Felix Walthall letter


Descriptive Summary
Title: Felix Walthall letter
Creator: Walthall, Felix Leonard, Captain, 1836-1918
Inclusive Dates: 1863 July 4
Language(s): English
Extent: 0.1 Linear Feet (1 folder)
Collection Number: ms3872
Repository: Hargrett Library

Collection Description

Historical Note

Felix Leonard Walthall was born in Cedartown, Polk County, GA, February 29, 1836, and was the youngest of six children. At age three his family moved to Butts County. His father was a prominent man in his day, and represented Butts County in the state legislature. In 1861 he volunteered in a company made up around Stark, GA, and was elected First Lieutenant of the company. This company was mustered into service in September, 1861, at Camp Bailey, and was known as Company A, 25th Georgia Regiment. Upon the reorganization of the company in May, 1862, he was elected Captain and the company became Company I, 30th Georgia Regiment.

Capt. Walthall was one of the most popular officers of the regiment, and retained the esteem and confidence of his men throughout the war. He took part in all the battles in which the 30th Regiment participated, except Missionary Ridge, Jonesboro and Bentonville. He was wounded at Chickamauga in 1863, and also at Decatur, Ala., in 1864. In 1864 he was commissioned as Major, and soon after the battle of Franklin Brevet, Lieutenant Colonel. He was captured at Nashville, TN, in 1864, and sent to the prison at Johnston's Island, from which he was paroled after the close of the war when he returned home. In 1880 he was elected to the state legislature from Butts, County, serving one term with honor to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents. With the exception of a few years in the mercantile business, most of his life postwar life was spent on the farm. He married three times, first in 1867, to Lizzie Moore; in 1878, to Lula Elder, and in 1894 to Nannie Gresham. -- A.P. Adamson, Brief History of the Thirtieth Georgia Regiment (Jonesboro, Ga: Freedom Hill Press, 1987), 123-124.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of one letter from Captain Felix Walthall to his sister Mary Louisa Walthall Lyons in Worthville, GA. Walthall indicates his location in the heading as, "Miss. Swamp," and later describes his company as being 15-20 miles from Vicksburg. Walthall mainly describes the scarcity of supplies, the physical demands of long days of marching, and the relations between soldiers and the higher-ranking officials.