104

Papers of ambitious young captain W.W. Rockwell, commanding a company of New Orleans provost guards.

Various places, bulk 1862-1864
264 items (0.4 linear feet), including 48 war-date letters
by Captain Rockwell and 124 other letters, some accompanied by stamped and postmarked covers; condition generally strong.

  • Notes: William Walker Rockwell (1839-1863) was raised in Pittsfield, MA, son of the prominent Republican politician Julius Rockwell. He served as Captain of Company I in the 31st Massachusetts Infantry. The regiment was sent south to Louisiana as part of the Department of the Gulf in February 1862. He died of illness in a Baton Rouge hospital on 3 December 1863.

    The bulk of this collection consists of correspondence, including 48 letters by Captain Rockwell (mostly to his parents and siblings), and 11 letters to him by his father, the former United States Senator Julius Rockwell. 

    Captain Rockwell's military career took place almost entirely in or near occupied New Orleans; his company was detached for service as a provost guard for the city. He did not see combat, but he made frequent raids into the countryside in search of contraband goods. He offers strong descriptions of New Orleans life. 

    On 18 May 1862, he describes his quarters: "The family to whom the house belongs being strong secesh, and dreading the sight of the Yankees, have gone into the country to spend the summer. . . . We have one darkey boy who dances, one who plays the violin, & one who picks the strings of the classic banjo." He describes 5-cent omnibus tickets being used as currency, with Confederate currency being banned.

    On 23 July 1862, he describes his new duties: "I have been detached with my Co to act as Provost Guard, and look after the peace & quietness of this Crescent City. My Co. come on guard once in every four days & the other three they have to themselves. . . . I have made several large seizures since I have been in office. . . . The work is exciting yet not without danger."

    Three letters dated 9, 10 and 12 September 1862 are written from "Camp Pittsfield" on a raid up the  Pearl River (the eastern border between Louisiana and Mississippi): "I am out scouting every night & it just suits me. Night before last I took 20 picked men & went up 3 miles above the town of Pearlington [Mississippi], where there is a large force of Rebel cavalry, & cut out a schooner, & brought her under the gun at the mill. . . . The Rebels have a co. organized to clean me out, & have warned me."

    An interesting change of pace is a 22 February[?] 1863 letter from a German immigrant washerwoman named Mary Mauthe in New Orleans. She asks for help in getting paid by Rockwell's company. Supposedly a private had collected the money for other soldiers and pocketed it: "Should he have spend the money, I beg you to take it from him on the next pay day, as I am in need of the same in this hard times."

    Rockwell had harsh words for the department's commanding officer Nathaniel Banks. On 8 March 1863, he told his mother: "Between you and me, Gen'l Banks don't please the soldiers here as Gen'l Butler did. He makes too much of the secesh, & in consequence they don't respect him. Things have changed since Butler left N.O. . . . A few days since when some prisoners were being sent away to be exchanged, the secesh sympathizers began to make a disturbance. Banks tried moral suasion, & they told him to go to ___. 2 reg'ts & 2 batteries were called out to quell it." 

    On 22 and 24 May 1863, he reports on a rare personal meeting with the Confederates: "I went over to Pascagoula, Miss. in charge of a steamer load of ‘Registered Enemies' from New Orleans, under a flag of truce. . . . the commanding officer in charge of the post invited me up into the town to his quarters. . . . and was very kindly rec'd by the Confederate officers stationed at that post. I did my best to convert them from the error of their ways, & tried hard to make them see that their cause was hopeless." 

    On 11 June 1863, he shares some gossip from the nearby Battle of Port Hudson:  "Gen'l [Thomas] Sherman was hit in the leg by a cannon ball, and has half his leg amputated. He is not expected to recover. Gen'l Dow is accused of cowardice on the field, and Gen'l Sherman threatened to shoot him if he did not go back to his brigade, & he found him in the rear while his brigade was in the front, & he went back & soon got wounded, some say by his own men." 

    On 10 July 1863, Rockwell mentions that two of his soldiers had been captured in a honey trap: "They were captured through the instrumentality of a Rebel petticoat, one Sarah Arrabella Mitchell, who I have since learned wrote them a note inviting them over to see her."

    A recurring theme is Rockwell urging his politically influential father to pull strings and get him a promotion. This became more urgent as a rivalry between his colonel and lieutenant colonel made life in the 31st difficult. On 8 December 1862, he wrote to his father: "The 31st is a fighting regiment (among themselves) and I would like to be out of it. Do what you can, and do it quickly."  The efforts seemed to be paying off when Julius Rockwell wrote 26 November 1863 to say he had spoken with General Benjamin Butler: "He spoke very highly of you several times as an officer. . . . He asked me if you would be willing to take a commission in a colored regiment?" A lieutenant colonel post seemed to be on offer.

    Rockwell's final letter home was written in the hand of his nurse Caroline Nephler, 25 November 1863: "I have been ill about ten days but am present improving. . . . I am at a private house and receive good attention." He requests civilian clothing, "large, as they are for convalescent purposes." He died 8 days later. Two later condolence letters from Nephler are also included.

    Among the condolence letters to the Rockwells are ones from Samuel Hurd Walley (Massachusetts Speaker of the House), Congressman Theodore Pomeroy, Senator Samuel Pomeroy of Kansas, Supreme Court Justice David Davis (Captain Rockwell's maternal uncle), Congressman Thomas Dawes Eliot, and Congressman Henry L. Dawes.

    Also included are photograph of a drawing of Captain Rockwell in uniform; obituaries and eulogies; a packet of 66 personal and military receipts found among Rockwell's effects; 16 original filing envelopes with the family's original docketing; and Rockwell's 1862 commission as captain.

    Provenance: Poulin's Auction, 3 November 2024, lot 4045.
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