2024-01 Raynors Americana Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/20/2024
The following 53 letters were written by Andrew J. Lane, Jr. (1841-1925). Lane enlisted on 27 November 1861 as a private in Co. D, 32nd Massachusetts Infantry. He was promoted to corporal prior to his being wounded at Shady Grove Church Road on 30 May 1864 and he was discharged on 1 December 1864. Andrew had two brother who are mentioned in these letters-Ivory Lane (1842-1869) and Leverette Lane (1844-1929). At Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, the regiment was heavily engaged while supporting the 3d Corps in the Devil's Den region. Here out of 227 men taken into action the 32d lost 81, of whom 22 were killed or mortally wounded. This letter group consists of 53 war-date letters written by Andrew. Additionally there are 6 miscellaneous letters from the Lane family. We will excerpt information from the group. Most letters are 3-4 pages primarily in pen. (12.5.61), Fort Warren; "We have good grub now-corned beef and beans. We have got good places to sleep. Got a sack filled with straw. We lay in the fort. Have a fire all night. ... There is about 1200 prisoners up here we have to guard. That is all we have to do. There is all kinds of prisoners here. .." (12.6.61), Fort Warren; "When I got out, there was all the company drawed up in a line of battle. I couldn't think what was the trouble. I thought the prisoners had risen [up] or the [Confederate ironclad] Merrimac had come. Come to find out it was done to see how quick the men would be on hand..." (5.21.62) Fort Warren, "You stated in your letter that Alexander was dead. What was it that ailed him? .." (5.26.62) Fort Warren, "We had orders come for us to be in Boston at 3 o'clock this afternoon to go to Washington.... They say that Gen. Banks has been cut to pieces and the rebels are advancing onto Washington. ..." (5.28.62) Camp at Washington D. C., on patriotic letterhead, " We left our muskets in Boston and got Enfield rifles in Fall River. When we was at Philadelphia, we heard that there was a mob in Baltimore so we loaded our rifles. ... Baltimore at light this morning and marched through the same street that the Old 6th was attacked. We had no trouble. Flags was flying all around. ...We are going to stop here to guard Washington. There is 8,000 troops here now [and] 5,000 more expected tonight. ..." (6.23.62) Washington, "hey say we are to go to Alexandria. That is about fifteen miles from here. We are going there to guard a railroad track but it is hard telling where we are going. ... There was a lieutenant-colonel died in the city and out regiment had to go to escort him to the depot. He was way up by the White House. We had to march about five miles. ..." (6.27.62) Somewhere near Fairfax , " The Bloody 69th New York is here and a lot of batteries of artillery. They are practicing here now. They have got 6 horses to a piece. ... When we came through Alexandria, I saw the house where Col. Ellsworth was shot. The house was all ripped to pieces. They say the same flag is flying that he put up there. ... (7.2.62) Fortress Monroe Laying on board Steamer Hero, "There is any quantity of steamers loaded with troops. I never began to see so many steamers and vessels and gunboats as there is here in the Roads loaded with everything. There is six lays here loaded with horses, some with cannon, some with wagons, and a great many with hay if we shall go up the James river. ..." (7.6.62) Harrison's Landing, "We landed here the 3rd of July. .. When we landed we got eighty rounds of cartridges and started up, the mud up to our knees. I never saw such a time in my life there. The men was laying dead and wounded, horses and mules laying dead, and the shells bursting around. We went up to the edge of the woods. I thought we were going right into a fight. I felt just like it. We was drawn up in line of battle at the edge of the wood and halted. Just through this woods was a large field and they took the rebel battery by a charge. ... There is three regiments in this division that is cut up bad-the 9th Massachusetts, and a Pennsylvania Regiment. ... Massachusetts Regimental flag all riddled to pieces with bullets. The men are all Irish. They only had two officers left in their regiment. They say the rebels fight like the devil. ... When we come up the river, I saw the Cumberland and Congress that the Merrimac sunk. The Monitor lays off here. She took a rebel