Raynors 2020-05 Putnal
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/30/2020
War-date Confederate Officer Autograph Letter Signed by Adjutant Charles J.C. Hutson, 4pp. quarto, July 9, 1863, Williamsport, Maryland, and reads in part: "...Since my last letter was written much has transpired but I fear that we have not achieved what we most confidently expected. We entered Penn with as fine an army as was ever enlisted, lived for some time upon the bounty of that rich country, made the inhabitants feel the horrors of war, frightened the mass of the people and finally fought the battle of Gettysburg, the most severely and hardly contested which I remember. Gen. Lee attacked the enemy in his strong position, a fine eminence of ground, whipped him badly the first day with A.P Hill's Corps and especially our division, and failed upon the second and third days to carry the heights to which the enemy had fallen back and where he fortified himself presenting natural and artificial fortifications too strong to be taken. We lost very heavily and more so I fear than the enemy, but we held our ground, inflicted serious damage to his army and captured thousands of prisoners which I have seen today. On the fourth night Gen. Lee retired quietly and has brought his whole army safely to a different base of operations in Maryland. The enemy retired the same night! So I regard the battle a drawn game. Our invasion of Penn. has not been attended with those results which we all expected but time must develop what Gen. Lee will yet do in this country. The Yankee cavalry attacked our train of wagons a few days ago and I excaped capture by a hairs breath. One of our regimental wagons was taken and several of our men but the rest of us escaped having no damage. Our cavalry are a poor set! Our own regiment lost heavily at Gettysburg and I grieve to say that my honored and beloved Captain was killed. Captain Haskell was a noble and brave and Christian hero. It is seldom that we are called upon to mourn the loss of one so universally respected and loved. He was attracting attention on every side and was becoming so well known that he could not have lived much longer without promotion. He was always so kind and friendly to me that I feel his loss terribly. I attended to the last mournful duties which we owe to those whom we have affection for and saw that he was placed in a decent coffin and that his grave was properly marked. His countenance in death was remarkably free and indicated a noble soul and was expressive of calm happiness at his last hour, a pleasant smile being clearly visible on his mouth. I am glad to say that George Mackay has escaped safely through the battle and commands Co. H. You will see a list of casualties in the Regiment in the newspapers. I lost another friend in T.A. Rhodes of our company...." More. Fine condition. Civil War Confederate Officer. Company H, or the "Haskell's Rifle Corps" of the 1st Regiment South Carolina Infantry (Greggs) was mustered into Confederate service in September of 1861. William Thomson Haskell, a demanding disciplinarian, was the recruiter of these volunteers who amassed to defend the southern cause. Consequently, upon the organization of the company, he was commissioned a captain with authority to command the company he founded. His sternness did not go over well with the new recruits, however, in time the enlisted men became endeared to him. One of these men remembered that Haskell was "the most thorough, yet the most discriminating disciplinarian, on the drill ground he was infallibly accurate, on the march he was indefatigable, in battle he was the very spirit of gallantry and self-possession." His untimely end came on July 2, 1863 during the battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. There on that day, he was leading his command when he was killed-in-action. With his death, the "brigade mourns his loss more than that of any man who [had] ever fallen in it." On July 20, 1861, James Lawrence Orr organized the First South Carolina Rifle Regiment at Sandy Springs. In April 1862, the full-strength 1,000-man unit was transferred to Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia (ANV). In June, it was incorporated into Gregg's Brigade, of A.P. Hill's Light Division, of Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson Corps (often termed the "Left Wing" early in the war). Lee surrendered the ANV, including Orr's Rifles, at Appomattox Court House on 9 April 1865. After three years of combat, the regiment comprised 9 officers and 148 enlisted men.
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