Heartbreaking Confederate prisoner-of-war letter written by William B. Haney of the 4th Virginia Infantry (Stonewall Brigade) from the infamous military prison camp in Elmira, New York. Of note is that the original envelope this letter was sent in bears the ink stamp of Elmira’s censor, meaning that the letter was opened and read by Union guards prior to being forwarded into the mail. Haney writes his sister who lives in Elkhart, Indiana, about his troubled condition:
"I am suffering so much with Dyspepsia & Diarrhea. I need a change of diet & you must send me eatables right off. I wrote to you twice before for a small box. Send me a whole lot biscuits and ginger cakes, a quart molasses & anything else you may see proper to send. I would not ask you if I was not in the fix I am in. Kiss all the children for me."
On February 19, 1865, less than two weeks after penning this letter, William became one of the almost 3,000 Confederate soldiers that died at Elmira. He is buried amongst his brothers in arms in the Confederate cemetery there. This is a wonderful and haunting look into life inside a Civil War prison camp, with a harrowing account from a suffering soldier who was soon to become a sad statistic. Both letter and envelope are in excellent condition.
[Civil War, Union, Confederate]