Raynors HCA 2017-06
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/1/2017
A good war-date Union soldier's letter, 6pp. 8vo., written, on George Washington blind embossed patriotic stationery, by Pvt. Charles W. Manning, Co. B, 13th Mass. Vols., Camp opposite Falmouth, Va., May 20, 1862, in part: "…all the boxes that have been sent…came as far as Washington and the they would not let them bring them any further…our sutler went to Washington & brought all…for the Regt…the…nearly worth more to me…then any thing else…I am thousand times obliged to you for your trouble. We all have a griping in the stomach after drinking a great deal of this water so I am a going to keep the brandy…when I am troubled in that way…we lost our old Brig. Gen. the first of this month & now we have got a new one & a Bully one he is too. His name is Hartsuff. He looks out for his men first-rate & we all like him but we were down on old Abercrombie for he cared about was to guard Sesech property & let his men go to the Devil…we formed the line at 6 o'clock our Regt. having the right of the line. We marched 17 miles in the hot sun, hot enough to roast Niggers…our Gen. said that he should not have marched us quite so far if he could have found water before…to Falmouth where we are now under Major Gen. McDowell. McDowell has got 3 divisions under him but there is only one brigade over the other side of the river in Fredericksburg. This forenoon we had a grand review. One division was reviewed by McDowell himself…he is a very fine looking officer. He is making a great change in our Brig & one that officers or men do not like much. He has ordered all our Sibley tents to be taken away & these little shelter tents given us…the shelter tent is nothing but 2 rubber blankets or pieces of canvas buttoned together…only 3 can lay in them. We have to carry these tents ourselves for he has also ordered all our wagons be taken away except 5 to each company…we have got to come down to a pretty fine thing…the officers as well as the men. I think that the officers are finding more fault then the men altho they are not going to suffer as much. Our Gen. tried all he could to keep the Sibley tents but it was no go….Lewis has been in a fight at Williamsburg but I have not had a letter from him since the fight…C. W. Manning. Direct…to Gen. Hartsuff's Brig. via Washington, D. C." The original transmittal cover is included. Minor toning, else VG
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