Raynors HCA 2015-11
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/3/2015
War-date Union officer's letter, 8pp. 8vo., written by Lt. William H. Mickle [WIA Gettysburg, 7/01/63], 134th New York (as staff officer to the chief of artillery 20th Corps), "Hd. Qrs. Arty. Brig. 20th A. C., Goldsboro, N. C., Mar. 26, 1865," in part: "…our army did more hard labor both marching & building bridges & corduroy [roads] than ever an army was known to do…we moved about five hundred miles & half that distance we were compelled to bridge or corduroy for the trains & artillery to pass over. Our whole army train consisted of more than three thousand wagons & ambulances & fourteen batteries of artillery. We had skirmishing all the way from Savannah & Goldsboro…on the 16th inst [during the battle of Averasboro] our Corps lost between four & five hundred man in killed & wounded…on the 19th at Bentonville the 14th Corps lost about 15,000, ours about 200. At each fight we came off victorious & pursued…Johnson [who] massed all of Hardee's, S. D. Lee's, Hampton's & the South Ca. forces thinking he could destroy one column of our troops ere the others came to its relief…they gave the 14th Corps a hard blow…we came up in good time to save them & turn the defeat into a victory…on the night of the 21st Johnson made his escape across Neuse river & concentrated at Smithfield where he now is…the endurance of our troops cannot find a parallel in history!…some of them subsisted chiefly on parched corn &…thousands of them were barefoot…they never murmured, but kept plodding on…the Savannah campaign was but a little affair compared to this…we are doubly satisfied Charleston, Wilmington & Goldsboro are all ours while Columbia…& many other towns felt the weight of Sherman's avenging hand…we saved the Government millions of dollars by living off the country. The animals we seized…will amount to more than a million of dollars…the last campaign of Genl. Sherman is the greatest that the world has any record of…we are quietly resting after all our toils & are refitting with clothing & other material…ever, William." The original stamped transmittal cover is included. VG to near fine.
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