Lieber, Oscar Montgomery

Letter from Oscar M. Lieber, Star of the West Battery, to “My dearest Father” [Francis Lieber], re his father’s melancholy and their differing opinions (Francis was a Unionist), his mother’s misunderstanding of Confederate intentions (“We are anxious for war now, but not for war’s sake; but for the sake of the peace to which it will lead us”), the Confederate admiration of Maj. Robert Anderson, the disgust for the U.S. fleet’s actions during the siege of Fort Sumter. “But it is no civil war. It may be a civil war in Virginia & Kentucky. Not so with us.” Also includes cross writing on the first page noting the members of the Preston and Hampton families already in Confederate service and the difficulty of the mail.

Letter from Oscar M. Lieber to his parents (Francis and Matilda Oppenheimer Lieber), containing a firsthand account of the assault on and surrender of Fort Sumter: “the object [i.e. surrender] obtained after a most valiant defence and yet not a man killed or even badly hurt on either side.” Also discusses Lieber’s admiration for Maj. Robert Anderson, his contempt for the “cowardice of the U.S. fleet” and seeing Louis Wigfall and Gov. John L. Manning.

“Plate XX.” Inset: Portion of Abbeville District around Calhoun’s Mill. Scale [1:316,800]