CROCKER, James F. Prison Reminiscences

Read before Stonewall Camp, Confederate Veterans, Portsmouth, Virginia, February, 2nd, 1904. Portsmouth, VA: W.A. Fiske, Printer and Bookbinder, 1906

1st ed. 33pp. Orig. printed wrappers. Wrappers worn, some minor chipping to extremities, starting to separate, else a very good copy.

Rare, Worldcat locates 13 copies. Dornbusch II, 1357. Haynes I, 4213. Nicholson 176. Crocker, a Virginian, was a graduate of Pennsylvania College (now Gettysburg College). He served in the Virginia Assembly. Crocker enlisted as the adjunct of the 9th Virginia Infantry on 19 April 1861, receiving his first wound at the Battle of Malvern Hill on 1 July 1862. During the Battle of Gettysburg he was a member of Armistead's brigade and participated in Pickett's Charge, where he was wounded a second time. Left wounded on the field, he was taken prisoner. He was given, unusually, a free pass into town so that he could buy a new suit. In Gettysburg he was treated with kindness and met many friends from his undergraduate days. "It was a queer, incongruous sight to see a Rebel lieutenant in gray mingling in the crowd, and apparently at home. They could see, however, many of the principal citizens of the town cordially accosting, and warmly shaking by the hand, that Rebel." Reflecting on his reception, Crocker wrote: "It was a queer episode-a peace episode in the midst of war. This experience of mine taught me that the hates and prejudices engendered by the war were national, not individual; that individual relations and feelings were but little affected in reality; and that personal contact was sufficient to restore kindliness and friendship."

Item #29470

Price: $1,750.00