Manuscript Database
Creator/Title
John. Letters, 1863. 2 items.
Call No.
Mss. C J
Content
These two letters, written "John" of the 35th Massachusetts Infantry, describe his service in Kentucky and Mississippi in the spring and summer of 1863. Of particular interest is the writer's lengthy observations about enslaved people at Winchester, Ky. He believed they were more intelligent than free persons of color in Boston and their living conditions were better than slaves he had seen in Virginia. He notes, that while he was not a pro-slavery advocate, "If all slavery was like Ky. slavery I think there would not be much suffering among the blacks."