4 pages, 4to, 7 7/8 x 9 3/4 in., old creases, minor toning. 

A letter written by R.C. Smart to ex-Confederate General Benjamin Hill, both of Company D in the 35th Tennessee Infantry. Smart enlisted as a 2nd lieutenant and was commissioned into Company D on 1 September 1861. Hill was commissioned into Company D on 1 June 1861 and would see promotions to colonel (11 September 1861) and brigadier-general (30 November 1864). 

Here, Smart writes to his former comrade and commander at length informing Hill of his life in post-war Texas on a farm rented near Waxahachie growing corn and cotton. He details: "I have some freedmen living on my place but are croping for themselves I only get their servises [sic] at harvest." He continues his complaints: "Freed labor in this part of the country is very unreliable indeed. The negroes here have just began to realize their independence & importance."