e.pplicetion for 199 ·1 would dislike very much to be denied Well now Scott you must say to Uncle Tom & Uncle Wiley thet I heve $50.00 in Greenback that I em trying to send Tom end .Bob. l went the other dey to see Maj. Genl Wheeler, who told me he thought he could get it through for me if they can get it; it would eneblo them to buy things for their comforts. '1.·ell Scott you must give my love to all inquiring Friends, to Our Deer Mo.ther to Sister Met. Tell I.ie.t. ·that l heve writ­ ten to her two or three times Give my love to Sister Se.llie136 136Sieter Sellie wee the wife of Thomas knderson Hill, e son of Middleton Hill. and say to Itasca that Net hes been quite sick with tever but is now improving and unless a relapse takes place I think will be able to be up in a few days--He was taken sick while we were at Puryeburg and 1 had to move him three times untill at last 1 g·ot him to a very comfortable place Tell Alice137 that I have been looking a long time for 137 see note 70. e letter from her but es yet none hes come to hand. Tell her 1 em anxious to hee.r from her again. Why dont Nish write to some of us. Tell iiuth138 thet she is not forgotten by us-­ 138see note 69·. 200 You cen ssy to Mre. Shipp that l do .not know v:here Bob is only that I heard he wss a Liut in a company in Mississippi Tell 1.lrs. Cpmp that when l was at Gadsden I went to visit the fells spent e very pleasant time with the temily who lives there end that they wished to be remembered kindly to her end the Doctor. Give Mrs Cemp my kindest regards You must eey to uncle Wiley when you see him not to think unkind of us for not writing to him For ~hen we get e chance ~o send we can only send about one a piece es who ever goes would have more than he could manage Therfor l try and write to you as if 1 wee writing to ell--giving you ell the news and mentioning all in whom you ere interested January the 10th Col. i~ievee of the 11th Texes has just received A furlough end will go to Texas And he hes promised to cerry one for me. The boys ere ell well today Now Scottie tell them ell to write and write es ofte~ es you crn You know not how ·anxious we ere to hoer from you I have written three times to Uncle Thoms & Aunt Scott but have not bed e line from them So long I dont reccollect the dates Tell Cousin Pnllyl39 to write me end I would be more then glsd to 139 see note 104. get e letter from Cousin Henry vliver. Tell ell the negroee 201 bov.dy for me. And accept the best wishes end sincerest love from Your .Brother .Bob HlJ.BERT EDWARD HILL TO MARY SCOTT HILL Jen the 10th And now my Dear Sister yo.u must tell Cousin Alice thet l would heve written to her but ao many writing end only e pr. of Saddle bags to cerry letters in that 1 tbourht would just write to you end throurh you to ell Tell Alice to write to me by the return Meil end if we cfn get s chance egein 1 will be sure to write to her You must give my love to her tell her to be a good girl leern feet end learn to play some tunes for me Tell Cousin Scottie140 that 1 heve not fOrf otten her give my love to her 140cousin Scottie wes Scottie £hillips, a cousin of the liills' • You must give love to ell Mrs J G John and .to l.lrs ,Camp. You cen tell l.lisE. Jenny .ldmonds on that her Brother Vies well v:hen I last sew him he is down in Ge with Gonrl 'r'~herton l~nd now .3cott you must tell all the negroee howdy for me tell them I would like to get beck end see them all once more l hope they will be good end do everythinf they can to make Mother comfort­able And now once more My love to everybody et home who eske efter ue You must not become Diecoursged nor dieheerteded the clouds cf Derkness will blow ewey end Pesce & Plenty once egein bless our lend Continue your De.ily Freye.ra for wr safety and reccol­lect thet while you ere Preying for our sefety I may be offer­1OE?" up mine for yours. · Mey we soon meet egein around our own fireside snd none be missed Your .Brother Bob 141 Our. Grand ~ethers Flece 141The old Hill home was in Lexington. Georgia. June the 23rd 1866 My Defr Siet era Having en opportunity of writing end sending by hand, end knowing that you must be very aruiioue to hesr from me l gladly embrece the chance have been here with Aunt & Uncle now ebo~t 6 weoke end they heve been troubled so much about the Yankee rr.iding 2C3 tbroufh the country that 1 heve not been ewey but once and thet wes a few days ego I went down to see Cousin Meriwether liill'a142 family found them all in very good heelth The 142 see note 114. yankees hes been treating some of the people very b~d--but up to this time there has been but two in the house here end they were here when Brother Tom143 wee here--Aunty & Uncle 143This ie evidence that Thomes Hill returned to his regiment, end surrendered with the ~erry ltfHlfers in !Jorth Caroline.. have both bee~ sick since Brother Tom left nothing very seri­ous however • .Aunt Emily is fr:iling very fest, even since l cema. They are very enxioue for me to etey with them for a while end although I went to get home very much I think I will etey with them untill the travelling facilitiee ore better then they ere now So you need not expect me before Fell-­Auntie $peeks often of the boys who have left and gone on home end is very anxious to hesr from them--1 heve not heard one wcrd from them since they left end of course you must know how anxious l feel. My :Preyer is that they may have all reached home in safety even before this time. Well Sister, the War is ended end we ere--\1he.t,--The Future i~ in the H~nds of that God who has extended his kind­ 204 ness end Protecting Power ove~ us during the lest 4 years th~t Death hes held its high Carnival over ell our lend. Let us not distrust him "God moves in e miaterioue wey Hie wonders to perform He plents hie Foot Steps on the See And rides upon the storm." The b"'uture indeed looks dark enough but 1 must confess thet 1 do not feel ea some ao. Denying Our M£ker trempling under foot hie divin word~ end meting 'e ~ockery of ell Paet. The States that once Seceded ere nov: petitioning through the People in meetings of Counties to return to the Union egein--teking upon themselves the Yoke and expressing e will­ingness to weer it for ell time to come. Those who stayed et home end refused to come to our help when we wer~ cnlling now begin to wish they bed done e little more--been less anx­ious to make e few dollars more or seve e little more We have 'the mortifyinf consolation of knowing thet he Yr.nkeea never could heve whipped us if we bed but remained true to ourselves .But Diesetisfection beceme broadcast over the lend. J!,athers-­Mothers--Sjstere--would write to their .Brothers--Sons or Cou­eine in the Army to come home--Speculeticn wee holding its hydre heed end riding in fine buggies (end] crrriagee while 205 soldiers Wifes were suffering end almost stervinr.