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Civil War Archive of Cadet Farish C. Furman of White's Battery, South Carolina Artillery. ...
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Description
Civil War Archive of Cadet Farish C. Furman of White's Battery, South Carolina Artillery. An incredibly uncommon Civil War archive of letters from Farish Carter Furman (1846-1883) of Scottsboro, Georgia to his parents. Furman was a third-class cadet at the South Carolina Military Academy (The Citadel) in Charleston, South Carolina at the outbreak of the war. Too young to formally enlist, he and his fellow cadets were called upon to perform military duties throughout the conflict on the islands surrounding Charleston, and saw action at the Battle of Tulifinny. The collection contains twenty-two war-dated letters from Furman that range from April 14, 1861 to February 1st, 1865, however the entire collection consists of thirty-two letters from November 2, 1860 to February 27, 1868 (although several of the postwar letters do not contain a year and may have been penned after 1868). Primarily written in ink, with the exception of two in pencil. The collection also contains a letter of condolence to Furman's father after his death in 1883. His wartime letters were written from the Citadel and James Island in South Carolina and Scottsboro, Georgia, and discuss his studies, military news, and his family.When Fort Sumter surrendered on April 13th, Furman was on leave in Georgia with his grandparents following the Academy's April 9th commencement. On April 14th, he wrote to his stepmother to discuss the capture. "...I suppose that before I took my seat to write you this the glorious news of the taking of Fort Sumter, without any killed, has reached you; this will be somewhat of a damper on the abolitionists and if Ben. McCulloch takes Washington, they will be still more surprised at the assertion of the rights of the Southern Confederacy. I think that after we take Fort Pickens, as we most assuredly will do, that a treaty will be made between the United and Confederate States and that the matter will end there..."
In 1862, the cadets were called upon more frequently to assist with duties in between their lessons. Furman was assigned to battery number 2 on James Island in late May to aid in the defense of Charleston. On May 29th, he describes their position to his father. "For the last week I have been experiencing the hardships of active service...we were ordered from the Citadel to repel an attack expected on our batteries. The enemy advanced in force on our pickets driving them in, but after remaining all night on the island he retreated to his boats. We are employed as pickets the duty is severe, for these nights I did not sleep a wink...There is no telling how long we may have to remain on the island there are not more than a thousand or two troops here. If the Yankees had force to make a vigorous attack they would endanger the safety of our batteries."
By 1864, the cadets were becoming more familiar with their service as part-time soldiers. He describes adjustment in a February 13th letter. "...I am fast becoming accustomed to my new habits, and will I expect feel strangely when I again sleep on a soft bed and set down to a well spread table. I think that if I ever graduate here I may be said to have become inured to the hardship of a soldier's life..." His position at the Citadel also enabled them to receive military news more quickly than the general public. An example of that is illustrated in a May 7th letter that Furman writes to his father after he received news of the Battle of the Wilderness and the death of General Jenkins. "...we have heard to day the exciting news of a grand battle in Virginia. The dispatches represent that we are driving the enemy back! But by the same fatal mistake that caused the death of Jackson, Genl. M. Jenkins a graduate of this institute has been killed & Genl. Longstreet wounded. Everyone seems to be confident that we will whip the fight..."
Furman was sent back in the field in December of 1864. He and his company of Citadel Cadets saw action at the Battle of Tulifinny on the 6th through the 9th. He describes the engagement to his family a few weeks later in a lengthy letter on December 28th. "...On leaving our camp at Orangeburg, we proceeded immediately to Charleston while we were joined by the Arsenal Cadets. There we remained two or three days. Orders were received one night about twelve o'clock for us to proceed immediately to Pocotagilo...On the morning of the seventh our forces numbering about a thousand men marched out to ascertain the enemies position... I was marching on through the woods when I saw a stream of five shoot out from some bushes in front of me accompanied by the sharp crack of a rifle. The enemies pickets had discovered our approach and fired into our advancing ranks, I was the second man shot at by the enemy. The first had his jacket cut and the third (Green) was shot in the face. The ball fired at me missed my head a few inches and buried itself in a tree close by. For a few minutes the firing became almost continuous...The firing was kept up steadily by us from sunrise till twelve or one o'clock...We took three prisoners and wounded several men, about twenty Yankee graves were found where they a drowned. I had dirt thrown in my face by a Minnie ball and a ricochet shell passed within a foot of my head. You have now in this a meager description of the dangers through which I passed..."
The final war-dated letter from Furman is from February 1st, 1865. After the Battle of Tulifinny, the cadets remained in the field and aided in the evacuation of James Island. The Citadel fell to the Union when Charleston was captured on February 18, 1865. It did not reopen to students until 1882, seventeen years after its seizure. After the war, Furman studied at the University of South Carolina. He returned to Georgia where he worked as a farmer, attorney and judge. He died of malaria in 1883.
Condition: Foxed and soiled with minor edgewear.
Auction Info
2022 June 4 Historical Manuscripts Signature® Auction #6247 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
June, 2022
4th
Saturday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 5
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