Spotswood Rice had been born a slave. But by September of 1864, he was a free man and a soldier in the U.S. Army. His daughter was still enslaved in Missouri. Rice had work to do in the South, but he wanted his former mistress, Katherine Diggs, to know that he would return after the war to collect his daughter. So he sent Diggs a letter stating his intentions, and swearing vengeance if she harmed her.
Read the fascinating letter by clicking the link, courtesy of Letters of Note.