--The Dis­ setisfection extended to the Army end then began Desertion-­ Desertion & Speculation will be •ritten against us in the Page of History--thet records our feilure The People of the South are not reedy for Liberty A few yeers under the geling chains end I think the cere of money will be ground out of eome of them And now Sister You must say to Our Dear 1lother for me Do not feel despondent. The Almighty has had us under pro­tection in enawer to her Pre.yers--end God fromiaee that he will be the Husband of the Widow and a Father to the Father­less With Him to lean upcn although the b"'uture may look derk _end stormy end no ray of lieht to light in the Derk vista may sppeer yet with the eye of Feith we cr.n look beyond the cloud to the smiling face of him who taught us when we ~rsy to say Thy · Vi 11 Oh~ l!,a ther not mine be done Sey to Uncle Tome & Auntie thet I have not heard from Cousin Tom since l wee at Fort Delaware That wee the 20 of March Cousin Tom wes well then 1 have seen no account of eny release of Prisoners from Johnson lslend--Tell them l of­ten think of them and hope it v.111 not . be a great while before 1 will again be at home and ready to meet around the .Femily l!'ire side and Claim 1'.ly Pipe for e Smoke-­ Tell Cousin Foll to have an Extra Supply of Sciussgos for me thie Fell--for l want to make up lost time. Tell Miss Ruth-­ 206 Well--Toll her 1 went to kiss her .Beby. Sey to ell enquir­ ing friends that I am well end hope to be with them ere the yeer is ended-­ Give my love to ell the negroes Auntie ssye with tears in her eyee to five you ell the love that can be put on peper-­ Everbody that is any wry towerd her fer, & neer-­ She eeye Brother Tom & John must write to her Tell .Brother Tom l4iss l.!ery c.--svye she e ometimee thinks ot him end dreams of him in her sleep _ Sey to Cousin Alice that 1 would write to· her but I hope before much longer that l shell heve the great satisfaction of talking to her in "l?ropria pereonnei" Sey to her ten thousand thenke for her t obecc o pou;ch ·· r end th~t l have put it to e more nobler ua(e) then Holding tobacco .!. ~-put ~ 4 yeers Labor end the Helie of .! ruined Country in it !1z .£!!!. dollar in Specie Give my love to all enquiring Friends and for yourselves know that you heve the undying love of your Devoted .Brother .Bob P. S l write thie to both of you l will addreee , to Sister Mary--.But l em writing to both .s--, A TRIBUTE TO TBE HILLS "A merited tribute to the grand family of Hilla of .Bas• trop County. Following is a tribute to the Bills from the pen of General John M. Claiborne, as published in the .Bastrop Advertiser, April 18th, 1888." nBT the Hill, l do not mean the hills of nature that are to the East, overlooking the hiatorio town, but those other Hills, formed also by nature end made noble. Sitting at rD1' library desk this beautiful April eTen1ng and reflecting back upon the joys, sorrows, pleasures end pains of the peat, in . the long past, end thinking of the old people 8Dd ~ boyhood companions, l wondered if it were true that there waa, ae ia aaid, a skeleton in every :temi]Jr. This family wee the moat remarkable thet ever ceme under IDT immediate obeerTation, and if they had a skeleton then the eeyin~ is indeed a truism. In '49 I first knew Middleton, A. Wylie, end Thomae B. J., all of ~hom participated in the struggle against Mexico end the lndiene, for the freedom of this, the grandest State in the confederation of States, end A. Wylie Hill wee a conspic­uous fi~re in the battle of Sen Jacinto. From these noble sires sprung a younger generation of ae good, elmoet perfect men, as hae ever been known for the number. Middleton Hill 20'1 208 wee the father of Dr. Robert, fllomas A. w. and John w. Hill; A. Wylie Hill wee the father of Robt. T. end Dr. Gue Hill; Thomes B. J. wee the father of Cept. Thomae Anders on e.nd D. O, Hill· These men end IDJ&elf were nearly companions from 184'1 until after the wer; we were ell et school tcgether for yeere end we were all in the same company, same regiment, in the late war, and l know them, haTe tried them where alone you can know the man, on the tented field, by the campfire, in the hour of battle, :end though often weighed