Washington My Dear Wife July 23 1861 Ere this you will have recd my letter and the news of the Federal defeat. It is useless for me to describe either what I saw or what I have heard for you will We both in the papers All I have time to say is that the defeat was decisive. It was a perfect [ ? ] one Sunday afternoon by [ ? ] we recd news from the battle which was all favorable until about 6 o’clock when we saw the first fugitives who were thank God not the citizen soldiers but regulars (officers & men) who told us every thing was lost & to fly but we did not do so
Oliver, John M. – May 21, 1861
LETTER FROM HON. C. C. CLAY, JR. Washington, May 21, 1860. MY DEAR SIR: Severe illness, which has confined me to my room for ten days, has prevented my answering your letter sooner. And such is my prostration at this time that I feel I am not equal to the mental or physical effort necessary to reply fully to each of the questions you suggest. The action of our delegates in the Charleston Convention meets my cordial approval. It evinced a fidelity to principle and an unconquerable intrepidity in its maintenance that merits the admiration. and gratitude of every true Southern heart. I am happy to state that their course is approved by nearly all the Senators of the seceding States(I am not sure that I should except one) and a large majority of the Representatives of those States. I know it it is approved by four of my colleague-Messrs. Moore, Curry, Clopton, and Pugh.