WATTERS, RICHARD P., D. 1862.
Richard P. Watters correspondence, 1861-1862

Restrictions on Access

Unrestricted access.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

Source

Loaned for microfilming by Julian Q. Watters, 1956.

Custodial History

Julian Q. Watters was the great-nephew of Richard P. Watters.

Citation

[after identification of item(s)], Richard P. Watters correspondence, Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, Emory University.

Appraisal Note

Acquired as part of the Rose Library's holdings in Civl War history.

Processing

Processed by RRH, 1956.

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Biographical Note

Richard P. Watters (d. 1862) was the son of Joseph Watters and his wife, a Miss Aycock, both of Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Joseph Watters was a member of the Georgia State Legislature, a member of the committee on Indian affairs, and an ardent admirer of Andrew Jackson. He named his own plantation "Hermitage" after Jackson's home in Tennessee. A small settlement still exists there under the same name. Joseph and his wife were the parents of 10 boys, nine of whom served in the Confederate Army. The other son lost an arm firing a cannon at the Atlanta Military School in celebration of the election of Joseph E. Brown as Governor of Georgia. Richard served in the Rome Light Guards, 8th Georgia Infantry Regiment. He died of wounds received at the Battle of Sharpsburg in the fall of 1862.

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of a microfilm copy of the correspondence of Richard P. Watters from 1861-1862. The 22 letters in this collection were written from Confederate military camps in Virginia between June 18, 1861 and October 3, 1862. All but three were written by Richard P. Watters, 10 to his unmarried sister, Nettie, seven to his brother, Will, one to his father, Joseph Watters, and one, apparently a fragment, has no date, place or addressee. Three of the letters (September 22, 23, and October 3, 1862) were written by George L. Aycock, first cousin of Richard P. Watters, one each to Joseph, Nettie and Will Watters. In these letters Aycock tells of Richard's having been wounded at the battle of Sharpsburg, of several reports that he was sent to a hospital at Winchester, Virginia, and of his sending a friend to Winchester to see him, being too ill to go himself. The friend, Dan Miller, was unable to find Richard at any of the hospitals at Winchester.

Arrangement Note

Arranged in chronological order.