2025-01 Raynors Historical Collectible Auctions
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/25/2025
These two drawing were created by Lieut. John A. Bergin who enlisted as a Corporal in Co. A of the Alabama 30th Infantry. It appears to have formerly been in an album compiled by a Confederate prisoner on Johnson’s Island. On Dec. 19th 1864, it was reported that Bergin was one of the Confederate prisoners taken at the Battle of Franklin. The Second Battle of Franklin took place on 30 Nov. 1864 in Franklin, Tennessee during the Franklin-Nashville Campaign. It was one of the worst disasters of the war for the Confederate Army. The First Drawing AN IMPRISONED CONFEDERATE OFFICER DEPICTS THE USS MICHIGAN, A KEY ELEMENT IN A FAILED PRISON BREAK PLOT Johnson’s Island, Ohio, ca. 1864. Ink and color pencil on wove paper, 8” x 5”, plus margins with two Manuscript Poems by E. A. Holmes and Charles E. McCarthy in ink on verso. An eyewitness drawing by an imprisoned Confederate officer at Johnson’s Island Prison depicting the “U.S. Gun Boat Michigan” —the target of a notorious failed plot to liberate the prisoners there. On the verso are two poems, one on the subject of imprisonment at Johnson’s Island, the other a love poem written by an Irish-born Confederate poet who composed multiple pieces during the Civil War. This drawing depicts a view from inside the prison, showing the Michigan anchored in the waters nearby, an American flag flying just above its stern. Seen in the foreground are the stockade walls of the prison, a portion of the prison’s promenade ground, several small buildings (perhaps a latrine and a shed), two armed guards on duty outside of the prison’s walls, and three prisoners. The town of Sandusky appears on the horizon to the left. The drawing was evidently once in an album compiled by a rebel prisoner on Johnson’s Island. ... In 1864 the prison was the site of one of the most elaborately planned prison escape attempts of the war, spearheaded by rebel Captains Charles Cole and John Beall. Working in tandem with Cole, Beall and a group of Confederates were to seize the Philo Parsons, a steamship operating on Lake Erie and then seize the Michigan, the only Union gunboat on Lake Erie. The officers believed that once they were in control of the Michigan the Union guards at Johnson's Island would immediately surrender, enabling them to free the prisoners. While Beall managed to capture the Philo Parsons, the operation was foiled when Cole, who planned to drug Union officers aboard the Michigan during a dinner party, was arrested for spying on the same day that seventeen of Beall’s men staged a mutiny on the Philo Parsons, forcing Beall to abandon his plan. The verso features two manuscript poems, one of which is incomplete, the other potentially complete. The first poem is entitled “Johnson's Island” by Lieut. E. A. Holmes of Virginia. The two stanzas read: Oh who would have thought tho’ a Prophet had told us, / A few years ago that such things could e’er be; That strangers might come and in prison behold us, / Confined in a land. That yet claims to be free? / The storm blasts of winter sweep o’er Lake Erie, / In silence we bear our lost comrades to rest; / No more will they stroll with the listless and weary— / They ‘sleep their last sleep’ in this Isle of the West! The second poem, “To —”, is attributed to Charles E. McCarthy and is dated 10 April 1865. The two stanzas read: In future years, ‘my darling,’ think— / When brighter scenes surround thee; / Of one who lived his dreary way, / Nor knew the glory of the day, / Nor loved it; ‘till he found thee. / And when the record of the years, / Still faithful shall have proved me; / O was the hour that saw us push, / And whisper softly to your heart— / ‘He loved me.’ / And O my love should sorrow come, / And shower tears about thee; / Should falsehood and suspicion smart[?]. / Think ‘mid that ‘winter of the heart.’ / Of me who ne’er could doubt thee. / And when a sad unhappy fate, / Afar from thee hath moved me; / Think all our friendship o’er again, / And whisper, softly, softly then— / ‘He loved me’ Three poems by McCarthy appear in The Sunny Land: Or, Prison Prose and Poetry, including “Listening,” “Privates in the Ranks,” and “The Four Brothers.” The poet is described as “Liberally endowed with that quick and brilliant wit peculiar to his countrymen, and of a genial disposition" and said to have been "a general favorite among the prisoners confined at Johnson's Island.” A manuscript example of the poem “Private in the Ranks” is held by Tulane University. Born in Limerick, Ireland, Lieut. Charles E. McCarthy (1840–?) was the son of a man who vocally supported the 1848 Irish rebellion and sought asylum in 1851 in the U.S. Before the war, McCarthy resided in Algiers, Louisiana and worked as an Express Agent. At the war's outbreak, he joined Co. A of the 30th Regiment Louisiana Volunteers. Soon promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, he saw action in the battles of Baton Rouge, New Hope Church, the Atlanta campaign, Jonesboro, Franklin, and Nashville. On the second day of the Battle of Nashville, 16 Dec. 1864, he was captured and sent to Johnson's Island, where he remained until 21 June 1865, when he was released. After the war he worked as Agent for the Texas Express Co., and lived in Galveston. The Second Drawing DRAWING OF JOHNSON’S ISLAND PRISON, LAKE ERIE BY AN IMPRISONED CONFEDERATE OFFICER Johnson’s Island, Ohio, ca. 1864. Ink and brown wash on wove paper, 5” x 7.5” A rare bird’s eye view drawing of Johnson’s Island Prison “U.S. Military Prison Johnson’s Island Lake Erie Ohio”. This drawing shows the entirety of Johnson's Island Prison, situated in Lake Erie just off mainland Ohio. Depicted within the prison enclosure are thirteen numbered buildings that housed the prison population, one of which (#6) served as a camp hospital; adjacent to these buildings are latrines, mess halls, a promenade ground, and so forth. Surrounding the prison is an observation deck patrolled by armed guards. Outside the prison walls are two cannons and various buildings, including a hospital, sutler’s depot, a bakery, block houses, men’s quarters (which presumably housed the 128th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, who served as guards for most of the war), and other buildings. Two vessels are seen plying Lake Erie’s waters, and an American flag flies above the prison. The town of Sandusky, Ohio appears on the horizon to the left. In 1864 the prison was the site of one of the most elaborately planned prison escape attempts of the war, spearheaded by rebel Captains Charles Cole and John Beall. Working in tandem with Cole, Beall and a group of Confederates were to seize the Philo Parsons, a steamship operating on Lake Erie and then seize the Michigan, the only Union gunboat on Lake Erie. The officers believed that once they were in control of the Michigan the Union guards at Johnson's Island would immediately surrender, enabling them to free the prisoners. While Beall managed to capture the Philo Parsons, the operation was foiled when Cole, who planned to drug Union officers aboard the Michigan during a dinner party, was arrested for spying on the same day that seventeen of Beall’s men staged a mutiny on the Philo Parsons, forcing Beall to abandon his plan.
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