April 30, 1861 (Tuesday)

"I experienced for the first time
the feeling of coming in contact with
bullets, bayonets, and sabres of our enemies.
I hope I may see you again...."
--Letters from Elisha Paxton,
Officer in the Confederate Army

Letters from Elisha Franklin Paxton:  Officer in the Confederate Army -- Harper's Ferry, Daily Observations from the Civil War, April 30, 1861.

"Nothing could be half so interesting as a line from dear wife and little ones at home. Be cheerful and act upon the motive which made me leave you to risk my life in relieving my State from the peril which menaces her. I hope I may see you again, but if never, my last wish is that you will make our little boys honest, truthful, and useful men. Last Thursday night, I experienced for the first time the feeling of coming in contact with the bullets, bayonets, and sabres of our enemies...Now I know what the feeling is, and know I shall enter the struggle, when it comes, without fear.
My health was never better. I have spent two nights on duty in the open air without suffering, and feel assured now that my health will not suffer by such exposure.  Kiss the little ones for me and never let them forget “papa gone,” perhaps forever. Accept for yourself every wish which a fond husband could bestow upon a devoted wife."


 A new Secession Map is displayed at The Long Recall, The American Interest, as of April 30th.  Click on the link to view the map...

The narrative for the day by Civil War Daily Gazette:  Col. Jackson Arrives at Harpers Ferry -- Dumps Whiskey -- Federal Building Full of Troops.


The narrative of Pastor Witherspoon, a Southern minister from Mississippi, who joined the Confederate army and became a chaplain.   "Pastor Witherspoon Goes to War," by Ronald S. Coddington, Disunion--New York Times, April 29, 2011. 

"Pastor Dwight Witherspoon burned with passion for God and country as he preached his farewell sermon to a flock of the faithful on April 30, 1861. The 25-year-old clergyman spoke on a Bible chapter and verse appropriate to the occasion: Psalm 20:7, 'Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.' Fittingly, after the sermon he left the church and joined a company of North Mississippi farm boys and students preparing to go to war."  (Click on the link above for all the details.)

And finally, Hidden Patterns of the Civil War:  Digital Scholarship Lab, University of Richmond.  Includes Mining the Richmond Daily Dispatch, Mapping Richmond's Slave Market, Visualizing Emancipation, Mapping Marriage and Migration in Emancipation-era Virginia, Text Mapping, Voting in American --1860, and Scale and Freedom in the American South.