Jim, do you have copies of the letters, they are very formal to between husband and wife. He does not talk much about the war, has a little of politics, mostly about family and children. some of it is humorus. Has a bit about camp life and what he has to eat or not to eat. Talks about his crops and gives his wife instructions on how to run the farm. The funnist thing is when he asks for a new suit of jeans, and very formally asked his wife to dye them grey this time instead of blue as she did before. Talk about seeing yourself there, I do the same, and I can just see him out in front of his men in a blue suit. I also found out I had future relativies in the same outfit. I always wondered how he became a major at such an early age, then thru this board I found out his "men" were boys of 16-18. I cannot picture myself standing up to a Union charge at 16.

He was a ladies man and married well twice. One marriage was to a cousin who baby sat his many children. Nine, three by each of his three wives. My grandmother was the next to the youngest of the third marriage. She graduated from Shorter College and taught high school.. My grandfathers name was Robert Lee Holcombe, wonder where that came from. He kept a bust of REL in his living room, I did not get it, but I do have a photo of JWP in his uniform. So I count myself as very lucky

Of my 6 WBTS grandfathers he was the only slaveholder. We have never found record of how many, he aquired them in his first marriage. His wife died while he was a POW at Vicksburg. He walked home without knowing she was dead. Several slave families stayed and tended to the children and tried to keep the farm going. As a reward for this, he deeded each family 40 acres from his 2000. A family member researched this in the 1960's and found some of the land still in the families that he deeded to them.

Do you fly or drive in your travels? Do you have time to visit any battlefields? My brother-in-law lives within walking distance of the Park on Lookout Mtn.

I could go on about him forever, better stop and send this, take care in your travels
Yours, Ken