Autograph letter signed by George S. Hill (1841-1863), Co. I, 27th Connecticut Infantry. Camp near Falmouth, [Virginia], 7 April 1863. 3 pages, 8vo, 6 3/8 x 8 in.

George S. Hill of Madison, Connecticut enlisted on 8 September 1862 and was mustered into Company I of the 27th Connecticut Infantry in October. He was wounded-in-action at Fredericksburg and then taken prisoner-of-war at Chancellorsville. Although he was paroled less than 2 weeks later, he was apparently suffering from illness and died of disease at Annapolis, Maryland on 14 June 1863.

Here, he reveals virulently racist sentiments: "Now if it was for the Union, I would not say any words. But it is not. It is for the cursed n-----s. A white man is a slave now and the n-----s play gentlemen. Our Captain has got a n----r to wait on his ass and he gets mad at the boys sometimes and calls them sons of bitches. If he should ever call me a son of a bitch, there would be one less n----r to fight for. I don't think I would quite kill him, but I would hurt him so he would not live long."

Condition: minor toning at edges, old folds.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Manuscripts, Letters, Documents, Ephemera, African Americana, African American History, Slavery, Abolition, Enslavement, Emancipation]