Letter from Augusta J. Evans, Mobile, Alabama, to Rachel Lyons, February 28, 1864

Abstract

Augusta Evans, an Alabama novelist, writes her friend, Rachel, of her return trip from Columbus to Mobile. She reports that it was bitterly cold going to the train station in Columbus. As she travel with friends, it was ordered that ladies must leave the train and not travel to Mobile. She was able to get a passport allowing her to travel onto Mobile. Later, she was detained in Pollard, Alabama, during the early morning hours. An officer escorted her and her friends to a room where other detained travelers were waiting. Though, she didn't know the others most of them knew of her friends. The early morning hours were spent in good humor and witty conversation. Later in the morning, General Maury telegraphed to Pollard to allow her to travel at once to Mobile. Augusta thought the immediate threat in Mobile of an attack was subsiding. She relates to the officers that are stationed near her home in Mobile. Augusta conveys that she cannot find the cotton or the dress that Rachel wants