Letter signed William A. Hall, Fayette, Mo., to sister Lydia Marmion, Harpers Ferry, Va. The day after my return there was a call on this county for two companies of volunteers to proceed forthwith to Matamoras, where it was said Gen. [Zachary] Taylor was hemmed in and probably defeated by the Mexicans. I was just in the frame of mind for a little variety and volunteered, was elected Captain of one of the companies by acclamation, embarked for Saint Louis with my company, and before we reached Jefferson City were met with an order to return home, Taylor having whipped the Mexicans. Thus passed the ebullition of war spirit! Let me know the opinion of judicious men of Abell [Arunah Shepherdson?]’s condition, how much money it is supposed he will have at command for his purposes in the West. Willard [P. Hall] also volunteered; got as far as St. Louis when he heard all the laurels were won and returned, and again volunteered for Santa Fe, to which point 2,000 men from this state will march in a few days. I am going to Fort Leavenworth to dissuade him, and do not think he will go, at least not before the election which is August 1; I fear he has already injured himself by volunteering, and I fear that leaving on the eve of an election will endanger the success of his election to Congress., [1846] June 16

Item — Box: 1, Folder: 1

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The collection contains primarily letters of Hall family members to family in Virginia and Missouri discussing family news, farming, their enslaved labor, their legal and political careers, the Mexican-American War, the California Gold Rush, and the John Brown raid on Harpers Ferry. Correspondents include Willard P. Hall and wife Anne E. Richardson Hall, mother Statira Hall, and siblings William A. Hall, George H. Hall, Mary Hall, and Anna Hall.