Letter from Maria Weston Chapman, 119 Madison Avenue, (corner of 31st Street), New York, [NY], to Anne Greene Chapman Dicey and Elizabeth Bates Chapman Laugel, May 15th, Friday, 1863

Item Information

Place of origin:
119 Madison Avenue, (corner of 31st Street), New York, [NY]
Language:
English
Notes:
Holograph, signed with initials.
In this letter, Maria Weston Chapman said: "The news of last week, -- that the Battle of Chancellorsville was the greatest disaster yet, is confirmed. But it makes no impression, as it causes no result. The story of the flight of the 11th army corps is frightful. Ingersoll Grafton was in their way as they came mad & frantic with terror, shrieking & praying to be allowed to run off in safety, ..." Chapman explains: "But they had been fighting 4 hours, we learn from other quarters, & when they found they were not to be supported, while the enemy were being reinforced opposite to them, they gave way & lost their heads. A whole German family, -- Colonel, two Lieutenants, & two more subalterns were killed in striving to rally them & refusing to be swept along in the fight. A very superior family -- Professors in some New York College. Name -- Perssner." Chapman says about Wendell Phillips that "with all the good he might do," his judgment is weakened by emulation of Pillsbury and John Brown. William Jay is useful on Meade's staff; "he & his horse held out at the Battle of Chancellorsville till the very last." William Lloyd Garrison experiences "some of the difficulty of disbanding an army." William Lloyd Garrison, Maria Weston Chapman, and H.C. Wright's attitudes contrast with those of [Samuel] May, Pillsbury, and Wendell Phillips. She reports on gossip about Sickles and Joseph Hooker and criticism of Charles Sumner.
Identifier:
3133100
Call #:
Ms.A.9.2 v.31, p.62
Barcode:
39999066788983
mq8430472