JULY 1862 21ST NORTH CAROLINA INFANTRY LETTER – PVT. HARRISON ALEXANDER; POW CEDAR CREEK

JULY 1862 21ST NORTH CAROLINA INFANTRY LETTER – PVT. HARRISON ALEXANDER; POW CEDAR CREEK

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4 full pages in ink on one 5” x 7” sheet; very legible . Dated Gordonville, VA, July 27, 1862. Written to “Cousin Em”. Overall very good condition.

Alexander writes that he has just got back to the regiment after being home; he apologizes for not writing to her “his neglected but not forgotten friend.” He could not answer her letter because he had no paper and none could be had in the camp. He went on an adventure the 1st of May – his expectation was to have a good time; he tells of his visit home, it had changed somewhat but was still at home. He chatted with everyone; “It is said that one grows cold to the old fireside but this is not the case with me. The pains of parting do wear away yet there remains a pleasant recollection of home. I went to see you the evening I started back to my regiment but I did not find you at home but I expected a severe scolding….On may 10th the day before I joined my regiment I reviewed a portion of the battlefields [Seven Days] though was not over where the hardest fighting was done. It did not present as sad as it would had not the wounded been taken from the field and the dead buried but by no means a pleasant sight. We were ordered to Gordonville where we were told the Yankees was. On arising we were agreeable disappointed there was no Yankee near than the Orange C. H.  Distance about 12 miles since that time an attach has been expected daily…about 30 thousand Yankees at Madison C.H. under Gen. Pope one division at Culpeper C.H.  I am out on piquett watching for a Yankee and expect to see some of them before I am relieved….Friend Harrison…Please burn this.”

Harrison Alexander, born in 1851 in Mecklenburg County, NC, was a 19 year old resident of Guilford County, NC when he enlisted on 6/4/61 as a Private. On that date he mustered into Co. M, 21st North Carolina Infantry (formerly the 11th North Carolina Infantry). Listed as a POW on 10/19/64 at Cedar Creek, VA; confined 10/21/64 at Point Lookout, MD. Paroled on 3/28/65 at Point Lookout, arrived at Boulware’s Wharf, VA on 3/30/65 for exchange. Alexander died on 2/26/1929 at Paw Creek, Mecklenburg County, NC; he is buried in an unmarked grave in a family plot in Elmwood Cemetery, Charlotte, NC.

Alexander’s regiment was organized in July, 1861 and was composed of twelve companies, A thru M. It was reorganized in April 1862 when Companies B and E were taken from the regiment and formed Companies A and B respectively of the 9th (also known as the 1st) North Carolina Sharp Shooters.

The designation of the regiment was changed from the 11th Regiment North Carolina Infantry (Volunteers) to the 21st Regiment North Carolina Infantry (State Troops).  [jw/ld][ph:L]

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