November 6, 1860, from J. D. Pittman to My Dear Mother
Note:
John Dawson Pittman (1843-1862) was a student at the University of Virginia in
1860-1862. His parents, Col. James J. Pittman and Martha W. Pittman (nee
Dickens), lived in Jackson County, where they raised John and his siblings (only
one of the 10 children was still alive after 1862). John left the University of Virginia
in the spring of 1862 to join the Confederate Army. He enlisted in Marianna, Florida
in May 1862, served in Company E of the Eighth Florida Infantry Regiment, and
was killed on August 31, 1862, during the Battle of Second Manassas (Second Bull
Run) in Virginia.
Much of the text of Pittman�s letter of November 6, 1860, is missing. The following
transcription comes from the second, third, and fourth pages.
. . . but I assure you my expenses here this year will necessarily be great. I have
bought a few things only, that I could have got along without. My expenses next
year will be two hundred dollars less than they are this year. I will have 44 dollars
to pay on my board the 1 st of January, and 44 on the first of April. You can send
me a hundred dollars about Christmas to pay my board for the whole year, or you
can send 44 dollars to pay three months board. You can do what is . . . .
Today is electionday, and I reckon Lincoln will be elected. If he is, I reckon we will
have to quit this University�take muskets and go to fighting! I hope this will not be.
We will know tomorrow whether Lincoln is elected, for if he carries the State of New
York he will be the next president. Give my love to Aunts Caty and Peggy, and also
to Sister Annie. Did Mary B. come back with you? If she did, tell her to write to me.
Write soon and tell me how you get along.