Another View of Will Farley

Little information exists on Capt. William Farley. This excerpt is from a letter written by Julia Whiting to her mother, Mrs. G.W. Carlyle Whiting of, Richland, Va.,. It gives us another view of Farley. The letter was written on November 21, 1862, from Welbourne.

Saturday evening we had visitors again -- Capt. Farley, one of Stuart's aides and the best scout it is said in the army. Major Pelham of the artillery, attached to Stuart's command, and our old acquaintance Mr. Landstreet. Capt. Farley is a South Carolinian with very pleasant manners but with a touch of conceit, which is not quite becoming; I dislike conceited men, it is quite bad enough for a woman but the Lords of Creation should be above such petty weakness. However, the Captain was very agreeable though rather too often the hero of his own stories --the stories themselves were very amusing. Major Pelham (does not the name remind you of Bulwer's hero¹) is an Alabamian about twenty one or two, a graduate of West Point, and so bright and intelligent, you could hardly believe in looking at his youthful face and figure that he ranked as Major. What a pleasant evening that was. I wonder if I shall ever see my two acquaintances again. The three gentlemen spent the night here and breakfasted with us the next morning. This Sunday was to be a memorable day to all the inmates of Welbourne. While at the breakfast table the distant report of a cannon was heard followed by another and another. "'There go your guns Pelham," said Capt. Farley and as the steady fire continued they requested Uncle Richard [Col. Richard H. Dulany, 7th Va. Cavalry, owner of "Welbourne"] to order their horses, and we all left the table and went into the porch to discover the direction from which the sound proceeded. We had a merry chat with the officers while waiting for the horses. Capt. Farley showed us the canteen and sabre he wore marked with the name of a Yankee Capt., trophies of the fight on Friday, when he had shot their former owner and one of his men had afterwards brought then to him. He jested with us upon his banditti appearance and laughingly declared that it was not worthwhile to dress well to fight Yankees. I fancy that the gallant Captain was aware that his picturesque dress, plumed hat etc. was more becoming than a mere elegant costume and arranged it accordingly.

¹ Sir Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, Pelham: Adventures of a Gentleman (1828).

This article first appeared in Volume 3, No. 2 of The Cannoneer.