Chaplain William L. Hyde of the 112th New York Infantry Autograph Letter Signed on the Bombardment of Fort Anderson and Evacua...

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"There was severe bombardment of Fort Anderson, a rebel work up the river on the Cape Fear side all day yesterday... This morning early the troops charged upon the fort and got possession of it..."

Chaplain William L. Hyde of the 112th New York Infantry Autograph Letter Signed on the Bombardment of Fort Anderson and Evacuation of Wilmington. Eight pages of bifolia, 4.875" x 7.75", "Near Fort Anderson," North Carolina; February 19[-22], 1865. Chaplain William H. Hyde of the 112th New York Infantry mustered into service with the regiment on September 11, 1862. While engaged in the Carolina Campaign in early 1865, he witnessed the bombardment of Fort Anderson, the subsequent march to Wilmington, and the occupation of the town following General Johnson Hagood's retreat. In this letter to his wife, Elizabeth, he describes the events in exhaustive detail. The letter is written diary-style and spans several days. It reads, in part:

"Evening before last our regiment was moved from Federal Point where we had been since the capture of Fort Fisher over to Smithville... We waited there all the afternoon for a boat to take us across the river. No boat was going and as we supposed Genl Ames was to follow Genl Schofield up the river road towards Wilmington. We feared our walk might be more than we cared to bargain for... This morning I was up bright and early and walking out to the beach. There was severe bombardment of Fort Anderson, a rebel work up the river on the Cape Fear side all day yesterday, and the 23rd Corps Genl Schofield's moved from Smithville by land. This morning early the troops charged upon the fort and got possession of it without any difficulty. Genl Hoke having withdrawn his forces during the night. We got 50 prisoners who were glad to give themselves up and the fort with 9 Heavy guns mounted in it. It is a fort about as larges as Wagner but not quite as elaborate & strong. Still I wonder that it should have yielded so easily as not a single gun was dismounted. I think they are somewhat short of ammunition and mean to save all their strength for a desperate struggle near Wilmington... We are in Wilmington... We came together at Fort Anderson Sunday night and Monday morning... Genl Terry with Paynes negroes & Abbots Brigade had moved on rapidly to catch what stragglers they could... It would have amused you to witness the scene. Our fine band struck up on of their liveliest airs and a motley group of all classes & sizes & shades of color came through the street. The negros in the highest glee cheering and singing & dancing, shaking each other by the hands...Some pert ladies turned up their noses, but most of the Secesh Rebs well covered behind their blinds."

This letter was published in Jim Quinlan's Armed Only with Faith, a compilation of Chaplain Hyde's correspondence and journals.

Condition: Smoothed folds.

More Information: William Lyman Hyde (1819-1896) was born in Bath, Sagadahoc County, Maine, to Henry and Maria (Hyde) Hyde (third cousin to Henry). After attending public schools in Bath, Hyde taught for three years at a military and classical school in Ellsworth, Maine, before entering a program of theological study at Bangor Seminary, graduating in 1848. The following year, Hyde began a seven-year tenure as a minister at Gardner, Maine, and later was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Dunkirk, New York, for a number of years. On May 4, 1852 he wed Elizabeth Rice, daughter of Warren and Mary Webster of Wiscasset, Maine. Hyde resigned his ministry in 1862 to serve as Chaplain of the 112th New York Infantry, a position he held until the end of the Civil War. The regiment was organized at Jamestown, New York, and mustered in for three years-service on September 11, 1862. They participated in sixteen battles, including Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Chaffin's Farm, Fair Oaks and Darbytown Road, Fort Fisher, and the Carolinas Campaign. The 112th New York Infantry mustered out of service June 13, 1865. After the war, Hyde served as a pastor in Ripley and in Sherman, New York, until 1874, when he became principal of the Ovid (New York) Academy and Union School. In 1884, Hyde moved to Jamestown, New York, where he was associated with the Jamestown Journal, of which his son was an editor. In 1866, Hyde published a book, History of the One Hundred and Twelfth Regiment N.Y. Volunteers which remains the only regimental history concerning the 112th Infantry. Jim Quinlan edited and published a collection of his correspondence and journals in 2015 in Armed Only with Faith.