Raynors HCA 2019-01
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/21/2019
War-date Union soldier's battle letter, 4pp. 8vo. on patriotic stationary, by Pvt. William Leslie, Co. H, 38th Penn. Vols. [WIA Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862], Camp Pierpont, [Maryland], Jan. 17, 1862, in part: "…I expect you think I have forgotten you, but no…I expect you have heard of the fight we had on the 20th of December at Dranesville…well…we started from camp here with four thousand or four regiments…we went for the purpose of getting…everything that would be of use to the army…we took with us…100 wagons…this regiment…road within three miles of Drainesville…after we got out of the wagons we walked about too miles and the first we knew we were face to face with the enemy. We met them in the woods…there was so much under brush that we could not hardly get through [or] keep in eny kind of a line. We were within 30 yards of them before we knew it. They fired on us first and the bullets came like hail stones over our heads. We then opened fire on them and they thought we were too mutch for them…they turned and run and us after them…we let them go then we returned to the battle field. I took a walk over the battle field…we had 9 killed and the Rebels had over too hundred killed and 64 wounded of which they left on the field. We took 25 of them prisoner…there was…wounded 20…wounded which we took care of. We had all 64 wounded and nine killed…three or four have died since. There was 24 wounded in this regiment and three killed. The rest belonged to other regiments. The Rebels had had more men than we had…we made them run……they were so scared that they did not come back to bury their died. That battle was the first Union victory that has been won on the Potomac River…Wm. Leslie." VG
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