Note: this is the last of the letters I downloaded from the Private Voices website.
William Reddin Best was born and raised in Duplin County. On April 16, 1861, at age 19, he enlisted as a private in 1st Company C, 36th Regiment North Carolina Troops. He served in the company for a year before being discharged due to chronic rheumatism (Best’s discharge papers are HERE). On February 13, 1863, Best enlisted as a private in Company B, 51st North Carolina. He served with the Fifty-First at least through January 1865, surviving a leg wound at Fort Harrison. Private Best was paroled at Goldsboro on May 24, 1865.
The Sally G. Quinn Papers, part of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Collection at Duke University, contains three of William Best’s letters to an unnamed cousin. Transcripts of the letters are on the Private Voices website (https://altchive.org/node/281). Copies of those transcripts are also located on 51stnct.com HERE.
April 2, 1863
The 51st North Carolina has been in the Charleston area for two months. This date is supposed to be the day that the Yankees attack Charleston, but Best doesn’t think they will. If they do, “they
will find the heardist plase that they have ever found yet.” Private Best estimates that there are 900 pieces of heavy artillery defending Charleston.
William finishes his letter by complaining about the conditions in Charleston. The locals treat the Tar Heels with contempt, unlike the citizens of Savannah. The regiment gets nothing to eat. Best is homesick and wants to go home badly but doesn’t think he will be able to do so anytime soon. He closes by hoping the war will end soon: “[H]ow can this unholy ware exist among us for what
can we be doing for our selves look around us & you will see that both parties are worsting them selves.”
April 25, 1863
Private Best is depressed. He is unhappy with his situation in Charleston and is beginning to lose hope. “I am now Pasing my days off in a most a cruel & Bitter way…. I do not ceare what comes. It Seems to Me as I had just as soon Be Dead out of my Troubles as to be heare. It seemes as my life is Perfect Nusince to me.” William doesn’t think he will ever see North Carolina again.
May 30, 1863
The Fifty-First has returned to Wilmington. Private Best was able to sneak off for a visit home. He is thankful that he was not punished when he returned to camp. He hopes to visit home again but doesn’t think there is any chance that it will happen. Best has enclosed the music for a song that his cousin has asked him to write down. William closes his letter by sending greetings to his friends and relatives and his love to “you know who.”
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