Description:

A UNION P.O.W. AT SUMPTER PRISON, ANDERSONVILLE WRITES HIS FAMILY
Rare Andersonville prisoner's letter, 2pp. 8vo., which Pvt. Reuben Wilson, Co. K., 50th Pa. Infantry writes from Sumpter Prison, Andersonville, on June 20, 1864. Wilson was captured at the Wilderness on May 5, 1864, and first confined at Richmond. He was then transferred to Andersonville, Ga. This letter, sent to his sister Mary, reads in part: "...This life or rather way of living is not very desirable but as it is an honorable position through an unpleasant one, we let nothing daunt our expectations of a time coming when all will go well and I can once more join you around that good old table partaking of the good things of this earth...Our officers are at Macon, Georgia. It has rained here every day this month. Thirty of us volunteered and dug us a well in front of our quarters, which produces very good water and plenty of it...". He has signed the letter "Reuben Wilson, Prisoner of War, Camp Sumpter, Georgia". Camp Sumter, commonly called Andersonville, was one of the largest military prisons established by the Confederacy during the Civil War. In existence for 14 months, over 45,000 Union soldiers were confined at the prison. Of these, almost 13,000 died from disease, poor sanitation, malnutrition, overcrowding, and exposure to the elements. The largest number held in the 26 1/2-acre stockade at any one time was more than 32,000, during August of 1864. Having a well with "good water" was certainly far from the norm. Wilson was paroled in Charleston in December 1864, and returned home where he died of typhoid fever in January 1865. An excellent letter.

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December 9, 2011 11:00 AM EST
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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