BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER DURING THE CIVIL WAR. While still on the subject of the Civil War, we often hear people say the event was literally brother against brother at War and that normally references siblings joining fighting units opposing each other for the USA and the CSA. However, I found a story where it applied to civilians as well in the local area here on the Shore. This is an interesting finding that literally pitted family members against each other during the conflict. Dr. William J. Short Hitch (1838-1921) was son of Delaware Senator William Hitch (1802-1886) and his wife Maranda Short (1818-1888), Senator Hitch (see his photo below) was a strong pro-slavery member of the Sussex Co., Delaware contingent and often butted heads with reps from the northern part of the state. Their son Dr. Hitch evidently carried that same sentiment. However, Dr. Hitch's brother, George Philip Hitch (1840-1923), was a strong Union Man and was vocal in his position as well. The family lived just to the east of Laurel in Sussex Co., DE.
Dr. William J.S. Hitch left an interesting trail of letters that still reside in the National Archives complaining of Union troops disparaging his land by taking wood for fires from it. He wrote letters to the War Dept. demanding reparations for scavenging. One of the letters that Union officers sent between one another about the accusations said something like, we've never got such complaints from true "Union Men" in the area and they basically ignored Hitch's complaints.
Then, evidently, Dr. Hitch crossed the line as seen in the attached letter (below) where he was found guilty of aiding a Confederate soldier to escape the area near Laurel. The body of the letter states, "In this that the said William Hitch Jr. did at or near the Town of Laurel aforesaid and on or about the 12th Day of August 1863 assist in the escape of a rebel soldier known to be such to wit, William T. Cooper, out of said Town of Laurel by furnishing and permitting to be furnished a certain Waggon (sic) or Dearborn to be used in the conveyance of said Wm. T. Cooper thereby knowingly harboring and protecting an enemy of the United States." The letter was signed by Ed Gylee? but, that is not the surprising part of this as the witnesses signing were William C. Rust and Dr. Hitch's own younger brother Geo. Philip Hitch! William Hitch was taken as a political prisoner by the Union Army.
In the second paper below, we see that, on Dec 24 1863, Dr. Hitch was subsequently commanded to be released upon the conditions that he swear an Oath of Allegiance (see below) to the United States, remain under "honor parole" confinement to Sussex County and report to the Commanding Officer of the Union Army in Salisbury, MD monthly on the 15th of each month for the duration. He had spent 4 1/2 months in the military prison at Fort Delaware before released on parole. I wonder how the relationship between the two Hitch brothers were after that affair and, furthermore, how the relationship was with their father, the Delaware Senator????
After the War, Dr. Hitch married Hattie Hearn and had 5 children before she died young at age 29 in 1878. He then married Lucretia Johnson in New Castle Co. in 1880 and had a son Eugene in 1883 who unfortunately died as a boy in 1890.
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