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CSA 1, 5¢ green (4 large margins) tied neat LEXINGTON / Va. // APR / 17 [1862] cds on back flaps of cover (stained on front) to Philip C. Hileman, Care of Capt. Templeton, Rockridge Battalion with long 2-page original letter headed Monday evening, At Home, April 14th, 1864 with salutation Dear Brother Philip and signed Sister Annie F. H[ileman]. She speaks of friends who brought their wounded sons home from Roanoke and Staunton but feared the jolting on the roads not good for them. She says, in part, Samuel is home now. I expect he will go in partnership with Doe Taylor. He got a position in a hospital in Richmond, but he does not care about the situation. Some of the Kerrs Creek people sent a petition to the Governor to get Sam off, as they were very much in need of a physician. Nine doctors under 45 are allowed to Rockbridge and there are but eight, so I hope Sam will get staying at home. And apparently he did, hiring a substitute. Nice intertwined family dynamic. $270.
Philip Christopher Hileman (1830-1872) from Rockbridge County, Virginia, served as 2nd sergeant in Company B, Virginia 27th Infantry, Stonewall Brigade, Jackson’s Division, Valley District Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. He was taken prisoner at Port Republic June 9, 1862, confined to Fort Delaware, exchanged August 5, 1862; wounded at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863, returned to duty; again taken prisoner at Spotsylvania and again confined to Fort Delaware and finally released June 15, 1865. Described as 5’9”, dark complexion, dark eyes and dark hair. His brother, Daniel Jacob Hileman (1836-1903), followed a similar path and served in the same company as a sergeant. Samuel Martin Hileman (1838-1904) served in Eubanks Battery as well as Company B, 14th Virginia Cavalry, Jenkin’s Brigade, Ransom’s Division, Department of Western Virginia and East Tennessee. He hired James Daden as a substitute. Military records show him attending Roanoke College, was a doctor in Kerr’s Creek, Bridge County in the 1870 census).
