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Charleston, S.C. Monday morning, March 13th 1865
My Dear Wife

I went to the Post Office this morning with bright hopes of hearing from you but was doomed to disappointment. I can only wait patiently hoping that I may be more successful next mail if I should be in the city so long.

We have had no opportunity to get farther north as yet, & we are seriously debating the policy of returning to Hilton Head to try our chances there.¹ This place is growing so dull to us that we must do something desperate soon. If the army was lying idle, it would not be so unbearable; but with our commands in motion, while we can contribute nothing, is more than we can patiently endure.²

My health is very good and the weather in this vicinity is beautiful, such as we enjoy in the north in late May & early June.

I had the pleasure of attending two Sabbath Schools yesterday. In the morning at 10 o’clock at Bethel Church (white).³ The attendance was not very large but those present seemed much interested. I spoke about ten minutes. At 11-1/2 o’clock I went to Zion’s Church S.S. (white & black);⁴ there were about 130 or 140 children present. I talked to them 10 or 15 minutes; they seemed very much interested. In the afternoon Rev. James Beecher, Bro. of Henry Ward Beecher of N.Y. & Colonel of the 35th U.S.C.T. preached in Zion’s Church.⁵ There were about 12 or 1500 present. It is a Methodist church & has 1200 members. After the Sermon, the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was administered. I preached in the evening at 7-1/2 from Romans, 3rd Chap, 23rd verse; there were some 800 or 1,000 present. The building is a very large one and seats 1500 easily. It was a happy day; God was with us.

The Steamer “Arago” arrived at Hilton Head on Friday,⁶ & we recd. northern news this morning to the 5th inst. There is no important war news, except a probability that Sherman may open communication with the coast at or near Wilmington, N.C.⁷

Everything is quiet in and around Charleston, and remaining indoors you would not realize the existence of war. We are to be honored with the company of a Lady in our house. She stepped into our parlor just now, & we became so excited that we came near upsetting all the chairs in the room. Her name [is], I think, Mrs. Moss, & [she] is from New York. Her husband is principal of some of the public schools, &, as they could find no place so convenient as this, we gave one of our front rooms up stairs.

I learned from Mrs. Beecher in a conversation on Saturday evening that she plays the Piano, so we hope to have some good music. Dr. Bennett removed over the river last week, & I have not exercised much on the Piano since he left.

The weather is very beautiful to-day, & our garden, which is in full view of my Desk, would astonish you. We have Peas, Beans, onions, watermelons & radishes all up & looking finely. The birds sing very sweetly among the trees in the garden, & everything out-doors looks happy. We have not been able to get a Northern paper yet, but may succeed throughout the day.

How much pleasanter it would have been if I had remained at home until now. I think the prospects are brightening for the termination of the war. Then “Home Sweet Home.” Remember me kindly to all our friends, Kiss Howard for me. It would be a great comfort to know just now that you are both well. May Our Father bless you. I feel so Blue to-day that I cannot write.

Good Bye,
Your affect. Husband
J. F. Culver

1. This statement suggests that J.F.C. had disembarked from Constitution at Hilton Head, S.C., and had boarded another ship which brought him to Charleston. [↩]
2. In the period March 7-13, the 129th Illinois, along with other units of the XX Corps, had continued its advance into North Carolina. The Lumber River was crossed on the 10th, and the next day the troops, after a 25-mile march, reached Fayetteville, on the Cape Fear River. Grunert, History of the 129th Illinois, pp. 207-11. [↩]
3. Bethel Church was on Pitt Street at the southwest corner of Calhoun. Sholes’ Directory of the City of Charleston, 1883 (Charleston, 1883), pp. 37-8. [↩]
4. Zion Presbyterian Church was on the south side of Calhoun, east of Meeting Street, Ibid., p. 39. [↩]
5. James C. Beecher of Hartford, Conn., was mustered into service on April 28, 1863, at Boston, as lieutenant colonel of the 35th U.S. Colored Troops, and was promoted to colonel on June 9, 1863. Colonel Beecher was wounded at Honey Hill, S.C., on Nov. 30, 1864. In March 1865 his regiment was stationed at Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; and in April in Charleston, at the Citadel. Compiled Service Records of Union Soldiers, NA. [↩]
6. Arago was a 2,240-ton propeller-driven steamer, built 10 years before in New York City. Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States, 1807-1868, p. 11. [↩]
7. On March 12 a steamboat ascended the Cape Fear River from Wilmington, N.C., and for the first time since the last day of January, Sherman’s army was again in communication with Union forces operating along the coast. Grunert, History of the 129th Illinois, p. 211. [↩]