Description:

NEW HAMPSHIRE SERGEANT'S LETTERS HOME (3)
A fine grouping of letters from Sgt. CALVIN SHEDD (1826-1891), who served with the 7th New Hampshire Infantry until his discharge in December 1863, written to his wife and children. Written in March and June, 1863, with one penned just a week before the Battle of Fort Wagner, fought nearby. Some very interesting content concerning the enslaved and colored troops. Notable passages include: ‘…all we want is an writers [sic] month to settle this thing in a few months at any rate so that a moderate sized Army could handle the next we can support one of 100,000 men without much trouble…we are right in the cotton & corn Plantations niggers all around, it is quite plesant [sic] only we have to lay on the ground with very little to eat…one of the prisoners was drunk I went to shill him at which he seized a musket & swore he would kill the first man that approached & he would do so if he would be taken. I looked him right in the eye & marched right up to him he droped [sic] the gun and jumped overboard…it is said that Corpl Davis has got a Capt's commission in a Nigger regt…but good or ill live or die we are going to whip the south if it takes 20 years…There was one little incident I forgot to speak of at Perkins I. The able bodied Niggers are all gone but plenty of wenches left, well the night before we left one came to me to read a letter for her it…to be how her lover a soldier in the 1st S.C. & it was very important for me to write an answer. The letter was written by some officer of the Regt no doubt & was very...So I wrote one for her in return to match it but was very or I should say perfectly decorated giving him good advice & very Patriotic. I read it to her in presence of troops when I finished she clapped her hands and yelled out Bully! That's Bully!...' Fine. With original transmittal covers.

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April 1, 2025 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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