[ Autographs ] CIVIL WAR CORRESPONDENCE OF INGRAM P. SMITH A fine Union soldier's correspondence consisting of 44 war-date letters and two auxiliary documents from Ingram P. Smith of the 121 N.Y. Infantry, written between February of 1862 and March of 1865. All but two or three of the letters are transcribed, with the majority in ink. In part: "...Burkettsville, Sept. 19, 1862...We left Fort Lincoln... traveled every day since...have been chasing the rebels most of the way. We are not now far from Harper's Ferry...Yesterday...our men opened fire on them...the rebels shot back, they were over our heads..They were on a hill west from us. Some of our division went on and drove them off...commenced at 3 o'clock and fought until dark. A sergeant of an old regiment...Says this has been the hardest fight of all the war...In camp Near Fredericksburg...Dec. 17, 1862...moved to ariver at night, the 11th - crossed it again and layed there, the shells whistled over Co. B....One shell burst about a block to left...hit a man in co. B and killed him instantly..., four of five steps from me, one 3 steps in and one just above my head...13th...the rebelswere firing on us...the bullets came over our heads like hail...we began to open on them and soon silenced their batteries. Mostly they had sharpshooters that picked at us once in a while and towards night they hollered at us to stop firing, you D----d rascals..." Apparently Smith is wounded at Fredericksburg, and while recuperating, he is asked to tend to the wounded at Gaterill Hospital in Pennsylvania, presumably from the Gettysburg campaign, as this letter indicates: "..West Philadelphia, July 8, 1863...the raid the rebs are making now... they are around this afternoon after voluntarys to go to Harrisburg orChambersburg to fight the rebs back. A good many of the guards are enlisting, to go, and when they go they will likely detail me to guardor nurse in the ward...work in the ward considerable, that is, a nursing...we have 3 pretty bad cases in the ward now. Two of them wereshot in the arm and they start bleeding once in a while. I was tendingone yesterday and the artery started bleeding a large stream. I grabbed it as quick as I could and held it until the doctor came...he would have bled to death in less than five minutes...I do not like nursing, it is too confining...". Eventually Smith rejoins his unit inVirginia, and though intermittently ill, continues to campaign. In part: "...Bolivar Heights, Md. , Oct. 19, 1864...there has been cannonading all the morning to be heard very plainly...I suppose thereis a heavy battle going on near Winchester...I think it rather tough for to have to go on an march through a country where if a man falls out, he is sure to be picked up by guerrillas or cutthroats...There isa continuous roar of cannon now. Longstreet has got largely reinforced..Near Petersburg, Dec. 17, 1864...they commenced to fight on the leftof us within a half mile ..We have laid quiet...though under marching orders...the 2nd and 5th went and tore up the south side railroad, about 30 miles of it, burned every house, barn and mill,...the rebs massed the troops on the right the other day and charged several timesto break our lines but were repulsed every time...Jan. 6, 1865...the rebs make dashes on our pickets and gobble some of them up once in a while, or carry off their blankets and haversacks...the rebs crept up to our picket line, as close as possible, and charged on them so quickthat our men could but run back from their posts to keep from being captured...They left their guns and everything, but the rebs took nothing but blankets and overcoats...our officers will learn after we lose a few more hundred men as prisoners how to do picket duty... nights they keep up a steady firing...St. Petersburg, Mar. 27, 1865...[Fort Stedman] we were called out under arms just at the light of day..you know doubtless that the deserters have been allowed to bring in their guns and get paid for them...the other morning about 150 came inand gave themselves up opposite Fort Steadman, then they took our men prisoners...then came some pioneers with axes...the rebs rushed right..into the fort before the men could get out of bed...our division of the 6th corps was sent for to help take it back. Captain Tyler...led the charge, captured the fort back and all the Johnnies in it, which is said to be 1800...marched to the left enough to clear the swamp then by the left flank fixed bayonets and charged nearly a mile...fellback a ways to prevent the rebs from flanking us...we took 5000 prisoners in all ...we still hold our grounds...the Johnnies tried to drive our pickets back and charged them and did drive them, but they were charged back again...drove us from the line again, but in turn were charged back, then came some sharpshooters of the 2nd division toour support, the rebs charged again but were repulsed...we took 5000 prisoners in all along the lines...May 6, 1865...the sad news was readto us...of the assassination of President Lincoln...our feeling could not be expressed, though some tried to express them by saying they would take no more prisoners...". Overall very good.