April 17
On this rainy day in 1863, his 20th birthday, Private Henry Brotherton (1843-1873) of Company G, 52nd North Carolina Infantry, sat under a shelter a few miles south of the Union-occupied port town of Washington, NC, and wrote to his cousin, Martha (Betsy) Brotherton, very plaintively, “I am geting tired of this war.” The 5’10 farm laborer left his father’s estate in Lincoln County on March 23, 1862, to volunteer in the “Dry Pond Dixies” alongside neighborhood friends. A year into service, whatever romantic illusions Henry had about war had vanished, and he shared his weariness with his cousin. The previous day, General D.H. Hill abandoned his siege Washington and ordered a night march in which “the roads was nee deep in mud all the way.” An exhausted Henry lamented to Betsy, “I have never saw hard times before like we have saw since we left Goldsboro” on March 9. He complained about his filthiness–“we havent striped [changed clothes] in five weeks”--and the rations–“we only draw three cracker and a quarter pound of meat” per day, which provided fewer than 1000 calories. He envied his friend, Reuben Goodson, who had been granted a furlough and was heading home, likely carrying Henry’s letter. Weakening in body and spirit, Henry declared, “I never want to serve another twelve months here.” Henry got his wish, but his luck did not improve. He was wounded at Gettysburg and rejoined his unit in time to be captured in the Battle of Bristoe Station on October 14, 1863. Henry’s disillusionment, foreshadowed in his letter to Betsy, reached its peak on January 28, 1864, when he abandoned Confederate service, took the oath of allegiance, and enlisted in Company C, 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry. His friend Goodson died of dysentery less than 5 months later. Henry survived the war, but his body never recovered. In July 1873, two months after the birth of his second son, Henry died at the age of 30, his health broken by war.
Henry’s friend, Reuben Goodson, went home on furlough in April 1863,
while Henry was left behind. Photo found at: https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.34376/
Sources
Weymouth T. Jordan, Jr., comp., North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster, 12:481-482; Henry Brotherton to Martha Brotherton, April 17, 1863, William H. Brotherton Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University [transcription provided on Private Voices, altchive.org]; 1860 U.S. Census: Lincoln County
