My Dear Amie: Letters Home from Capt. Samuel Camp Kelly

I would like to take a few minutes to introduce myself and how I acquired these letters. My name is Steve Lawler and I am an avid history buff, antique picker and have been researching Civil War for 30 years. Myself and Neal (Mac) McBrayer were doing maintenance on our 12 lb Napoleon Cannon at Kelly Ranch near Alpine, AL. some 5 or 6 years ago. There was this trailer there and of course it caught my eye. I looked inside and it was full of boxes and books. I got to looking through the boxes and I found items from as far back as WW1. To make a long story short I was able to purchase the contents from Charles Kelly. As myself and Mac were going through the boxes and trunks, I came across these letters. I couldn't put them down. They were from Captain Kelly to his wife Amie. Nearly all the letters started with My Dear Amie hence the title of the letters. I couldn't bring myself to keep the letters. I gave them back to Charles and asked if I could take them with me and transcribe them. He agreed and a year and a half later I finally got done transcribing them. They are full of tragedies of war, humorous accounts and what Amie needed to do in keeping the farm up and running. If you are history buffs or needing to read the true account of the Civil War you will hear it from someone who lived through it day by day.