Hamilton S. Sclater Letters,, 1862-1864

This collection contains three letters written by Hamilton S. Sclater, a private in Company D, 25th Battalion Virginia Infantry during the Civil War. These letters describe several aspects of the life of a Confederate soldier in Virginia. The earlier letter, written following the battle at Cedar Mountain, describes the "considerable loss" on both sides and mentions the capture of a Union brigadier general. (The general in question is Henry Prince.) In this letter, Sclater also describes, in some detail, one of the several presumed, but false Union charges that led to a Confederate panic. (In Stonewall Jackson at Cedar Mountain, Krick suggests that the Cedar Mountain campaign involved "more unwarranted panics than any two other campaigns of the war combined.")

The letters from Chaffin's Farm in April and July 1864 report a quieter scene, despite mention of the shelling of Petersburg in the latter, but also a situation where rations are meager and Sclater's hunger is evident. General Grant's order to General Lee to surrender Petersburg or face its destruction is mentioned, as is Sclater's hope that "Lee will not give it up without a fight. . . ." (Chaffin's Farm, an area of fortifications south of Richmond, would, in late September 1864, be the site of a major engagement.)