Anna Moffett's Civil War - 18 - The End

April 17, 1865

Dear Mother & Elizabeth,

I am writing a continuation from my yesterday's letter, as one cannot get everything on one sheet of paper.

This is from that second speaker. "Nothing before us here but despair, dark & drear, so far as the Confederacy is concerned. But there are in our homes, desolate though they may be, yet not dishonored, those who now have claims on us. Shall we not return to them & do what we can to better their sad estate? I cannot advise, but I can take the oath of allegiance, if offered me, with a clear conscience, feeling no shadow on my fame as a soldier of the fallen Confederacy, or as a soldier of the old Dominion. My only hope now is to raise her up, to cheer those who love me; to comfort them who look to me in the bonds of blood. I feel it to be my duty to go to them, knowing I will find among them my peers in everything, who have accepted the decrees of the fates & returned from the bloody battle fields of their surrender to do battle again on those blood stained fields, glorified by their triumphs in war, now awaiting the plow & the hoe of heroic sons to provide food &
clothing for those who look to them & await their coming."

At the conclusion of this speech the stillness was succeeded by a little stir but the silence was unbroken. It was manifest we wanted to hear more.

Another speaker, "Had Mr. Lincoln lived, this prison would have been emptied ere now of half its miserable occupants. Had that kind old man lived, the surrender of Genl Johnston would have been at once followed by a general amnesty & a dagger not a bullet may have cut short a generous life. I conclude that whether we express a willingness to take the oath of allegiance or not, our stay here will not be long.

But in that time many a noble heart will be under the clods of this northern land, with the bleak winds for his requiem where gentle hands can strew no flowers, our soft Southern winds cannot reach, nor sunny skies warm his cold dust; where the mother cannot even mark the grave of her son; the wife cannot distinguish the spot of the loved dust, nor maiden tell her love to the grave of her soldier boy. To leave here a month hence, is to leave hundreds for these graves, that might live for the Commonwealth & for those they love if we could sooner get away. It may be that for us to make manifest a willingness to take the oath these gates might be sooner opened. I can see no
dishonor in it. The people who have overcome us in arms are a great people. They have fought for a centralization of power - a nation - we for State Sovereignty & true liberty as we understand it. So
far as we can now see, they have, by the power of arms, established the Government of their choice & we must submit - that is all."

It was Sunday. We adjourned & met again at 4 p.m.

Several other speeches were made, & finally we voted down every resolution offered & adjourned without any expressed conclusion.

Love from George

April 20

The war is over, but still George & Charles are not home. James is coming home soon.
He was not imprisoned. Alex, I believe, is back with his family.
 

May 1

The Charleston Daily Courier reports on the dedication of the new cemetery. The service began with the reading of a Psalm. The crowd sang a hymn, then prayed. Everyone in the procession carried a bouquet of flowers.

The children strew flowers on the graves as they walked past. After "John Brown's Body," they sang "The Star Spangled Banner," "America" & "Rally Round the Flag." By the end, the graves looked
like a massive mound of rose petals.

These former slaves were joined by several Union regiments, including the 104th & 35th "colored regiments," as well as the famous 54th Massachusetts. These companies marched around the graves in solemn salute.

 

May 5

Dear Mother

I have been paroled, as you probably already know & am back in Milledgeville. My family are well & pleased to have me home again. I am fine. I was very pleased to run into my old friend Sidney Lanier again. He said that you had written to him & sent him a package when he was in prison & asked me to thank you very much for it. He was there for three months, enough to destroy his health, when he left he was afflicted with tuberculosis. He got freedom in February - due to some gold that he could use to bribe the guards - which another prisoner smuggled into prison in his mouth.

Then Sidney was on a ship taking him away, which was then locked in a frozen harbor & he lay in the hold ill almost to the point of death. Someone from his town happened to be on the same boat &
heard his flute playing (not by him but a friend) & that expedited his removal back home, although he had to walk a good deal of the distance & collapsed when he finally got there. He is slowly recovering but I doubt he will ever be the same. But he is talking about carrying on with his poetry & perhaps teaching.

Are James & George back yet? We must get together when all this is over & things are back to normal.  

Love from Alex

June 1

George is home. Hallelujah. He is thin & very tired, but his spirit is strong. He will help us make our move back to Charleston to see what has happened to our house & to get resettled there. Elizabeth's brother, Charles Simonton, is still in prison. He refuses to sign the form giving allegiance again to the United States. I applaud his courage but how does he think he can help from there, while if he was home, we could start to rebuild our lives. His wife & daughter must still be very upset.

George says that at the end of the war, James & Alex & all Confederate soldiers became military prisoners of war under the four surrender agreements even though they never had to go to a POW camp. Confederate soldiers "at their posts" when surrendered under four different surrender agreements, were accounted for & released on parole. This parole is the standard personal promise to refrain from any activities hostile to the interests of the United States until "properly exchanged" in return for their release. So long as they observe the terms of their parole & do not violate any
civil codes or laws, they will not be molested by Federal authorities.

George himself had to swear to the Oath of Allegiance & signed the muster roll. They were then given their preferred Oath certificate upon departure along with their transportation orders.

Union troops quickly moved to occupy all our cities & install military rule until civilian governments could be organized for the states. The first step on the pathway to re-integration with the Union for the former Confederacy was for each of us to take an oath of allegiance to the Union & to pledge to abide by President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves. A former Confederate State will be eligible for re-integration once ten percent of its population has made this pledge. We did it. We had no choice. But what a bitter pill to swallow.

