2004-09
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/31/2004
Archive of 12 letters written by Captain John B. Beall, Co. "H", 19th Georgia Infantry, approximately 60 pages, mostly octavo, 1861-1862, various Virginia locations to his fiancee, Mary J. Merrell, Villa Rica, Georgia. Beall, a Regular Army cavalry officer since 1855, served the Confederacy throughout the Civil War. He was seriously wounded at Mechanicsville and, after a convalescence in Richmond, returned home on furlough to marry the recipient of these letters. His obituary in Confederate Veteran magazine states that Beall was also a "lawyer, poet, editor, author, and merchant." The letters, one of which is penned on captured Yankee patriotic stationery, read in small part: "(Lynchburg, Virginia, 8/21/61)...Sometimes my whole soul is stirred with feelings of impatience at the folly and wickedness that have involved our country in this war, in which the aggressors can expect to gain nothing, while the misery & wretchedness involved in the defense are incalcuable...Already the upholding hand of Providence is seen in the result of two great Battles, in both of which our arms obtained a signal victory It is seen also in the character of the men who are at the heads of our armies: as Davis, Beauregard, Lee, McCullough, Hardee, Johnston, Pillow, Van Dorn, Floyd, Wise, names, every one of them already high in the Temple of Fame...(Lynchburg, Virginia, 8/28/61)...I have none of that leisure & freedom from responsibility which a private enjoys...We have cut up two of their armies, they can ill afford another. I see by lists published that several officers of my old regiment figured on the Federal side in the battle at Springfield...(Manassas Plains, Virginia, 10/1/61)...I was at the Head Quarters Sunday & saw Gen Johnston, who recognized me at once & said 'I remember you well.' Some heavy lines of care have been drawn in his features since I saw him before...(Occaquan, Virginia, 11/1/61)...I have very comfortable quarters, made by digging away the earth and fitting a tent into the side of a hill. I have a good fire place cut out of the hard clay, the flue running back two & a half or three feet underground & connecting with a stick & dirt chimney...(Seven Pines, Virginia, 6/3/62)...We were exposed friday night to a terrible rain storm; marched about 15 miles & on saturday, then with five or six at a double quick or run, and were lead - no, sent into battle late in the evening...to take a battery. The regiments were badly managed The brigades did not act with proper concert of action. We were exposed to a terrible fire for perhaps an hour and finally fell back in disorder, the line of our regiment being broken into fragments...(Richmond, Virginia, 7/25/62)...I am so weak that I cant hold up my hand, as i have to, lying on my back...but I will try by resting occasionally... As to my wound, the left thigh is broken some two inches above the knee...it is still suppurating freely where the ball entered. There is no inflamation...(Richmond, Virginia, 7/29/62)...I think I may very safely say that if I meet with no unforeseen reverse, I will be able to get home...". The condition of the Beall letters vary widely, ranging from stained and Good to clean and VF...Plus; Photograph, 7 3/4" x 9 3/4", ca. 1900. An outdoor portrait of the elderly Beall. Water stains and fading, else Good condition...Plus; 1/9th plate tintype of a an unknown child, possibly Beall's, ca. 1870. Good condition...Plus; ALS from Mae Dent Beall, 8 pages, octavo, July 16, 1904, Columbus, Ohio to John B. Beall, Nashville, Tennessee. The writer, kin to Beall, discusses family connections. With cover, Fine condition.
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