Bertie County NC B.B. Bowers Letters - 1863-1864 File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Harry Thompson porto@williamstonnc.com ================================= Windsor, N.C. Sept 10th, 1863 Dear Pa Mr. Pugh, Mr. Hoggard, and Captain Jacocks are about starting to Georgia to buy them a place. I would be glad if you would afford them all the assistance possible. You cannot do too much for them nor more than they have done for us ----. They are true southern men, and that is the cause of their leaving N.C. You can scarcely realize how such men are to be appreciated in their country, surrounded as they are by disloyalists. We are all very much interested in their welfare & I can assure you they are worthy of it. The health of the camp is good. All is quiet and no raid is expected-----. These gentlemen can tell you more about the country than I can. As ever I am very affectionately your son B.B. Bowers Oct. 3rd 1863 Dear Pa Enclosed please find Mr. Thos. C Watson's letter to you in reference to the purchase of land. He is a gentleman worthy of all assistance you can render him. I have nothing of interest to write. All is quiet. The health of the company is good. We are much rejoiced over Bragg's victory. I have only received one letter from home since my return to camp. Very affectionately your son B. B. Bower Bowers Letter: March 17th, 1864 "Dear Ma. Camp on Roanoke River The last letter received from you was dated March 3rd. You certainly conferred upon me a great favor by again honoring me with one of your exquisit epistles..... Be careful how you show my letters to N. Carolinians as there is a constant line of communication kept up to this point. We have just returned from a party at Mrs. Sp----ys a worthy lady who lives near our camp..... Lt. Cain, Sgt. Dyer and myself. Sgt. Dyer... we both have quite a number of sweethearts and love them all so well that we do not know which best. Miss Hattie Watson was the first young lady with whom I became acquainted in Bertie. She's a very innocent artless and ameable girl - We carried on quite an interesting flirtation as the ladies of Bertie call it. "But it came near being a serious affair with us bothin consequence of our very susceptible natures. Through absence and time has somewhat subdued our naturalfeelings, our horse back rides, dances,graveyard promenades, tombstone seats and rapid mutual enterchange of sentiment had a serious effect upon us both. She asked me to write my true sentiments in her album ( a day or two before she left)( You probably have seen that piece of origanality) Miss Hattie has been informed recently by some of my more recent love affairs, and has grown somewhat jealous and remarked in a letter to one of her Bertie friends that some of her once warm friends have grown cold of late. I have written her one little letter since SHE WENT TO GEORGIA. "She has never replied to it in consequence of the rumors - tending to create jealousy and doubts as to my constancy. Is it not amusing. I think she is also very jealous of Miss lyon with whom I have been corresponding sometimes. She asked Miss Lyon to show her my letters. Miss L replied that she could not in honor do so unless I would first give my consent. This of course convinced her that there was something --------- and serious in that correspondence and immediately wrote to one of our Bertie friends that she thought that I was engaged to Miss Lyons - so I heard. But do not attribute to her any ---- motive, for she is incapable of. It was her own deep interest that forced such dard forboding upon her mind. Mrs. Pugh once asked me to tell her candidly about mine and Miss Hatties affair. I told her that I believed Miss Hattie loved me and though the dullest intellect could perceive it - that I liked Miss Hattie well but could not say that I loved her but made her believe so because I thought it would be more pleasant for her to think so than to know that I did not love and that she would be more happy being thus deceived than if she knew the truth, and as she was soon going away - that absence and time would conquer that girlish attachment and obliterate that youthful fancy gradually without producing the shock incidental to knowing at once that I was faithless and having all of her bright hopes crushed at one fell swoop. "Mrs Pugh very innocently spoke of the conversation to one of Miss Hatties friends who immediately communicated it to her "verbatum et liter" - which of course was not very flattering or pleasant to her. Now she will exclaim - I will send you home your heart if you will send mine back to me -- March 19th, 1864 My letter was interrupted day before yesterday by a dispatch from Genl. Ransome to grant a flag of truce to a young CSA Major to go to Plymouth to get married and bring his wife out of enemies lines. I immediately communicated with the enemy and met their gunboat yesterday at Speller's Ferry. I approached them with my white handkerchief hoisted on a stick. They immediately hoisted white flags and I came on board. We arranged matters and had a talk about the war and the raid to Windsor when they tried to surprise me in camps. They seemed very sorry about their complete failure... Tomorrow the lady will be brought up and be married on the yankee gunboat - wont that be romantic. This occurance has created a novel sensation throughout the county. I have somewhat digressed from the main subject, which was to give you an outline of my love affairs in Bertie County. My next love affair was with Miss Cotten, Mrs. Pugh's sister." "She is very intelligent, mild and unassuming young lady of ninteen or twenty summers rather inclined to be pretty, black hair, hazel eyes,, and fair complexion, dances gracefully and sings and performs well on the piano violin and banjo, very--(?)