Scouting In Northern Virginia With The 1st Maine Cavalry

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/31/2005

A great war-date Union soldier's, 4pp. 8vo., letter written in ink by Pvt. Ebenezer S. Johnson, Co. L, 1st Maine Cavalry, Warrenton, [Va.], April 19, 1862 to his brother concerning scouting in Northern Virginia during the Peninsula Campaign and of whiskey totting women in Pennsylvania, reading, in part: "…our Co[mpany] went out scouting yesterday 3 or 4 of the R.[hode] I.[sland] Co's of cavalry went with us. One squad of us run into the Rebel pickets before they knew it…the orderly sergeant got a bullet put into his horse's hip. 3 men & another captain were out about 3 miles from here when 12 rebels fired on them. One shot took effect in the captain's shoulder. Another hit one of the men. It did not kill either of them. We took a rebel on a white horse. He was a savage looking fellow…they are strongly fortified about 9 miles from here. We have got…enough here to kill every one on this side of Yorktown…our army is over 100,000 there…we sleep with our arms where we can put our hand on them at anytime. We are within 9 miles of the Rappahannock river…most all the rebels are on the other side. Our troops…are building the railroad over which the rebels destroyed…all through Penn…the women carry their bottles of whiskey with them…coming through Penn the engine got…out of water before the engineer knew it…they left us at…Robesonia…one of the women treated some of the boys [and] some of the boys were drunk as a fiddler's bitch coming…". Johnson enlisted in late 1861 and served throughout the war with the 1st raising to the rank of quarter master sergeant in 1864. Some toning, else very good.

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