Manuscript Database
Creator/Title
Slaughter, Robert C. Letter, 25 September 1862. 4 pages.
Call No.
Mss. C S
Content
Photocopy of a letter written by Robert C. Slaughter, a surgeon during the Civil War with the 53rd Indiana Infantry Regiment, to his brother from Bolivar, Tennessee. Slaughter writes that he has attained the position of Brigade Surgeon, a post he has been unable to resign from despite his desire to return home. He comments on the land in Tennessee and northern Mississippi where his unit is stationed. He also writes about the labor shortage now faced by southern planters, reporting that the cotton fields are being neglected by slaves; slaves are leaving their masters to follow the Union army; and the largely unsuccessful attempts by slaveowners to recover their slaves. Slaughter also laments the death of the old Union and questions its restoration, even if the North is able to win the war. He worries that the North will have to keep a standing army in the South, a mockery to the principles of liberty and freedom that the country was founded upon. Additionally, he relates the movements of his unit in Tennessee and northern Mississippi; a near death experience at the First Battle of Corinth; and his efforts to get a Mississippi acquaintance, Dr. Shaw, released after Shaw was taken prisoner by his unit. Finally, he reports that they are awaiting an attack from Breckinridge's troops, commenting that the men are "anxious for the fun".