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The document above is from the Mowbray Collection at the Edward H. Nabb Center for Delmarva History and Culture at Salisbury University in Maryland. It is from a large cache of documents discovered by Ms. Elinor Mowbray in her house in South Carolina and forms the foundation around which this book is assembled. A receipt dated April 8, 1861 that might seem but a rather unimportant item concerning a farmer that needed his gun repaired back in mid-19th century. But, there is something much more ominous if we dig deeper into the history of the receipt. In the four months leading up to April 8 in 1861, seven states had passed resolutions of secession from the Union and in the several months to follow, six more would follow suit. This was a time of turmoil in our nation’s history and everyone was preparing for war and, Private Young H.E. Hitch was making sure that his gun was in the proper working order to be able to address the inevitability of what was to come. Private Hitch served for his cause and died in the process. This unimportant old receipt holds MUCH significance in the life of the Hitch family and, indeed, even the life of this nation. Private Hitch would serve for Company I of the 16th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry and would eventually be killed in that service near Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia on June 19, 1864 when his last words upon getting struck in the head by a Union minie ball were, Oh Lordy. He was a farmer, friend to many, husband and father. Fortunately for us, he exchanged many correspondences with his wife, sons and other friends during his service that survive to this day. From these, we get unprecedented insight not only into the Hitch family, but also the macro-level happenings of Company I and his fellow soldiers in the 16th South Carolina. We glimpse the realities of family life in the south during the War Between The States and the economic frailties that resulted. We also get to observe the broader aspects of what it was like to be a part of the 16th South Carolina as it performed its mission throughout the southern theatre all through the war. Join us as we take a time machine back to the southern United States in the times leading up to and during the Civil War through the eyes of a South Carolina farmer and soldier and his family and friends.
