1862 Confed. Civil War Letter Written While Seven Pines "raging with great fury"

Description

This June 1, 1862, letter was written while the Battle of Seven Pines (or Fair Oaks) was “raging with great fury” within earshot of Willis F. Riddick’s Richmond office. Riddick, an employee of the Confederate Postal Service, wrote the letter to his sweetheart Addie B. Currier in North Carolina. His description of the battle comes toward the end of the letter. Before that, Riddick, a talented writer, uses the first portion of the letter to flirt with Ms. Currier, including:
Thinking it, feeling it, and
knowing
it, please pardon me for again saying it: “
Miss Addie is a great lady
.” You say you are “fond of writing.” I am glad to know it, and sincerely hope you will indulge that fondness by writing to me as often and as much as you may feel inclined to write—the oftener and the more, the better I shall like it—affording me far more pleasure than you can possibly derive even from the delightful mental social employment of your hand and fingers.
He then mixes flattery with a heavy dose of politics:
At a time like this, when I am intently engaged in business, my relatives and friends driven from their homes and scattered, some among strangers and others in the army ready to die rather than submit to Black Republican domination, which a tyrannical northern numerical majority is stirring to compel us to live under, it is cheering indeed, truly comforting, to know there is
one
who, when the “soft hour comes for walking alone among the flowers and shrubbery,” thinks of the humble writer.
Riddick assures Addie, “Soon as I can leave here to visit any place for enjoyment, I shall go to Oxford, and you may be sure I shall not pass Esmeralda without calling.” Esmeralda was the Warrenton, North Carolina, home of General Thomas Jefferson Green of Texas Republic fame. His son, Wharton J. Green, was lieutenant colonel of the 2nd North Carolina Battalion. Riddick’s correspondent, Addie Currier, was General Green’s stepdaughter staying with the family at Esmeralda. Riddick would marry Addie in 1866, but he died in 1871. Addie was then married to US Supreme Court Justice David Davis from 1883 until the Judge’s death in 1886. In 1888, she wed her stepbrother Wharton Green, remaining married through Green’s death in 1910. Addie would live until 1931.
Riddick uses the remaining portion of the letter to describe the battle that continued even as he wrote the letter:
The “big fight” is now being fought—commenced yesterday early in the day about eight miles from the City, this side of [the] Chickahominy river, and continued till the darkness of night closed the horrible and tragic scene of the first day. The reports are that our men fought gallantly, taking their heavy field [artillery] and many pieces of light artillery, capturing several hundred prisoners and driving them before us several miles. They too fought well, and showed themselves to be, on the occasion, “foemen worthy of our steel.” The fight was renewed this morning and is now raging with great fury. I hear the cannon distinctly. What will be the final result is certainly unknown to any human being; but the people here seem to be confident of the success of our arms. Many are the killed and wounded on both sides, but not having heard of the casualties so far, I must ask you to allow me to commit you to your patience, and ask you to wait philosophically till you receive the paper of tomorrow that will, no doubt, contain all that will be known here up to 10 o’clock tonight, and which I will surely send you, if I be not driven away interim.
He closes the letter making note of the envelope he made by hand: “Altho’ I have plenty of envelopes, I shall put this letter in one made by myself merely to show you what I could do, if compelled by necessity.” Indeed the stampless cover that accompanies the letter appears to have been made from a sheet of lined writing paper. It is addressed to Addie, “Care of Genl. Thos. J. Green.”
Riddick wrote the letter on four pages of a 5” x 8” letter sheet, with a pre-printed header for the Confederate Postal Service. It is in excellent condition with light foxing and toning. Creased at the original mailing folds. The full transcript of the letter is below:
Confederate States of America.
Post Office Department,
Contract Bureau,
Richmond, June 1st 1862
Dear Miss Addie,
Having just had the pleasure of receiving your letter of the 27th altho’ it is Sunday, 9 o’clock A.M. your promptness overcomes my samples of conscience, and determines me to vie with you in this respect. Thinking it, feeling it, and
knowing
it, please pardon me for again saying it: “
Miss Addie is a great lady
.” You say you are “fond of writing.” I am glad to know it, and sincerely hope you will indulge that fondness by writing to me as often and as much as you may feel inclined to write—the oftener and the more, the better I shall like it—affording me far more pleasure than you can possibly derive even from the delightful mental social employment of your hand and fingers.
You say, “I thought of you yesterday while walking around the garden, knowing your love for flowers and shrubbery.” O, how ardently I wish I could have been then and there, in person. At a time like this, when I am intently engaged in business, my relatives and friends driven from their homes and scattered, some among strangers and others in the army ready to die rather than submit to Black Republican domination, which a tyrannical northern numerical majority is stirring to compel us to live under, it is cheering indeed, truly comforting, to know there is
one
who, when the “soft hour comes for walking alone among the flowers and shrubbery,” thinks of the humble writer. And here, allow me to say, there is not a pleasant evening when gentlemen and ladies assemble in Capitol Square, to walk and sit and talk, that I do not think of you and wish you were here, that I might participate in such a pure, healthful, and delightful enjoyment; and I think of you many other times—very often.
Soon as I can leave here to visit any place for enjoyment, I shall go to Oxford, and you may be sure I shall not pass Esmeralda without calling.
That I have not received your letter of the 8th, to which you allude, I much regret; but hope, however, it may yet get into my hands. Therefore, let me suggest that you be not in haste to charge your mail boy with carelessness or a want of fidelity. You know that I regard everything of the kind from you as being sacred—too much so for the eyes of any other person.
The “big fight” is now being fought—commenced yesterday early in the day about eight miles from the City, this side of [the] Chickahominy river, and continued till the darkness of night closed the horrible and tragic scene of the first day. The reports are that our men fought gallantly, taking their heavy field [artillery] and many pieces of light artillery, capturing several hundred prisoners and driving them before us several miles. They too fought well, and showed themselves to be, on the occasion, “foemen worthy of our steel.” The fight was renewed this morning and is now raging with great fury. I hear the cannon distinctly. What will be the final result is certainly unknown to any human being; but the people here seem to be confident of the success of our arms. Many are the killed and wounded on both sides, but not having heard of the casualties so far, I must ask you to allow me to commit you to your patience, and ask you to wait philosophically till you receive the paper of tomorrow that will, no doubt, contain all that will be known here up to 10 o’clock tonight, and which I will surely send you, if I be not driven away interim.
I am sorry to have to say, I have neither seen nor heard from Mrs. Gaines’s letter.
Altho’ I have plenty of envelopes, I shall put this letter in one made by myself merely to show you what I could do, if compelled by necessity.
With very high regard &c.
Yours truly
W.F. Riddick
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