Raynors HCA 2015-05
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/21/2015
A good war-date Union soldier's letter, 10pp. 8vo., written by Pvt. Moses W. Pillsbury, Co. E, 4th New Hampshire, St. Augustine, Florida, June 19, 1862, to his friend Lemuel P. Foss of the 13th New Hampshire, in part: "…the company kicked up & turned up a regular row about the cooks and the Capt. said that [we] could draw…rations raw and get them cooked down town so all but twenty of us go down town and the others hire a negro to coo for them…a dollar a month I think is cheap. She cooks our rations…just as she chooses…John is well…he wants you to give his love to the girls. Don't say anything about his having any girls…that he goes to see. He has a very few here…business is dull here. The citizens cant find anything to do. They have no flour…a citizen told me …that before we came here it was $25 a barrel. When [their] schooner was taken we sold the flour at twelve dollars a barrel. There is none in the place now…in the first place. We are at St. Augustine, East Florida about 800…miles strait steamboat line south of New York. It is a small place of about 2200 inhabitants…there isn't but three good looking houses in the place and them are owned by folks that came [from] the north. One by the name of Mrs. Gardner from Maine. One by the name of Mrs. Anderson from New Hampshire. One…whose has gone home to New York. These are all the good looking houses in the whole place. This is an old Spanish town founded by the Sanyards [Spaniards] not far from the year 1615…in former days subjected to very hard rulers. The houses are all very old and had a good deal of hard usage. Here is the oldest church in the United States. It is a Catholic Church also here is the oldest fort in the United States. It was built when the town was first founded of freestone that is found on Anartatia Island…the two lay…one mile from the…sea…the Matanzas runs in front…of the city. Between it and the sea is a large island about twenty miles long running length wise the coast. This is a very healthy place being surrounded by salt water in front…behind the city are the salt marshes…at night a westerly wind…sweeps across the place and in the day time…the heat of the day is a strong sea breeze…in the hospital there have only three have died of sickness and there is one that was wounded at jacksonville by the Rebels while on picket. He was wounded in the bowels…every thing that passes through his bowls come[s] out in a bullet hole in his side. He is doing well. He was wounded last March. The doctor thinks that he will get well…I hope that he will…last week [June 18th] a corporal and eight men [of the 4th N. H.] went out in a sailboat and when coming back one of the men jumped up on the side of the boat…it tipped over and they all went over board. The corp. [Charles C. Cofran] and two of the men [John Lamay and Luther Libby] were drowned and the other six saved themselves by swimming ashore…tried to save the others. The men that were drowned were the best swimmers in the company. One of them by the name of [Luther] Libby has been found. They have tried to find the others but can not…your humble servant, Moses W. Pillsbury. NB Please direct to Moses W. Pillsbury Co. E, 4th Regt. N. H. Port Royal, S. C."
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