they nor either one of them wee ever found wanting. All of them born in gilded hells end surrounded by the richest prosperity, drank from golden goblets surrounded by ell that wealth could procure, but never forgot tor e moment that they were ot the people. I never knew a Hill to tell a falsehood nor. ewerYe from the duty of a citizen. I neTer knew a family that were ao ell breve end chivalrous by nature. I never knew one of them to epeek unkindly of hie neighbor. Either of the men could et eny dey or hour have put down hie gun end returned to the com­forts of home under the law ot the confederacy under the 20 negro source of exemption, yet it never entered the mind of either of them. After the war they returned to their home end from effluence reduced to very humble ciroumatences, yet there as everywhere elae tried they were equal to the oocaeion and buckled on the armor of labor end proceeded to rebuild their 209 lost fortunee end ell ere succeeeful, some of them affluent. The old sires of these men have gone• They sleep with their fathers silently in the tomb. Of the old men my recollection ia of the most pleaaent. A wild, reckless, bad boy, their gentle chiding yet rings in my eere, plented deep in my mem­ ory. Grand 011 men, few their equals, end es en entirety no family of boys ever reached greeter perfection, as useful men end ~ood citizens. Old Beetrop bee produced m~ good men end many of them learned the leaeone of wisdom from men like the Bills, A. w. Moore, John B. Jenkins end othera. Bastrop County. should cherish the memories · of theee grand men of the past age. "Madeline Place, April 9. '88." Bl BLI OGRAPBY The Hill Letters are in the Library of the Univereit7 of Texaa. All the other original documents here used belong to llr. ~. o. Hill of SmJ.thville. The pictures used here ere taken from deguerreot7peabelonging to Mrs. Paul H. Goldmann of Austin. T. J. Hill, The Hills of Wilkes County, Georfia end Allied lam1lie~Johnson=»e11ae Company, Atlan a, Georgia, 1922· W. L. Grissom, Methodism in Borth Carolina, two volumes, Pub­lishing House of the-ii. E. Church, South, Beshville, Tennessee, 1906. · George R. Gilmer, Early Georgiana, D. Appleton & co., New York, 1866. D. G. Wooten (ed.), A Comprehensive History of Texas, 1686­ 1897, two volumes, w. G. Scorff, Daiiee-;-Texea, 1898. 210 • NAtivity Wh~n Enlisted By l'.'hom Rc~idcnce General & Specific & HistoricB1 Remnrlrn Additional. Remnrks Rnnk Age · Names C11pt.ain 1st Lieut. 2d Lieut. 3d Lieut. 1st Sergt. 2d Sergt. 3d Sergt. 4th Sergt. 5th Sergt. 1st Corp. 2d Corp. 3d Corp. 4th Corp. Private n " " " " n " " n n " " 39 Ferrell, Stephen 21 Morg~n, Chas. L. 34 Burdett, J. Q.. 24 Doak, W. R. 24 Decherd, G. M. 20 Hall, R. T. 21 Duty, J. Milam 24 Morgan, J. H. 37 Cowan, J. B. 25 Burke, G. Bason 20 Harris,· Ed Chessire, J. H. Green, Sam 20 Allen, Geo. R. 16 Allen, Hugh 30 Allen, N. J. 24 Albright, W. N. 27 Autry, C. P. 20 Bunton, Joseph Bunton, Joel 22 'Billingsley, J. P. 18 Berger, R. 19 Burleson, Jeff w. 20 Burleson, Aaron 24 Brannon, J. M. 21 Banks, T. B. Ala. Texas Tonn. Miss.· Tenn. Texas Texas Tenn. Va. Md. Miss. N. C. Ala.. Texas Tenn. Tenn. Tenn. Tenn. Texas Texas Tenn. Germany Texas Texas Ala. Texas Sept. 'Gl Sept. '61 Sept. '61 Sept. 1 61 Sept. '61 Sept. '61 Sept. '61 Sept. '61 Sept. '61 Sept. '61 Sept. '61 Sept. '61 Sept. '61 Sept. 1 61 Sept. '61 Sept. 161 Sept. '61 Sept. 1 61 Sept. '61 Sept. '61 Sept. '61 Sept. 1 61 Sept. 1 61 Sept. 1 61 Sept. '61 Sept. '61 Bfrees'boro, Dec. 22, '62, & died of wounds. Wounded. Since died in Falls County. Killed at Aiken, s. c., Feb. 12, 1 65. One of b"9t so111ers in Rogt. Transf. to i.lliite 1 3 Battery. Attu~hcd. Prer.cnt Pres 0nt ','"ounoei:l nt 'r'.oor1~onville, Dec. 1 61. 