RADFORD – Each week, Glencoe Mansion gives a history of the Wharton family as told through the book “The Wharton Letters” on its social media accounts.
General Gabriel Wharton and his wife Nannie Radford Wharton built and lived in Glencoe.
“Join us each week as we highlight the Wharton letters by learning what Gabe and Nannie were doing and thinking on this day in the 1860s.
In Gen. Wharton’s letter on Dec. 19, 1863, he describes the fear he feels after rumors spread in his camp that Union troops had made their way into the New River Valley.
“All manner of painful rumors have been circulating around camp for the last few days. I am the victim of the most torturing suspense. It is rumored that the Yankees were at Salem on the 16th, have come up the RailRoad, have reached & taken possession of Dublin, have committed all sorts of improprieties on their march. I cannot believe these rumors but my anxiety for my precious gives me apprehensions most agonizing. You may be sick, you may have to leave your home, may be suffering now, & I hear, powerless to serve you.”
This speaks to the fear troops felt as they were far from home fighting the War, only for it to reach their homes while they were away and unable to help. Luckily, Nannie wrote to Gabe on Dec. 22 that the Union troops never made it down to the area.
To read this letter exchange, and more, get a copy of “The Whartons’ War” in our Gift Shop. They make a great gift for the Civil War buff in your life. Find copies at Glencoe Mansion, open Wednesday to Saturday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Sunday 1-4 p.m.
Glencoe Mansion