Samuel Wickliffe Melton papers, 1860-1878.

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Samuel Wickliffe Melton papers, 1860-1878.

Chiefly correspondence from Samuel Wickliffe Melton to his wife, Mary Helen Gore Melton re his Confederate military service as an officer during Civil War, inclluding letters written from Charleston and Columbia, S.C.; Richmond, Va.; and from various camps elsewhere in Virginia and North Carolina; and career in the S.C. Topics discussed include Secession Convention, Dec. 1860, in Columbia, S.C.; small pox outbreak; election of Gov. Francis W. Pickens; passing of Ordinance of Secession; activity at forts in Charleston, S.C.; participation in First Battle of Manassas (21 July 1861), Peninsula Campaign (ca. Mar.-July 1862), Seven Pines, and other battles in Va. and N.C. while serving on the staffs of Gen. Milledge Luke Bonham and Gen. Gustavus W. Smith; persons discussed include Robert E. Lee, Joseph E. Johnston, Maxcy Gregg, Micah Jenkins, Richard S. Ewell, Wade Hampton, James Longstreet, Martin W. Gary, and the resignation of Gen. G.W. Smith. Letter, 6 July 1861, Fairfax, Va., to Gen. R.S. Ewell, re a previous communication re route taken by "the two Mrs.'s Tripletts"; 3 partial letters, including, [Dec. 1862], SWM to his wife [Mary Helen Gore Melton], expressing expectation that "we shall have peace by Spring-time" due to the Union's defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg [11-15 Dec. 1862] and his desire that for Christmas, his wife give each of his African American slaves "a substantial Holiday gift - money, if you have nothing else better - and liberally ... [as] such faithful servants deserve a liberal master." Letter, [ca. 1862], SWM to his wife re a soldier named "Miller" who had been granted a medical release due to being struck by fragments of an artillery shell but who Melton claims was "not wounded at all" and Melton's opinion that "it is strange that Dr. Bratton could so forget his duty as to give him a release. He is doing such things far too liberally, for the good of the service." Other Civil War letters document Melton's service, beginning in early 1863 and continuing through end of war, in the Adjutant and Inspector General's Department, noting the conscription act; death of Stonewall Jackson; public opinion of Jefferson Davis; work of the Confederate Congress; food and living costs; reorganization of the War Department; defense of Richmond, Va.; and concern over safety, health, and welfare of his family. Reconstruction-era papers discuss Melton's campaign for election to the S.C. House; and letter, 18 Nov. 1873, Columbia, [S.C.], Ellen C. LaBorde to Judge S.W. Melton requesting help in settling a claim of her deceased father, Maximilian LaBorde, "for back Salary as a Prof[essor]" while teaching at South Carolina College, present day University of South Carolina. Letters, 16 June-19 Aug. 1878, written by SWM to his wife MHGM, re his tour of Europe with Washington A. Clark, who was appointed an honorary commissioner to the 1878 industrial exposition in Paris, with accounts from Paris, France; Geneva, Switzerland; Baden-Baden, Germany, and Italy (Turin, Genoa, Pisa, Rome, Florence, Naples, and Milan) including letter re assistance rendered Mary Custis Lee during a fire in her hotel room in Naples; and letter, 10 July 1878, Naples, re his audience with Pope Leo XIII, "The Pope was especially attentive to me. I think he got the impression that I was a 'nabob' from the ... [country] of Colombia, in South America. At any rate he was particularly condescending; and 'blessed' my handful of tricks with especial unction."

196 items.

Related Entities

There are 15 Entities related to this resource.

Melton, Samuel Wickliffe, 1830-1899.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6893156 (person)

Lawyer, journalist, judge, and Confederate officer of Chester and Columbia, S.C.; Colonel of Confederate States Army; judge of Fifth judicial circuit, 1870; Attorney-General of S.C., 1872-1876; District Attorney of S.C., 1881-1885; during antebellum era, graduated 1852 class of South Carolina College; editor of "Chester Standard" (1853-1854); founder and owner of "Yorkville Enquirer" newspaper (1855-1858); native of York, S.C.; son of Samuel Melton (1789-1860) and Sarah T. Davis Melton (d. 1854)...

La Borde, Maximilian, 1804-1873

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63j3n25 (person)

Physician and professor at South Carolina College (Columbia, S.C.) From the description of Letter, 1859 Aug. 2, Columbia, S.C., to [William J.] Rivers. (University of South Carolina). WorldCat record id: 58992911 Physician, educator; graduate, South Carolina Medical College, 1821, and Medical College of South Carolina, 1825; editor and owner, Edgefield Advertiser, 1836-1839; member, South Carolina House of Representatives, 1827-1838; South Carolina Secretary of State, 1839; ...

