For literary historians, the importance of Oliver Hillhouse Prince, an American jurist, rests on a single epistolary sketch. This untitled epistle, which begins with the salutation “Dear Fugey,” appeared in the Washington (Georgia) Monitor on June 6, 1807. The sketch describes an incompetent militia leader, Captain Clodpole, as he attempts to drill an incompetent lot of Georgia militiamen. Prince's work was widely reprinted during his lifetime, both in the United States and in Europe.
“Dear Fugey” stands as the first important example of antebellum Southern humour. It appears to have influenced Prince's friend Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, who published Georgia Scenes, Characters, Incidents, Etc. in the First H…
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Citation: Rachels, David. "Oliver Hillhouse Prince". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 July 2001 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3643, accessed 26 November 2024.]
