CIVIL WAR LETTER - Kentucky Confederate Sympathizer in St Louis - CONTENT !!

Description

Civil War Letter
Civil War Letter - Written by Kentucky Confederate Sympathizer in St Louis, MO.
This Civil War soldier letter was written by George Washington, Jr. (1843-1905), the son of George Washington (1812-1857) and Martha Ann Doxon (1823-1876) of Newport, Campbell county, Kentucky—just across the river from Cincinnati. George was the great-great-nephew of President George Washington. George’s father was a steamboat captain on the Ohio River for many years before his death in 1857. In his letter, George mentions several relatives including his Uncle John “Thornton” Augustine Washington (1810-1888), his Aunt Marian Wallace MacKenzie (1819-1889), and others.
Family history has it that when the Civil War began, 16 year-old George favored the Confederacy but since Kentucky had declared its neutrality, George made his way to Tennessee where he joined Porter’s 9th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion. One family history claimed he fought throughout the “entire war” and “earned promotion to sergeant before age 20.” Another source says he served in the Confederate army only twelve months.” It is also claimed that when he returned to Campbell County after the war, he found his family penniless.  He encountered so much hostility as a Confederate veteran that he moved to Memphis.  He rented a room with another ex-rebel from the bluegrass, Thomas Hines of Morgan’s Cavalry, who would later return home to become chief justice of Kentucky.  With help from Hines, Washington mastered the law in long sessions beside the midnight oil.”
A Kentucky State History published in 1887 (Perrin & Kniffen) claims that “Washington emerged as one of the South’s leading orators in the 1870s. He spoke with careful, logical thinking and with absolute moral conviction while on the lecture circuit.  He gave a speech in 1870 at Knoxville’s military cemetery to commemorate the Confederate dead.  When the Democratic Party of Tennessee assembled in 1880, they nominated him as chair of the convention’s organizing sessions.”
George wrote the letter to his cousin Catherine (“Katy”) Townsend Washington (1846-1919), the daughter of his Aunt Lucy Ann (Washington) Washington (1811-1885) and Col. Daniel Bedinger Washington (181401887) of Garden City, Missouri.
In his letter, George conveys to his cousin the ravages of war—particularly in the border states of Kentucky and Missouri. He writes of the loss of the family home in Newport, Kentucky, and his widowed mother and sister Alice (Allie”) Washington still living in that town with her Doxon relatives. He also writes of the losses experienced by his correspondent’s family in Cass county, Missouri.
George later married Jennie Todd Ramsey (1847-1924)—a relative of Mary Todd Lincoln—and settled in Knox County, Tennessee where he worked as a lawyer.
It should be noted that this letter was written on the Stationery of the “General Superintendent’s Office, Cavalry Depot” but George was not employed there and likely only serendepitously made use of it as available paper. He states that he is “in business” as a citizen in St. Louis and asks his cousin to direct her response to the care of Edmund W. Paul who was a stockbroker in the city at the time and a brother of Union
Brig. General Gabriel Réné Paul
, an 1837 graduate of West Point who served in the Army of the Potomac. The General was married to Louise Doxon, George’s Aunt, so it is easy to understand how George could “lay low” in the family of Union relatives residing in the big city of St. Louis.
Transcription
[Stationery of the] General Superintendent’s Office, Cavalry Depot
St. Louis, Missouri
August 26th 1864
Dear Cousin Katy,
The other day I received a letter from Aunt Marian (at Paducah, Ky.) with your Ma’s address enclosed, and I at once determined to write to someone of the family; and as you doubtless have more time than your Ma to answer letters, I have selected you.
I assure you, my dear cousin, that I was most agreeably surprised to learn that you were so near St. Louis where I am at present, in business. For having been away from home so long, I had not the faintest idea of where Aunt Lucy was residing, or I should have written long ago.
The last time I heard from your family, my dear cousin, you were all suffering from the ravages of war. The predatory bands of outlaws which have so long been the curse of Missouri, had rendered you almost destitute. I read your Ma’s letter and my greatest regret was my inability to assist you. God knows how much pleasure it would have afforded me, for well I remembered the little girls, Betty and Kate, as seen years before in old Newport, and my heart was touched at the thought of their being in want. Such, however, is the fate of war, my dear Katy, and it is well to endure it with Christian fortitude. It is evidently God’s will, or it would not be. It will not last forever, though, Katy. Even as the bright sunlight of happiness and prosperity has faded away in the gloom of war and desolation, so will the latter be dispelled by the wisdom and goodness of God. Oh! that the bright angel of Peace would again smile upon our unhappy country, and that brother and sisters might again take each other by the hand in fraternal love!
I myself have been a sufferer by the war. Our once beautiful home in [Newport] Kentucky—the last provided for us by our dead father—has been destroyed. But I will not speak of that; it is past, and, therefore, cannot be remedied.
Well, I suppose you would be glad to learn of the whereabouts of the different members of the family.  Well, Aunt Marian is in Paducah, keeping house; Aunt Adelaide and Frank and Johnny, at last accounts were at Cousin Bettie Taylor’s in Kentucky. The last I saw of Uncle Thornton, he was in St. Louis, thinking about going on the river again. It is not now known where he is. My mother and sister (Allie) are still in that antiquated pen Newport. John is in Memphis.
Have you heard from Jack recently? For the present, good-bye, my dear cousin. My love to all the family.  Direct to the care of “E. W. Paul, St. Louis, Mo.”
1
and oblige, your devoted cousin,— George Washington
1
According to the IRS Tax Assessment Lists, “E. W. Paul” was located at 35.5 N. 3rd Street in St. Louis” and his occupation was given as “Broker in Money” or “Stock Broker.” Benjamin Edmund Washington Paul (1816-1880) had long been a resident in St. Louis. In the 1850 US Census, he was enumerated as a merchant in the gateway city, with wife Marie Amelia St. Vrain (1819-1892), and four children ranging in age from 4 to 14.
Edmund’s brother was Union General Brig. Gen. Gabriel Réné Paul (1813-1886), an 1834 graduate of the West Point and a Mexican War Veteran who earned distinction in the Army of the Potomac. The General’s second wife was Louise Doxon (1832-1898)—a younger sister of George’s mother—with whom he married as his second wife in 1858.
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