Lot 79 email save

20th South Carolina Officers Letter with Good Conte

Sign In to see what this sold for

Autograph Letter Signed by P.A. McMichael, Lt. Colonel, 20th South Carolina, 4p. quarto, Sullivan’s Island, July 26, 1863, and reads in part: "...We may have to go to Morris Island again...There are numbers of troops here who have not been to the Island and all will have to take their turn. A good many of my men were made sick by the trip, but as usual, I came back as fresh as anybody in the crowd...L.W. Barton has taken away his boy, and we have not got another yet. We will have an election on tomorrow and then I hope some arrangement will be made to get another boy...All passing to Morris Island is stopped except at night. The Yankees can shell any one passing over in the day. Sometimes a small boat goes over in the day without attracting the attention of the Yankees....Sometimes the bombardment is fast and furious, then, again only an occasional shot is fired. The Yankees are erecting batteries nearer and nearer to ours and mounting guns. Battery Wagner stands firm, and it seems almost impossible for them to reduce it by bombarding. They may take it, but if they do, it must be by storming and they do not like that game very well. The difficulty however is that we cannot hurt them, so they can fight as long as they please. This is an awful thing. It hardens the heart of man, so that he can look at dead men as he would at dead cattle; and at wounded men writhing in agony, almost umoved. I pray God I may witness no more of such scenes..." About VG.

View Raynors' Historical Collectible Auctions next auction.

Similar lots up for auction