1860-1865

Here at the History Center, we like to supply our collections department interns and volunteers with interesting projects that illustrate what life in Thomas County’s past was like for her citizens. We have many letters, records, diaries, and documents that give sneak peeks into the daily lives of people who were more like us than we may realize.

One of our interns, Kayla Reeves (who recently attained her bachelor’s degree in history from Florida State University), was tasked with transcribing a collection of letters from Private Peter Dekle (1836-1863) to his wife Susan Dunbar Dekle (1839-?) of Thomasville. Peter’s letters span from April of 1862 to August of 1863 when he served in the Confederate Army in Company F of the 29^th Infantry. For most of his military service, Peter was stationed around Savannah but was later sent to North Carolina and Mississippi before he was wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga. After several months, he succumbed to his injuries; however, the whereabouts of Susan following her husband’s death are currently unknown.

Here’s what Kayla had to say about Peter and his letters to Susan:

“As a drafted soldier, Peter did not generally discuss ideological reasons behind the war in his letters, rarely mentioning secession or even regional animosity. However, Peter’s letters provide valuable insight into the experiences and mentality of an average soldier, demonstrating themes of homesickness, despair, adventure, and adjusting to the general monotony of camp life.”

In this blog series, Kayla explores some of these themes with excerpts from Peter’s letters. Please keep in mind that Peter was writing in the language and attitudes of his time which we now consider to be racist and prejudice.

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Religion

In one of his letters, Peter mentions efforts to evangelize some of the soldiers and notes the varying morality of different soldiers in the regiment.

“precher [preacher] Danels are preaching in camps to knight [tonight] at this time while I am writing, Moat Stephens are going to be Baptiesed [Baptized] tomorrow evening. he joyened [joined] the Church last knight [night]. I wosh [wish] the whole regiment were prepared to go in the water with him.

Peter does not frequently elaborate on his own religious beliefs in his letters besides common phrases like “God-willing” or “God bless”; however, from the context of this passage and what we know of his family, he likely considered himself a member of the Baptist Church. In this excerpt, one can see that Peter views Christianity as a positive force in the camp.

But the presence of Preacher Daniels did not entirely prevent immoral behavior from happening. Peter continued his letter by condemning the behavior of his fellow troops in the camp, stating,

“if they were [baptized] they would not be so much meanness going on in some are gambling, sum cursing, sum dancing while sum are praying. any thing you want to see you can see it in camps. I have seen so much going on untill I am nearly worn out at the sight of a man. if this war last two years longer the soldiers will no more cere for there soles [souls] if they had none. I have bin [been] beat so bad in meenness [meanness] until I have got ashaimed [ashamed] of my self and quit it”

Even Peter admits falling prey to sin alongside his fellow troops, though through what means he does not say. Granted, his ideas of sinfulness (gambling, cursing, and dancing) might seem rather tame to our modern eyes. In light of this, we need to take Peter’s condemnation of his fellow troops with a grain of salt as his idea of a den of iniquity is a bit stricter than what we might imagine.