Launcelot Minor Blackford, letter
June 28, 1863
“In Hagerstown I met wih a very pleasant bevy of Southern sympathizers, including 4 or 5 of the prettiest girls in the place. At one house I was hospitably entertained both at breakfast & dinner and had various other kindnesses extended to me. These good people I shall always remember with especial gratitude. I would fain mention their names, and those of other nice people I met, thinking you might know of some of them, but the remote chance of this letter's falling into the hands of the enemy prevents me from doing so. I cannot run even the smallest risk of criminating them with the Yankees, whose well known valour in oppressing and tormenting women and other obnoxious non-combatants, I can never be unmindful of…. Though it rained almost continually the ladies stood thus for hours, bestowing welcome & encouragement on our veterans, as, drenched wiht rain though they were, they marched with firm elastic step and true soldierly bearing along the streets, all the time in good spirits, and whenever they passed the ladies, shouting lustily at their presence and encouragement.”
Author
Name: Launcelot Minor Blackford
Unit: 1st Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, CSA
Document Information
Type: Letter
Subject(s):
- Civilian Support for the Confederacy
Event Location: Hagerstown, Washington Co., MD
Document Origin: Chambersburg, Franklin Co., PA
Notes
Blackford served in the Rockbridge Artillery (Private), in the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia (Clerk in the Military court), and in the 24th Virginia Infantry, “William R. Terry's” Brigade, “Pickett's” division (Adjutant). Following the Civil War, Blackford returned to his pre-war position as a teacher in a high school and, in 1884, married. In 1914, Blackford passed away, leaving his wife and six children to carry on his family’s legacy.
Source
Launcelot Minor Blackford to William Matthews Blackford. June 28, 1863. Valley of the Shadow Personal Papers. Obtained from http://valley.lib.virginia.edu/papers/A0001.
