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Civil War Letters to and From Surgeon Charles Tilden Simpers, 6th Maryland Infantry Regiment. ...
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$625.00
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Description
Civil War Letters to and From Surgeon Charles Tilden Simpers, 6th Maryland Infantry Regiment. An archive of nineteen letters, of which sixteen are war dated August 31, 1862 to March 29, 1864, two are undated, and one letter dated March 22, 1866, accompanied by seven original transmittal covers. The letters are written in ink and measure from 4.75" x 2.5" to 6.75" x 11.25". On August 21, 1862, Simpers was commissioned into field & staff of the 6th Maryland Infantry. Although he was captured at the Second Battle of Winchester on June 15, 1863 and subsequently taken to Libby Prison, he was exchanged in November of that year and served with his unit until his discharge on October 26, 1864.In addition to the 6th Maryland's participation in the Second Battle of Winchester, Simpers' unit also fought in key battles such as Wapping Heights, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Petersburg. The soldiers were present at Appomattox Court House for the surrender of Robert E. Lee. In total, the regiment lost eight officers and 120 men to injuries incurred in battle.
Simpers wrote five of the war dated letters offered here. On October 1, 1862, Simpers described his recent march across Maryland. He wrote, in part, "The two days march we have made has been through Frederick City, Middle-town, Boonsborough, and crossed the favored creed Antietam. We have crossed the Catoctin Mountain and also a spur of the Blue Ridge between Boonsborough & this place we passed over part of the battlefield of Sunday previous to the Battle of Antietam. The evidence of battle were strewn on either side of the road, in trees cut off by balls, fences pierced with bullets, and the newly made graves where rest all that is left of the brave fallen in battleing [sic] for the best cause that ever called men to arms...The rebbels [sic] have suffered terribly in the combats of this section, greatly exceeding that of the federals. Our march for two days has been through a country that has been covered with armies, except the last five miles we passed over..."
In addition to his movements, Simpers arranged to have a child living in the encampment at Harper's Ferry brought home to his wife to serve her household and receive an education. On February 12, 1863, he wrote, "I have found a little girl in her 12th year whose mother will be satisfied for her to live with you...I told her you thought of getting a little girl, and would write to you relative thereto, and if you should think favourably [sic] of it I could take her in with me when I get a leave of absence...she seems to be quite smart, and is now nursing her sister a babe just beginning to walk, I do not know what kind of company she would be for our children but am inclined to think she could be managed...I have thought if you get a small girl it would be better to get one from a distance, as friends and acquaintances often intermeddle with children put-out in that way, in this case they would be too far removed to interfere."
Four months after Simpers' last letter to his wife in this collection, the surgeon was taken prisoner at the Battle of Winchester on June 15, 1863. He arrived at Libby Prison ten days later and was held in Richmond until November of that year. Three months after he returned to service, Simpers received a letter from Dircks Thomas Dodd at the Ringgold Battle Hospital, remarking on his recent troubles. He wrote, in part, "I had heard of your terrible trials at Winchester, Capline, and once of your death caused by the abuse of those vilanous [sic] traitors of Richmond...We had some hard marching to do lass July while after Lee's expedition through your state and into mine. I accompanied the boys of our battle all along until I began shaking with the ague away down at the Old Antietam grounds."
Located in an old tobacco factory outside of Richmond, Libby Prison housed Union soldiers throughout the entirety of the war. Prisoners remembered the facility as the "Inferno of the slave Confederacy" and Union inmates faced chronic starvation, unsanitary living conditions, and harsh physical punishment. By the end of 1863, the prison population had grown so large that Confederate guards struggled to maintain control of the facility.
In addition to letters from Simpers and his fellow comrades, the lot includes two letters from his wife, nine from patients and fellow soldiers, and three letters discussing various soldiers' leaves of absence and orders assigned to Simpers.
Condition: All documents creased along folds. Intermittent staining throughout, affecting text. March 22, 1866 letter is heavily toned with stains affecting the text.
Auction Info
2023 September 21 Historical Manuscripts Signature® Auction #6272 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
September, 2023
21st
Thursday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 1
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