'I Remain Your Affectionate Son' - A Letter From Captivity

 

Johnson’s Island Prison, drawn by Confederate prisoner Joseph Mason Kern,
October 1863.
(Southern Historical Collection, UNC Chapel Hill)

Johnson’s Island, December 25, 1864

“My health is now good; I have been sick since I last wrote you, and was compelled to use what little money I had. I know that it will give you pleasure to furnish me. I will remunerate you in the future.” — Capt. L.L. Stanford, 3rd Georgia Cavalry

He wrote it on Christmas Day, from a prison block on the frozen edge of Lake Erie. The letter was short—prison letters had to be. One page only, censored and scrutinized. But in that single page, Capt. Stanford folded in illness, hope, and the quiet desperation of a man asking his uncle for thirty dollars.

He had already applied for permission to receive the money. That was the rule. Even a gift from home required approval from the Commandant. The funds would be held by the prison and deducted as needed for purchases from the sutler’s store. A system of rationed dignity.

There are millions of stories from the Irrepressible Conflict. This was just one of them.

Mac

Works Cited

[1] Johnson’s Island Preservation Society. "Letters to and from Confederate Prisoners". JohnsonsIsland.org, Retrieved 28 June 2025.