gunboat yesterday. ...." (7.12.62) Harrison's Landing, "There is a plantation here that we are on. ... I think that Burnsides and Pope will get in the...." (8 rear of them. Fort Darling is about 15 miles up the river from here and they say the gunboats are going to shell them out-that there is a slew of them here. ... Old Abe & McClellan was here the other day reviewing the army. It was about 10 o'clock at night when he went by us. They cheered him good. ...." (8.2.62) Harrison's Landing, " Just after 12 o'clock, the rebels opened fire upon us with shot and shell came where we was fast and think they had a crossfire upon us. And as we was right on the bank and they was on the other bank, both about the same height, and all the army stores & provisions was there, I think they tried to destroy it ... Yesterday afternoon about 2,000 troops went across the river and burned eight houses and some small barns. They set them just before dark. They burned most of the night. ..." (9.3.62) Near Arlington Heights, "For a week past, we have been trying to catch Jackson but haven't yet and don't think we will either. He is a smart one. We haven't had much of a brush with him but some of them has by what I have seen and I don't think our folks got any the best of him by the loads of wounded that I see them hauling off the battlefield. Our whole army was after him. ...I haven't seen a Southerner left on a plantation on the whole march-all nxxxxs. Every man is in the Southern army, I expect. .... " (11.15.62) Warrenton, Va. " Since we have been here, we have been reviewed by McClellan and by Porter. Burnside has command of the Army and Hooker has the Corps that Porter used to...." (11.28.62) Camp of Potomac Creek, "We are in the 3rd Army Corps in the middle so if there is any fighting to be done now, we shall have to go in. As we have got Hooker for a leader and he is a fighting man, I feel tip top...." (12.19.62) 3 miles from Fredericksburg, "We have been in a tough old fight, I tell. But the Rockport boys come out all safe. We did not have any killed in our company. We had five men wounded. ..." (1.3.63) Same old camp, "The object of our expedition was to capture Stewart's Cavalry as they say about 20,000 had crossed a ford ... I heard that they had made a dash to Alexandria and captured two of our regiment and killed a lot of our cavalry and captured a lot of our wagon train enroute for Centreville. ..." (1.25.63) Same old camp, "We was to try a flank movement but Burnsides got stuck in the mud. Our brigade and others left our guns and went to work and cut trees and logged the road all the way so as to get our artillery back for they was stuck. They had to have 12 horses on a piece. ...." (1.28.63) Camped in old camp, "We can't move very soon now for it is storming and the mud is up to our ankles anywhere here. ...." (2.14.63) Camp near Falmouth, Virginia, "The 9th Corps has gone. I see a train start today loaded going down to Aquia Creek to take transports. They were ordered to report at Fort Monroe. ..." (3.7.63) Camp near Falmouth, Virginia, " Our brigade has been on picket this week. ... I hear that they can't hire no substitutes. They have to come themselves. ..." (4.10.63) Camp near Falmouth, Virginia, "We was reviewed last Wednesday [8th] by Father Abraham and staff, his wife, and two sons were there. His sons were about the same as Frank and John. They rode a pony. They looked nice. The biggest one had a cavalry suit on. His wife was in a carriage with four horses on it with a company of lancers for guard. It was the best review I ever was on. He had acres of staff and guard with him. Them are regular government suckers. Old Abe looks rather poor. He don't look as well as he did at Harrison's Landing. He looks pale now. ...." (4.19.63) Camp near Falmouth, Virginia, "I heard last night that our cavalry took 3,000 prisoners yesterday at Gordonsville. ..." (4.25.63) Camp near Falmouth, Virginia, "here is one hundred and fifty cases of the small pox in our division in the 3rd Brigade in the 20th Maine Regiment. ..." (5.21.63) Camp near Falmouth, Virginia, "Since I wrote last, our regiment has been detached from the brigade and is now guarding the railroad between Stoneman's Switch and Potomac Creek Bridge. ... " (6.2.63)Camped at Kemper's Ford, " Our division was ordered to picket the Rappahannock from Falmouth to the Rappahannock Station that is near Warrenton. The 9th is at Barnett's Ford, the 62nd Pennsylvania