Scope and Content Note
The correspondence of William Hamilton (1824-1896) and John Hamilton (1815-1896) span the years 1838-1896, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1861-1865. Letters (1838-1855) of John Hamilton are addressed to his mother, Rosanna Boyd Hamilton, and other family members from his home in Zavala, Texas. Subjects include family matters, the difficulties of life in Texas, relations with Native Americans, African Americans and slavery in Texas, political affairs of Texas and the United States, his service in the Texas Rangers during the Mexican War (1846-1848), and impressions of Mexico, of Mexicans living in the Rio Grande Valley, and of individuals including Sam Houston and presidents of Mexico, Anastasio Bustamante and Antonio López de Santa Anna. William Hamilton's letters written primarily during his service as a private in Company D, 2nd Regiment Pennsylvania Reserves, U.S. Army of the Potomac, are to his mother, Rosanna Boyd Hamilton, in Harrisburg, Pa., and to his brother, A. Boyd Hamilton. Sent from various camps in Maryland and Virginia, the letters concern the Battle of Antietam (1862), Battle of Fredericksburg, Fredericksburg, Va. (1862), Battle of Gettysburg, Pa. (1863), and Appomattox Campaign (1865); operations along the Rapidan River, Va., and the Rappahannock River, Va., in the fall of 1863; and the siege of Petersburg, Va. (1864-1865). They also discuss African American troops, camp life, generalship, military organization, supply problems, the United States Sanitary Commission, and Confederate Army deserters.