I have a poor copy of a letter written by Thomas Sumpter Belvin from Fort Delaware, to his father, James W. Belvin, a plantation owner at Marshallville, Macon County, Georgia. Postage was due upon receipt. According to family records, Thomas Sumpter Belvin was born at 3 a.m. on 1 June 1842. He was named after Gen. Thomas Sumpter but the spelling was later changed to Sumter. He enlisted as a Private in Company C of the 1st Georgia Regiment; he afterwards reenlisted in Company K of the 11th Georgia Regiment, in which his older brother, James Peter Coladen Belvin, served as an officer. Transcribed here are the discernable portions of the letter:
"Esteemed Father,
Father, you will learn from these few lines that I am a prisoner of war captured on the 2- of June near Green----- Pennsylvania and brought this Fort and have been here ever since with the exception of a few days that I spent in Philadelphia. ... very well cared for, much better I know than you anticipated. ... the sick get much better medical attention than they ever ... pleased with the treatment that I have ... pair of shoes which I was ... barefooted ... how to direct letters through the lines ... letter to this place in care of Capt. Ahil [spelling?]. I must close, give my love to all and accept the same. Your son, T. S. Belvin"