Lot 158
BATTLE OF ATLANTA LETTER
A very detailed A.L.S. of Union soldier "Ike" penned just outside of Atlanta, 6pp. 8vo., "Near Atlanta", Aug. 16, 1864, to Ed Phillips in Suffolk, New York. He writes to his friend in phonetic English, giving a fine description of the Battle of Atlanta. In part: "...We are in camp about two miles from Atlanta but unfortunately the johnnys are betwixt us and town we have got sum very heavey brestworks up. They are twelve feet thick and high enuf for us to stand up in and not be exposed much our men are throwing shell and shot into town all of the while and the rebs send shell over here every little whill they sent over sum sixty five pounders when we first came here and kiled James Biling and took a leg off one other and wounded one or two others you can bet it made a pretty big mess but we hav got that old below still at least they have not shot it this way for a few days and I hope it won't very soon for it ain't no friend of mine. It is two miles from our works to the senter of the town but it is all woods betwixt us and town so we can't see it only from a high hill that is back about a mile. The pickets keep up a firing most al of the while and there bullets cum uncomfertable clost sum of the time. We are a going to take Atlanty, but it ain't going to do to hurey it to fast. Shurman is a man that belives in sackerfising a few men as posable and to be that we hav got to go slow and shure sort to not make [?] kills every one feels confident of success when the times com. The rebs hav got a strong works here and if we have to asalt them there is going to be som hard fighting. The fight of the 20th was mostly by our Corps the rebs made two or three charges it was Hoods and Hards corps that made the charge, they came up in three lines of battle against are single line. You can guess sumthing about it for they broke our regt and we fell back about 40 rods and formed again and then went back to our old place or as well as we could git to it for the joneys we was on the rite of our brigade and thare was a gap of half a mile betwixt us and the first division. The rebs came up in three lines in front and they found that gap and swung around in the rear of our right so they was on three sides of us, on the rite it was thick woods and they could kep out of site when they came up in front the boys comenced licking it into them they was pretty close about five rods of and when they shot into them they never returned the fire but squat down, we didn't no what to make of it but we soon found out for another line came up in rear of us, and says surrender you yankey sons of bitches, but we could not see it in that lite as long as thare was one hole left to git out of so we lit out. Capt White was in comand of the regt but he didn't try to raley them so after we had got back a piece Capt Stevens got the boys together and took them in again and has kep command every since. Some one was to blame for that gap being left in the line the most of us no who it was when I see I can tell you all about it. Rush and then Clark was taken prisoners that was all we lost out of over one half minet later and we would of lost the hole rigt thare was a considerebal hard fighting down last month and thare is a fight sumwhere on the line most every day....Please excuse this poor writing it is the first time I hav tride to write with a pen since we left Bridgeport and we hav got such acomadation for writing you...". Penned on two separate sheets, with original transmittal envelope. Very good condition.
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