-- but fond of amusement. She said that she had no idea that her personal attraction would ever win my heart - therefore proposed to play a game at cards first. She had no heart to bet against mine - as I already had hers, so she bet a pair of silk socks against my heart and as we went (about it) we played on until we were even six and six and it was her deal. Accidently she turned Jack and won my heart. But she was rejoiced over and over her good fortune that she proved (her love) (stating I) might (dance with) the girls awhile longer provided I would not fall in love with them and give the socks to my friends although I did not win them. She afterwards gave me a beautifully gilted china goblet with this inscription on it - "Love the Giver". That cup was the theme of gossip throughout Bertie County until the night the enemy made their raid to Windsor. Two hours before we heard that the yankees were advancing we had gone and returned from dinner and Sgt Dyer accidently knocked the cup off the mantlepiece and broke it. We had a large lot of china ware that the ladies had sent us from time to time and all of us declared positively that none of it should survive that famous cup and immediately proceeded to dash every other piece against the floor. The Lieuts. and all generously destroyed their precious momentos that they should not outlive that cup. It seemed a providential occurance, for had it not been destroyed, the yankees would have got (it all) two hours afterward. Thus perished the cup of memories that clung to it. It seemed that from that hour the magic was broken and our mutual affection withered into forgetfulness and whenever afterwards we met twas like old friends who find nothing in each other to admire but monotonous friendship......." "I praised her dancing and her eyes and flattered her in every way conceivable manner and told her that many times and oft I had thought I loved but never until I met her had I felt such an irresistible confirmation of it. She said that such was her case, that there was one she thought she loved until she met me - but oh! since then she had found that it was but a girlish fancy that she believed that they were congenial spirits ... for each other and when eer they met they blended as our spirits had done. We then left the noise and bustle of the ballroom and promenaded to and fro the long dark passage where no busy ears could hear our sweet interchange of sentiments (especially as her old sweetheart was in the ballroom and was eying her closely) I passed into ..... listening ear the gentle tones of love (I was so cold that I stammered at every (word) but told her that it was my deep feeling and agitation that made me hesitate and stammer so). The funniest of it was that her jealous sweetheart became so uneasy and restless that he came out to where we were (of course by accident) and I took occasion to remark in his hearing as follows: "Now Miss May you have said that you love me more than life or aught else on earth and I believe it but tell me will you always love as now" - and at the same time took her hand in mine (of course it only was by accident he heard it). Her desperate sweetheart would not stay to hear her reply - but dashed off precipitately rash. "March 21st. Again I was interupted by having to meet the yankee gun boat under a flag of truce. I went at 12' oclock yesterday. The lady did not come out therefore the marriage was not consumated. I returned to camp yesterday evening very tired had a slight fever last night - a reae occurence. I am so cold I can scarcely write. The snow has been falling all the morning and I am sitting in an old ragged tent shivering and trying to write to you. You must not expect anything romantic or poetic for I assure you I am feeling the weather..... I resume my narration. You would ... ... until the weather gets warmer, but the yankees might come in the meantime and get my half finished letter and .... ... my other love letters, read it publicly in Windsor or somewhere else. Well now, I will introduce to Miss May Simmons-the "May Blossom" - as she is called. She is rather below the medium height, light hair, blue eyes,"sweet sixteen", full of innocent romantic poetry and vanity and very susceptible, very lively and coquettish, and has a kind of naivette style of ...... which is sure to attract attention. "We met at the ball" and as she glides gracefully through the mystic mazes of the dance to music's voluptious swell "I with my whiskers took a sly glance at her but at the same time knew it would wound her vanity by (ignoring her) my seeming neglect soon had the desired effect. Several sets were danced before I asked her to dance with me, in which she coquetted with me .... at last our time came and she looked down and I blushed when I asked her to dance. We danced several setts in succession without interuption and both soon became very sentimental and eyes looked love in eyes, that spoke love back again - We both soon perceived by each other's glances that we loved - how strange that like an electric shock we should have been changed from entire strangers to devoted lovers... researcher for this line: Florala65@aol.com ======================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other presentation.