Ambrose Martin Hite (1843-1921) served in the 33rd Virginia Infantry, part of Stonewall Jackson's famous "Stonewall Brigade" in the Confederate Army. These letters were sent to him at the front from his family members back in Page County, VA, mostly his father Abraham and sister Susan. The letters are a mix of the mundane and raw. As Ambrose heads off to war, his father writes: "We want you to send your dirty shirts home if you can now, and at any other time when you get them dirty enough to wash" (18 July 1861). A few months later, his sister had bigger concerns: "I was sorry to here of that fracus that you all had out there at the hanging rock. . . . Some persons said 2 of your fingers was shot of, some said you was shot threw the hand" (21 January 1862). His father was upset about stories of the company's officers: "If I was in your places I would take them down to the Potomack and duck them in the river. . . . They had almost as well never come back to Page anymore" (19 February 1862). He later worried: "You wrote in your letter that your shoes had nearly given out" (12 October 1863).
The Hite family also passed on news about the home front: empty stores, Confederate requisitions, and rumors of Yankee raids. The Hites were loyal Confederates, but their own troops were sometimes a greater threat than the Yankees, as sister Susan noted: "There are about 400 soldiers camped out there this side of Luray. They say that they have taken up winter quarters there. If they stay in there this winter, I think they will eat old Page out pretty clean" (13 December 1863). The most outspoken Confederate in the family was Hite's cousin Kate, who complained about the handful of civilian men loafing about Page County: "These detailed boys, I can't bear to speak of, for it makes me sick to look at them. I would sooner kick my own horse when I go to church than for any of these detailed boys to wait upon me, for all they think about is getting married, and before I will be any of there wife I will sholder my musket and go in rank and help to fight for our freedom" (16 January 1864).
with--a small group of other Hite family papers circa 1820s to 1892, most notably an 1864 receipt issued to Abraham Hite for 266 pounds of bacon, on printed Confederate army form Family register of the Hite family, 1842-48 and an undated tax list, apparently from Page County, listing many of the names referenced in the letters. Inventory available upon request.