Collection of William Duncan Cole Letters - 1862 to 1864

History of the Collection

By Leah Meador

This collection of correspondence was passed from mother to daughter until Cole’s granddaughter gave the collection to her grandson, James Paul “Buck” Barnhart in 1953. The first transcription of these letters was done by Buck’s mother, Ruth Bullock Barnhart, and his sister, Leah Lynn Barnhart in the 1950’s.

In recent years, Leah has made a new and more accurate transcription and has researched the people mentioned in these letters, with a primary focus on their relatedness. She is currently developing a publishable document that will contain copies of original documents, transcriptions and annotated research describing the fruits of her research. Each letter will be footnoted with brief information about people, places and battles mentioned in that particular dated correspondance. There will also be appendices containing more complete information about the people, places and battles referenced.

Any information or comments about these letters or persons mentioned above, would be greatly appreciated. Please use e-mail address: LeahLBM@comcast.net.

Content of the Collection

William Duncan Cole, from Fayette County, Alabama, enlisted April 26, 1862, in the 38th Alabama Volunteer Infantry. From May 1862 until his death outside of Atlanta, Georgia, in May 1864, Lt. Cole wrote home with regularity. (See Cole's Gravestone) He provided much information about camp conditions, troop morale, availability/scarcity of food and other items, war news, and the activities and battle involvement of the 38th Alabama.

The family has 43 original letters written by William Duncan Cole, transcripts and copies of 10 additional letters obtained from the U.S. Military History Institute Archives, and transcripts of 3 letters written in late 1862 and graciously shared by the owner of these three letters, Paul Johnson. All of these 56 letters were written to his wife, Cornelia Ann Darden Cole or to her father, Sampson Harris Darden.

Additional letters are known to exist. William Duncan Cole’s granddaughter, Lois Evangelyn Cole Barnhart, was an antique dealer in Birmingham, Alabama, and at various times sold letters to stamp collectors for the value of the stamps. These letters were written and folded so that the letter itself became its own envelop. The three letters shared by Paul Johnson are part of this group. The number and dates of other such letter/envelops are unknown and remain missing.

See a summary of each letter, including the date, the location where it was written, and a brief summary of troop, camp and military information contained within the letter.

There are additional letters in the family’s collection:
Two from a brother - Harvey VanBuren Cole, 19th Arkansas Volunteer Infantry.
Three from a sister - Mary E. “Mollie” Cole
Two from Dr. J. C. King, Medical College Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia who was the attending surgeon at Cole’s death. He wrote to Cornelia to inform her of her husband’s death and wrote a second letter when he discovered that the original letter had been sent to the wrong post office.
One from Henley Wingfield J. Hamner who was a neighbor, friend, and comrade-in-arms with Cole in the 38th. Henley also wrote to Cornelia to inform her of William’s death.

Read Cole’s first known letter written home after his muster and departure from Fayette County.
View a portion of the original letter.

Hamner letter - This letter was written after Cole’s death by his good friend Henley Wingfield J. Hamner, also of the 38th.