Clinton Hatcher uses the laws of logic to excuse his break with etiquette by sending "Miss Mary" a friendly letter without first securing her permission. He recounts the last days of his trip away from his home in Loudoun County and comments on Virginia's mobilization for war. He reveals that his community plans to organize a home guard for which he has been offered the captaincy and for which he wishes he could obtain one of her father's pistols.
Clinton Hatcher informs Mary Sibert that his parents finally consented to his joining the army and responds to her arguments against his decision. He expresses his desire to protect Virginia from invasion and his approbation of secession. Responding to her inquiries, Hatcher comments on politics and mutual acquaintances.
A. Nichols comments on the unfortunate unmarried state of Major McCue and urges the young ladies of Mount Solon to take pity on him.
Clinton Hatcher describes camp life, conveys his anxiousness to meet the Yankee abolitionists in battle, and criticizes men too cowardly to defend their women. He encourages Mary Sibert in her discussions on national affairs and comments on the nature of her sex, including her rumored flirtatiousness and heartlessness.
Sibert writes to his mother, reporting on a minor engagement with Union troops and asking her to send him an article of clothing.
On military subjects, Clinton Hatcher describes the hardships of camp life, his anxiousness to see battle, his contempt for southerners who join the northern army, and his opinions on military strategy. He elaborates on his views on the inconstancy of women and on his correspondent's reputation for flirtatiousness.
Clinton Hatcher recounts his role in the battle at Manassas Junction in July 1861 and relishes his next opportunity to bayonette a Yankee. He also addresses Mary Sibert's concerns about the propriety of their correspondence and hints at his feelings.
Clinton Hatcher comments on some of the regiments from other states, mentions mutual acquaintances, and criticizes Yankee "cowards" for delaying his plans to see Mary Sibert again.
Clinton Hatcher describes his pleasant accommodations in camp, the poor food supplied by the Confederacy, the rigors of dress parades, and his inability to keep the Sabbath. He replies to questions by Mary Sibert about receiving God's forgiveness for killing and about the treatment of southern civilians.
Clinton Hatcher reassures Mary Sibert that he finds her letters very interesting. He mentions the strictness of camp rules, his wish to march to Maryland and Washington soon, and his desire to shoot southern traitors, especially those he formerly called friends. He also discusses love and devotion and longs for Sibert's company.
Clinton Hatcher names one exception to the rule of female inconstancy and reveals his feelings for Mary Sibert. He also comments on camp life, mentions a skirmish with the Yankees, and criticizes prominent Unionist John Minor Botts. Clinton Hatcher to Mary Anna Sibert, October 8, 1861
Clinton Hatcher discusses changes in his regiment, including its possible incorporation into Longstreet's Brigade. Hatcher also asks Mary Sibert whether she could possibly love him.
Coyner complains about the privations of camp life, defends his company's actions in a recent battle, and brags about his "adventures with the fair sex" since becoming a soldier.
Thaddeus Hatcher writes to Mary Sibert about the death of his cousin Clinton Hatcher. He mentions a tribute to be published in the Washingtonian, the particulars of his fatal injury in battle, and his last words. Hatcher promises to send copies of the tribute to Sibert and to plant a rose as she requested.
Coyner defends his failure to respond punctually to Mary Anna Sibert's previous letters, offering as his excuse the rigors and uncertainties of army life.
This letter to the Rockingham Register, probably written by Mary Anna Sibert, pays homage to Stonewall Jackson and his men, and describes their passage through Mt. Solon.
J. M. McCue writes Lorenzo Sibert to inform him of losses he sustained because of a hail storm and complain that money he sent through the mail was lost. He also discusses Jackson's campaign in the Valley, fighting before Richmond, saltpeter production, the prospect of Federal victories, and mutual friends. In a notable incident, a letter to a cousin in the Union army from Ms. Pillsberry of New Hampshire, who once stayed with the Siberts, was found in the streets of Winchester and forwarded on to McCue.
This pass from the Confederate Provost Marshal of East Tennessee gives Lorenzo Sibert and three others permission to travel in the State.
This loyalty oath to the Confederate government is signed by Lorenzo Sibert and three others.
Mary Anna Sibert writes her parents to report the return of her uncle from imprisonment as a traitor to the cause. She describes his escape, denies his alleged Union sentiments, and discusses a new military invention.
Evans thanks Miss Lew Plunkett for her recent gift of flowers.
Wartmann, proprietor of the Rockingham Register, sends Sibert a bill for printing S.B. Coyner's obituary and urges her to come for a visit.
Evans writes to his brother to ask for help in conducting some personal business.
Sibert writes to his sister, thanking her for clothing she has sent, discussing his further clothing needs, and reporting on a recent 11-hour, thousand-man snowball fight among the troops.
Sibert reports to his sister on the high spirits and easy camp life of the Confederate soldiers with whom he is spending the winter at Camp Randolph.
Sibert writes to his cousin, asking her to run a small errand for him.
Barber writes to his cousin, thanking her for her recent letter and complaining that no other family members have yet written to him. He describes the unpleasant duty of reviewing applications for exemption from military service because of injury and worries about the personal effects of long service, noting that "My heart once so full of tender affection seems now to be drying up."
Blakemore describes his dejection after hearing of the fall of Atlanta but reports that he is now as optimistic as ever. He describes the various ways in which he passes the time in camp, including performing in a musical group and mischievously encouraging an epistolary romance between his Sergeant Major and Mary Anna Sibert.
Barber boasts about the recent military success enjoyed by Virginia reserves at Saltville, laments the "depredations" of the Yankees (including the loss of one of his own children), and expresses confidence that the day of God's judgment upon the North is not far distant.
Sibert asks a New Yorker to help determine the fate of her brother, John J. Sibert, missing since May, 1864. She wishes to know whether Sibert is a prisoner at Elmira in the North.
A. D. Robertson writes Lorenzo Sibert regarding manufacture of his gun model.
Evans reports briefly to her son on local and family news.
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