1"..bncnt Generql & Specific & Historical Remarks Additional Remarks V.Then Enlisted By Whom Rank Age Names Nativity ~csidence Private 25 Garth, J. L. Va. Sept. 1 61 Bastrop County Appt. Hospital Steward " 21 Giles, r.. L. Tenn. Sept. '61 Travis Yl ounded at Woai sonville, Died at Gallatin. Dec. 17, '61. If 25 Hill, F. M. Ala. Sept. '61 Travis Died. " 24 Hill, J. V!. Ala. Sept. '61 Bastrop Present " 28 Hill, R. E. Ala. Sept. '61 Bastrop Appt. Asst. Surgeon Oct. '61. " 18 Hill, D. O. Texas Sept. 1 61 Bastrop Present " 26 Hill, T. A. W. Ala. Sept. '62 Bastrop Present ,,, " . 40 Hopper, E. R. Tenn. Sept. '61 Bastrop Present " 22 Henry, J. R. Texas Sept. '61 Travis Killed at Jackson, Ala., Oct. '64. " 21 Hamilton, Wayne Texas Sept. '61 Travis Killed at Murfreesboro, Dec., '62. " " 18 18 Hart, Thomas Hill, E. D. Texas . Texas Sept. June '61 '62 Bastrop Bastrop Died at Nashville, Oct. 1 61--lst man die. dTransferred from Grenbury's Briga e. to " 20 Jones, Isaac Va•. Sept. '61 Travis Absent " Hardee, Wm. J. Ala. Killed at Bentonville, March 21, '65. " 21 Kyle, C. Miss. Sept. '61 Heyes County Present " 28 Kyle, Wm. Miss. Sept. t 61 Ha yes County Present " 18 Kyle, A. J. Texas Sept. '61 Hayes County Present " 23 Kyle, P. R. Texas Sept. '61 Hayes County ~ounaed at Aiken, s. c., Sept •• '61. " " 25 25 Kyle, Ferg Kennedy, P. R. Texas Ala. Sept. Sept. '61 '61 Ha yes County Bastrop County Elected 1st Lieut. Jan. · 2. Promoted to Cnpt. Nov. '62. Absent. Killed at Waynesboro, N. c., Nov. '64.i " 19 Kennedy, E. R. Miss. Sept. '61 Bastrop County Present " " 23 23 Loftin, Frank Log~n, A. T. N • c. Sept. C.ept. '61 '61 Bastrop County Tra,,is County Killed at \'.'oodsonv111e, 2nd man killed. Appt. Ord. Sergt. June, wounded & disch. Dec. 1 63. 17, '61. Accid. " 19 Lewis, Robt. Texas Sept. 1 61 BA.strop county Died Jan. 1 62. " 21 Lovell, w. H. Texas Sept. 1 61 H~y~s County Died at Nashville, Dec. 1 62. " 18 Miller, Woods S. Tenn. Sept. 1 61 Bastrop County Present Nativity iJVbrrn Enlisted By Whan Hesidence Goner~11 & Specific &: Historical Hemarks Additional Romnrki n~nk .Age Names 4CT Miller, Geo. Bearay 28 Moore, TI. c. " 18 Mullen, P. M. " 18 McArther, Jas. " 17 McGuire, F. W. " 25 McGehe~ Geo. T. " 22 McGuire, Jas. F. " 22 McGehee, Chas. " · 18 McGehee, John " 41 Morrin, J. Milt. " 20 Miller, Jeff. " 25 Neeley, J. w. " . 20 Nicholson, Wm. " 27 Nunn, D. D. " 38 Nolon, Jas, " 45 Nicholson " 28 Peterson, T. B. " !f 24 Pelham, Chas. " 26 Pickle, J. c. 28 Poe, T. B. " 21 Piper, Sam " 30 p0 t tsI T • J. " 30 Rucker, Roland " n 21 Rowe, Jesse 28 Rice, W. P. " Ky. Tenn. TCXf.IS Texas Ala. Texas Ala. Texas Miss. Miss. Ark. Ky. N. Y. Ga. Tenn. Eng. Miss. Ala. Va. Tenn. Texas Eng. Ala. Texas Va. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. May 8, Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. March Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sopt. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. 1 61 '61 '61 '61 '61 '62 '61 '61 '61 '61 '63 '63 163 '61 '63 '63 '61 '61 161 '61 '61 161 '61 161 '61 Burleson County 1.~,·ounc1ed at Shiloh April 6, '62. "The best." Burleson County Present Burleson County Wounded at Murfreesboro Dec. 31, '62 &killed July 2, '64. Travis County \'Jounded at Waynesboro, Ga. , Nov. , 164. Washington County Present Rayes County Wourided at Aiken, s.c., Feb. 13, '62. 