118th New York Infantry

Item LTR-11181

Description

Original Civil War soldier's letter. 4 pages, written in period ink.


Camp 118^th Regiment New York State Volunteers
May 24^th 1864
 
Respected Father,
 
Yours of the 16^th came to hand and found me enjoying good health. When we first came here, we had considerable fighting to do. Butler tried to do something big. He thought that he had the keys of Richmond, but came to try them, he found that they would not fit.  Instead of fortifying when we first came here, he commenced fighting and kept it up for some ten days.  Then the rebels got reinforcements and on the 16^th we got licked to our heart’s content. Butler fought two days on the Appomattox River near Petersburg.  We were near enough of the town so that we could hear the Church bells. We got the better of the rebels than Butler thought.  There was not anything to hinder him going into Richmond.  He commenced advancing on towards Fort Darling. The 13^th we came in sight of the first outline of works of Fort Darling. The 14^th we charged and took them and held them one day. We were obliged to leave all of our dead on the field and some of the wounded. There was around 22 wounded out of our Regiment that fell in the hands of the rebels. I see by the New York Papers that they hardly speak of Butler’s movements if he had
accomplished anything but got 5,000 thousand of his men killed there would have made a big spread.  We were glad to fall back on our Gun Boats and we have had to work night and day ever since the 16^th to keep the rebels from driving into the James River.  We have got it fortified so that we can hold our own. 
 
I have not seen a Paper that has done as much to give account of the killed and wounded.  We have the Herald Times & Tribune every day.  They hardly mention any of the dead. 


There is a great deal of confidence placed in Butler at the North.  It is a good thing for somebody to have confidence in him. It is the citizens of the north.  It is not any soldiers that was ever under him.  Butler will do well in his place, but he is not worth much in the field.  He is good to put military laws in force in some situations.


I don’t know what good we are doing here.  For we are penned up and can’t move.  The rebels have got fortified on our front so that we can’t advance and it does not take but a few men to hold us here.  The railroad that we destroyed betweenPetersburg and Richmond is repaired.  So that the rebels are using it.  We can hear the cars and that is all the good we can do.  We have done all that we can.

I will close.

From your son,

William