April 21st, 2011
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/21/2011
A great war-date Union soldier's battle letter written in ink by Pvt. Jerome W. Gardner, 6pp., Cold Harbor, June 10th 1864, in part: "I will tell you what happened with me since the 31st of May. On the 31 we turned the rebels right flank 18 miles back from here at night. We were on picket at twelve, we were called in and started to march. We marched the 18 miles then through up a line of rifle pits…the sharp shooters commenced picking us off ... so we lay down again. We lay here until four o'clock when we were ordered to charge on them ...we went into the woods after the Johnneys, they giving us a perfect shower of lead ... we broke ranks and got scattered so it was every man for himself. We drove them out of the woods but they got a cross fire on us. … we charged them again and they drove us back but we charged them again this time we made them fly. We took their first line of works but their next was so strong that they held them. So this is the way it stands at present, the lines are about 60 rods apart and we lay here firing at each other. Yesterday our Captain [Irvin Squyer, actually he was wounded twice at Cold Harbor, once on the 1st and then on the day mentioned] was shot through the shoulder and Herman Spencer through the left leg just above the knee. ... William Miles was lost in the charge with two or three others ... we have lost about 30 men from this company. Yesterday they raised a white flag ... it was done to bury some dead that lay between the lines. ... the rebs came out and exchanged papers and traded coffee for tobacco. This kept up until the flag went down and then such a scattering you never saw ... in two minutes we were behind the rifle pits shooting at each other ... this seemed rather queer ... one minute to be talking and trading and the next to be shooting one another down…". The 9th suffered heavily during the ten days of fighting at Cold Harbor and lost over 70 casualties during that time. VG.
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