Grace's Church, Virginia
May 16, 1863

Mother,

I send you the portraits of the Yankee Generals, 
some of whom we have fought and I expect to 
fight before this conflict ends. I found them on the 
Battlefield of Chancellorsville, Virginia.

"Farewell, Mother, I have left you
Freedom's cause I must defend:
And if I in battle perish
Trust in Heaven unto the end.
My Country calls, and shall I falter?
Or refuse to lend a helping hand?
No, as long as life endureth,
I will fight for Southern Land.

Letter written by James Eliot Richardson, my great-great 
uncle unto his mother Rachel Owen Richardson, my great-great 
grandmother in Pickens County, Alabama. James served in the 
26th (Oneals') Alabama Infantry, Company I as a sharpshooter. 
This letter was printed in the Covington Leader Newspaper (TN) 
on Feb. 1, 1917. A copy of the transcribed letter was given to 
me by brother, Bobby Richardson. He received his copy from Helen King.
One descendant has claimed his middle name was Earl 
but the family bible has Eliot.