Will post this in two segments the first post will be information I received from the Department of Archives and Special Collections, J.D.
Williams Library, the University of Mississippi . I did change the contrast and brightness on the letter to make it more readable. The second post will be a summary of the information provided by Hugh Simmons of the Fort Delaware Society.
If you are related to this man, SHAPE would love to hear from you.
GP
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W. B. Burris (First_Last)
Regiment Name 3 Mississippi Cavalry.
Side Confederate
Company B,I
Soldier’s Rank_In Private
Soldier’s Rank_Out Private
Alternate Name William R./Burris
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From Hugh Simmons—–
Transcript of William R. Burris
Letter from Fort Delaware
12 APR 1865
Fort Delaware, Del.
April 12th, 1865
Mr. Edward Burris
Dear father I write you a few lines which will inform you that I am well. Hoping those few lines may find you all enjoying the same blessing. I have written to you several sense (sic) I have [not] rec (received) any letter from you. James Bonds is well. I and Jim get (sic) along fine. I have enjoyed fine health since I have been in prison. I rec (received) a letter from Jane Garrison some time ago. Give my love to all of the family. Tell Ann to write to me. I have answered her letters. I do not think that it will be long before I will be at home. I have been paroled for more than four weeks. It looks like Dixie is almost gone up. Tell Mother and Margaret I have not forgot them yet. Give my love to all of my connection and friends and write every chance.
Nothing more, but remain you son,
W. R. Burris
W. R. Burris, Private in Company B, 3rd Mississippi Regiment of Cavalry
11 Division
Attached for your review and comment is my transcript of the William Rufus BURRIS letter.
The first thing that caught me eye was the name of James Bonds: >>> James Bonds is well. I and Jim get along fine. <<<
Private James Bonds was enrolled in Captain James W. Logan’s Company, McGuirk’s Regiment, Mississippi State Cavalry at 18 years of age on 25 APR 1863 at Oxford, Mississippi. Active in state service, this regiment was not formally transferred into Confederate service until 2 MAY 1864. James was captured in action at Springdale Mills, Mississippi on 16 AUG 1863. He was transferred to Memphis on 20 AUG 63 and described as a resident of Marshall County, Mississippi by the Federal provost marshal. From Memphis, on 2 SEP 1863, he was transferred to the Alton Military Prison. He was held there until March 1864 when he was transferred to Fort Delaware. He arrived a month earlier than William Rufus Burris, but it is probable that they knew each other because both were residents of Marshall County and both enrolled, apparently in different companies of the 3rd Mississippi Cavalry, in the spring of 1863. According to NARA Tape 45, a copy of which is in the Society Archives & Library, James Bonds was housed in Division 11 of the enlisted prison barracks out on Pea Patch Island along with William. His CMSR confirms that he was released on 11 JUN 1865 upon taking the Oath of Allegiance at Fort Delaware. James was a resident of Marshall County, Mississippi.
The issue of William’s parole: >>> I do not think that it will be long before I will be at home. I have been paroled for more than four weeks. It looks like Dixie is almost gone up.<<<
At first reading, this suggests that William was paroled for exchange as one of the sick and disabled to be sent away in mid-March 1865, but had not been shipped away to be delivered to Confederate authorities. However, the last documented shipment of POWs paroled for exchange from Fort Delaware (that I have found so far) is dated 7 MAR 1865. The final assault on Petersburg and Richmond was launched at the very end end of March 1865, after which deliveries for exchange could not be made at Boulware’s & Cox’s Wharves on the James River. Richmond was abandoned by the Confederates on 2 APR 1865. There were no further releases on parole from Fort Delaware after 7 MAR 1865.
News of the collapse of Richmond on 2 APR 1865 and General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House was known at Fort Delaware within 24 hours of these events. William knew these facts when he wrote on 12 APR 1865 that “It looks like Dixie is almost gone up.”
The explanation of William’s “parole” lies in two paragraphs from the 1981 remembrances of Waltrus Rankin Burris:
“It was while he was at Fort Delaware that BURRIS and a friend wrote to President Lincoln about a pardon explaining they were ‘country boys and would like to get out of prison’. They never actually had a reply, but it was not long after posting the letter that a Yankee office came to them and said, ‘I understand you fellows want to get out of the prison.”
They agreed and were told that all they had to do was pledge allegiance to the United States. Both refused to do so and were returned to their camp sites to remain for the duration of the war, when they had to take the oath.”
It would appear that this application for a pardon was made between mid-March and 2 APR 1865. The only releases upon taking the Oath of Allegiance in April were of POWs who had applied for a Presidential Pardon and been granted it through special orders from the War Department. They took the Lincoln Amnesty Oath and were released. After the death of President Lincoln on April 14th, things came to a halt relative to the release of prisoners at Fort Delaware. On 8 MAY 1865, General Orders No. 85 was issued by the Federal War Department declaring that all POWs who had applied prior to the fall of Richmond on 2 APR 1865 for a Presidential Pardon were to be given the oath and released from prison with transportation home provided. The number of POWs released from Fort Delaware under General Orders No. 85 after taking the oath in May 1865 came to 1,072 men.
In the last 18 months of the war, it was standard practice to separate those who asked for a Presidential Pardon from their fellow prisoners for their own safety. They were held in less restrictive circumstances, given better rations, and had some limited degree of freedom to move about Pea Patch Island outside of the POW compound. The parole that William Rufus BURRIS and James BOND enjoyed was likely related to their Presidential Pardon application and not to any pending “humanitarian” releases. William Rufus’ letter home telling his father that “I have enjoyed fine health since I have been in prison” has more of the ring of truth to it than I first imagined. Out bound prisoner mail was heavily censored and it did no good to tell about poor food and bad treatment. And perhaps, he did not want to alarm the family. In this case, he was likely just telling the truth.
Their refusal to take the Lincoln Amnesty Oath when authorized got them sent back to their regular “camp sites”. Both William and James were housed together in Division 11 in the enlisted POW barracks out on Pea Patch Island. These “divisions” represented single rooms that held up to 100 men usually from the same state. No listing of where each numbered “division” was located within the barracks complex has survived.
General Orders No. 109 directed the release of all POWs holding the rank of captain (army) and below against whom no criminal charges were pending. It was read in the prison pen at Fort Delaware on 10 JUN 1865 and the process of giving the Oath of Allegiance commenced that day. William and James both took the oath on 11 JUN 1865 and were released. They were to have been provided transportation by water and/or rail to a point nearest their homes. I would give almost anything to have an account of their trip home from Fort Delaware!
This was an interesting letter and informative as well. Thank you for sharing this!! If you come across a photo of William Rufus BURRIS, the Society would greatly appreciate receiving a digital image for use with our Photo Display board and notebook.
Hugh
R. Hugh Simmons
Editor, Fort Delaware Notes
Fort Delaware Society
Website: www.fortdelaware.org
E-Mail: society©fortdelaware.org
Telephone: (888) 936-7833. This is a toll free number to contact the Fort Delaware Society.
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