Letter of Thomas L. Brent
This letter was written by Thomas L. Brent (1845-1880),
who was a cadet at West Point from 1861-1865, and later served in the 18th
Infantry and 3rd Cavalry. He was seventeen at the time this letter was written.
The letter is to Winifred Brent, his sister, who married Dr. Henry Lyster
in 1867. Dr. Lyster was a surgeon in the 2nd Michigan. The letter is postmarked
"West Point".
{This letter was sent to me by Ned Markey.}
Camp McRae
July 16th, 1862
My own darling Win,
You don’t know how glad I am to hear that the
photographs pleased you. I will send the large one as soon as possible and
I send the "carte" for Grandpa. (1)
I write to Miss Katy by the same mail as this
and I hope she will not be offended that I send her a picture also. How did
Eliza seem to take the picture? I would like to know. Don’t forget to make
Eliza send me one of her pictures and if you could prevail on Miss Katy to
do the same I would like it.
The white kid gloves will be most acceptable
as I only had one pair of silk ones and they are worn out so that I have
worn uniform gloves lately which were very hot & big. You can arrange
about the postage by paying only half & have the other half to be charged
to me when I get the letter.
Harris Ledyard’s two sisters were both here.
Mrs. Goddard and Miss Sue, but they both went away yesterday. Miss Sue is
very nice & I had several dances with her while she was here.
Mrs. Macomb Miller & her daughters are
both here. Major Miller & Pa (2) were classmates & now his son &
I are. Mrs. Miller knew Nelly (3) while she was in Washington and said that
she thought she was one of the prettiest girls she had ever seen. Which of
course instantly captivated me. Miss Miller is very pretty and I have taken
her to most of the Hops so far and I have engaged two dances with her for
this eve. I have been introduced to & danced with such quantities of
young ladies that I don’t remember half their names. By the way Mrs. Lincoln
is coming up this summer to see a Hop and we all expect to have a grand time.
Oh Win! How I wish you could come up this summer
& have just one Redowa (4) with me. I too am going to follow the example
of Mr. Micawber (5) and "hope".
When I told you that the Miss Bayards were
sisters of Gen. Bayard (6) I made a mistake. They are only his cousins. He
was here the other day and I believe is yet. He looks very rusty and as if
he had seen a great deal of service. I did have a dance with Miss Etta Bayard
and she is very pretty & dances very well, though her elder sister is
not so pretty & does not dance as well. Gen. Bayard desired to be remembered
to you all.
Good by my darling Win (don’t forget the kid
gloves). Give my love to all and ask Eliza for a photograph for me as soon
as you see her.
Your affectionate brother, Thomas Lee Brent"
(1) Thomas’ and Winifred’s maternal grandfather,
Ross Wilkins, a lawyer and federal judge in Detroit, Michigan.
(2) Thomas’ and Winifred’s father, also named Thomas L. Brent. Graduated
in the class of 1835, promoted to Captain during the Mexican War, died January
1858 while serving at Fort Leavenworth, KS.
(3) Thomas’ and Winifred’s older sister, Eleanor Carroll Brent, who married
Orlando Poe in June of 1861. Poe was, for a time, Colonel of the 2nd Michigan
-- the same unit in which Winifred’s husband, Dr. Henry Lyster was a surgeon.
(4) The "Redowa" was a popular Victorian era slow waltz.
(5) Mr. Micawber is a character from Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield.
He is the eternal optimist.
(6) General George Bayard was an instructor at West Point, and during the
war a General in the Army of the Potomac. He was killed, later that year,
at Fredericksburg.
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