'tJashington County Present H.13 yes County Discharged at Bowling Green, Ky., 162. Bastrop County Died Bowling Green, Ky., '62. = Burleson County Discharged by substitution April 5, '62. Travis County Absent Bastrop County Hospital Surgeon. Resides in Ky. Bastrop County Wounded Dec. 26, '63. Killed near Rome, Ga., Oct. 13, '64. Bastrop County Wounded and sub~oquently killed at i.Yaynes­boro, Gfl • , Nov. '64. Bastrop County Present Bastrop County Disch. at Bowling Green. Bastrop County Present Travis County Killed near Cleveland, Tenn., May 9, '64. No superior. Trnvis County Present Travis County Executed wrongly as a spy. Trqvis County Present--a good one. Bnstrc,:µ County Appt. Asst. Surgeon Absent. Run off ncor Murfreesboro & joined llchrazo Hof. ~'le s Hospitl.ll ~~·tcvrnrt wh~r. Gen. \','hArt.nn c.rimo over. Potts run off to ---at New Orlonns. Travis County Disch. at Bowling Green, Ky., in '<32. 'l'ravis County Died nt Gall~tin, Tbnn., Nov., '61. Bastrop Cowity Disch. in '62. Age Names Nativity When Enlisted By \'ihom Hesidence General & Specific & Historical Remarks Additional Remarks Private 21 Rogers, Joe B. Texas Sept. '61 Travis Count.y Present " 23 Rector, John B. Ala. Sept. '61 Bastrop County Present Broke ranks and went ,, to Rads. 23 Rector, T. Mason Ala. Sept. '61 B~strop County Wounded at Murfreesboro Dec. 31, and subse11uently discharged." 25 Rector, Kennerk Ala. Sept. '61 Bastrop County Disch. Bowling Green, Ky., '61. " 26 Royston, Richard Miss. Sept. '61 Bastrop County Disch. at Bowling Green, Ky., in 161. " 34 Rooerts, w. H. Va. Sept. '61 Trnvis Crunty Disch. by substitution April, 162. ,, Since deceR sed •· 18 Sayers, W. B. Miss. Sept. '61 Bastrop County Appt. Sergt. Major, Adjt. & Insp. Gen. Wounded at Johnsonville, N.c., March 10, 1 65. " 26 Screws, Sam H. Ala. Sept. '61 Bastrop County Killed in battle, '64. " 23 Standifer, W. A. Texas Sept. 161 Bastrop County Transferred to White's Battery. Atteched. " 18 Srn1. t.h, W. Cicero Texas Sept. '61 Bastrop County CP-ptured in E. Tenn. " 18 Smith, M. Texas Sept. '61 Bastrop County " 22 Stone, c. W. Texas Sept. '61 TrRvis County Present " 21 Shipp, H. B. Miss. Sept. '61 Bast1~op County Trnnsferrcd to Post duty. " 19 Oliver V!. Miss. Sept. '61 Bastrop County ~oun~ed at Marietta, Ge., and killed near 8parts, '11enn. " 19 Sims, Wm. Tarrant Sept. '61 · Bnstrop County Present " 35 Slaughter, Reuben Miss. Cald'.Yr:.lll County Wounded in Battle--ofterwards .killed on way borne. II 24 Stroud, Reuven s. c. March, '63 Bgstrop County Transf 'd from 18th Tex. Cavalry March, . '63. II 21 .Stewart, A. K. Ala. Sept. 161 Burleson County Disch. Jan. '61. " 20 Smith, D. P. Texas .Sept. '61 Bastrop County Died Nov., '61 at Bowling Green, Ky. " 23 Thomas, M. E. Va. Sept. '61 Austin City Transferred to ~~ite 1 s Battery. " 19 Taylor, T. J. Ga. . Sept. '61 Bastrop County Present " 25 Thomas, M. H. Ala. .'.Jept. '61 B.urleson County Disch, at Bowling Green, Ky., in 162. II 21 Varden, T. J. Tenn. Sept. '61 Bastrop County Present " 19 Voughan, Felix· La. Sept. '61 Ba.strop County Discli. at Bowling Green, Ky., in '61. " 18 Walton, Correll Miss. Sept. '61 Bestrop County Present. When Enlh.ted By Whom Hesidence General & Specific & Historical Remarks Additional Hemark Nntivity Names Rank AGO Ga. Sept_. '61 ;Burleson County Killed at Buckhead Church, Nov., '63. '\"Jynn, J. s• PrlvRt.e 25 i I Q} lfus tin County · Trnnsf. by promotion to Trans Miss. Texas Sept. 22 Wheeler, Vla.lker w. \ Dept. Killed at Brenham in '67. " Sept. '61 ' ~ayes County Wounded at Greenville, Ga., in '64. 24 Watkins, Paul J. Ala. " Sept. 161 tiayes County Present 36 vVo tkins, SAm M. Ala. " Sept. 1 Gl B?..strop Connt.y Discl1. at Bowling Green, Ky. in '61. 24 Wilkins, Jerry Ky. " Sopt. 1 61 Travis C<:>unty Wounded at Shiloh. Exchanged and dis­ John ToxA.s 21 Washington, " charged. Ky. Sept. 'Gl Bastrop County Disch. April, '62, & died. 41 Young, Joseph J. " 'llravis County Europe Sept. 161 29 Zimpleman, o. B. " 29 Killed--33 wounded--t34 Members.