Lee, Mary Custis, 1835-1918

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68k7p6s (person)

Mary Custis Lee was the eldest daughter of General Robert E. Lee and Mary Anna Randolph (Custis) Lee of "Arlington House" in what is now Arlington, Va. Very close to her father, she never married and traveled the world and the United States after his death, and was particular favorite of Confederate veterans and European nobility alike. As unofficial family archivist, Mary Custis Lee collected materials relating to her parents' lives and to the lives and careers of her Custis family ancestors as...

Bonham, Milledge L. (Milledge Luke), 1813-1890

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mw2gfr (person)

Governor of South Carolina, 1863-1865; from Columbia, S.C. From the description of Papers, 1861-1864. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 19276836 Governor of S.C.; Confederate Army officer; native of Edgefield District, S.C. From the description of Letter, 1863 Oct. 2 (Columbia, S.C.) to Col. J[ames] W[ashington] Harrison. (University of South Carolina). WorldCat record id: 704556374 Lawyer, Confederate Army officer, S.C. Governor, S.C. Repre...

Paris Universal Exposition of 1878

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pw18xs (corporateBody)

Ewell, Richard Stoddert, 1817-1872

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rj4ndx (person)

Lieutenant-general, Confederate Army, during Civil War. From the description of Letter : Richmond, Va., to Hugh [W.] Sheffey, 1865 March 14. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library). WorldCat record id: 30366216 U.S. and Confederate Army officer. From the description of Richard Stoddert Ewell papers, 1838-1896. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71063194 Benjamin Stoddert Ewell was born in Georgetown, D. C., 10 June 1810, the son of Thomas Ewell and Elizabeth ...

Clark, W. A. (Washington Augustus), 1842-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vh6q5z (person)

Melton, Mary Helen Gore.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mg9jp7 (person)

Jackson, Stonewall, 1824-1863

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cc0xwv (person)

Stonewall Jackson (1824-1863) was a Confederate Army officer from Lexington (Rockbridge Co.), Va. From the guide to the Stonewall Jackson papers, 1855-1906, (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University) Confederate general. From the description of Stonewall Jackson papers, 1842-1898 (bulk 1861-1862) [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 23186323 Confederate Army officer, from Lexington (Rockbridge Co.), Va. From the de...

South Carolina. General Assembly

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6963gb3 (corporateBody)

S.C. Statute 1811(5)639 specified that every board of commissioners of free schools was to make a yearly return to the legislature. Governor Middleton recommended the passage of this act as a response to the systematic lack of education in the state. The first appropriation made possible 124 elementary schools for the state. As the system progressed, the term "free school" became embarrassingly exchangeable with pauper schools, because the 1811 act carried within it a written directive that an a...

Leo, Pope XIII, 1810-1903

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vv2g8b (person)

Pope Leo XIII (born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci, 2 March 1810 – died 20 July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death....

Pickens, F. W. (Francis Wilkinson), 1805-1869

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68w3cdb (person)

Pickens was a congressman from South Carolina and later governor of that state. From the description of Francis Wilkinson Pickens letters from various correspondents, 1832-1834. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 612796541 From the guide to the Francis Wilkinson Pickens letters from various correspondents, 1832-1834., (Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University) Congressman and governor of South Carolina. From the description of...

Smith, Gustavus Woodson, 1822-1896

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bz67rm (person)

Gustavus Woodson Smith (1822-1896), civil and military engineer and Confederate Major General, born in Kentucky. From the description of Gustavus Woodson Smith papers, 1858-1863. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 38478117 Army officer and engineer. Appointed major-general in the provisional Confederate Army in September 1861 and held various commands off and on until the end of the war, including several days as acting secretary of war. From the description of State...

Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xk8d2z (person)

Mary Ann Lamar Cobb (1818-1889), wife of Gen. Howell Cobb (1815-1868). From the description of Letter to Mary Ann Lamar Cobb, 1888 Oct. 2. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 38476494 Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) was born in Kentucky. He attended Transylvania University for a short time before enrolling at West Point in 1824, at the age of 16. He graduated in 1828 and immediately joined the First Infantry. His regiment was engaged in the Blackhawk War of 1831. In 1833, he became a...

Melton family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6j1943j (family)