Wesley P. Pardue (b. ca. 1832) was a farmer from Hickory Plains, Tishamingo County, Mississippi (the name was also spelled Westley Purdue). According to the 1860 census, Pardue, his wife, and three of his children were all born in Tennessee. His two youngest children (ages 3 years old and 5 months old) were born in Mississippi. Wesley Purdue served as a sergeant (later lieutenant) in Co. H, 26th Mississippi Infantry. He was taken prisoner after the surrender of Fort Donelson in February 1862, and his letters were written while he was a prisoner at Camp Chase, Ohio.