Sherman's March to the Sea   United States Library of Congress https://loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsca.09326/
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Although not on the path of Sherman’s March to the Sea, the Myers farm did endure more than one visit from Sherman’s troops. Their policy was to deprive civilians of all property, even every day items such as cutlery, in order to weaken their support of the war.  Sherman famously defined war as hell, but he helped make it that way.

This letter exhibits a cycle of hatred and vengeance that lives today. For claiming their most basic human rights, Adeline persists in despising the people she held captive, calling them “…the most treacherous race of people that ever  existed"  for no other reason than that they escaped slavery. Sherman’s troops generate a sense of victimization that for some Southerners persists to this day. As a member of the Charlottesville, community I can attest to this: The wounds of slavery and The Civil War have not been properly dressed, and they are not properly healed.  
A note on the letter: This was one of the rare instances in which I altered some of the text I included in my poems. My early readers did not understand that the individuals who left with the Northern troops were enslaved people.  I decided to alter Adeline's words somewhat to link the individuals named in this poem to other characters in the book. 

“Come Go With Me”
Another one with no recording available. There is another song with the same name, which I have linked.  The music to the song incorporated into this poem can be found on page 57  of Slave Songs of the United States. The full lyrics as collected in SSUS follow.
On this and all lyrics, I have taken some liberties with the transcriptions.  While I understand that the musicologists were trying to faithfully transcribe what they heard, the diction they use is to me reminiscent of black-faced minstrel shows.  If this diction had not so often been used to make a mockery of African American musicians, I would not have this discomfort with using it. I left orginal words intact when I was not sure I understood their meaning. 
​Come Go With Me
1. Old Satan is a busy old man,
He rolls stones in my way.
Jesus is my bosom friend,
He rolls them out of my way.
O come, go with me. O come, go with me.
O come, go with me. A' walking in the heavens I roam. 
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2. I did not come here by myself, my Lord.
It was my Lord who brought me here;
And I really do believe I'm a child of God,
A'walking in the heavens  I roam.
​O come, go with me.