Civil War Confederate Soldier\'s Letter, Virginia Artillery 1862. After Antietam.
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Civil War Confederate Soldier\'s Letter, Virginia Artillery 1862. After Antietam.:
$375.00
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This is very rare original American Civil War Confederate soldier\'s letter, written in November 1862, shortly after he fought in the Battle of Antietam, by a Confederate artilleryman who served in a Virginia light artillery battery. This soldier served in action with his battery throughout the war, in General Longtreet\'s corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. He fought from 2nd Manassas to the end of the war, and he was paroled at Appomattox in April 1865.
The letter has content about Stonewall Jackson\'s recent victory at Martinsburg, about rumors that Union General McClellan was in retreat, about Confederate soldiers as young as 16 years of age, about negotiations between Great Britain and the Confederate government, about Confederate supply shortages, and more. This is an outstanding original letter.
This 2 page letter was written by Private Andrew F. Harrison, Parker\'s Battery, Virginia Light Artillery, Longstreet\'s Corps, Army of Northern Virginia.
(The letter was written over a period of days and appears to have been dated when the envelope was addressed. The letter is dated November 1st, so it was begun by Private Harrison in late October.)
Private Harrison wrote this letter to his sister, who a short time later married one of the officers of Parker\'s Battery, in which Harrison served. That officer, John Thompson Brown, eventually became a distinguished Confederate colonel. He was killed in action by a Union sharpshooter at the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864.
This letter was written at Culpeper Court House, Virginia, shortly after the Battle of Antietam, in which Private Harrison had fought.
This extraordinary 2 page letter includes content about a recent victory won by General Stonewall Jackson at Martinsburg, and also about reports that Union General George McClellan was in retreat. (*** General McClellan was relieved of his command by President Lincoln just six days after this letter was written.) There is content about young boys of 16 to 18 years of age being discharged from the Confederate army for illness, and a segment about rumors that Britain\'s Lord Lyons was in Richmond meeting with the Confederate government. Harrison also writes that he was desperately short of some items, particularly socks.
There is also content about Lieutenant (later Colonel) John Thompson Brown, a distinguished Virginia artillery officer who was killed in action by a Union sharpshooter in the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864. During the war Colonel Brown married Miss Bettie Harrison, Private Harrison\'s sister, to whom this 2 page letter was written.
This is an outstanding original Confederate letter.
*** This rare 2 page letter was written at Culpeper Court House, Virginia, by Private Andrew F. Harrison, who served from 1862 to 1865 in Parker\'s Battery, Virginia Light Artillery. Parker\'s Battery, commanded by Captain Doctor William W. Parker (and also by Captain John Thompson Brown, who later married the woman to whom this letter was written), was formed in March 1862, and served throughout the war in the Army of Northern Virginia. Parker\'s Battery was assigned to Longstreet\'s Corps.
Private Harrison served throughout the war in Parker\'s Battery. With his battery Harrison fought in battles which included 2nd Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and more. Parker\'s Battery remained with the Army of Northern Virginia until Lee\'s surrender at Appomattox.
Private Harrison appears on a list of Confederates paroled by Union forces at Burkesville Junction, Virginia, in April 1865, a few days after General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia.
This 2 page letter was written by Private Harrison on (and just before) the 1st of November, 1862, not long after he and his battery fought in the Battle of Antietam. Parker\'s Battery was located at Culpeper Court House, Virginia, when Harrison wrote this letter. He wrote it to his sister, Miss Bettie Harrison, (who later became the widow of Colonel John Thompson Brown, killed in action in 1864).
Private Harrison writes of a report that General Thomas \"Stonewall\" Jackson had recently won a victory, at Martinsburg, capturing a Union general and taking many prisoners. Harrison had also heard that Britain\'s Lord Lyons was in Richmond (meeting with the Confederate government. The Confederacy had high hopes that Lord Lyons would help it in gaining formal British recognition). Harrison believed the reports of Jackson\'s victory, but was skeptical about reports of the British lord\'s visit. He also states that it was believed that the Union forces of General McClellan were moving back:
\"It is reported that Jackson has whipped the enemy near Martinsburg, taken a Gen. and many prisoners. Yesterday it is also reported that Lord Lyons is in Richmond. I credit the former but not the latter report. It is generally believed here that McClellan has fallen back within the last 2 or 3 days.\"
Private Harrison had recently been ill, but he was on duty as always. His battery was shorthanded, because a number of young boys in the battery, aged 16 to 18 years, had recently been discharged from the army. This left the battery shorthanded, so Private Harrison remained on duty while he recovered from his illness:
\"I\'ve been quite unwell since I commenced this letter from a very bad cold, which makes me cough a great deal, but at present I am much better. I report for duty as ever, and am now on guard. I stand guard about once in 5 days. There are only about 26 who report for guard duty. The reason of that is because so many of this company have received discharges within the last month or two. Nearly all in this Co. are youths of about 16 and 18 years, which is the reason of the discharges.\"
There is much more. Private Harrison\'s sister had asked him why he never mentioned Lieutenant John Thompson Brown, the officer of her brothers\' battery to whom she was engaged, in his letters to her. Harrison explains that Lieutenant Brown had never directly mentioned his sister to him since they had been together in Parker\'s battery, and had never mentioned their engagement. (I think Harrison was being playful here, trying to irritate his sister a little bit):
\"You seem to complain of the brevity of my letters. The reason of that is, unlike you, I have not the talent of extenuating words and thoughts. I wish I had; no doubt the \'substance\' of my martial epistles would be more interesting. And you think it as little as I could do to mention \'his\' name sometimes! Well, I will do so this time. Lt. John Thompson Brown!!! He has never mentioned your name to me since I have been a member of Parker\'s Artillery, nor anything concerning your engagement.\" The only thing he ever says about it is, occasionally, \'I got a letter from Mecklenburg the other day\' etc. A modest way of saying \'Bettie\'!\"
(Lieutenant John Thompson Brown and Miss Bettie Harrison were married a short time later. Brown later became a colonel. He was killed in action at the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864.)
There is still more. Private Harrison was hoping that he would soon be able to go to Richmond on leave. He was desperately in need of some things that he was hoping he could get when he went to Richmond. He especially needed some socks, and he was thankful to have been told in a letter that his mother had knitted some for him:
\"You mention that mother has some yarn socks for me. I wish it so that I could get them, for I never needed anything worse in my life. The only way that I could get anything of that sort from home is to wait until I get to Richmond and then I can get anything from there. There is a chance of my getting a furlough in under two months. I don\'t think, for I think some time will elapse yet before we go into winter quarters. So I don\'t think there is much chance of my seeing you enter the matrimonial state!\"
An extraordinarily rare, moving, and well detailed original Confederate soldier\'s letter, written by an artilleryman who fought in many of the Civil war\'s most famous and important battles, to his sister who soon afterward married a Confederate officer who was killed in action in 1864.
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Civil War Confederate Soldier\'s Letter, Virginia Artillery 1862. After Antietam.:
$375.00