LOT #47198 |
Sold on Sep 21, 2023 for: Not Sold
Civil War Soldier's Letters by Charles A. Wood, 7th Connecticut Infantry. ...
Click the image to load the highest resolution version.
Description
Civil War Soldier's Letters by Charles A. Wood, 7th Connecticut Infantry. Eight letters dated August 8, 1863 to December 16, 1863 with eight original transmittal covers and one printed general order from Q.A. Gillmore. Documents are all written in ink and measure from 4.75" x 2.5" to 7.12" x 9.12". Wood mustered into Company H of the 7th Connecticut on September 5, 1861. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant in 1863 and First Lieutenant in 1864. On May 14, 1864, Wood was killed in action at the Battle of Drewry's Bluff.During Wood's time with the regiment, the 7th Connecticut spent much of its time stationed in South Caroline and Florida. For the first two years of their service, they largely were on patrol and fatigue duty. As described in Wood's letters, the men participated in the assault on Fort Wagner as well as Fort Pulaski. Later, soldiers fought in the battles of Olustee, Drewry's Bluff, Swift Creek and Fair Oaks, among others.
Wood wrote these letters while he was stationed on Morris Island assaulting Forts Sumter, Wagner, and Gregg. He highlighted the danger of his position in an August 5, 1863 letter to his wife, writing in part, "Our camp is within good range of Fort Sumter and the Rebs throw shells at us every day, in the night they fire every fifteen minutes but as yet they have no killed any of our regiment but Dear Rie we are exposed to danger all the time and your dear husband is liable to be killed or wounded any moment so do not be surprised if you should hear of my death or of my being wounded anytime...Charleston is to be taken by regular seage [sic], our regt battery and line of rifle pits are within 500 yards of Fort Wagner (the battery our boys charged on). 3,000 troops go on fatigue every night building battery up in the front. We our regiment have to go on fatigue every third night on grand guard to the front. Troops are arriving from the north all the time... Gen Gilmore is determined to take Charleston and you must know the troops have got hard work to do."
On August 8, 1863, Wood updated his wife on the progress, writing in part, "I can assure you during the last 24 hours our Brigade has been on Picket up on the front works within six hundred yards of Fort Wagner. There we were obliged to lay in the sand for 24 long hours under fire of all the Forts around Charleston. Fort Wagner does not fire much because our sharp shooters keep the gunners from the guns but Sumter & Johnson keep up a constant fire night and day. We are building batteries 16 or 1800 yards from Smter. There is where we lay last night to protect the working party...You or no one else can form any idea how very much the troops...are suffering I cannot tell you one half neither do I want to but one thing is certain unless Charleston is taken within two months the troops will all die off."
A month later, Fort Wagner finally fell to Union forces on September 8, 1863. Wood described the action in a letter written the next day: "On the morning of the 7th I was with my men ordered up to my battery at 16 o clock to open fire on Fort Wagner. As a deserter came in and reported that the rebels were evacuating Fort Wagoner [sic] I fired in the rear of the fort to cut off there [sic] retreat and no doubt a good many of them was killed. I went up to the Fort at 6 o clock and there we found ded [sic] and wounded men in one pile was five them the rebels did not have time to bury them. The fort was completely riddled and I never saw much sights as I saw on the morning of the 7th of Sept. I cannot begin to describe the scene so I will leave it to read it in the newspapers...Fort Sumpter [sic] was assaulted last night but our forces were repulsed. May, Samford and 50 men of the 7th were a portion of the party."
The Confederate evacuation of Fort Wagner marked the end of a fifty-eight-day siege on the garrison. Union soldiers commanded by Brigadier General Quincy Gillmore first tried to take the fort on July 11 and 18, 1863. Rebel troops led by Brigadier General William B. Taliaferro repulsed the men both times. Gillmore then besieged Wagner, creating zigzagging trench lines and using heavy artillery to bombard the fort. Though Union soldiers like Wood blocked off the rear escape route of Wagner, the majority of Confederate forces succeeded in sneaking out of the fort on the night of September 6, 1863.
The battle for Fort Sumter raged on. On October 7, 1863, Wood described the Confederate attack on the USS New Ironsides. He wrote, in part, "We had quite an alarm the other night. Last Monday night at about 1/2 past 9 o clock the Troops on this island was aroused with the long rod. I had just gone to bed but was not sleeping. I jumped up pretty quick and dressed and put on my sword and fell in my battery men and started for the battery with order to defend the guns to the last and I would of [sic] done it if the rebs had come that way. The alarm was caused by the rebs trying to blow up the Ironsides. They came down in small boats to attract there sic attention while a submarine boat with a torpedo in tow went under the bone of the Ironsides And set off the distinctive thing. We heard it when it exploded and we heard also the musketry firing. We thought at first they were trying to board the Ironsides and made up our minds they would get more than they bargained for. For it is almost impossible to board the vessel. It seems that the torpedo burst just at the time and place they wishes to have it but I understand it did not do any damage in the noble ship. We capture the two men that set off the torpedo and I hope they will not treat them as prisoners of war, they ought to be hung immediately. The Ironsides still lays off the harbor and looks as fancy as ever."
The rebel attempt on the USS New Ironsides was one of the first successful torpedo attacks in American history. Confederates maneuvered their semi-submersible ship, CSS David, and attached the explosive to the hull of New Ironsides. Despite the David's initial success, blowback from the explosion damaged the ship so extensively that Confederate leadership ordered troops to abandon the vessel. Damage to USS New Ironsides was minimal and the ship returned to blockade duty shortly thereafter.
Condition: Creased along folds for all letters. Minor smudging and foxing, occasionally affecting text. Light toning and a few minor stains.
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
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 179
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% on the first $300,000 (minimum $49), plus 20% of any amount between $300,000 and $3,000,000, plus 15% of any amount over $3,000,000 per lot.
Shipping, Taxes, Terms and Bidding
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms
Important information concerning Sales Tax and Resale Certificates. Learn More
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms