Item No. 1797561

In this December 1864 Union soldier letter written from an Annapolis army hospital, Theodore Morgan writes about his time as a prisoner of war in rebel hands:

I will be home by New Year on a furlough. I will tell you where I have been since I have seen you. I have been all over the darn rebel confederacy. I was in Georgia four months. The rest of the time in S. Carolina. Seven months prisoner. John Waldin was with me. The poor fellow was so destitute, he had to take the oath to the reb government. He belongs to Brooks’s Battalion. They was over three thousand took the oath at the prison where I was at staying.

Nora, I won’t tell any more till I get where I can explain the whole thing.

In a postscript, he writes, “I han’t heard from home in eight months. What the news will be, I can’t tell.”

Which regiment Theodore Morgan belonged to remains a mystery. John Waldin could possibly be Private John Walden of the 8th New York Heavy Artillery, who was captured at Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864, and was held at Andersonville prison in Georgia from June 8.

What is certain from the letter is that Morgan and Waldin were acquainted. The fact that Waldin “had to take the oath to the reb government” is rather unfortunate considering the history of Brooks’s Battalion. The Confederate Congress had passed a law permitting foreign-born prisoners to take the oath of allegiance to the Confederacy. At the Florence Stockade in South Carolina, several hundred men took advantage of the new law, including a number of Americans who convinced their captors that they were Englishmen. Six hundred were organized into Brooks’s Battalion of Regulars (also called the Foreign Battalion). Unarmed, and officered by South Carolina veterans, the battalion participated in the defense of Savannah in early December 1864. While they initially behaved well, by mid-month a plot to assassinate the South Carolina officers was uncovered. The plotters were tried and convicted, but Confederate authorities lost faith in the Brooks project and, by Christmas, returned the remaining men to the Florence Stockade. Presumably, Waldin also returned to Florence, while in the meantime, Morgan had been paroled and returned to Union lines.

The letter was written on four pages of a small 3 1/2” x 6 3/4” letter sheet that has separated into two sheets.  Previous tape repairs at the folds. The full transcript appears below.

Dec 30 / 64

Miss Lina Franklin

Dear Nora, as it has been a long time since I have written, I will try to write you a few lines. I don’t think you will be able to read it, tell the truth. I han’t able to set up, although I am on the gain. Nora, when I see you I want you to answer a few questions. I hope you will tell the truth. It is something that Mat told me you wrote him.

I will be home by New Year on a furlough. I will tell you where I have been since I have seen you. I have been all over the darn rebel confederacy. I was in Georgia four months. The rest of the time in S. Carolina. Seven months prisoner. John Waldin was with me. The poor fellow was so destitute, he had to take the oath to the reb government. He belongs to Brooks’s Battalion. They was over three thousand took the oath at the prison where I was at staying.

Nora, I won’t tell any more till I get where I can explain the whole thing. It is getting late so I will close by bidding you goodbye.

Respects to all Enquiring friends. Please write soon & Ever Aff Friend
Theod Morgan

Army Hospital
Annapolis MD
Ward 38

I han’t heard from home in eight months. What the news will be, I can’t tell. Please write soon. Tell all the news.
Theodore.

Mr. Theodore Morgan
Army Hospital
Annapolis MD