Mrs. Constance W...'s Letters 08

During the late summer of 1862 the W... family experienced a flurry of activity that is overlapping and interconnected. Each of the principals contributed observations and insights concerning the nature and implications of the events. I have here included several, by no means all of the correspondences, for the reader's edification and as an interlude to future intrigues.

The Editor

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The names and addresses have been changed to protect reputations of the descendants.

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Department of War

First Division

F... R...

Shenandoah Valley

Regimental Headquarters

Home Defense

Colonel B...

To: The people of F... R..., Woodstock, Winchester, Luray, Mt. Jackson, Strasburg, Timberville, Stanley, Shenandoah, Harrisonburg, E..., Grottoes, Crimora, Verona, Staunton, Waynesboro their environs communities and villages:

By order of General Joseph E. Johnston all requisitions of war materials, goods and supplies will be paid in bullion at a rate to be determined by local leadership consisting of mayors, town council, business leaders or, where local governance is absent, estate holders or their duly appointed representatives. No more than one third of any privately held property can be purchased from any one individual and no more than one fifth of said goods can be confiscated in the most extreme circumstance with all such seizures to be paid at a rate three times the established norm. Foraging in the area known as "the Valley" defined as the area between mountain ranges east and west drained by the South Fork of the Shenandoah River from W... to Waynesboro inclusive is forbidden.

Contracts for war materials will be awarded first to enterprises originating from the Valley. Said contracts will be guaranteed and will be adjusted to match the best possible price attained by all suppliers.

Forced quartering in landed estates of more than five acres is prohibited.

Any damage incurred by the citizenry due to troop movements in the area will be compensated at the three times rate after review. All damages and losses incurred by the people from banditry, desertion, marauding or other lawlessness is to be compensated at five times the normal rate at the discretion of the local judiciary. Such deprivations caused by lack of military oversight will be subject to a ten percent penalty over the said award.

All local business' will be under local jurisdiction and are entitled to full protection from the armies of Virginia against all restrictions to business local or at large.

Signed this 23rd day of July, 1862

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(Gertrude's diary)

Thursday July 25th, 1862

God have mercy on me. This cannot be true. My own brother has violated me! How can this be? Has he deceived me all these years? How can he have such unwholesome thought s about me? HE RAPED ME! He accuses me of leading him on, of having invited his lustful advances. Did I? I enjoyed his companionship and his tender affections. Was that an invitation? And he thinks that I want more. Oh, miserable wretch that I am. I am soiled, no better than the sullied scullery maids that offer themselves on the altar of Bacchus when their employers are not watching. He has done this to me. Degrading me in the eyes of man and God, I am undone. I cannot face the shame. And is it true? Have I wanted unnatural relations with my own brother? I do draw comfort from his powerful embraces. How could I not notice the thickening in his waistband? Have I deceived myself? It must be true. I am an incestuous wretch. I have wanted him. Wanted a repeat of that accursed night. Didn't I say as much in my letter? No wonder he felt secure in revealing his desire. It is not Constance that is the hussy, it is I. I am utterly cast out!

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Hazel Park

E..., Virginia

August 8th, 1862

Captain Thomas W...,

Army of Northern Virginia,

13th Virginia Cavalry,

37th Battalion Virginia Cavalry,

Company E

My Darling Thomas,

Your letter was a comfort to me. I trust in your word and look to that time when we can once again embrace in the sunlight of peace. I will have no fear on your account and will offer my own assurances that I will not expose myself nor hazard my integrity bodily to low characters. The description of battle was nearly more than I could bear. My heart was in my throat. How are any of you able to stand it?

Last week my sister Annabelle along with my Mother and a young man from Papa's paper mill named Tyree arrived. The sight of Annabelle restored my spirits which had become low from a thwarted business venture. The presence of my Mother was quite unexpected and I very swooned from the excitement. She is so dear to me. They will be staying the month or six weeks but will leave before the weather turns. Where I had been feeling overcome by the many demands upon my time I now feel renewed. My sister has made herself available to the surgeons and daily spends some time ministering to the wounded. I have heard nothing but praise for her natural ability. Mother has consented to review some of the enterprises I have undertaken and I feel sure that she will be able to offer sound advice for increasing my access and decreasing my exposure. The young man, Tyree, keeps close to Mama, but will occasionally venture into town for his own pleasure.

A negro boy accompanied them and Millie has set him to learning the ins and outs of the household routine. She is very thorough and requires his presence with her frequently.

The apple press is now a going concern and we are seeing a handsome return. I must spend too much time there overseeing, but Mama has begun taking a more active hand there. She is well liked by the clientele being still a fine figure of a woman. When the taproom is full she will often spend the night there handling the service herself rather than return after dark. This does cause Tyree some consternation for his concern for Mama is genuine.

The news of your aspirations toward government contracting is music to my ears. Even at this great distance we share our thoughts for I have also seen where such a profit can be had. While I will not burden you with the details I will say make what arrangements you can for manufacturing finished goods and I will provide the raw material. In this way we can double our profit on the same resources. Guard yourself from too much excess. The leisure habit can sap your drive and will expose you to all manner of unwholesome temptations. Look into the possibility of acquiring a relaxation establishment in Richmond, perhaps the Crimson Doll.

Something peculiar happened with your sister. About the time of my sister's arrival Gertrude disappeared for three days. That is she made no appearance and with the guests I did not notice her absence. Fortunately she came to no harm. On the morning of the third day we were breakfasting on the veranda when she walked up in the company of one of the farm niggers. He was very respectful and smiled big at Gertrude. She thanked him for bringing her home and told him to go home. She was wearing a course homespun and it appeared that was all, her feet were bare. She smiled all around as I introduced her to our guests and showed a great deal of enthusiasm at meeting Tyree especially.

