2008-09
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/31/2008
War-date Union soldier's letter written by Sgt. Jordan C. Harriss, Co. A, 81st Illinois Vols., 4p. octavo, Vicksburg, Mississippi, Feb 21, 1864, with cover, and reads in part: "…I take my pen…to inform you of our good luck in not having to go on the expedition which started this morning & that we are all well. No new cases of small pox are in the company. Co's K, F, & D were sent out last night to relieve three Co's of the 7th Missouri which were stationed at a bridge about two miles outside the fortifications on the R.R…solemn meditation comes upon my mind here sometimes while strolling around to see the surface of the ground dotted so thickly with little mounds with perhaps a rude board to mark the spot where the soldier lies. Friends & Foes are found here & there. I know we must all bow to the irresistible power of death but I don't want to die in the field of conflict & among my friends I hope my last hours I'll spend & among them my body be laid to rest…Orson [Thornton, his brother-in-law, KIA on June 10, 1864 at Guntown, Mississippi] is learning to drill very fast & bids fair to become a model soldier, his heart is baptized in the cause & that not Methodist like…" VG. Harriss was captured with a majority of his regiment at Guntown, Miss. on June 10, 1864 and sent to Andersonville prison. After his exchange, he was mustered out with his regiment at the end of the war.
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