705. MISSOURI YANKEE IN THE GUARDHOUSE Union soldier's letter, 18pp. 8vo., Rolla, Mo., Dec. 25, 1861 in which Theodore writes family member "Sarah". In part: "...The hospitals are full & many are dying; almost every day sees several buried. The sick fare very poor care in the hospitals, not near as much as sick horses receive at home...That was nice little affair near Sedalia, Mo. The capture of thirteen hundred of Price's army. I think secesh will be played out in this state before long. They are having considerable trouble in northern Missouri...Nearly 12,000 men are camped here with no protection from the weather but a little canvas about as thick as a tablecloth..." He describes the ingenious methods by which soldiers heated their tents and devised cooking stoves, then continues: "...I am free from the Guard House once more & intend to keep out of it the rest of the time I am in the army. I only stopped in Company Q a little over one day. The colonel liberated me. It comes hard for a soldier to bear an insult even if it comes from the Gen. himself..." He goes into some detail describing a fort being constructed at Rolla, and closes his letter blasting British efforts to intervene in the Mason and Slidell fiasco. Very good. $100-150 <