Robert Hamilton Harris (1842-1929), of Thomasville, Georgia, served in Company A, 29th Regiment of the Georgia Infantry. On October 13, 1863, Harris married Martha “Mattie” Love (1845-1900). Several of Harris’ letters to Mattie, before and after they were married, have been preserved. This particular letter includes Harris’s hand-drawn map of Sapelo Island. During the Civil War, sea islands like Sapelo were strategically important because of the Union’s emphasis on creating a naval blockade of the Southern coastline.
Letter from Robert Hamilton Harris to Martha “Mattie” Love, c.1861-1863, Sapelo Island, Georgia. Courtesy of the Georgia Historical Society Manuscript Collection. MS 2135.