Matthew Calhoun McCrary papers, 1861-1869 (bulk, 1861-1862).

ArchivalResource

McCrary, Matthew Calhoun, 1834-1908. Matthew Calhoun McCrary papers, 1861-1869 (bulk, 1861-1862).

Matthew Calhoun McCrary papers, 1861-1869 (bulk, 1861-1862).

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/61697855

Chiefly correspondence from Matthew McCrary to his wife Rachel Helen Young McCrary (1840-1898) describing his experiences in the Confederate army during the spring and summer of 1862, re camp life, picket duty, battles, transportation, sickness, etc. Includes letters, 26 Apr.-2 May 1862 re his journey from S.C. to Virginia by locomotive, including, 2 May 1862, re injury of six soldiers in a train wreck; letters of 2 May and 26 and 29 June 1862 from Richmond, Va., re sight-seeing around Richmond, burial of soldiers in shallow graves, nearby battles in which McCrary was unable to participate due to ill health and a description of the battlefield after the fighting, "an awfull sight to behold"; letter, 21 Aug. 1862, re: his coming under enemy fire while building a bridge across the Rappahannock River; and letter, 3 September 1862, re the Second Battle of Manassas. Places represented include Columbia, S.C.; Rockville, Maryland; Richmond and the Virginia Counties of Fairfax, Prince William, Spotsylvania, Culpepper, and Orange. Other items include letters of 30 May and 21 Oct. 1861, from G.L. Beasly to his aunt Rachel McCrary re: campaigns in Northern Virginia; petition, 18 Mar. 1864, from seven residents of Laurens District, S.C., requesting compensation from the Confederate government for labor of African-American slaves in building fortifications around Charleston, S.C. Includes published arthmetic textbook by Charles Davies: Key to Davies' Arithmetic for the Use of Teachers Only (published by A.S. Barnes and Co., New York, in 1857; signed by McCrary on endpapers, 1859).

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University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries