Autograph Letter Signed by William W. Marbury, a 23rd USCT soldier stationed in Texas on the Rio Grande in 1865

(Texas) Marbury, William W.

Edité par Camp of 23rd Regt., Brownsville, Texas, 1865

2pp., recto and verso of a single 4to sheet ruled paper. With the original mailing envelope. A vivid and unvarnished example of immediate postwar correspondence by William W. Marbury (b. 1832), a United States Colored Troops soldier stationed on the Rio Grande during Reconstruction's opening months. Written from Brownsville shortly after the collapse of the Confederacy, the letter documents the difficult conditions endured by Black troops assigned to occupation duty in Texas, including widespread illness, homesickness, and frustration at inactivity along a volatile border. Marbury, signing as "Co. H 23rd Regt USCT, 1st Div 3rd Brig 25th A Corps, Texas," reports that he has "got the scurvy," noting that "all the men in camp and the best part of them is gone to the Hospital and a great many have died with it." His complaints about muddy water to drink, oppressive heat - "It is hotter than Africa here" - and meager comforts provide firsthand testimony of the regiment's harsh late-summer environment at Brownsville. His discussion of postage costs ("What did you put six three cent stamp on two papers for when 1 2-cent post stamp would have did that"), requests for "green backs or silver," and longing for "a square meal" further ground the letter in the material realities of an enlisted man's life. The most striking passage appears in the postscript, where Marbury comments on unrest along the border: "We hear the Mexicans & French Shooting & Fighting, but we ain't got anything to do with them. I wish we had. I should like to shoot some of the French or Mexicans, Indians or Somebody, I don't care who it is." The remark reflects both the proximity of conflict tied to the French intervention in Mexico and the restless martial spirit of a soldier whose active campaigning had effectively ended but whose regiment remained deployed in a tense frontier theater. A rare firsthand account by a Black enlisted man of the 23rd U.S.C.T. during the uneasy shift from war to occupation, detailing both the harsh conditions in Texas and the tension between homesickness and a readiness for renewed combat even though there is only "nobody to fight." Marbury is found in the historical record as a Baltimore waiter. He was drafted and enlisted in 1863 for three years. TRANSCRIPTION (capitalizations and punctuation added for clarity) Camp of 23rd Regt Brownsville Texas Aug 16th Dear Parents, I take this opportunity of answering your kind letter of the 14th and was glad to hear that mother was better and did want to go to Camp Meeting. I should like to be home but I am got enough of 'Camp' of any thing. You perceive this is headed Camp and if you will look you will find all my letters Camp Something or other. Well to my letter I am sick, got the scurvy, all the men in camp and the best part of them is gone to the Hospital and a great many have died with it. I hope I wont die, but the Lord knows best what to do. You always do wrong. What did you put six three cent stamp on two papers for when 1 2-cent post stamp would of did that. Would only been 4 cent instead 18 cents you did by putting 3 stamps on each paper but I was very much oblige[d] to you for the papers & stamps & one dollar. But I don't know as I can spend it here. They won't take any thing but green backs. So when you send me any more please to send green backs or silver. Give my love to every member of the family. Mrs. Henrietta Newman tell her that I have not forgotten that she promised to cook me a good dinner or supper, and then I can exclaim like the soldier that I have got a square meal. Somebody asked him what a square meal was. He said it was 4 cups of coffee, plenty of hot rollers butter and cake, but enough of that. I hope we will get home before Christmas or Thanksgiving Day and then I shall have a square meal. It is hotter than Africa here. Muddy water to drink, nobody to fight, nothing [but] drill and meet or roast. Tell Sam to write and send me some papers but don't send both papers on. N° de réf. du vendeur 376715

Détails bibliographiques

Titre : Autograph Letter Signed by William W. ...
Éditeur : Camp of 23rd Regt., Brownsville, Texas
Date d'édition : 1865