Description:

An outstanding Union soldier's letter with an eyewitness account of the bloody Battle of the Cornfield at Antietam on September 16, 1862. Pvt. Samuel Francis, Co. D, 4th R.I. Vols., pens a 2pp. legal folio on Oct. 3, 1862 to friends at home, recounting the battle. In part: "...You don't know how glad I am to think I got out of the last battle safe...We were about 8 days driving the rebels and the last day was very hard...after we had fired a few shots at them in the cornfield we looked round to the rear of us we saw them coming in on a charge to us with their mouths open and I tell you we left out of that cornfield in double quick and the grape and canister came after us in a shower and mowed us down most severely and our artillery fell short of ammunition and fell back and let the rebels right down upon us and so we had to fall back. We laid under fire all that day until about 4 o'clock...on the hill where we fought on the first I assure you that we piled nicely. We killed a great many of them further and fought that day until 10 or 11 o'clock at night. And we drove them back that night and the next day we found no one there...it was a sad sight to see them lie there dead...Genl. Burnside rode through our lines...the Rebels took off our dead men's shoes and would not give our wounded a drink of water and would not hardly let us get them off the field...I have found the body today but there is no end to it..." Very good.

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November 14, 2018 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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