Beschreibung:

Lot of 22 war-date letters, 1 slave sale agreement, and 2 war-date Confederate documents. Archive relates to the prominent Young family of Bartow County, GA, which sent three sons to fight for the Confederacy including Confederate General Pierce Manning Butler Young. The majority of the documents date to 1864, a year in which heavy fighting moved increasingly closer to the Young family and their properties. Content is rich and varied, touching upon military matters, family and civilian life in a war zone, POWs, and more. Altogether, this is an outstanding collection which presents a fascinating and intimate view of a prominent Confederate family. Pierce Manning Butler Young (1836-1896) was a Confederate war hero, politician, and diplomat, and is credited with being the youngest Major General to serve in the Confederate Army. He was born to Dr. Robert Maxwell Young and Elizabeth Caroline Jones in Spartanburg, SC. His grandfather was a captain in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and his father was a prominent doctor and planter. Sometime between 1839 and 1840, Dr. Robert Young moved his family from South Carolina to Bartow County, GA. Here Pierce Young was raised on the family plantation known as "Walnut Grove." As a young teenager P. M. B. Young entered the Georgia Military Institute, and in 1857 he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy. Unlike his roommate and friend George Armstrong Custer who graduated from West Point in 1861, Young did not complete his courses at the Academy. Rather, after Georgia's secession from the Union, Young opted to return home to Georgia just months before his scheduled graduation. After serving nearly the entirety of the war, Young served as a four-term US Congressman from Georgia, a diplomat to the Imperial Russian Court, and as US Minister to Guatemala and Honduras. In 1896 he died in New York City on his way home from a post. During his time in the Confederate army, Pierce Young was noted for his bravery, at one point reportedly saying, "I'll be a major general or in Hell in half an hour." Rapid promotions early in his enlistment saw Young rise to the rank of Lt. Colonel by November 1861. At this time he commanded the cavalry portion of Thomas R.R. Cobb's Georgia Legion. In the following years, Young continued to distinguish himself playing an active role in the Maryland, Gettysburg, Bristoe, Mine's Run, Overland, and Carolinas Campaigns. He was wounded in action three times during his enlistment. In 1863 Young was promoted to brigadier general and in December 1864, after returning home to Georgia to fight Sherman's Army, he attained the rank of major general. It is during the tumultuous year of 1864 that the correspondence in this collection begins. While encamped near Fredericksburg in February 1864, Young writes to his mother in Cartersville, GA, and warns her that it may be time to flee from the encroaching Union Army. He says, in part, "I think you all had better leave for our army might have to fall back but leave someone to take care of the house for it will be ruined even by our own troops if no one is there to protect it...." Surprisingly, his assessment is not entirely bleak as he continues telling his mother, "I think things are looking brighter now than they have for a long time. You must always look on the bright side. There is not reason now for looking at the dark side..." As the year progressed Young would continue to write his mother and keep her apprised of the situation in the field. On August 30th Young writes to his mother following the Second Battle of Reams' Station at Weldon Railroad, VA: "We had a glorious success several days ago. Hill's Corps and the cavalry together captured twenty five hundred prisoners. We had a pretty brisk little fight. We surprised the enemy and charged his breastworks. For twenty minutes the firing was as severe as any I ever heard...P.M. B. Young." Major General Young also seems to have maintained a clo