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2nd New Jersey Chancellorsville Battle Letter

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A good war-date Union soldier's battle letter, written by Pvt. Sumner D. Aspinwall, Co. G, 2nd New Jersey Vols., 4p. octavo, ink, Bank's Ford, Virginia, May 5, 1863, and reads in part: "...I am safe and have gone through without a wound but death has come very near to me, many of the brave boys in my regiment sleep their long last sleep. The captain of my company is killed and many others from the regiment. One young man in front of me was shot through the heart and fell dead. I never will forget the last look he gave such an imploring look. There was quite a number killed and wounded from my company and regiment....My regiment received the fire from four lines of battle and swept us so that we had to fall back. As the regiment was falling back in the rear of the line of battle the artillery poured a charge of grape into the enemy, the charge from one of the guns struck in front of me and flew all around me. We are now this side of the river, we crossed over last night. The Brigade was the rear guard and they were shelling us as we crossed...Yesterday we had a heavy battle, we fought against Longstreet. Lucy you cannot imagine what a battle this has been, when I think how near I came to death I think there was a hand that protected me...Thousands of men now lie on the battle field many of the young men that I use to associate with in Newark are killed. There was some desperate fighting the enemy came out near us last night and one of our batteries opened on them at short range and swept them by hundreds. The enemy lost as many as we did if not more but where we were fighting the enemy were reinforced by Longstreet and we only had this Corps. Sunday we had a hard fight all day and took the line of hills in front of Fredericksburg and the artillery that was shelling us, we than advanced and came upon the enemy in a piece of woods where all their forces were massed. Our Brigade was sent in the woods and four lines of battle opened upon us and we lost heavy, you have no idea what a shower of bullets are received in all the battles I have been in I never heard such a fire of musketry. This is the seventh day of the fight and the seven days battles is nothing compared with it. We must have lost thirty thousand in killed, wounded, and missing. Gen. Slocum is killed and Birney, Berry and I did not know how many more..." VG.

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