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“…stay away from the house…”
Although Maria Mason would believe that the burning of the Mason house was an accident, I find the timing remarkable, and others understood that the homes of Southerners believed to be collaborating with the Confederate army were likely to be burned. I am speculating that Black soldiers would have been aware of this as well.
“Recollections of the Civil War,” Nannie Brown Doherty, Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine, Vol. 11, 1961, pp. 3181.
“…Old Capitol Prison…”
Lee’s foonote reveals the Masons’ movements as prisoners.
Lee, E., The Last Hope: Lies, Truths and Legends of John Wilkes Booth’s 34-Hour Escape Through King George County, Virginia (2019), North Carolina: Lulu Press, p. 161.
“…organize an investigation.”
I think it’s only logical that Burnside would also have been consulted about the Masons’ case.
Lee, E., The Last Hope: Lies, Truths and Legends of John Wilkes Booth’s 34-Hour Escape Through King George County, Virginia (2019), North Carolina: Lulu Press, p. 161.
“Two days later…”
See “…a company of foot soldiers…,” above.
My account of the burning of the Mason home comes from Maria Mason’s account of the blaze to her stepson. This letter is in incredibly poor condition, and my photographs of it are equally poor. I have provided instead the best transcription I was capable of making. I have slightly altered some of the particulars.
Letter from Maria Mason to Charles Mason Jr., May 22, 1865, held in the possession of Angus Lamond of Lynchburg, Virginia. Mr. Lamond is a descendant of the Mason family.
