Excellent 10th Virginia Soldier Reports the Capture of his Colonel

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/31/2004

Autograph Letter Signed,I. H. Lionberger, 1p. quarto. pencil, Camp 39th Va. Batt. Hd Qrs. A.N.V., August 28, 1864, to the father of Col. Gibbons, 10th Virginia, reads in part: “...I was very glad to receive it [his letter], as I was very much afraid, you would not receive my telegram, I desired you to come to see me as Willie wished you to settle some of his business matters which remain unsettled...you desired me to give you the particulars of his capture, this I can not do, only where he was when captured. He received a horse detail on the first of July to go to Hardy County for the purpose of procuring a horse, while scouting around Martinsburg he was surprised & captured, all that I know of his capture is what I get from his letter which I send, I think it advisable for you to deposit with Mr. McKay the money he owes Burst...if you desire, send me the money he owes in the Battalion & I can settle up his business & send you the papers, I paid Lt. Lupton the $85.00 dollars & would have settled all of his debts but had not the money...I am very sorry to hear of Alfreds being captured, & hope he & Willie will get together...” Verso has notation “you can write to Willie through flag of Truce I intend writing to day. The 39th Virginia Battalion was Lee’s Body Guard and were Lee’s personal cavalry being present at every battle with Lee from Fredericksburg to Appomattox.SMITH, Ashbel (1805-1886) Graduated from Yale in 1824 and became a doctor in 1828. After further medical study in Europe, he decided to go to the newly formed Republic of Texas in 1837. When he arrived in Texas he became a roommate of Sam Houston, who appointed him surgeon general of the Army of the Republic of Texas on June 7, 1837. In this role Smith set up an efficient system of operation and established the first hospital in Houston, a military institution. When the Texas Medical Association came into being in 1853, he was chairman of the committee that drafted its constitution and bylaws. When the Civil War began he organized a company, the Bayland Guards, which he drilled and trained. While leading his company, a part of Company C, Second Texas Infantry, at Shiloh, he received a severe arm injury and was cited for bravery, along with the rest of his company. He was promoted to colonel and named commander of the Second Texas Infantry, which he led at several engagements in Mississippi, including Corinth, and the Tallahatchie River. During the siege of Vicksburg, he was in command of a vulnerable earthen fortification at one of the entrances to that city. After the surrender of Vicksburg, Smith was in charge of several positions in the vicinity of Matagorda Peninsula on the Gulf Coast of Texas, and was credited with preventing Union invasions in that area. Towards the end of the war he was put in charge of the defenses of Galveston. After the war he and William P. Ballinger were sent by Governor Pendleton Murrah as commissioners to negotiate peace terms for Texas with Union officials in New Orleans.

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