Letter to Selina Fulkerson (Johnson)

Scope and content:

Written from Fort Delaware Prison. Letter regards end of the Civil War and defeat of the South.

Language:

English

Other descriptive data:

Field Officers Barracks, Ft. Delaware May 7 1865

My dear wife

I have not heard directly from you since the 4th of Feb. Your letter was directed to Ft. Pulaski. I received on my way here at Hilton Head S.C. Since that time we have passed through the most eventful period of the war. The closing scenes are being enacted, and with hearts overwhelmed with grief & sadness we bow in deep humiliation in their contemplation. The present, thank God, is only the "beginning of the end." The military power of the South is broken, the spirit is not. The ball has been put in motion by the people of the South, an impetus has been given it, which will eventually result in the destruction of the U.S. Government and if not in the independence of the South, certainly in the disenthrallment of her people. Ten years will see us under the protecting wing of a foreign power, or independent.

I expect to meet you soon, not crowned with the laurels of victory but with the oath crammed down my throat, a quiescent citizen of the United States. I have the sweet consolation of being conscious of having served the cause faithfully. I sacrificed everything but life, and hazarded that, many times & in many ways, in behalf of my country. I have not the slightest fear that any man can ever point at me the finger of scorn and say "you done it." I have performed my duty and now abandon the cause as (at present) hopeless, without in the least having changed my opinion as to the justness of that cause. I go now to share with the people of the south the deep humiliation which will be dictated by yankee vindictiveness.

I have heard from you thr'o your father up to March 1st. Receive letters from him often. Says he will send you money & c thr'o Mr. Armstrong. Hope you may have no difficulty in getting along. I cannot tell when I will be released, but probably soon. My love to Kate. Tell the boy, I'll be home soon. Your affect. husband. A. Fulkerson P.W.

Subjects:

Soldiers—Virginia—Correspondence
United States—History—Civil War, 1861-1865—Prisoners and prisons
Correspondence

Places:

Fort Delaware (Del.)

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