1862 Rhode Island Artillery CIVIL WAR LETTER - Battle of New Bern, NC - CONTENT

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1862 Rhode Island Artillery CIVIL WAR LETTER - Battle of New Bern, NC - CONTENT:
$87.00

Civil War Letter

Great content in this 1862 Rhode Island artillery Civil War letter written from Camp Parkes in Newport, North Carolina.

The battle of New Bern has just concluded, and the writer relates how the Confederate soldiers vacated their camp so fast that food in kettles was found still boiling on the fires....

FULL TRANSCRIPT, SCANS and RESEARCH NOTES accompany. The original envelope also remains.

This letter was written by Benjamin Franklin Drown (1843-1913), the son of Joshua Champlin Drown (1821-1907) and Malvina Fitzalan Lake (1821-1913) of Warren, Bristol County, Rhode Island. In the 1860 census, 39 year-old Joshua\'s occupation is given as \"housewright\" and 16 year-old Benjamin\'s occupation is given as \"Dry Goods Clerk.\"

Benjamin enlisted as a private in Company C, 5th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, on 4 November 1861. He was promoted to corporal on 7 June 1862. He was wounded in the right shoulder at the Battle of Whitehall, North Carolina, on 16 December 1862, and promoted to second lieutenant on 22 April 1864. He was mustered out of the service on 23 December 1864.

Benjamin mentions his brother, Joshua (\"Josh\") C. Drown, Jr. (1845-18xx), who enlisted about six weeks after Benjamin in the same company. Hewas promoted to corporal on 7 June 1862, at the same time as his brother, and was promoted to sergeant-major on 18 July 1863. He was also promoted to second lieutenant in December 1864 but decided to decline the commission and return home.

As we learn in the fourthletter, Benjamin\'s father, Joshua C. Drown, Sr., decided to enlist in August 1862. He served in Company A of the 5th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery until receiving a disability certificate in July 1863.

TRANSCRIPTION

Newport, North Carolina
Camp Parkes
Monday, March 31st 1862

Dear Grandparents,

You must excuse me for not writing to you sooner for I have not had any time since we left Roanoke and since the Battle at New Bern, we have been moving most of the time. We have been here a week yesterday and this is the first day I have had a chance to write -- the first day that I have been off duty all day. I received your postage stamps and was very glad to get them. Are very much obliged to you for them.

I suppose you have got all the particulars of the Battle before this time. We are waiting anxiously for the paper to come with the particulars in it. I have sent him a New Bern program [paper?] to Father and shall send more as soon as I get them. I shall finish this letter in Lieut. [John E.] Snow & [George G.] Hopkins\' quarters. He has just been down to see if I would come up and stay there while he went away a little while. We like our two Lieutenants very much. We shared some of our cake and preserves with them.

You cannot imagine how glad we were to get my box. I would like for you to have a picture of us when we were opening it and overhauling the contents. We have had some excellent suppers and dinners since the arrival. Those cakes were all splendid and tell Mother & Father their shirts are just the thing [and[ that we are extremely obliged to them all. Hope I can pay them all for their kindness.

When Walter got his box, he left in our mess for me to take care of for he had such a class of men in his mess that he dare not leave it there for fear all things being stolen, so we -- Josh, Walter, myself set our table together -- the table consisting of a cracker box turned bottom side up. We sit down and eat with appetite more so thinking the things were cooked at home.

This morning we had an addition. One of the boys gave us a sweet potato apiece and I boiled them and made out a fine breakfast. Oh we shall live splendid while it lasts. Tell Aunt Mary that I wrote. Josh was sick at the time. He had two days and nights sleep and now he is first rate. [He is] on guard today -- smart as a cricket. In one of Aunt Mary\'s letters you spoke about our being careful how we eat any provisions that we found in the Rebel\'s camp. We don\'t think about that Grandma, for when we get into the quarters, we are generally hungry enough to eat poison or anything else.

Grandma, you need not feel worried about that for we don\'t give them time to do that. The day after the Battle at New Bern, as we passed their camp, the kettles was in the fires where they had been getting breakfast and even dough all mixed, ready to bake left on boards. They had as much as they wanted to do to get away themselves.

I shall send one to Mary Eliza in this letter. I will close. Give my love to Grandpa and reserve a part for yourself. Remember me all in your prayers. Goodbye.

From your affectionate grandson, -- Benjamin F. Drown

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