The John and James Booker
Civil War Letters
From originals in the University of Virginia Special
Collections Dept.
Digital Versions prepared at the Electronic Text Center,
University of Virginia
Library
About The Booker Civil War Letters
This collection includes 22 letters (July 1861 - April 1864)
from twin brothers John Booker
(1840-1864) and James Booker
(1840-1923)
of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, to their cousin
Chloe Unity Blair
(1839-75).
John and James were born to
John Booker (1797-1859) and Nancy Blair Reynolds Booker (1796-1859) on October 10, 1840,
and both enlisted in the Confederate Army on May 24, 1861, at Whitmell, Virginia, in
Company D 38th Virginia Regiment, Infantry (also known as
"the Whitmell Guards").
They began writing letters to their cousin soon
after enlisting, and they continued until they were both
severely wounded in the Battle of Drewry's Bluff near Petersburg, Virginia,
on May 16, 1864. John died of his wounds in August 1864, but James
recovered, married Martha Ann Fulton ["Pat"] (?-1923) of Pittsylvania County, on October 31,
1867, and lived until 1923.
These remarkable letters give a sense of what life was like for an ordinary soldier serving in the
Confederate army, depicting the drama of battle but also the rhythms of everyday life at camp.
The Bookers worry over their health and that of their comrades; they enjoy the plenty and lament
the lack of food and supplies; report on the interactions between civilians and soldiers; and
describe religious revivals held at the camp. As the war goes on, John fumes against officers,
politicians, and the wealthy for evading their responsibilities and mistreating the common
soldier, while James grows more fatalistic and religious, trusting that his suffering is God's will.
This collection was given to the University of Virginia Library on May
20, 1996, by Mrs. Mary H. Payne, Danville, Virginia, through P. L.
Anderson, Jr., Danville, Virginia.
![[My Dear Cousin]](medium/figure1.gif)
© 1997, Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia.
Users of these texts agree to adhere to our
Conditions of Use.
The electronic texts were prepared as part of
Rare Book School 1997.
They are encoded in SGML and are made available
here in two forms, both generated "on-the-fly" from a single SGML
transcription:
Original version: a transcription that retains all of the period spelling,
capitalization, and punctuation. Includes notes about people, places, and events.
Modernized version: a transcription with modernized spelling,
capitalization, and punctuation. The grammar is uncorrected,
to preserve some of the original flavor of the letters. Includes notes about people, places, and
events.
There is also a prose summary of the collection and of each letter, prepared according to the
Encoded Archival Descriptions format.
SEARCH
ALL LETTERS
Booker, James, 1840-1923: Letters to Chloe Unity Blair
1861, July 14 (With A. Blair):
1861, September 6.
1861, October 8.
1861, December 15 (with John Booker):
1862, March 15 .
1862, April 19.
1862, August 3 :
(With John Booker)
1862, September 30.
1862, October 17.
1862, November 24.
1863, June 14.
1863, June 30.
1863, July 11.
1863, October 4.
1864, January 1.
1864, March 16.
1864, April 29.
1864, May n.d.
Letter Fragment, undated
Letter Fragment, undated
Booker, John, 1840-1864: Letters to Chloe Unity Blair
1862, February 19.
1862, April 29.
1863, September 27.
1863, December 22.
1864, March 1.
Booker and Blair Family Records
Blair Family Records.
Booker Family Records.
![[I still live in hope of peace soon though I may not live to see it]](medium/figure5.gif)
© 1997, Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. Users of
these images agree to adhere to our
Conditions of Use.
These color digital images were scanned at the University of Virginia
Special Collections Dept. by Felicia Johnson, and processed by David
Seaman. They
show the author's handwriting, folds in the pages, the quality of paper,
ink smudges, and so forth.
They are available below as "small", "medium", and "large" versions -- the small images load
most quickly, while the large images may be easier to read but take longer to load.
1861
July 14th
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September 6th
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October 8th
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1862
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April 19th
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April 29th
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August 3rd
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September 30th
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1863
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July 11th
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September 27th
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1864
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March 1st
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April 29th
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Letter Fragments, undated
Undated Letter Fragment
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Booker and Blair
Family Records
Blair Family Records
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Booker Family Records
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![[embossed watermark]](medium/figure13.gif)
Print Sources
Current, Richard N., ed.
Encyclopedia of the Confederacy. NY: Simon &
Schuster, 1993.
Gregory, G. Howard. 38th Virginia Infantry. Lynchburg, VA: H.E. Howard,
Inc., 1988. (part of The Virginia Regimental Histories Series)
Hewett, Janet B., ed. Roster of Confederate Soldiers 1861-1865. Vol 8.
Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1996.
Robertson, James. Civil War Virginia: Battleground for a
Nation. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1991.
Sublett, Charles W. 57th Virginia Infantry. Lynchburg, VA: H.E. Howard,
Inc., 1985. (part of The Virginia Regimental Histories Series)
Electronic Sources
Austin, Gayle. "Pittsylvania Co. VA Homepage." 1997.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~vapittsy/ (9 September, 1997).
"Southside on the Net, Directory of Churches and Religious
Organizations." 1997. http://www.petersburg.com/c/c1.htm
(9 September 1997).
Webb, Kerry. "U.S. Civil War Generals." 1997.
http://funnelweb.utcc.utk.edu/~hoemann/generals.html
(28 August 1997).
![[Nothing more but remain your afectionate cousin Jimmy Booker]](medium/figure14.gif)
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