Tyree is a handsome young man about standing six feet if he is an inch. He has sandy colored hair and is well muscled. I noticed that he watched Gertrude leave. Shortly, he excused himself and we all rose with the ladies joining me in the parlor to conference. I did not see Gertrude until dinner and she only appeared long enough to take a heavy laden plate back to her room. She had changed into a careless shift indifferently worn with her hair in shambles. I asked if she felt well or if I could attend to her, but she assured me that she had everything in hand. I have never seen her so careless of her appearance before.

The next morning she had Tyree drive her into E... They were there all day. When they returned she hurried to her room. Mama intercepted Tyree, who was looking haggard, to question him about their whereabouts during the day. I feel that Mama was more than a little put off that he had not been available when she needed him. Gertrude called for him, but Mama sent Zed, the boy, in Tyree's place. Millie, I could see wanted to object, but held her tongue as she watched him head off to your sister's service. She kept him busy late into the night and into the morning as we could all discern from the loud commotion coming from her quarters. Fearing that something was amiss I sent the groom, Old Tom, to investigate. He returned some hours later worn to death from exertion on her behalf.

Though her activities have abated somewhat, she still requires the frequent assistance of some man or another, and her demeanor toward the slaves has changed markedly. Previously, she had shown no recognition of them, now she is very solicitous toward them. What's more, she has insisted in being part of our business planning and daily will tour the grounds accompanied by one of the boys or spend the evening overseeing the Applepress after Mama returns home. Though her behavior is much more pleasant the sudden change has me perplexed. I think I will take your advice and send her to you when you are ready to address her needs.

Dreaming of You,

Connie

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Hazel Park

E..., Virginia

August 15th, 1862

Cornelius B...

37 Orange Plank Road

A..., North Carolina

Dear Cornelius,

The summer is wearing on and it will be time to return home soon before the weather turns. I am sure you received the acknowledgements for the paper delivery already. I recommend that you consider opening an office here in Western Virginia. My conversations with the local women lead me to believe that your editorials will be positively received. Furthermore, the low quality and infrequent publication suggests that some kind of syndicate can be formed that we can take advantage of. I will make a suggestion to Constance that Hazel Park may find such a venture partnership to her financial benefit.

Speaking of Constance, she has shown herself to be an entrepreneur to be reckoned with. Her ideas on public service and access are novel. She has gone well past me in meeting the needs of her clientele. You should see her at work. My own proclivities pale compared to her appetites. Annabelle is equally adept, though her tendency is toward charitable service. I have tried to prevail upon her to restrain her generosity, but to no avail.

The true wonder of the house is Thomas' sister, Gertrude. She prowls the estate like a hungry lioness. I have found her engaged in every activity. She shows herself an apt student and turns away no opportunity to increase in knowledge and experience. Disturbingly, she does not distinguish between men and negros. Because of her free ways I am encouraging Constance to send her away at the earliest opportunity. She has even taken advantage of Tyree's generous nature, much to my indignation.

I have found myself unattended far too often due to this woman's predations. The frustration has threatened to become unendurable. I have had to resort to local help. Constance has made good show of it with that taproom of hers. It attracts a steady cliental. I have myself spent evenings there giving good service to officer and civilian alike. Their company was profitable but not overly satisfying. I must tell you that I am eager to return to your arms, my dear. No amount of sympathetic cheerfulness can surpass the great pleasure of being joined to you. You know my inner needs intuitively and only you quench the inner fire that rages in me for you.

I'm sure that Momma Jammy will be glad to know that her daughter is held in the highest esteem of the gentlemen here.

My love is for you,

Beatrice

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(Constance's diary)

August 15, 1862

Much has transpired today. As Mama, Annabelle and I shared our observations from the previous day's carnal activities we noticed that our boys in gray frequently resorted to recounting their daring or harrowing exploits in the field in order to seduce my ladies into granting the fellows their favors. We all had a refreshing laugh that even Gertrude joined. Perhaps the men think they must exercise some initiative to feel in control of such things.

Mama then remarked that her experience was that afterwards in the exhaustion of fulfilled gratification her gentlemen often shared details of upcoming battles that they anticipated taking part in. We all agreed that our experiences were similar. It was Gertrude that pointed out that they seemed to need some emotional comfort that exceed the physical that we had already enjoyed. Furthermore, she suggested that a natural Christian compassion toward these men would assuredly release a torrent of useful information.

Mama then pointed out that information was a commodity resource also, if we could find the right market. We fell to an active strategy session where we determined how best to mine this new found resource. We have agreed that Mama and Annabelle should end their stay early and return to A... where Mama will organize a comfort station there amongst the wounded and couriers. Annabelle received a letter from her surgeon to inform her that he was being reassigned to Atlanta and she is desperate to return before he departs. Again, we agreed that with Papa's blessing, which Mama assured us that she would compel him to give, Annabelle should be married to him and accompany him to Atlanta where she would instigate information gathering there.

Having already considered sending Gertrude to Richmond, we set plans for her departure within the week. She was most ecstatic to go. Next, we determined to offer services to the Union forces, I have in mind an apt young lady, Sarah H..., who shows little reservation. We occupied the remainder of the afternoon with details of the various operations, financing and travel.

At the end, we were satisfied with all of our plans except how to communicate the acquired intelligence securely. Remarkably, Annabelle provided the solution. The Lady of the house will gather the gleanings of her girls and record them in the form of a supply order; then the order will be conveyed by one of my own traders to me here at Hazel Park where I will convert the information back into a usable form. Finally, I will then forward the information in a new form as business details of the hospitality house before sending it to my representative in the capital of choice. Only I will have the key to both codes as to insure its safety. We are all much encouraged by this new venture and expect much pleasure in its pursuit.