by Kenneth W. “Kent” McBee, Jr.
Morgan County Historical and Genealogical Society President Terry Golden and Treasurer Abby Chapple recently made an astounding discovery in the Society’s archives. Within the archives was the Civil War soldier Joseph L. Holland’s letter home to his father. Joseph wrote:
Bell Island, Richmond, Va
Nov. 20th 1863
Dear Father
Your kind and welcome letter came to hand today and I was truly glad to hear from you and also to hear that my wife is well and does not grieve herself about me and you must not grieve about me for I am doing as well as can be under the circumstances. I am as well as I ever was and hope you all are the same. There are about twenty of Capt. Sumer’s (Summers’) men with me, tell Bell not to be [illegible] as I am well and hope to be home this winter some time. You need not send me any money for if you do I won’t get it. I have a little yet and that will do me. You can’t do anything for me. I wrote two letters to my wife and one to you when I first came to Richmond. If you get this letter I want you to write to my wife and tell her I am well and not to fret about me, and tell her to write me and where to write to. I would write more but I can’t. Write soon and a long letter, give my love to all of the family and to Bell and to Mrs. [illegible] family. I still remain your aff. Son,
Written on the back of the letter.
Father, Mr. Price’s son is here and he requested you to tell his father that he is well. He lives in Hancock.
also [illegible] Mr. John [illegible] Holland
Capon Dist. Morgan County, Va.
Joseph Littleton Holland was born about 1840 in Washington County, Md. He was living at home in the Hancock District of Washington County in 1860. At age 21 he enrolled with Captain Firey’s Company B, 1st Potomac Home Brigade (PHB) Maryland Cavalry, U.S. In Frederick, Md.
We know from Joseph L. Holland’s Company Muster-in rolls that he was absent sick for eighteen days prior to April 13, 1863. It was not unusual for soldiers within a few days’ ride from home to return for recuperation. Holland was stationed at Harpers Ferry, Va., at the time of this illness.
While on this absence from his duties, Joseph joined his sweetheart Isabella S Otto in Indian Springs, Md. There, Reverend Samuel Bookman joined them in matrimony on March 31, 1863. He would soon be required to return to duty.
Joseph L. Holland’s last patrol
In September 1863, U. S. Major Henry A. Cole was directed by Special Order Number 238 to conduct a scouting operation into Loudoun Valley and the nearby region. Cole’s Cavalry, as his 1st Potomac Home Brigade Maryland Cavalry Battalion was known, proceeded from their camp on Bolivar Heights near Harpers Ferry, Va., to Charlestown, Va., on September 21, 1863. With him was Captain Firey’s Company B, 1st PHB Cavalry, and his young Corporal, Joseph L. Holland. The battalion camped for the night near Charlestown.
Hancock, Md., native Captain George “Dent” Summers, commanding Cavalry Company F, 2nd Regiment Potomac Home Brigade, was on detached duty from his regiment. He was assigned to the Lower Shenandoah Valley beginning in late 1862. Co. F would regularly join patrols led by Maj. Cole. He did so again and joined Maj. Cole on September 22, 1863, at Charlestown. Like many of the Morgan County, W.Va., and Washington County, Md., volunteers, Private Van Price had mustered in with Co. F in September of 1861.
The combined force left Charlestown the same day, proceeding to Leesburg, Va., by way of Winchester, and camping for the night near Berryville, Va. The following morning, the 23rd, the force crossed the Blue Ridge Mountain at Snickersville, now known as Bluemont. Cole’s men met and scattered a force of Colonel Elijah V. White’s 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, C. S. A. They cleared the area of the Confederates and rode to Waterford, Va., where they camped for the night.
The morning of the 24th Cole proceeded to Leesburg, Va. White’s men were occupying the town. The Federal cavalry mounted a charge into the town, capturing one rebel.
The 25th would see Cole on the move from Leesburg to Upperville, Va. He would write in his official report:
“On the morning of the 25th, I proceeded to Upperville, with the expectation of coming in contact with Mosby’s guerrillas. I was not disappointed in my expectations, for within a few miles of the town I espied Lieutenant-Colonel Mosby with his command, consisting of about 150 men, drawn up in line of battle on an eligible position awaiting my arrival. His skirmishers were well advanced to the front. As soon as I perceived his disposition, I threw out skirmishers to the front and right flank, and advanced my column under their cover.
“When within about 1,000 yards of the enemy’s line I ordered a charge, when they broke and scattered in wild dismay. The result of the skirmish was a loss on the part of the enemy, 1 man killed and 8 prisoners, without experiencing any loss on my part. I also recaptured a man of the Nineteenth U. S. Infantry, recently captured by Mosby at Bull Run. I then encamped for the night near Upperville.
“On the morning of the 26th, I took up the line of march for camp, my rations being exhausted, and finding forage exceedingly scarce the evening of the same day. Mosby’s command has been greatly underrated, for I am credibly informed by prisoners, citizens, and contrabands that his force consists of a battalion of 300 men.
“Mosby is one of Stuart’s staff officers, being detached for the express purpose of destroying communications between the Army of the Potomac and Washington,” he wrote.
The report was delivered to command one day following his return to Harpers Ferry. It’s clear he was not yet aware of Joseph L. Holland’s capture.
Following Holland’s capture, he was confined to the Belle Isle Prison Camp situated in the middle of the James River in Richmond, Va. The prison was without walls and bars. The river confined the soldiers to the island. A hilltop used by the Confederate guards overlooked the prison and cemetery site. There was no frame housing, only tents for about half of the soldiers. Disease was a constant threat.
Holland, in his November 20, 1863, letter home, mentions that some of Captain Summers’ men were with him on Belle Isle and specifically Van Price. Three of the soldiers were captured on October 7, 1863, at the White House Farm skirmish near Summit Point, Va., where Captain Summers fell that day. Ten days later, on October 17, 1863, during the Battle of Charlestown, Va., twenty-four of Company F’s men, including musician Van Price, were captured. All were confined to Belle Isle.
By January 1864, the island’s living conditions began to overwhelm the young Corporal. Holland was admitted to Confederate Military Hospital 21, Richmond, VA January 27 with Chronic Diarrhea. He died February 20, 1864.
Joseph would never know his daughter. Mary (Ellen) Littleton Holland was born three days after his death on February 23, 1864.
Holland’s comrade Van Price would be paroled from Belle Isle and resume service with Company F.
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