Scope and Content Note:

Letters, papers, and newspaper clippings of Colonel William H. McCardle (June 1, 1815–April 28, 1893), a soldier, newspaper editor, and author of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Part of the material was collected by Robert Lowry and William H. McCardle for use in writing A History of Mississippi, from the Discovery of the Great River by Hernando DeSoto, Including the Earliest Settlement Made by the French, under Iberville, to the Death of Jefferson Davis (Jackson: R. H. Henry and Company, 1891, pp. 657).

The principal manuscripts are as follows:

  1. "The Great War between the States", 15 pp.
  2. "The Indians in Mississippi," 22 pp.
  3. "The Infamy of [James R.] Chalmers," 9 pp.
  4. "History of Journalism in Mississippi," 19 pp.
  5. "Col. William H. McCardle: His Services to the Confederacy," 4 pp.
  6. "The Planters Bank Bonds," 10 pp.
  7. "Biographical Sketches of Eighty-seven Mississippians," 35 pp.
  8. "Humphreys Family," 66 pp.
  9. "George Poindexter," 19 pp.
  10. "William F. Dowd, Recollections of the Organization and History of the 24th Mississippi Regiment of the Confederate States Army," 18 pp.
  11. "C. P. Wilson, Wilkinson County: A Lecture," 20 pp.

 

The correspondence (73 pieces) is distributed by dates as follows:

  • undated, 2 pieces
  • 1863–1869, 5 pieces
  • 1870–1879, 17 pieces
  • 1880–1889, 28 pieces
  • 1890–1893, 21 pieces

A number of letters addressed to James Z. George, L. Q. C. Lamar, and Grover Cleveland in 1885 are recommendations of McCardle for the office of second comptroller of the Treasury.

Three items are copies of letters from B. D. Pritchard to the Adjutant General, May 19, 1865; Edwin M. Stanton to N. A. Miles, May 28, 1865; and N. A. Miles to Edwin M. Stanton, May 28, 1865, in regard to the imprisonment and shackling of Jefferson Davis.

Some letters of interest in the collection are as follows:

  • James L. Alcorn, Eagle's Nest (Nov. 17, 1890)
  • G. T. Beauregard, New Orleans, La. (Apr. 26, 1878)
  • Thomas C. Catchings, Washington, D.C. (Feb. 16, 1891)
  • James R. Chalmers, Washington, D.C. (Feb. 26, 1878)
  • Charles Clark, Fayette (Mar. 28, 1863)
  • Jefferson Davis, Beauvoir (June 6, 1887)
  • W. S. Featherston, Holly Springs (Feb. 13, 1885)
  • Charles E. Hooker, Jackson (Feb. 18, 1885)
  • Benjamin G. Humphreys, Itta Bena (Mar. 21, 1878)
  • L. Q. C. Lamar, Jackson and Washington, D.C. (6 pieces: May 31, 1875; June 4, 1879; Jan. 23, 1880; Jan. 27, 1881; Apr. 4, 1885; May 18, 1892)
  • Stephen D. Lee, Agricultural College (May 7, 1892)
  • Robert Lowry, Jackson (Feb. 14, 1885)
  • J. S. McNeily, Greenville (Feb. 21, 1885)
  • S. M. Meek, Columbus (Feb. 19, 1885)
  • F. A. Montgomery, Rosedale (Dec. 24, 1877)
  • J. C. Pemberton, Jackson and Philadelphia, Pa. (4 pieces: Nov. 5, 1875 May 6, 1877; Oct. 29, 1878; Mar. 12, 1880)
  • J. C. Pemberton, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa., and New York, N.Y. (3 pieces: Feb. 1886; Mar. 25 and May 17, 1890)
  • Reuben O. Reynolds, Aberdeen (Feb. 24, 1850
  • G. D. Shands, Senatobia (Feb. 18, 1885)
  • Alex. P. Stewart, Oxford (Apr. 30, 1878)
  • John M. Stone, Jackson and Iuka (2 pieces, Feb. 14, 1884)
  • Edward C. Walthall, Grenada and Washington, D.C. (8 pieces: Feb. 19, 1885; Sept. 6, 1888; Sept. 20, 1889; July 20 and Sept. 24, 1890; Jan. 28 and Feb. 14, 1891; May 7, 1892)
  • W. T. Walthall, Beauvoir (May 15, 1879)
  • T. J. Wharton, Jackson (Nov. 4, 1890)