September 22, 2011
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/22/2011
War-date Union soldier's Autograph Letter Signed by Samuel L. White, 2pp. octavo, Camp at Harrison's Landing on James River, July 13, 1862, and reads in part: "...I thought I would write...& let you know that I was all right and the great change which the Army had made in location. But it was the most fatiguing march we have ever made...We were obliged to move very quickly from one position to another & when were not moving we were watching for the enemy, so that it was impossible to get any rest for several days. We were obliged to be on our feet night as well as day. I hope I shall never again feel the need of sleep I did the night we marched from White Oak swamp to James river, the men would sleep while marching along. Our Regt has been very fortunate in the late Battle on Friday evening, June 27 [Gaines Mill] enemy attacked us in front of our old camp on the Chickahominy. We had 12 wounded in our Regt. The other Regts in our brigade about the same. The enemy were glad to quit with a loss of over 200, as a prisoner stated. ...From all I have seen and heard the rebels go the worst of all the late battles..." Fine condition. The Battle of Gaines's Mill, sometimes known as the First Battle of Cold Harbor or the Battle of Chickahominy River, took place on June 27, 1862, in Hanover County, Virginia, as the third of the Seven Days Battles (Peninsula Campaign) of the American Civil War. Following the inconclusive Battle of Beaver Dam Creek (Mechanicsville) the previous day, Confederate General Robert E. Lee renewed his attacks against the right flank of the Union Army, relatively isolated on the northern side of the Chickahominy River. There, Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter's V Corps had established a strong defensive line behind Boatswain's Swamp. Lee's force was destined to launch the largest Confederate attack of the war, about 57,000 men in six divisions. Porter's reinforced V Corps held fast for the afternoon as the Confederate attacked in a disjointed manner, first with the division of Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill, then Maj. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, suffering heavy casualties. The arrival of Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson's command was delayed, preventing the full concentration of Confederate force before Porter received some reinforcements from the VI Corps. At dusk, the Confederates finally mounted a coordinated assault that broke Porter's line and drove his men back toward the river. The Federals retreated across the river during the night. The Confederates were too disorganized to pursue the main Union force. Gaines's Mill saved Richmond for the Confederacy in 1862; the tactical defeat there convinced Army of the Potomac commander Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan to abandon his advance on Richmond and begin a retreat to the James River. The battle occurred in almost the same location as the 1864 Battle of Cold Harbor and had a similar number of total casualties.
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