Raynors HCA 2014-11
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/6/2014
War-date Union soldier’s Autograph Letter Signed by Corporal Edward M. Harris, Co. A, 81st Illinois Infantry , 4pp. quarto, Near Vicksburg, Mississippi, June 5, 1863, and reads in part: “...The news I now have is nothing more than we are still keeping Vicksburg ‘closed in from the world’ while the roar of the cannon is almost continualy sending messengers over to the rebels to let them know that we are still here...We have good company of soldiers as we could expect. We have now been together so long that most of us feels as near & dear to each other as brothers. We feel lonesome since we have lost so many of our good boys that killed & wounded. I hope we won’t lose anymore but I fear that before this war is over we will lose many more. The cannons are planted thick around & near us & have been firing so long that we hardly notice them. When they are fired they are roaring around us both day & night. The rebels very seldom ever return the fire I guess they are scarce of ammunition & I rather guess they will soon be scarce of grub....I hope when Vicksburg is taken that some of us will get to come home on furlough & I am very sure we will take it though we don’t know who will get through alive. I must tell you what a narrow escape I made in the charge on the 22nd while we wa lying in front of the fort & the rebels pouring on us a shower of balls like a storm of hail for there was nothing to prevent them for we had orders not to fire. The one on my right in about a foot of me was killed & John Kelly next to him was wounded & the one on my left our heads was in about six inches of each other & he was shot through the head & the [one] next to him was wounded twice & the one right behind me was killed & two balls after striking the ground boucned & fell on me but never hurt...I do thank God that I ever got out of that place. ...I feel under stronger obligations to live for God than ever & I hope the trials & difficulties we have to undergo will make us love the Saviour more & show us the necessity of putting our trust in Jesus in whom is light eternal in His kingdom....I sometimes think it is wrong to fight & try to kill my fellow man. Though I don’t really want to kill them if they would submit to the laws of our government but to think of giving up our happy government which is founded on the principles of Christianity where all persons can serve God without fear or molestation it therefore is the duty of Christians to sustain it as well as others there by sustaining the Church of God & it is the duty of all Christians to pray feverntly for God’s aid & assistance in the great struggle fo liberty...Our Regt. has to go on picket tomorrow which is a little dangerous though the last time we was out we had no one hurt....we get to do a right smart shooting when on picket but we have rifle pits (holes dug in the ground big enough for three or four in together) to shoot out of...” More. Very good condition. Edward M. Harris, served Company ‘A’, 82st Illinois Infantry from August 26, 1862, through the end of the war. He was taken Prisoner of War, at Guntown, Mississippi, on June 11, 1864 and sent to the notorious Confederate prison at Andersonville. He saw action at Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion’s Hill, Big Black River, Siege of Vicksburg, Pleasant Hill, Brice’s Creek and Guntown.
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