Information Sheet
R Bradley, George.
566 Letter, 1863.
One item, photocopies.
This is a letter
from Little Rock, Arkansas,
13 April 1863, by a Confederate soldier from Phelps County, Missouri. George Bradley served in the 10th
Missouri Infantry (formerly Col. Alexander E. Steen’s regiment) in Mosby Monroe
Parsons’s brigade. Bradley commented on
camp life, changes in command of the army, fellow soldiers from Phelps County,
and the course of the war in Arkansas.
George Bradley
was the son of William and Susan (Kitchen) Bradley of Phelps County. In his letter to his widowed mother, Bradley
recounted his service during the winter of 1862/1863 with Alexander E. Steen’s
10th Missouri Infantry (CS).
He and the regiment experienced forced marches from Batesville to Van
Buren, Cane Hill, and Little Rock,
Arkansas, but Bradley did not
mention fighting at the Battle of Prairie Grove, where Colonel Steen was killed
in action. However, he did include news of many of his fellow soldiers from
home, including Jesse Fulsome, Stephen Hood, Frank Jones, Thomas Weaver, Dock
Williams, Anthony Wishon, and T. S. Wright.
Unfortunately, he had to report that several of them had deserted. As for himself, Bradley was optimistic
despite the serious reverses for the Confederacy in Arkansas.
He expressed satisfaction with his rations and with changes in the
army’s command which brought Sterling Price back to command in the
Trans-Mississippi, and said he would remain with the army until independence was
won.
The details of
Bradley’s subsequent career are not known, but he did not survive the war. The next significant action in which the 10th
Missouri Infantry was engaged was Helena,
Arkansas, 4 July 1863, where the
regiment suffered eleven killed, forty-one wounded, and 237 missing. Another Phelps Countian in the 10th
Infantry, Moses Bradford, was captured there.
Bradford’s letters home (WHMC-Rolla
Collection R360), and George Bradley’s letter to his mother are the only
letters from Phelps County Confederates available to researchers.
Index cards for this collection
Questions? Use our Researcher Registration Form
Return to
WHMC-Rolla's home page.