2008-09
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/31/2008
A great war-date Union officer's battle letter written by 1st Lt. Selwyn E. Bickford, 6th Massachusetts Infantry, 6p. folio, ink, Camp of Sixth Massachusetts Volunteers, Suffolk, Va., December 4, 1862, with attached orders issued by Col. Albert S. Follansbee assigning Bickford for fatigue duty, it reads in part: "…please write me whether anything is said about myself and Alice…She knows that I am a married man, and so do all others, so there is no deception there, I like her very much, but while I own that I have often said things to her, that perhaps were better oft unsaid, I have never written her one single word, but what I am perfectly willing should be seen by anybody…I always advocated the principle, that as long as I did nothing improper, it was nobody's business how much I flirted…I do not wish Alice to think that in case Mrs. Bickford dies that I shall choose her for a wife, and of course I do not wish her to know that I eve thought she expected to be, as she would highly resent it. I liked Helen very much, I confess I was smitten there…I am in no hurry to be entangled in Hymen's Chain again, if I should happen to get out of the snarl I am now in. I admire the adamantine firmness with which you refuse to bow to the matrimonial altar and which I encourage you to get all the 'consolation' that you can outside, for God's and your own sake, don't 'go under' for the present…The boots are first rate, and are admired by all, two pair have been ordered already from the same measure. The same ones here sell for $12…I fancy Dodge's Rifles are on duty an average, eighteen out of twenty four hours. It is a big thing however to be a good cavalry officer, and your height and slimness, are all in your favor and you would be surprised to find how much neatness and good looks will do for a man among officers to whom you are unknown. Col. Spear of the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry stationed here, is a fine looking man, and men would follow him willingly, after seeing him. But the Light Artillery knocks them all. The Captain of a Battery is nearly as high in Rank as a Colonel of Infantry, although his pay is much less. There is no picket fatigue, or guard duty for them to do, except eight extra men a day for their own camp, they report directly to the Major General, commanding the Division…I would give all my old shoes if I could get a commission in a Battery, and indeed three of us officers, have almost decided to try our hands at it, if we get out of this term of service alive…Perhaps you ask, where is your servant, I've got a bully one, named Roderick, and he is as black as your hat, he carries a knapsack for me containing, my overcoat, a rubber blanket, and his own rations, and his own overcoat, besides having his own canteen, and two dippers to carry, he has to trot after water whenever he is sent, as I can't leave my company, and so you see he has all he can stagger under…Our last excursion out towards Blackwater, which I wrote a little about…was a little more exciting than usual. Our advance guard of cavalry captured twenty rebels, and one piece of the famous Rocket battery captured from McClellan last June. The whole thing was done about a mile and a half from where we were halted, I saw the squadron of cavalry when they dashed off, and it was a sight I never shall forget. There were only about a hundred and fifty sent out, when they went by me, thy were on the clean jump and yelling like so many devils, they did the whole job in forty five minutes, routed about four hundred cavalry capturing those mentioned above. Nearly all the prisoners were wounded, and a mere sickening sight I never saw…One had an awful gash across his face, and through his nose, and another's ear was hanging by a small piece of flesh. They were all more or less impaired by saber cuts, which make awful gashes. They were of the 2d Georgia Cavalry, except the men who manned the battery, who were Virginians. They were scantily clad, and their overcoats were made of white bed blankets, border all in. Nothing but corn, and some moldy bread was found in their haversacks, and they said that they did not have enough to eat…" VG.
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