Raynors HCA 2017-06
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/1/2017
A good war-date Union soldier's battle letter, 4pp. 8vo., written, on patriotic stationery, by Pvt. James Hiram Jones, Co. I, 24th Mass. Vols., [WIA Darbytown Road, VA 10/13/64], "On Picket, Nov. 26, 1862", in part: "…I have been through good deal since I wrote you. I have been on a expedition…I was on a march 10 days and the first day just at night we had a fight with the rebels. We fought until 12 o'clock that night…it was pretty tough to fight in the night…the balls whizzing around my head…it made me think of home. There [was] only one man [Pvt. Michael Kildary] killed in our regiment and he was killed close along side of me. He was shot through the back and it killed write out. We got our artillery to work on them and they skedaddled…we threw about a hundred shells in them and they thought it was best to leave…after the fight we laid down on the ground and laid until morning then marched to town of Wilmington…we stayed there until night then we marched for Hamilton. We destroyed a great deal while we was gone. My feet was all blistered…we marched about hundred miles in 4 days. We killed hogs and cattle enough to eat. We would drive into a corn field nights so we could fed our horses. We would destroy a hundred acres of corn in a very little while…it was avery hard march…we got back to Newbern the 13th of this month and we was glad when we got back…about seven o'clock the long roll was beat and we thought that the Devil had come. The rebels had drove in our pickets and had to be drawn in a line of battle…we marched out on our parade ground and stopped there about 3 hours…about 12 o'clock we had to turn out and go out on picket…James Jones…". Jones' phonetic spelling has been corrected. Excepted soiling and toning, else VG
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