Lot 490

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Description:

UNION SOLDIER'S LETTER: KILLED IN ACTION SEVEN MONTHS LATER
A very fine content, lengthy A.L.S. of Sgt. Frederick F. French, Company D, 169th New York Infantry, 6pp. 4to., ‘Head Quarters Foster's Brigade Folly Island', Oct. 29, 1864. French was killed in action at Portwall Junction on May 18, 1864 – just seven months after penning this letter to his brother Thomas. In a fine hand and exhibiting expressive language indicative of a strong education, he writes, in very small part: ‘…Your favor of the 15th did not reach me until the 25th inst. but notwithstanding the brief delay, I received it with the same hearty welcome which all letters do…You will also, dear friend, accept my many thanks for the great amount of pleasure you have afforded me by sending me the papers…[that] afforded a world of bliss…in satisfying the greedy appetite of an old smoker, who enjoyed the evening beneath the variegated foliage of the live oak…upon the sandy knolls of a declining Confederacy which although based upon all of the strength, pride and aristocracy of the south… is doomed to die the death of a traitor who with his fiendish hand dare attempt the pollution of our glorious Old Banner, which for upwards of eighty years has been the crowning blessing of a free and independent people and their safe guard and shield against tyranny and oppression which has long sought to protrude its hideous form through the hatred web of African slavery…the doom of that [would be] Jefferson, is this day written on the walls of Sumter, and Moultrie in telling letters stamped by the 300 hundred pounders under the well directed aim of the indefatigable Gilmore, who is ever watchful of the movements of the enemy who is on the alert, seeking a weak point that he may make an incursion on our quiet camps under cover of sable night…the duties of a private soldier are at present fatiguing in this department much more so than the 199th experienced in Virginia…that glorious day is not far distant…while winged peace will spread her wings above the crimsoned field of terrible strife and proclaim to the world Union forever and freedom for all…I am yet encamped on Folly Island. The number of troops…I am not at liberty to tell, neither am I permitted to communicate anything concerning the operations…we have confidence in our Commanding General…During the long dreary cold nights of October, the soldier is forced from his comfortable tent in the quiet camp, and compelled to repair to the woods on the margin of the ocean, under arms, subject to the heavy dews, drenching rains, and chilling winds, which frequent this portion of the…Sunny South…We are subject to the trials of cruel war, when we ruminate on the suffering of those, our Revolutionary Fathers, who so bravely fought and dearly purchased this Independence of which we are so proud….We remain oblivious of social life, until the Banner of Liberty shall triumphantly wave… I trust the same fortune for Federal bayonets will gain for us free access to Charleston City where we might winter in peace…undisturbed by the thundering roar of artillery…[which] threatened the destruction of our camp…The boys are enjoying good health…the tent is of canvass, water proof, eight feet square, it so is erected upon a basis of yellow pine and palmetto logs…my Captain has generously offered me the next furlough…but for charity sake, I have concluded to transfer it to a member of my company in the low of his affliction…I will endeavor to enjoy military life ever dreaming that it is social liberty…'. French would receive his wish to go to Virginia, where he would be killed in action on May 18, 1864. Much more eloquent content! With original transmittal cover, very good condition.

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January 18, 2024 10:00 AM EST
Chesapeake City, MD, US

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