Source
State Archives of Florida, Collection M88-21
Description
Letter from William T. Stockton to his wife, Julia Stockton, written while he was a prisoner of war at Johnson's Island in Ohio during the American Civil War. Stockton was captured during the Battle of Chattanooga in November 1863.
General Note
William Tennent Stockton was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 9, 1812, the fourth child of William T. and Anna Williamson Stockton. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, from which he graduated eighth in his class in 1834. Stockton served with the Second U.S. Artillery in the Second Seminole War before resigning his commission in 1836. He eventually moved to Quincy, Florida, where he ran a stagecoach line, farmed, and was elected to a number of terms as mayor. In December 1845, while living at Quincy, Stockton married his second wife, Julia Elizabeth Telfair (his first wife, Sarah Strange, had evidently died prior to 1845). By the time of the Civil War the couple had nine children (although one, Robert Stockton, apparently died in infancy sometime after 1860). Stockton served in the Florida Militia during the antebellum years, and following Florida's secession he offered his services and those of a cavalry company, the Gadsden Dragoons, to his adopted state. Stockton received a captain's commission in the Confederate army in May 1861 and for the first months of the war he served as an inspecting and mustering officer, but he soon was assigned to the First Florida Cavalry Regiment. Stockton earned promotion to major in January 1862, and he would later rise to the rank of lieutenant colonel. The First Florida Cavalry was transferred to Tennessee in the Spring of 1862. It participated in the 1862 Kentucky Campaign and in operations in east Tennessee in late 1862 and early 1863. During the regiment's first major engagement at Chickamauga in September 1863, Stockton received a minor yet painful facial wound. He returned home to recuperate but returned in time to take part in the battle at Chattanooga two months later. At this battle the First Florida Cavalry and several other Florida regiments were stationed on picket duty near the base of Missionary Ridge at the time of the Union attack on November 25. Overrun by the advance a large number of Floridians, including Stockton, fell into Union hands. He would spend the remainder of the war in the Union prisoner of war camp at Johnson's Island, near Sandusky, Ohio. Released at war's end, William Stockton returned home to Quincy. He died there in 1869.
Address Block 11
Johnson's Island near Sandusky O[hio].
Dec. 11th 1863
My dearest Wife,
I earnestly hope that you have received at least one of my letters from Chattanooga- They were intended to inform you, that I was unhurt, though a prisoner- My imperfect recovery, had left me so weak, that I was unable from Exhaustion, to leave the field, when all was lost in our part of it- Our three little Regiments behaved well, but we were left alone- Two of my men, were killed at my side, while successively attempting to assist me- I wrote & sent word to A. Harris, to sell my horses & forward you proceeds, and send Ed. home with my baggage- My trunk is at Atlanta, in charge of McNaught & Ormond- Write to Harris to attend to this- You had better dispose of the property in Fleishman's hands- It will be necessary to your support- If you can ascertain the full address, initials &c of Voorhees, the husband of Cousin Kate Williamson, in Philadelphia, send it to me- We can only receive any thing from relatives, and as I lost every thing at Misy Ridge, it behooves me to get the address of such relatives as can aid me, consult my Brother as to others- I will write to Princeton, only in the last Event- We have been as well treated as circumstances would permit- The weather is now mild- All the officers from Quincy, here, are looking well- All correspondence is examined, before passing in or out- It is limited to one page- Dr. Munroe will tell you how to forward your letters to me- Be of good cheer, the skies will brighten again- My dearest love to you and my children- Most affectionately Mrs. W.T. Stockton (I enclose 2 stamps)
W.T. Stockton
Lt. Col. 1st Fla Cavy
Quincy Fla.
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