[Civil War]. [Mississippi]

[Archive of Correspondence Belonging to William H. Tabb, a Soldier in the Confederate 14th Mississippi]

[Various locations: 1861-1865]. Forty letters, approximately [96]pp. Many with original envelopes. Light wear and soiling, old folds. In a legible hand. Together with twelve additional family letters and two military commissions. About very good. Item #6242

A wonderful archive of correspondence written home from the Confederate lines by William Henry Tabb of the 14th Mississippi Infantry. William Henry Tabb (1837-1864) was the son of a minister at the Choctaw Agency in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi. In April 1861, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Agency Guards, which were soon absorbed as a company in the 14th Mississippi Infantry. He was captured at Fort Donelson, exchanged, reached the rank of captain, and was with his regiment when he suffered a fatal wound in the defense of Atlanta on August 5, 1864.

Tabb begins his letters with optimism. On August 1861, after training in Corinth, Mississippi, the regiment met with a parade in Huntsville, en route to eastern Tennessee: "The women, men and children were down to see us, and a regiment turned out to do us honor.... Such cheering from beautiful young ladies all along our way is enough to make men brave." On October 22, 1861, he recounts the recent death by disease of his brother Thomas Tabb in Marion, Alabama, also of the 14th Mississippi, calling him "my dearest friend on earth."

Tabb was captured at Fort Donelson in February of 1862. Two of these letters were written from the Union prison at Johnson's Island near Sandusky, Ohio. In May 1862, he writes: "We are not allowed to write what nor as much as we please.... I have no friends to work for me, see no indications of a general exchange or parole, and it is almost impossible to escape from this island.... It is amusing to see men one day Confederate officers and the next day, cooking or around the wash tub. We have no servants.... I am well treated, have a plenty (not a variety) of food, and clothing that we need issued to us." By September 24th he was back with his regiment in Mississippi: "The Yankees stole my shoes, and I am wearing an old pr of boots.... It appears that my conduct at Donelson has been very highly spoken of. Well, I...tried to do my duty, but I am sure I did nothing extra. Indeed, our regt in my opinion fell little short of disgracing itself." He adds a word on the troubled home front situation: "Am sorry to hear that the Negroes have commenced stealing. I would very much like to see all that have behaved themselves, and wd thrash those who have been stealing."

On April 11, 1863 he describes the recent Battle of Ponchatoula, which other companies in his regiment participated in: "Rollins was sent out with ten of the company on our right wing to try to flank them. As soon as he commenced firing on them, we attacked their center, and they broke to run. They were zouaves, red pants, we never could catch them." He lamented the loss of his enslaved servant on June 7th, near Yazoo City: "I expected John to come to me. I have become attached to John and don't know how to get along without him. I look for him every day now." Tabb had some great stories about Grant's efforts to take Jackson, the Mississippi capital, from which Johnston's Confederates performed a stealth evacuation. On the 19th and 20th of July, 1863, he wrote: "All of the boys wanted to stay and fight, but Grant had 80,000 men and we had only 30,000. It is true we were behind breastworks, but they were not good and the place could be easily flanked. Johnson prepared to evacuate the place from the time we got there. The Yankees knew it.... Not a word was spoken, not a command given. The Yankees knew nothing of our leaving. Some of our men did not know we had left, and were left behind, but overtook us.... I hear that the Yankees commenced shelling the town the other morning after we left, and kept it up til 9 o'clock when some of the citizens hoisted the white flag and surrendered the place.... They were vexed to know that we had left them without their knowing anything about it."

Tabb had been away from the regiment for the start of the Atlanta campaign, and on July 9, 1864, he wrote: "I reached the command the evening of the 5th and found my company...8 miles from Atlanta. I found the men dirty and many of them with worn out clothes, and not very good rations, but all in good spirits, and glad to see me.... The people of Atlanta are leaving rapidly. They think the place will be evacuated.... Do not be surprised if you hear it. We will not be whipped if we do leave it." This is Tabb's final letter in the collection. He was shot a month later. The group concludes with nine condolence letters and memorials. An October 1864 memoriam (copied in 1894) recounted his death: "At the time he received the fatal shot, he was commanding the brigade skirmishers & was just forming the line to proceed to the front. Though terribly mangled & in great pain, he was calm & collected." He survived long enough to send farewell thoughts to his family, and to regret "that I was not spared to see my country through her troubles." Also included are two of Tabb's military commissions in the Agency Rifles from the State of Mississippi: as Second Lieutenant on 24 April 1861, and as First Lieutenant on 25 December 1861. Both are signed by Governor John J. Pettus. In all, a wonderful archive from a Confederate soldier who saw significant action and imprisonment during the war.

Price: $17,500.00