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Civil War Account of Harper's Ferry by Lincoln R. Stone, Assistant Surgeon in the 2nd and 54th Massachusetts Infantry. ...
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Description
Civil War Account of Harper's Ferry by Lincoln R. Stone, Assistant Surgeon in the 2nd and 54th Massachusetts Infantry. Fifty-eight pages, 4.43" x 7.37" and 7.87" x 10.25", no place; no date. Multiple drafts of Stone's experiences at Harper's Ferry totaling fifty-eight pages, but the actual account is thirteen pages, all written in ink. Stone served the Union Army in several capacities throughout the Civil War. On May 25, 1861, he mustered into the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry and transferred out on April 20, 1863. The next month, on May 16, 1863, he transferred into the 54th Massachusetts Infantry and resigned on November 5 of that same year after he was commissioned into the U.S. Volunteers Medical Department. He mustered out on October 7, 1865.Written after the Civil War, Stone's personal account of his time at Harper's Ferry offers rare insight into the immediate aftermath after Union forces retook the town from Confederate occupation in July 1861. Occupied by both sides multiple times throughout the war, Harper's Ferry first came under Southern control in the spring of 1861. Although rebels focused on fortifying the town under Colonel Thomas J. Jackson's command, the area shifted to Joseph E. Johnston in May 1861 and he promptly decided that the site was indefensible. In June 1861, he moved Confederate troops south to Winchester, allowing Union troops to retake the city the next month.
Stone began his account during this transitional phase. He wrote, in part, "Our regiment, the 2nd Mass Infty, joined the force under Gen Patterson at Martinsburg, Va. On the 12th of July, 1861. This force of about 10,000 was expected to march to Winchester to attack Gen. Johnston or at least to keep him from going to Manassas to reinforce the rebel troops there."
Upon entering the town, Stone remarked on the beauty of the town and its most notorious resident, John Brown. He wrote, in part, "The grounds were very attractive, the houses large, with five lawns and beautiful outlook across the Shenandoah river to London Heights on the right and the Potomac and Maryland Heights on the left...In the middle of the group of buildings was the engine house in which Brown defended himself until he was taken prisoner, badly wounded - two of his sons dead, by a company of marines under the command of Col. Robert E. Lee - later better known as Gen. Robert E. Lee in command of the rebel army. The loop holes in the walls were still open. The street was very much cluttered with the ruins of the armory which had been blown up, only a few days before, and brick, timber and broken muskets were scattered freely about. Turning to the right a street ran along the Shenandoah River parallel to the tracks of the R.R. to Winchester. Three citizens were killed in this part of the town by Brown and on a rock in the Potomac one of his men was shot."
John Brown's raid of Harper's Ferry was a pivotal event in the lead-up to the Civil War. A staunch abolitionist, Brown and a group of supporters entered the town on October 17, 1859, took several prominent citizens hostage, and seized the federal armory in the hopes that it would inspire local slaves to rebel against their masters. However, the insurrection never materialized, and Brown quickly found himself trapped in the arsenal's engine house surrounded by the local militia, commanded, as Stone states, by Robert E. Lee. After his capture, Brown was hanged for his crimes on December 2, 1859.
Despite the town's already extensive experiences with violence, residents of Harper's Ferry greeted Stone and his regiment warmly upon their entrance. He wrote, "We made a fine show and the men and women...were much pleased, and after the formal exercises gave us three cheers, which rather surprised us, as they were more yells than the hurrahs with which we were familiar, more like what was afterwards known as the 'rebel yell.' They were however hearty and loyal..."
Shortly after Stone arrived, he received word of the Union loss at the First Battle of Bull Run and was reposted to the U.S. General Hospital in Hagerstown, Maryland. During his journey north, Stone traveled with some residents of Harper's Ferry and discussed their perception of the controversial John Brown.
He wrote of the exchange, saying "As I rode along I overtook one of the citizens and we rode some distance together and of course had some talk about John Brown. He spoke quite freely and pleasantly of him, said that he was a most kindly neighbor and helpful to the needy or sick, and very generous in giving to others near him fresh meat in liberal supply when he killed a pig, calf, or sheep."
Almost a year later, Stone returned to Harper's Ferry as the 2nd Massachusetts marched towards Charleston. Even then, John Brown's legacy lived on. Stone remembered that, "we entered the town about noon with our men singing vigorously ' John Brown's body lies a smouldering in the ground / But his soul is marching on."
Upon their return, Stone's fascination with Brown grew when they found a series of records from Brown's raid and subsequent trial. He wrote, "I got a letter from Gov. Will of Virginia urging a speedy trial and execution of Brown, and a letter from President James Buchanan congratulating the state on the good work of Col. Lee in capturing him and his men. There were also letters from persons or newspaper offices throwing suspicion on different persons...and others demanding their arrest."
Stone's account offers a unique recollection of Harper's Ferry at various points in the lead-up to the Civil War and its place in the first two years of battle. Not only does Stone depict the town immediately following its first occupation by Confederate forces, but he also intertwines the legacy of John Brown into his reports, showing how such a controversial figure impacted the war years after his death.
Condition: Pages toned and occasional offsetting from earlier drafts. Minor closed tears along some pages at the right margin. Later notations made in pen to some pages.
Auction Info
2023 September 21 Historical Manuscripts Signature® Auction #6272 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
September, 2023
21st
Thursday
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