1864-08-04: Powers, Frank E., to Powers, Annie, Letter |
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[page 1] Charleston East Tenn Aug 4th 1864 Miss Noble Dear Lady You having ignored the title of “Brother & sister” I find myself at a loss as to the manner in in which I should address you. By the way [illegible] any aversion as well as “pencilings by the way” but as it is impossible for me to write with any- thing else tonight (as I find myself out of ink) and if postponed till tomorrow I may not find time for a week, I have condescended to make a “military Necessity” of it & use pencil. But to your letter. You complain of my not having replied to your letters as soon as you thought I ought to have done and make that a pretext for writing me a very short sarcastic & cool letter demanding the return of the card you sent me and [page 2] more than hinting that mine was no longer of any value to you. I say made that a pretext for I am perfectly satisfied in my own mind that it can be no more, for you are a lady of far to much sense, and one who pays altogether to much respect to the customs of society & the feelings of others to ever have written that letter simply because your letter of June 25th did not reach me and be replied to in time to get into your hands by the 23rd of July. No! No! There is, there must be something behind all this talk about the depreciation of the value of articles obtained after they were in posession—My “Apparent earnestness” & all that sort of thing to induce you to write as you did instead of the delay in my reply reaching you, for you are well aware that letters often miscarry in the Army as well as that I am liable to be called to the front at any moment, where I would stand but little if any chance of getting your letter perhaps for a month, during those times [page 3] of commotion & Battle that if I did receive it there I’d find little or no chance to reply, unless I took time that I should be entirely devoted to the wounded & dying for there are not half enough surgeons there now to attend those who are dying for want of surgical aid. Now then! the query arises what is it that has produced this sudden and I must say singular change in your style of writing to me? I admit my perfect inability to offer any reasonable cause or excuse for that change unless as you said in aforementioned letter when speaking of my “abominable Spelling” you had ("Almost") given me up in dispair on account of the aforesaid "Abominable (bad) Spelling" -- but if such is the fact I think you had seen enough of my resignation under the rod of correction & reproof to know that I would have borne, with due for- titude, the plain announcement of the fact that my letters were to “Plebian” to suit your “Parisian tastes” & have discontinued them [page 4] As to the return of that photograph, that is simply out of the question at present for I value it altogether to highly to part with it upon so slight a pretext and until I know the cause of your displeasure (Perhaps it is because I do not like Henry Ward Beecher, is it?) Your letter of the 25th of June was replied to on or about the 20th of July and it is possible that you are now in posession of it & if not, you soon will be doubtless. In that letter I sent some flowers, did you get them & if so, in what condition I will try & send you to days paper (if I can find one in camp) containing an account of a little skirmish a few of our boys had Monday last. Athens is a town of about two thousand inhabitants located fourteen miles north of us on the Knoxville R.R. A small squad of our Regt., numbering 20 men in all, is kept there as a provost guard and are under my care & in my charge, therefore I partook in part of the glory of the Great Exploit in as much as I dressed the wounded mans hand. We have since placed the entire band, I think Hors de combat for three years or during the war. Our boys never take such men prisoners The lateness of the hour (tis one P.M.) admonishes me of the fact that my letter is quite long enough for a reply to your short note and as it is very plain in expression I fear it is longer than you may like but then it is after ‘My style.’ I shall look for your reply to this anxiously in hopes it will enlighten me as to the cause of your disaffection. As Ever Frank E. Powers
Object Description
Title | Powers, Frank E. Letters (1864) |
Creator | Powers, Frank E. |
LC Subject Headings |
Powers, Frank E. Tennessee--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 |
EOA Categories |
History – 1838-1874: Sectionalism, the Civil War and Reconstruction Peoples -- Military Life Government and Politics -- Military |
Description | This collection consists of 4 letters Power wrote to his sister in Brooklyn, NY describing his activities during the Civil War. Powers was a Union soldier stationed in Charleston, Tennessee. |
Digital Publisher | Auburn University Libraries |
Date | 1864-08-04; 1864-08-10; 1864-09-13; 1864-10-03 |
Original Format | 4 letters |
Type | Text |
Format | |
Original Item ID | RG 0341 |
Rights | This image is the property of the Auburn University Libraries and is intended for non-commercial use. Users of the image are asked to acknowledge the Auburn University Libraries. For information about obtaining high-resolution copies of this and other images in this collection, please contact the Auburn University Libraries Special Collections & Archives Department at archives@auburn.edu or (334) 844-1732. |
Relation With | www.american-south.org |
Language | eng |
File Name | Powers FE letters_1.pdf; Powers FE letters_2.pdf; Powers FE letters_3.pdf; Powers FE letters_4.pdf |
Collection | Frank E. Powers Papers |
Repository | Auburn University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives. |
Submitted by | Thornton, Linda; Galati, Leslie Ann; Coates, Midge |
Description
Title | 1864-08-04: Powers, Frank E., to Powers, Annie, Letter |
Creator | Powers, Frank E. |
LC Subject Headings |
Powers, Frank E. Tennessee--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 |
EOA Categories |
History – 1838-1874: Sectionalism, the Civil War and Reconstruction Peoples -- Military Life Government and Politics -- Military |
Description | This collection consists of 4 letters Power wrote to his sister in Brooklyn, NY describing his activities during the Civil War. Powers was a Union soldier stationed in Charleston, Tennessee. |
Digital Publisher | Auburn University Libraries |
Date | 1864-08-04 |
Original Format | 1 letter |
Type | Text |
Format | |
Original Item ID | RG 0341 |
Rights | This image is the property of the Auburn University Libraries and is intended for non-commercial use. Users of the image are asked to acknowledge the Auburn University Libraries. For information about obtaining high-resolution copies of this and other images in this collection, please contact the Auburn University Libraries Special Collections & Archives Department at archives@auburn.edu or (334) 844-1732. |
Relation With | www.american-south.org |
Language | eng |
File Name | Powers FE letters_1.pdf |
Collection | Frank E. Powers Papers |
Repository | Auburn University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives. |
Submitted by | Thornton, Linda; Galati, Leslie Ann; Coates, Midge |
Transcript | [page 1] Charleston East Tenn Aug 4th 1864 Miss Noble Dear Lady You having ignored the title of “Brother & sister” I find myself at a loss as to the manner in in which I should address you. By the way [illegible] any aversion as well as “pencilings by the way” but as it is impossible for me to write with any- thing else tonight (as I find myself out of ink) and if postponed till tomorrow I may not find time for a week, I have condescended to make a “military Necessity” of it & use pencil. But to your letter. You complain of my not having replied to your letters as soon as you thought I ought to have done and make that a pretext for writing me a very short sarcastic & cool letter demanding the return of the card you sent me and [page 2] more than hinting that mine was no longer of any value to you. I say made that a pretext for I am perfectly satisfied in my own mind that it can be no more, for you are a lady of far to much sense, and one who pays altogether to much respect to the customs of society & the feelings of others to ever have written that letter simply because your letter of June 25th did not reach me and be replied to in time to get into your hands by the 23rd of July. No! No! There is, there must be something behind all this talk about the depreciation of the value of articles obtained after they were in posession—My “Apparent earnestness” & all that sort of thing to induce you to write as you did instead of the delay in my reply reaching you, for you are well aware that letters often miscarry in the Army as well as that I am liable to be called to the front at any moment, where I would stand but little if any chance of getting your letter perhaps for a month, during those times [page 3] of commotion & Battle that if I did receive it there I’d find little or no chance to reply, unless I took time that I should be entirely devoted to the wounded & dying for there are not half enough surgeons there now to attend those who are dying for want of surgical aid. Now then! the query arises what is it that has produced this sudden and I must say singular change in your style of writing to me? I admit my perfect inability to offer any reasonable cause or excuse for that change unless as you said in aforementioned letter when speaking of my “abominable Spelling” you had ("Almost") given me up in dispair on account of the aforesaid "Abominable (bad) Spelling" -- but if such is the fact I think you had seen enough of my resignation under the rod of correction & reproof to know that I would have borne, with due for- titude, the plain announcement of the fact that my letters were to “Plebian” to suit your “Parisian tastes” & have discontinued them [page 4] As to the return of that photograph, that is simply out of the question at present for I value it altogether to highly to part with it upon so slight a pretext and until I know the cause of your displeasure (Perhaps it is because I do not like Henry Ward Beecher, is it?) Your letter of the 25th of June was replied to on or about the 20th of July and it is possible that you are now in posession of it & if not, you soon will be doubtless. In that letter I sent some flowers, did you get them & if so, in what condition I will try & send you to days paper (if I can find one in camp) containing an account of a little skirmish a few of our boys had Monday last. Athens is a town of about two thousand inhabitants located fourteen miles north of us on the Knoxville R.R. A small squad of our Regt., numbering 20 men in all, is kept there as a provost guard and are under my care & in my charge, therefore I partook in part of the glory of the Great Exploit in as much as I dressed the wounded mans hand. We have since placed the entire band, I think Hors de combat for three years or during the war. Our boys never take such men prisoners The lateness of the hour (tis one P.M.) admonishes me of the fact that my letter is quite long enough for a reply to your short note and as it is very plain in expression I fear it is longer than you may like but then it is after ‘My style.’ I shall look for your reply to this anxiously in hopes it will enlighten me as to the cause of your disaffection. As Ever Frank E. Powers |