Manuscript Database
Creator/Title
Huddleston, William A., d. 1863. Papers, 1862, 1886. 5 pages.
Call No.
Mss. C H
Content
Photocopies of two letters written by William A. Huddleston, a soldier during the Civil War in the 5th Kentucky Cavalry Regiment. A native of Burkesville, Kentucky, Huddleston writes to his family in April & June 1862 from Tennessee. Huddleston describes the hard fighting at the Battle of Shiloh, calling the Battle of Fort Donelson a mere "skirmish" in comparison. He also mentions the Confederate retreat from New Orleans to Corinth, Mississippi where they are surrounded by Union troops; reports that a group of 400-500 rebel soldiers (from Wayne County, Tennessee) are fleeing north to Union lines; enumerates livestock and weapons captured when rebel soldiers flee from Chattanooga; and describes in detail the heroic death of a comrade, Galen D. Rainey, in the Battle of Sweeden's Cove, Tennessee. Huddleston is especially concerned with the honor he will win as a soldier, particularly if he falls on the field of battle, writing: "I will come home with the crowns of glory and honor" and "If it is my lot to fall in the battlefield I will die a soldier fighting for my cuntry [sic] and the liberty of my children". Huddleston deserted at Murfreesboro, Tennessee in July 1862. He was captured by the Confederates on March 30, 1863 and shot at Selma, Tennessee on April 2, 1863.