Send an E-Postcard of: Partial Civil War letter from Annie
Higginson to her sister, Agnes Fuller (c) Pocumtuck Valley
Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved. Contact
us for information about using this image. Annie Higginson wrote
to her sister Agnes and included news (or the lack thereof) of
the campaign in Florida of the regiment of African Americans led
by their uncle Thomas Wentworth Higginson and of the battle
Kelly's Ford where two other relatives were fighting with the
1st Massachusetts Cavalry. This letter points up the sometimes
sketchy information received by families and the public of
campaigns during the Civil War. Initial news would come through
to the newspaper, and then families and friends would wait
eagerly to hear the rest of the story. The telegraph was used
extensively for relaying news of battles and other engagements,
both to civilian newspapers and to higher ups in government,
including President Abraham Lincoln. Annie writes that because a
telegram had not been receive