Shropshire’s Letter
Major John Samuel Shropshire was a member of Company A, 5th Texas Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. In early 1862, his regiment formed part of the Confederate Army of New Mexico under Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley.
On February 21, 1862, elements of Sibley’s army fought Federal forces near a ford of the Rio Grande in south-central New Mexico. The ensuing engagement, the Battle of Valverde was a Confederate victory.
A few days later, Maj. Shropshire penned the following letter to his wife, Caroline Tait Shropshire and listed the casualties suffered, asking that his spouse present the names to the local press for publication. Unfortunately, Maj. Shropshire would be killed in action at the Battle of Glorieta Pass on March 28, 1862. The letter, in its entirety, is listed below and provides a vivid account of the fighting at Valverde and the nature of Civil War casualties.
(author collection)
“Dear Carrie.
It has been some time since I wrote you last since which time we have had a very tight fight and lost several of our best men Major Lockridge of our regmt died in a gallant charge upon a battery of the enemy. It will be useless for me to tell you that we whiped the enemy for that is a matter of course. I did my part my officers and associates all say. I was by the side of Lockridge at the batery when he was shot. & I claim to be the first man there, but there are many others who claim the same honor. Suffice it to say, I was there among the first & I can assure you that it was the warmest place I have ever had the honor to ocupy. I can tell you that my friends at home can never appreciate the danger through which I passed. Enclosed you will find a list of the killed and wounded in my company which will show to you and our friends what part the comp performed in the battle of Val Verde. I do not know whether you will ever recv this letter as we are in the country surrounded entirely by enemies. Fort Cregg is still in the hands of the enemy. We whiped the enemy in a pitched battle near the fort & have moved on thus far without oposition and feel confident that there is no enemy here that will dare to meet us again. We fought a large odds and at great disadvantage. We whiped them completely and killed a large number. We had killed 38 & 145 wounded on the field. We had been without water 2 days except what we could carry in our canteens. We had at no time more than half of our forces in the fight. We fought from morning until sun down. You will see no doubt much better and more full descriptions of the fight. I can congratulate you upon being Mrs Major J. S. Shropshire you may write the fact to Sister Sallie. There are many things I might write to you, but prudence dictates the contrary course. I hope soon to hear that peace has been declared and that I may soon be at home. I dislike military service & most especially do I dislike fighting. The Yankies fight so gallantly that I have come to respect them more & feel willing to live upon terms of friendship with them— provided always they will “let us alone” I have no time to write any more. I am in fine health yet and all of Co. A, except the wounded are well. I expect soon to have an oportunity to write you again. This goes by a scout mesenger & it may be that it will be cut off. Good bye. Kiss my babie, & take good care of him. Dont forget me in your prayers. Remember me to all the relations. Write to me. I will get the letters some day probably. Yours affectionately
John S. Shropshire
Major 5th Regmt T. M. V.
P. S. Gen H. H. Sibley sends his love to you
J. S. S.
P. S. Col H. C. McNeill sends his love to Mrs Ford. Please ford it & oblige
J. S. S.
Tell the Dr or Mr Delany to publish in the county the report I have enclosed so that the various friends may know what has become of us. Hubbard will doubtless die. The rest will I think all recover. Willson sends his compliments to the Dr. Oakes would like very much to see his girl. I expect a large lot of letters from you soon. I have not heard from you since leaving Fort Thorn.
List of the Killed and wounded in Co. A 5th Regmt T. M. V.
Killed. Private Joe E. Smith.
Wounded. Lieut D. A. Hubbard, seriously wounded in the head, (Is expected to die little hope of his recovery)
Sergeant G. O. Sloniker, shot through the foot, improving.
Corp. R. H. Carter, shot through the thigh with a grape shot, a severe wound, no bones broken, improving.
Farrier M. C. Knowlton, shot through the left side, a very severe wound, improving.
Private A. L. Baker, shot in the eye, improving, his eye will probably be saved
John P. Campbell, slightly wounded.
Suffield Clapp, shot through both thighs, no bones broken, improving.
F. E. Caldwell shot in the arm.
J. H. David shot in the left right breast, with a grape shot, But little hope of his recovery, he is very low, is dead.
H. D. Donald shot in the thigh, improving.
T. B. Gillespie, shot in the hand, improving
W. L. Grow shot in the leg calf of his knee, improving.
Sam Henderson, Badly wounded by a burn by the explosion of a Caison of the enemy whilst storming the battery, improving
John Knowles, shot through the writs & a slight wound on the stomach, improving.
A. G. Mitchel, shot through the wrist, improving
J. H. McClary, shot through the calf of the leg, pretty seriously hurt but was reported slightly wounded, because he did not quit fighting as long as there was an enemy, improving.
J. D. Montgomery, wounded in the leg, improving.
Martin Pankey, seriously wounded shot through the thigh, improving
S Putman, left arm badly shattered, I think doing very well
W. G. Roberts, slightly wounded in leg, improving
J. I. Stolts, arm broken, doing well
August Schubert slightly wounded, well
Corp I. R. Taylor, slightly wounded, well
The above is a correct statement of the condition of the men of Co. A. The number of the wounded will show what the men had to under go & how well they sustained themselves. No man ever led a better & braver company than I had the hon to command in the battle of Valverde.
John S. Shropshire
Major 5th Regmt T. M. V.”
*The letter is part of the Nesbitt Memorial Library archives. To access the letter digitally and learn more about visiting this collection, click here.
Am very curious about Shropshire’s ancestry. In doing research on my own ancestors in early 1700s Virginia, I found that they were associates of a “Saint John Shropshire” (I was surprised to learn that at the time, it wasn’t uncommon for people to name their children “Saint” so-and-so), and other Shropshires, who were apparently a prominent Virginia family. However, by the mid to late 1700s they had disappeared from Virginia. I’m wondering if they’d migrated west and eventually ended up in Texas.
Shot, shot, shot, grapeshot, burned by exploding caison. The casualty list and explanation basically tells you what happened – guys charged the enemy, a bunch were shot, the enemy were aiming low based on the number of leg wounds, the guys kept charging, the enemy had to resort to grapeshot, they guys captured their cannon. Holy cow, I feel like I charged with them.
The way I learned PS’s was that the first Post Scriptum is P.S., the second one is P.P.S. – post post-scriptum, the third would be P.P.P.S.
Sorry to his loving wife who lost her very brave husband.
Well it was a cavalry unit, so I assume they were mounted. Many leg and thigh wounds suggest the enemy were firing center of mass of the horses & riders. Unfortunately there is no record of killed and wounded horses, but am sure there were many. Hard to get a torso or head shot on a mounted cavalryman especially if it’s a moving target. I believe most hits likely resulted in the deaths and woundings of horses, not men.
That is the best of a site like ECW – a personal and very moving account of the War experience, without political/partisan accusations or blame added on for effect.
I agree. No politics, no “contexting”, no essays in favor of one side or the other, no laying of wreaths by people who never served on graves of only one side in order to make a statement. Just an account of warfare, combat between soldiers, which is what a site about war should be.