June 29th 64

My Dear Dear Sister

The storm hath spent its fury & is over & past, & thus still & almost paralyzed at this heavy blow, you may ever hear of its lightening wrath without any mercy drops to mingle in the bitter cup. But there is one my dear sister & I would fain pour its balm into your wounded & stricken heart even as it has softened the stroke to us. Our dear & noble brother has indeed joined the branch of martyred heroes who have shed their blood on the scaffold & field in deference of their country & its domestic altars, but as a Christian patriot & martyr be had with unfaltering faith, unequalled composure met & suffered the malice & hatred of the war hounds of an army whose deeds are but a record at which the heart of the stoutest shrinks from hearing.

Last sabbath the infuriated soldiers with jeers & thrusts brought the news to me & then went on to brothers the very ones who had taken her into camps & laughed at her grief threatening to burn the house into ashes although shocked & crushed I would not allow myself to admit the truth until I sould hear it officially & about 10 o'clock Monday Davidella & myself walked down to sisters & alas! Alas! it was too true. I met poor Mary at the door in all her grief. Mr.Barr & the elders of the church had brought the official information from the chaplain who wrote a letter in town not being allowed to come down & Mr. Barr & the elders brought it to her. Poor sister is crushed, overwhelmed, but there is much in the letter of the chaplain to sooth our smitten hearts. He says in this letter (which I will copy and send you by the first opportunity (when I feel I can do so) brother met the sentence with the greatest composure trusting in the merits of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. He was taken to Mr. Morrison & Mrs. Morrison learning who it was begged them to let him have a room in the house but this they refused & put him in an out house in the yard she begged them to allow her to speak to him but they would not & her daughter carried him his supper & wished to speak one word to him but they refused after supper the Provost Marshall & the chaplain came in & told him sentence was passed but that if he wished it, it would be postponed until daylight which he accepted & the chaplain spent the night in prayer with him he asked for a candle and paper to write to his family this was refused but the paper and ink were brought & he wrote but the chaplain not knowing he was coming this way was directed by brother to leave it with Mr. Myers of Lexington which he did & we hear Cyrus is coming on with his remains which he directed should be brought home & Oh I hope he will get here tomorrow. Thus has fallen one [of] nature's noblemen to whose stainless integrity & unwavering truth he has sacrificed his life's for the chaplain said it was his own confession & the other evidence which in any Court Martial of ours would have acquitted him. We heard Gen. [unclear: Duffies] whole staff were much interested in him & when he heard the circumstances sent word to brother not to confess the whole but alas! it was in vain with one of old tho' he knew his fate yet would not his integrity deposit from him. But my dear sister there is no way to send this letter. And it is appalling I cannot write you - will resume it again.

Wednesday evening June 29th I walked down to poor sisters early this morning & met dear Cyrus at the door. He could not bring on the remains with him but got to Mr. Morrison's a few days after & had his lamented Father removed & buried in the grave yard of new Providence church near to Mr. Morrisons. Poor sister is better today for [unclear: all] I thought she could not live Monday Cyrus brought her much comfort for he brought her the letter which her brother wrote just before his execution as glorious & consolatory a testimony to his faith in God & his blessed hope through grace of a glorious immortality. His composure & parental solicitude & devotion to his family all conspiring to make that dying testimony a record of Christian triumph equal if not more remarkable & extraordinary than the confession of any martyr of ancient times.

Mr. Morrison as well as some of the Yankie officers say his calmness made such an impression on the hardened soldiery that among the 300 who witnessed it there was not a dry cheek & my [unclear: stay] one of their own not said he felt the [illegible] of God was resting upon them from that moment. Yet their malice was not satiated & they proclaimed they would shoot down my man who would take this body to bury it & poor Mrs. Morrison with the aid of two men whom she got to help her were the only ones to perform the sad duty of burying him as well as they could. Poor Cyrus had him taken up & he said every one far & near came to the burial & now dear sister I must close for my heart is full & I cannot write.

Sunday July 10th Dear sister, I have felt so badly I could not take this sheet until this morning & I had no opportunity of ending it until now either & as brother has been here & leaves to-morrow, I will just add Cyrus & Mr. Montgomery will start with a hearse next wednesday week to bring on the remains of our dear brother & cannot you come on to the funeral as it will take them about 10 days to go & come Oh! do my dear sister if the Doctor cannot come Willie can come with you can he not it would comfort us so much to have you & the Doctor too. I must close & oh God of my Father's which is my poor Walter. I have not had a line from him yet I do not know how I live under this crushing sorrow. Pray for me dear sister Oh tell me if you have heard from poor Walter. Do write me when you get this. Ever your devoted sister.