LETTERS OF UNION DESERTER HENRY C. RIDGWAY Excellent lot of nine war-date A.L.S.'s of Union deserter Pvt. Henry C. Ridgway of the 199th Pa. Inf., 20pp. 8vo., written from Alexandria Prison and from the field, Nov. 4, 1864-Feb. 19, 1865, most in pencil, all but one with postal cover. Ridgway, a one-year man who enlisted on Sep. 16, 1864, writes his mother and brother. In part: "they read every letter that goes and comes here...they are catching everybody now...It is dangerous for a man to come here to Washington for they arrest them even on suspicion and hold as a deserter...I am now at ...Alexandria Prison under very heavy guard and close confinement. We get two meals here a day also...you stated [the Provost Marshal] said I would be very leniently dealt with, but here in prison don't look much that way...I would rather be with my Regt. in battle...nobody can say I deserted or ever intended to...there are about 1,400 prisoners here...I hope I will soon be released...then I will be contented...the colonel of the regiment will send an order to here to the Provost Marshall and have me forwarded to the Regiment...I found the doctor's certificate...certifying that I was ill at the departure of the Regiment...I was court-martialed at Alexandria Va. And all charges cleared up and sent to the Regt. as a straggler...the hardships are growing harder...If I ever get home safe I will be a good man and be respected...This Department is very strict. Yesterday 2 men were hung for robbing and killing a substitute and today there were 2 more to be shot for desertion over to the Rebels...Genl. Grant's quarters are built the same as ours is...I have seen Sheridan, Ord and Terry... [Drinking] and theft was the downfall of me...". Also included is a manuscript draft defense written in another hand in which it is explained that Ridgway had returned home after his enlistment and before his regiment was fully organized to: "gather sundry necessaries...his system being naturally debilitated...he remained at home...until after his Regiment had left... ". Overall very good condition. Ridgway obviously mended his evil ways, as he left the army with the rank of corporal. The 111th was a one-year unit which saw much action in the assaults on the works at Petersburg and in the pursuit of Lee's army to Appomattox. $800-1,200