Title: Felix Kirk Letter

Date/Date Range :   1861 November 14

Extent: 0.1 linear feet

Abstract:

Collection contains a letter from Felix Kirk in Chattanooga, Tenn., dated November 14, 1861. Kirk, a soldier with the 38th Tennessee Infantry (C.S.A.), writes to his father concerning his illness as well as "some old union devil" who burned a bridge.

Call number: MS-2152

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Aquisition Information:

Collection is property of Special Collection.

Access Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Copyright:

The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of Item], Felix Kirk Letter, MS-2152. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Collection consists of a single letter.

Felix Kirk was born on January 2, 1843 in Tennessee, the sixth of twelve children. He enlisted into Company D of the Confederate 38th Infantry Regiment as a Corporal at Camp Abington near Collierville, Tennessee on the 16th of September 1861. He was "slightly wounded at the Battle of Murphresboro and paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina on 1st of May 1865." [ Confederate Patriot Index . Columbia, TN.: P-Vine Press, 1978, p. 304.] By the time of this discharge, Kirk had been promoted to 2nd Lieutenant.

Felix Kirk returned to Shelby County after the war ended, and married Rose Ramsey in 1870. Kirk died on December 26, 1917 and is buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Collierville (Shelby County), Tennessee.

Felix Kirk writes to his father about the illness from which he is suffering and requests that Henry bring him some Farnsworth's syrup. Two deaths had occurred from his regiment. He is not happy with "some old union devil" that burned a bridge out. When in Chattanooga, he climbed Lookout Mountain. Kirk requests that the children write him and sends his love to them and his mother. Part of the letter is written on a broadside with the title, "DIXIE. SOUTHRONS, HEAR YOUR COUNTRY CALL YOU!" by Albert Pike of Arkansas.

• Confederate States of America. Army -- History.
• Soldiers -- Tennessee -- Correspondence.
• Tennessee -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Tennessee -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal Narratives, Confederate.
• Tennessee -- Social life and customs.
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal Narratives.