Roderick Gaspero and James Kirkpatrick Shaw Papers

Scope and Content:
The Civil War letters and papers of Roderick Gaspero and James Kirkpatrick Shaw, dated 1861 to 1864, consists of the following items:
1. One manuscript letter (with typed copy) by James Kirkpatrick Shaw, C.S.A. (1861) to his sister, Mrs. Jesse Shaw Smith, Quincy, Florida. Footnotes are: "This letter was written by James K. Shaw 17 days before his 17th birthday. He was later shot through one eye but survived the war to return to Quincy in 1865, marry and raise a family, three sons and one daughter, all of Quincy. Roderick Kirkpatrick Shaw, James Sweet Shaw, Charles Richard Shaw, and Mary Shaw (Mrs. M.A. Love)." The letter was dated Winchester, December 1861, where he was then fighting with the Confederate Army.
2. Nine manuscript letters (with typed copies) by Roderick Gaspero Shaw, C.S.A. (1861-1864) from various locations while with the Confederate Army, to his sister, Mrs. Jesse Shaw Smith at Atapulgus, Georgia, and Quincy, Florida.
3. One manuscript letter and manuscript footnotes at bottom of two newspaper clippings, "Memoranda of Facts," pertaining to the Kentucky Campaign (with typed copies) by Lt. Roderick Gaspero Shaw at Atapulgus, Georgia. The letter was unfinished and unsigned. The last he wrote as he was killed early the next morning, May 28, 1864.
4. One manuscript letter (with typed copy) by A.M. Harris, C.S.A. dated, "On the Field (North of Marietta, Ga.) June 14th, 1864" to Mr. T.R. Smith, the uncle of Lt. Roderick Gaspero Shaw, C.S.A. in which he gives full particulars as to "what has been done with the remains of Lt. Roddie Shaw." Lieutenant Shaw was killed in battle and buried "in a grave dug in a place which I understand will be easy to point out on the Marietta and Dallis road." He stated that he was enclosing a list of persons who were present at the burial. No list was found with the collection.
5. Xeroxed copy of clipping from Atlanta, Georgia, newspaper titled: "Officers' Dream of Death Fulfilled to the Letter."
6. Photo of Lieutenant Roderick Gaspero Shaw.
7. Xeroxed copies of: "The history and military connections of the family of Gaspero Sweet as dictated by William Charles Sweet, his son, in 1899, to his grandson, Eugene M. Mitchell who was the father of the Margaret Mitchell who wrote Gone With the Wind." (4 pages)

The Civil War letters contain good descriptions of on-the-firing-line events as they took place and the newspaper article is also very revealing.

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