Regiment & 4th Michigan is at Kelly's Ford. 1 Our regiment has to picket about three miles along the river. The river ain't very wide here. The rebel pickets on the other side-cavalry-came here the day before yesterday and I went on picket as soon as we arrived. ... (6.25.63) In camp at Aldie, Virginia, "We was up to the front in that cavalry fight and drove the rebs through the Gap. ..." (7.9.63) Camped at Middletown, Maryland, "I suppose you see by the papers that we have had a hard battle at Gettysburg. We fought the 2nd of July. Our regiment went in the fight with 252 men and lost about 100. We had 90 killed and wounded. We got flanked by a brigade of rebels. ... I tell you, the bullets flew like rain in front and behind for we was flanked. They came up so nigh that I could strike them with my musket. The men fell like grass. ... We had a hard forced march. The rebels retreated and we are following them up. ..." (7.28.63), In camp near Warrenton, "The other day we went into the mountains at Manassas Gap. ... The 3rd Corps kept driving the rebs. When they opened on our fellows with a battery, we advanced into a piece of woods for about a mile but could not find any rebs. The 3rd Corps drove them through the Gap and as far as Front Royal ..." (8.27.63) Camped near Beverly Ford, "There was five men to be shot yesterday in our division in the 3rd Brigade. They dug their graves yesterday morning. They was to be shot between the hours of twelve and four in the presence of the division.... They came out as substitutes in the 118th Pennsylvania Regiment then deserted. ..." (9.20.63 ) On picket near Cedar Mountain, "Here where we are on picket is a house-a real nice place in a grove of oaks. ... He has got a farm of 600 acres, so the old nxxxer says that is here. ... This man had about twenty slaves. He carried them off with him to Richmond. He left two old servants and one old man. Letters that we found show that he has got five sons in the reb army-one a Major he was killed at Gettysburg. Two that is Colonels and one a quartermaster. ..." (11.63) Near Brandy Station, "They shelled us. I saw two shells burst in the 18th Massachusetts-killed and wounded some. The shell just went over our heads. ..." (12.13.63) Camp near Bealeton Station, "The rebels took up a position on a range of hills and fortified themselves. We was ordered three times to charge them and take the hills. ...." (1.5.63) Camp near Bealeton Station, "There was twenty-eight of our company mustered yesterday for three years more. I couldn't see it--the three years. All the old ones that is here have reenlisted but seven. ..." (1.26.64) In camp near Bealeton Station, " I have made up my mind to stay the rest of my time and then if I am alive, I shall return home. ...." (2.28.64) In camp near Bealeton Station, "They raised the old boy in Baltimore. the provost marshal had to get them out of the city. They went into them Jew's shops, pulled the shoe cases onto the floor, then jumped into them. Then they threw the clothing out into the streets in among the boys. Some of them got silks worth a hundred dollars. ...." (6.4.64) Mount Pleasant Hospital, Washington, "We have had a hard time of it. I got wounded on the 30th of May in the right side-not bad-only a flesh wound. It went in and struck a rib and glanced out. ... Walter Johnson was killed just before I was hit.... We lost about twenty-five or thirty that night. It was about eight miles from Richmond near Mechanicsville....." (6.12.64) McDougall Hospital, New York, "I arrived here yesterday from Washington. There is almost a thousand of the slightest wounded sent here as Washington is full of badly wounded....." (8.9.64) Fort Schuyler, New York Harbor, "There was three hundred wounded arrived here last night from the front. They was wounded in that charge before Petersburg ..." (9.24.64) Fort Schuyler, "We had a general inspection here the 2nd of this month. He was a regular officer. I don't know where he was from. He was a sharp one. He straightened the boys arms and legs for them. He is going to give the hospital a cleaning out. He recommended some for the Invalid Corps, most for the front. ..." (9.23.64) McDougall Hospital, "There was a new lot came here last night from the front-about three hundred. Most of them was sick with the diarrhea. They look bad. I think a great many of them will die-they are so weak that they can't stand alone. ..."
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