2005-11
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/31/2005
Group of three letters by John Smith of the 35th Massachusetts Infantry, includes: Autograph Letter Signed, 3-1/2 p. octavo, Near Petersburg, Virginia, December 3, 1864, and reads in part: “...at night the minnie balls whistle through our camp like misquitoes in the summer but as our tents are well logged up on the sides so a ball can’t go through them if they keep their cannon balls and shells away we will have little to fear while we are asleep...there is fired on this part of the line more than six tons of minnie balls each night...they keep up this firing nights to prevent the enemy from forming and crawling up and capturing our pickets...” VG...plus; ALS, 3-1/4p. quarto, Near Petersburg, Virginia, December 26, 1864, in part: “...one of our batterys fired a salute of 103 guns in honor of Shermans great success he now having so good a base will be able to operate against the enemy without the difficulty of keeping so long a line for supplys open...there are any quantity of deserters coming in every night & they tell rather a pitiful story, most of them are Virginians and very smart intelligent fellows, last night several came in they were brought into camp before being sent to Hd Qrs. I had a long conversation with a Sergt. of 46th Va. Regt. he was an old soldier although a young man he had been in the service ever since the war broke out. We talked over the different battles we had been fought each other at and how the troops had been distributed before the battles according to his story their loss has been much greater than their newspapers acknowledge and they have no means now to replenish thier wasted army. He says the men in the ranks are discouraged adn that they being to see that Jeff Davis is a military despot...it is their opinion they will not hold out longer than May if they do as long as that...they talk some of putting the niggers in the army but the deserters say if they do that many of the whites will leave it as it would be putting them on the same footing as the blacks...” VG...plus; ALS,4p. octavo, Before Petersburg, Virginia, February 26, 1865, and reads in part: “...deserters from the enemy come in very fast of late & they all state that Richmond and Petersburg are being evacuated by Lee’s army...I should thinkg that they would be ready to come to some terms before long, Gen. Sherman is now gathering in the harvest of last summer’s campaign. The enemy have now but a small part of the so called Confederacy that they can lay any claim to. If Lee succeeds in making a successful retreat to Lynchburg, Va., he may be able to resist for a while longer but it is evident that they will soon have to give up the ship...” VG...plus; Circular for the dedication of the Memorial Hall of Dedham, Mass., c. 1866, addressed to John Smith. VG.
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