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Civil War Soldiers Letters (10) by Samuel B. Wakelee and John L. Powell.. ...
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Civil War Soldiers Letters (10) by Samuel B. Wakelee and John L. Powell.Ten letters totaling 30 pages, dated August 1, 1862 to March 10, 1865. Written by soldiers Samuel B. Wakelee of the 14th Connecticut Infantry and John L. Powell of the 9th Connecticut Infantry, this group offers firsthand accounts of two Connecticut soldiers' service across several theaters of war, including the Gulf Coast, Virginia, and Georgia.
The first letter in the group is from John Powell to his sister, Mary Jane, dated August 1, 1862, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He promises to send her his photograph and briefly alludes to the hardships of military service: "I will not say mutch about it [the war] but I can tell yoo I have seen hard times, yes hard I will not discribe it...We will be paid two months pay today, they owe us five months...I shall get my pickture taken...there is ambrotype rooms here...You can get picktures taken on cards."
Writing again on August 19, Powell describes the tense aftermath of the Battle of Baton Rouge, fought two weeks earlier. He recounts Confederate efforts to retake the city: "We have had a hard fight here and expect another attack...We have thrown up brest works around Government property...we are ordered away now some say Fortress Monroe others say Richmond but I think it will be New Orleans..." He also notes he is enclosing "a dime" in "Baton Rouge currency" (two five-cent notes), which are included with this lot.
Powell's next letter, dated September 25 from Camp Parapet near New Orleans, describes an encounter with Confederate guerrillas: "We had another fight with the Gurrilies up the river...Five regiments went, we had a short fight and whipped them...We drove them into the swamps where no man could live or find his way out. We had a few wounded, none dead, we killed ten of them. We captured between one and two hundred prisoners, over three hundred horses...Our men are dying very fast here...I hope that I shall live to get home."
The next letter is by Samuel Wakelee, written December 23, 1862, from Falmouth, Virginia. To his sister Maria, he describes narrowly avoiding the worst of the Battle of Fredericksburg earlier that month: "I was in a half a mile of the fighting sometimes and sometimes 10 miles off they had a hard time of it. I don't think there will be any more fighting this winter but they may be for some of them likes to fight..."
On December 25, Powell writes from New Orleans, discussing Generals Butler and Banks as command transitions in the Department of the Gulf: "General Butler has left us and Banks takes his place, his division arrived here a short time ago part of it has gone up the river...Sam is a teamster...he does not go whare the fight is for fear of getting his horses killed...he is not afeared of getting killed himself."
Wakelee's next letter, dated October 14, 1863, is from the "Fairfax Seminary Hospital" in Alexandria, Virginia: "The hospital is first rate the best in the United States...the Doctors are first best, they true to cure and not kill...They keep the place clean. You have got to change your clothes every week...I hope they send me to New Haven I would go so quick..."
On March 5, 1864, Wakelee, still in Alexandria, reports injuring his thumb but refuses a furlough due to a smallpox outbreak: "I fel down stairs or slid down they was covered with snow and I went out I slid to the bottom when I got there I struck my thumb again post and tore the nail up...Doct Smith said he would give me a furlough but I dare not come on the account of the smallpox. I shant come not yet a while til I think the danger is over..."
He writes again on June 24 from Alexandria, describing the gruesome conditions of the wounded in the summer heat: "It is hot now I tel you and dry things is drying up fast, and flys, Oh, God, you can't see a wounded man, when we get him up to dress his wounds the flys cover him so thick we have mosquito nets to put over him when he lays down..."
The next letter, dated January 22, 1865, is from Powell to his father, written from Savannah, Georgia, during Sherman's occupation of the city: "I am still kicking we are here in this citty doing garrison duty...I am a soldier we left the valley and went to Baltemor we stayed thare a few dayes then took the steemer and went to fort monroe from thare to new port news landed thare and stayed one night the next morning went on bord again and came to Savannah...I think this war will soon be over I think to that I have seen all the fighting that I ever will..."
Powell's final letter, dated March 10, 1865, also from Savannah, describes the war's imminent end: "I am on guard at the Atlantic and Gulf R R Depot... The regt was mustered last month for twelve months pay, we will get it perhaps this month...We haven't received a pickinne since we left the levy at New Orleans...the war is about over Sherman has had a fight and whipped the Johnnies all right agane Jonnie Reb is not eating as many yanks as common..."
Together with an additional letter "from Fred" to Powell, dated March 23, 1864. It reads, in part: "I thought that you wild like to see a paper that was printed south so I send you the Palmetto Herald. I used to think this war would not last my three years but I have change my mind I can't see the end yet...Do you feel the effects of the war yet?"
Includes six original transmittal covers.
Condition: All letters age-toned with smoothed folds. Scattered soiling or staining throughout. Some wear, including separations, chips, short tears, and minor loss; occasionally affecting text. December 23 letter written in pencil; slightly faded, but generally very legible.
Auction Info
2025 December 8 Arms & Armor, Civil War & Militaria Signature® Auction #6325 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
December, 2025
8th
Monday
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