https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/f2e5ce998e62804c2be8b8b65fef3c51.png 190352c85216ecae11a220c15f989bdf https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/7be25329ec3c61a80f131bc3aba3478d.png 3ec6043bff7f45c41d5637886d0a71f3 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/500b3de278f7ab49831f5ac7e31d0156.png 022da532d257b58f37f19eb1a7b260da https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/91fb6287f43c1ec376621ebe35fbc860.png 341c28570755c886645d36e727130d00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Soldiers and the Military Experience Subject The topic of the resource The sample documents in this section help site users explore the wartime experiences of Mississippi soldiers and their families. They reveal men's frustrations with military discipline, hardships suffered by families with their men absent, and the gradual increase of dissent and desertion across the state. New Recruits: Letters or petitions from new recruits reveal their resistance to strict military discipline, especially in the earliest days of the war. A great example of this appears in <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/7">James Gates's June 1861 letter</a> protesting his commander's strict treatment of the men, refusing to allow them to return home for a few days, and withholding their pay. Gates served in the Tallahatchie Rifles, organized in Charleston, MS, which later mustered into Confederate (national) service as Company F, 21st Mississippi Infantry Regiment. State Forces: Men who served in state-level forces also submitted protests to the governor, but these usually related to lack of pay, weapons and supplies, or to transfers to national service. State-level volunteers were usually older men with families who opted for service closer to home to stay near their families and work their farms. You can see this in this <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/34">January 1863 petition</a> from the men of the 1st Regiment, Mississippi Minute Men, explaining why they specifically sought state-level service and protest their transfer to national service. Note that they were not seeking discharges. This can be seen as a form of dissent, but it is not disloyalty and certainly not desertion, which surfaces in other records. These men were willing to stay in service, but along the terms of their original enlistment. Wartime Pressures: As the war dragged on, the documents reveal how white Mississippians responded to the need to recruit, supply, nurse, and feed soldiers. There are also concerns about counties' need to fulfill draft laws and increasing rates of desertion. See, for example, this <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/40">1863 petition</a> by 1st Lieutenant W. A. Mitchell, Company K, 4 Regiment Mississippi State Troops, for a 20-day furlough to provide for his impoverished wife and five children. Mitchell had been in service (first at the national-level, then state-level) since the beginning of the war. There is also a <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/17">June 1862 telegram</a> from Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard that speaks to the rising number of deserters and Confederate leaderships' determination to address this. His telegram clarifies that soldiers who do not have official leave for sickness or furloughs must be arrested as deserters. African-American Enlistments: At about the same time white soldiers' desertion rates became dangerous to the Confederate war effort in Mississippi, African-American enlistments in U.S. forces proved an equal troubling issue for the South. This <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/51">November 1863 telegram</a> from the commander-in-chief of the Confederacy, President Jefferson Davis (a Mississippian), reveals those concerns as Davis discusses the recruitment (or conscription, as Davis phrased it) of African-American men into U.S. forces. It is unclear exactly what Davis proposes should be done about this, but the CWRGM research team is digging into the documents around this item in the collection to learn more. Desertion and Dissent: Most of the documents related to desertion and strong dissent are in the "Memory and Commemoration" and can be found by keyword searches for "desertion." Examples of desertion by soldiers and dissenting attitudes by soldiers and civilians include <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/39">this letter</a> by 1st Lt. P. G. Norman, 1st Mississippi State Troops, expressing his frustration in March 1863 that the residents of Canton, MS, were encouraging desertion and local authorities seemed to be doing little to arrest soldiers who were absent without leave.<a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/47"> Lewis Pipes of Natchez, MS </a>expressed similar frustrations in June 1863 (during the Vicksburg Campaign) noting that there were 500 deserters in the county living off of food meant for the army or families in the area. This does not mean, however, that all white Mississippians had abandoned their support for the Confederacy by 1863. Documents can be found from as late as February 1865, like this one from <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/64">M. S. Ward in Enterprise, MS</a>, suggesting ways that the state could more efficiently capture deserters and return them to military service. The Fog of War: Site visitors with an interest in military history will want to study the telegrams in this sampling and in the larger collection as it becomes available. They reveal the immediacy and urgency of military intelligence during campaigns, sometimes on a daily or even hourly basis. See, for example, this telegram from <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/61">November 1863 </a>warning the governor that 10,000 U.S. forces had left Vicksburg and were marching toward Jackson, or this <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/52">1864 telegram</a> from Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, warning the governor of a sizable Federal force moving through the northern part of state. (Written by Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Page 1: Richmond May 28th 1863 To His Excellency Gov. Pettus Sir In accordance with the act of Legislation, under which I recd" my appointment as Commissioner, I have the honour to report as follows viz: Having seen that all the wounded of our state in the late battle had been removed from the vicinity of the battle fields & having visited various camps, I returned to this [torn page] place, & have to this date been [?] [torn page] in visiting the various Hospitals [occupied?] [torn page] by sick & wounded Mississippians, It gives me pleasure to report that generally they are doing well, some deaths have occurred in Hospitals, but a larger proportion than usual of those seriously wounded, are progressing favorably, [?] [the?] [every?] prospect of ultimate recovery, Taking into view the many privations to which we are subjected by our [insubortion?] from Europe, our Hospitals as the [such?], are well supported, and Page 2: amicably conducted, Great attention is paid to cleanliness in every thing pertaining to them; the [diet?] is as good as can be obtained & the attention of the surgeons faithful & Efficient, A few of the wounded of Genl Barksdale Brigade, were taken into [His?] [services?] [lives?] & sent back to Washington City, before Genl Lees applications from the exchange of wounded, could be communicated, Notwithstanding being able to obtain definite information in my regard to them, I have recd the general statement from our returned prisoners, that they were undertaken [once?] of & doing [?], as it is now the custom to make out Hospital pay rolls & also to issue clothing when needed to patients, I have not found it necessary to draw upon the fund appropriated by the Legislature for this purpose; but would respectfully suggest that a small amount be placed in my hands to meet any contingencies which may unexpectedly occur— The health of our troops in camp is good, & but for a tendency to scurvy would be most excellent. This was a serious Page 3: Evil during the campaign of last [torn page] rendering the treatment of all [diseased?] in camp Exceedingly difficult & [impairing?] greatly The efficiency of our army—Evils which could be entirely ob-viated by systematic Effort on the part of each state to supply its troops with vinegar & dried fruit, I propose to be governed in my future movements by cir-cumstances as they may develop themselves, Present indications have determined me to remain in this Department for the present. If [?] [torn page] should [?] away without any [?] [torn page] I shall visit Department No 2 [with?] [torn page] The [?] of co'operating with Dr. Blackburn? Very resply" Yr. Obt. Serv,t A, C, Holt Commissioner &c, Page 4: A. C. Holt 28 May 1863 Answd 23 June When you send here Your Bonds & Power of attorney for some one to sign your name, & make requisitions for the the funds the money shall be sent you the Governor cannot draw & remit the many direct This item has been deacidified. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from A. C. Holt to Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus; May 28, 1863 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mdah_757-944-14-25 Subject The topic of the resource Military hospitals; Mississippi. Governor; Pettus, John Jones, 1813-1867. Description An account of the resource From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Pettus Collection. Letter from A.C. Holt in Richmond, Virginia, to Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus updating the Governor on the care Mississippi soldiers are receiving in Virginia hospitals. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Holt, A. C. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version); Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1863-05-28 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Funding for this project provided by The Dale Center for Study of War and Society-USM, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Digital Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Watson-Brown Foundation Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1863