| Physical medium | Paper typed. |
| Organization of material | Arranged chronologically. |
| Summary |
Correspondence written by Robert Tarleton to his mother and to Sallie Lightfoot. The correspondence is largely concerned with personal affairs but does contain information on military activities prior to the fall of Mobile. Numerous comments describe the federal blockading and invasion fleet, the activities of the Confederate defending fleet and the CSA ironclad Tennessee, picket duty, the grounding and defense of two blockade running vessels at the Mobile Bay entrance, and the siege of Mobile. He also gives candid descriptions of camp quarters, travel on steamers, camp fare and delicacies from home, fortifications, and Yankee conscription of ex-slaves for labor. The military activities at Fort Morgan are described. Postwar letters reflect problems in securing reliable African American farm labor in the face of propaganda by Federal forces that ex-slaves would benefit from land division. A quasi-belief in the restoration of slavery among white landowners is mentioned. |
| Cite as |
Sallie Lightfoot Tarleton Papers, #71, East Carolina Manuscript Collection, East Carolina University. |
| Reproduction note | Joyner- Photocopies. Copied at: East Carolina University, East Carolina Manuscript Collection; 1968. |
| Acquisitions source |
Joyner- 178 pages; Dr. William Still, Jr.; Greenville, NC; loan; Dec. 3, 1968. |
| Biographical note | Robert Tarleton was a member of a wealthy Mobile, Ala., family. He was educated at Princeton University and later studied medicine in New York City. On the eve of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Confederate army as a private and served as clerk in Gen. Braxton Bragg's headquarters. He was commissioned lieutenant in Smith's Battery and stationed at Fort Morgan on Mobile Bay. Tarleton was captured with the fort's surrender in 1864, but escaped. He turned to cotton farming in Louisiana before returning to Mobile (1868) to enter the produce business. He married his fianceé, Sallie Lightfoot, shortly after his escape in 1864. |
