July 14th, 2011
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/14/2011
War-date Union soldier Autograph Letter Signed by John W Parker 45th Illinois, 4pp. quarto, Camp of the 45th Illinois Infantry, Lake Providence, Louisiana, March 1, 1863, with patriotic cover, it reads in part: “...Well we are now down where the alligators live and where it is summer in the winter time....Our camp is in a splendid park among shrubery and on the bank of the splendid lake of Providence...We have our tents splendidly fixed as we got plenty of boards out of cotton gins and planters houses. Each planters place looks like a city, they are as large as Roscoe and good houses all of their gins run by steam. They are from 100 feet long to 150 and as wide in proportion, each has a grist mill in it and a saw mill. We tore all the lumber of one and nearly all the lumber of his plantation houses and we got all of his furniture, which was splendid. He is a captain in the secesh army....There was a fire in the city of Providence the day after we came here. I had not been to camp from the river yet, so I seen all of it and was there. It burned several houses and we were helping get the things out of another nearby for fear it would go with the others and what do you think we found, a secesh flag 12 feet long and made of silk bunting. I had a hold of it but the boys gave it up to a major on horseback and I never seen it since. We did not try and save anything after that but every one went in for himself. All I took was a washtub basket, candle stick silver and a beautiful brandy canter. The boys broke in every light and such and would have set fire to it (for the fire did not reach it) had it not been for the officer....We are camped 5 miles from the river, the old 16th is in another park beside us, and the 18th Wis. Major Charley Jackson [later colonel] sends his regards to you...The boys are all in fine spirits and are eager to see the war over with and get a chance at the copperheads at home who are trying to plunge our country in ruin. They all uphold the president in his proclamation and will sustain him to the last. Not that they like to free the negro nor see him free but as the secesh have even told us to our teeth that if we would leave them, the nigger, they would fight us till the day of penticost (if I may so use the word)...” Fine condition.
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