John L. Boatwright Letters, 1863 - 1864

This collection consists of twelve letters from Boatwright, an ordinance officer in the Confederate Army, stationed at Savannah, Georgia, to his wife in Columbia, South Carolina, although the letters suggest that the Boatwrights were from Virginia. The earliest letter is dated December 22, 1863, the last May 14, 1864. The contents are largely personal; Boatwright was deeply devoted to his wife and in virtually every letter states how much he misses her. The strain of separation was doubtless increased by Mrs. Boatwright's pregnancy (see in particular letter of May 1, 1864). Occasionally Boatwright mentions the situation at Savannah and the course of the war; on April 26, 1864, for example, he alludes to the Army's financial straits. The letter of the following day states that "we are making the grandest of efforts in the world to frustrate the plans of the Yankees this spring" and that "Every Regiment from this place except one has been ordered to the front." There is also a fragment of a letter, possibly to Boatwright, from a J. W. Magill, referring to ammunition, no date.