May 15

George has moved us back to our home in Charleston. It is so sad to see the city now. It is unrecognizable. Our home had been occupied by vagrants & was very dirty & many broken windows, but with us all pitching together, we made it liveable. George & his family will continue
to live with us for awhile, until we decide what we will do next.

Our new Mayor Gillmore issued an order instructing the army officers stationed in Charleston to return the silver, pianos, organs, pictures & works of art they had stolen. It appeared that, with the officers looting & nothing being done about it, it was perfectly all right for the soldiers to help themselves. We haven't much hope that any of ours will be. Luckily we took the best bits with us.

We were much luckier than some of our friends & neighbours. That a single piece of furniture or silver survived is a miracle. The silver could be buried & most of it was. Some paintings were rolled up & hidden in attics; most of the others usually had a bayonet thrust through the throat as if it was a man, or through the heart if it was a woman. Holes were shot through the furniture.

June 22

George is very busy trying to get our cotton industry back on its feet & has written to our cousins in England once again asking for their support.

He let me have a copy of his letter to them to put in my book.

G H Moffett to R. C. Hall

Charleston, 22 June, 1865

Mr. Robt. Hall

Dear Sir,

I have thought that you would be pleased to hear from some member of our connection
after the disasters which have befallen our lands, & the remembrance of your kindness to me induces me to write a few lines to assure you of our preservation. My brothers & myself have all
been in the army of our country & have all escaped. I have been thrice wounded but thank God was entirely recovered. This is to me a source of great thankfulness & when I tell you that I have
partaken in thirty- eight field fights you will comprehend how my gratitude should be for the mercy which has over shadowed me. I have lost everything & will have to struggle for a livelihood. Thank
God I have health & strength to do this. My mother has suffered severely also.

Are you still engaged in the cotton business? I propose going in to a general commission business & now have the control of some cottons. If I can serve you it will be a pleasure to me. Remember me to your brother & sister, to Mrs. Hall & other friends.

Yours truly

Signed G. W. Moffett

P.S. Our ports will be opened on first of July. I would be glad to receive consignments of goods from any of your friends, say, Tin, Bar-iron, Cast Steel, German Steel, Sheet Iron, Anvils, Salt, Bagging, etc. GWM

June 28

In May there were still 8000 prisoners captive. As prisoners were only gradually being released, Grant found it necessary to write to Sec Stanton, on June 27th. "I would respectfully recommend that all the officers now at Ft Delaware be discharged to taking the oath of allegiance.”
Charles is still a prisoner. We aren't sure why.

Our colored help, although they are now officially free, have all opted to stay working for us. Elizabeth & George have offered them employment for when I am no longer around – so they have a secure future with our family. We cannot offer them much except food & board & a
small salary to start with, but they are happy with that.

August 5

Charles has finally been released. He told us about his last days in prison. After the majority of the men & officers have gone, they were taken into the fort itself in casements on the north side behind the officers quarters as authorities prepared to dismantle the prison pens. Things
were somewhat better for them there.

So now I come to the end of my story. I hope that someone in the future will learn something of our history from reading it. What a difficult period it has been.

Almost 35 percent of South Carolina’s white male population died as a result of the war.
 

Like it or not, we are part of the United States again, but our city is destroyed & it will take many years for our economy to recover.
 

Epilogue

I wish to make clear that the opinions of Anna Moffett as expressed in this book do not
reflect mine.

This book is based on fact, but it has to be labelled as fiction, as few of the items mentioned were actually documented as happening specifically to the Moffett family. I was inspired to write the book by having read the four original letters, written by Anna and George to their Liverpool relative, Robert Hall. It was his great great granddaughter, Janet Hall Sayer who provided the letters for me to read. But once I started researching, I found much true detail especially relating to the actions of Charles Simonton. George Hall Moffett himself also wrote about the war, including some about his time in the prisoner of war camp.

I have made use of other people's memories of this period, such as the wonderful diary
of Mary Chesnut. I have no idea if she knew the Moffetts of not – much less was a correspondent with them. But it is possible.

Another wonderful resource was the Moffett clan genealogy which is available on the internet. and because the Moffett house has historic interest, much has been written about it. (pictured above)

I have no idea what the slaves in Anna Moffet's house were called, although their ages and sexes and mulatto status was given. As George's wife Elizabeth had several black servants in her house in 1880, I assumed they might be the same people, as the ages coincided and by that time, the records allowed them to have names.

Anna Moffett moved back to her house after the war, but then sold it to the Seignious family for rental property. It has recently been used as an Inn.

She died on 24th December, 1868.

George and Elizabeth Moffett and their children lived in Charleston where he worked as a
lawyer. He died on 27 June, 1875 from a fall. They had 9 children. One of them, William, became a famous military hero in his own right.

James Moffett married Marcie Jenkins on June 27, 1866. He died on 5 May 1884.

Alexander Moffett died 25 August, 1899.

John Reid Moffett died 7 November 1879 at sea in the Steamer Champion.

Margaret Moffett Adger died 8 April 1915. Of her sons who were in the war James, died 8 November, 1872, in New York, Andrew Adger died 16 Oct, 1915.

Anna Moffett Simonton died June 12, 1921.

Mary Walker Moffett married Francis Clement on 2 Feb, 1865. She died 12 Aug, 1899.

Charles Henry Simonton attended College of Charleston, Graduated from SUC, became a Charleston lawyer. He was in the State Legislature. 1858-62 he was Captain of voluntary militia. Married Ella Glover. Participated in siege of Fort Sumter, 1861, as Capt. of his company Detached in 1864 to command Fort Caswell, NC. Released from prison, Aug 6, 1865. Partner called him "Unselfish, sincere, just and true."