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Lot 337
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Appeal to the Army of TN from the "Rebel Girls" of Murfreesboro, Condemning Lt. Col. Parkhurst's Cruel Treatment
Appeal to the Army of TN from the "Rebel Girls" of Murfreesboro, Condemning Lt. Col. Parkhurst's Cruel Treatment
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Description:

Confederacy
Murfreesboro, TN, ca. 1863-1864
Appeal to the Army of TN from the "Rebel Girls" of Murfreesboro, Condemning Lt. Col. Parkhurst's Cruel Treatment
AM

A lengthy handwritten appeal to the Army of Tennessee from the "Rebel Girls" of Murfreesboro. 6pp on two bifolium, measuring 7.75" x 9.75", Murfreesboro, ca. 1864. A unique letter written by the Southern women of Murfreesboro during the Union occupation. The appeal details their initial fair treatment after the Union Army captured the city in the Spring of 1862, but goes on to discuss at length the atrocities and mistreatment of the southern women labeled "She Rebels" under Lt. Col. Parkhurst's command. It specifically mentions his denial of medical care for sick women and children. The appeal also mentions Nathan Bedford Forrest's calvary attack and successful capture of Parkhurst before the city was once again recaptured and placed under Federal occupation. With flattened mail folds. Light soiling and foxing, mainly at edges. Overall very fine.

Highlights from the letter:
"Till Parkhurst took command however, the Yankees treated us very decently. He became enraged at the ladies of the place and immediately made war on us. Our girls proved themselves ladies - they spit in no man's face, insulted no one; but they proved themselves also true Southerners. They held themselves profoundly aloof from the invaders; they permitted no social intercourse, they would receive none of their attentions, but on all times and occasions made them feel that they were regarded as aliens and enemies…We have no time to give the particulars of the vigorous prosecution of Parkhurst's war on the 'she-rebels', nor to tell of the sick ladies to whom he would not allow medicine to be sold or given several of whom died in consequence; nor how the arms were taken from us and given to the negroes and the horrible deeds those negroes performed…"

"Time passed on, and P. filled the jail with our citizens and had chosen three to be hung on the 14th of July. On the 13th Gen. Forrest attached the town. P. ordered his men to shoot all the women and children they saw. The larger part of his command refused to obey his orders 'because if they were captured the rebels would hang them for it.' Some obeyed, and it is owing to the bad marksmanship of the Yankees that there was one of the women left alive, for we were without exception in the street feeding the soldiers and caring for the wounded. The entire force of Yankees were captured, P. among the number. He was carried off with the rest…they rather guessed he was swinging to come tree-limb…When the Yankees again took possession…they treated us as all civilized nations treat non-combatants. Parkhurst's fiance went to Gen. Nelson to learn his fate, and he replied 'I don't know nor care what's become of him - except the rebels hung him - hope they did for the coward deserved it for spending his time fighting their women instead of attending to his business.'…Imagine our surprise when in the vanguard of Rosecrans' Army we saw…Col. J. G. Parkhurst as large as life, and a little larger in the proud consciousness of a successful villainy…"

"We know you have been hurt and mortified to hear of the many girls who are receiving the visits of Yankees and deserters and even marrying them. Believe us! - The vast majority of our girls have done no such thing…but remember before you cast the first stone at them that not one in a hundred had anything to say to the Yankees the first year they were here, for they all said 'Our boys will be angry', but when you came, you were just as cordial and friendly with those who had been intimate with the Yankees, as with those who had been true through evil as well as good report…the 'Yankeeized' girls have been more weak than wicked though they have acted shamefully…And how can the faithful Southerners know that the sneer of the 'Yankeeized' is not true, and that on your return they will not be your chief favorites?"

"For two years the women of Tennessee have been robbed, insulted, murdered. We have appealed in vain to the Yankee authorities and they have answered with fresh insults for they have lost fear of you. They say you have forsaken us, forgotten us, and that you care nothing for our fate. They tell us they can murder us and stretch forth their hands reeking with our blood to you and you will grasp them as those of honorable foemen…Crushed and down-trodden, her garments wet in the blood of her sons and daughters, Tennessee holds out her hands to you in prayer for aid and protection, she had no hope under God, save in you!...Raise no 'black flag' - proclaim no exterminating war, but let it be known that whoever dares to injure one hair on the head of a mother, a sister, or wife of one soldier in our ranks, dies be he the highest General or lowest private in the Yankee Army!..."

John Gibson Parkhurst (1824-1906) enlisted as a Lieutenant Colonel in the 9th Michigan Infantry Regiment when the Civil War broke out. He served as Military Governor in Murfreesboro and began courting a young local woman from a prominent family named Josephine B. Reeves. The Reeves' Union sympathies were shameful to many Murfreesboro residents, most of whom were secessionists and resentful of Union occupation. During the occupation, at least two assassination attempts were made against Parkhurst. He was later captured at the First Battle of Murfreesboro on July 13, 1862, when Nathan Bedford Forrest's troops took control of the city. Parkhurst was sent to Libby Prison in Richmond, but was paroled on October 12th. Parkhurst was then assigned to duty as Provost Marshal at the XIV Army Corps headquarters in Nashville and named commander of the Michigan 9th Infantry Regiment. Following the Battle of Stones River (also known as the Second Battle of Murfreesboro), Parkhurst remained in Murfreesboro and married Josephine Reeves.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 7.75" x 9.75"
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