Lot # 752

CIVIL WAR WATERCOLOR COLLECTION OF AN 82ND PENNSYLVANIA VETERAN,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $2,530.00
Auction: 2005, Historic Americana / June 9-10
lot of 14 paintings and a scrapbook with photographs, from 4.75" x 5.5" to 3" x 3.5" by L.G. Elvert, who was a sergeant in the 82nd Pa. Infantry. Truly a wonderful collection with 11 of the paintings having penciled titles on rear. These include South Eastern Sketch of the Sunken Road or Bloody Lane Antietam, Position of the Confederate Batteries in front of Dunkards Church showing Confederate fallen on the field, Burnsides Bridge-View of the Union position from the Hill where Confederate Artillery was planted to enfilade the Bridge, The Fate of the fence rails, showing Union troop dismantling log fence for use in defenses, , Union troops dismantling fencing and using to cook supper, Laying low: awaiting an attack from the enemy, showing Union troops in forest with rifles ready in prawn position, Halt Half Hour for Dinner on the March, view of Union troops cooking and resting near road with forest and mountains in background, Intrenching-Digging Rifle pits and fort-Active Campaign (sic), scene of troops digging entrenchment and building earthen embankment fort, In Camp-Beam Soup & Pork for Dinner-Water Carriers scene of tent encampment with cook in foreground cooking in 3 pots over open fire with 2 boxes labeled beams and 2 sides of pork on ground, 2 men carrying cans of water to right, ? making coffee-the rear guard aproaching (sic), scene with six soldiers at camp fire next to road with mounted officer and marching troops advancing up dirt road in background, and cutting wood for camp, scene with 7 soldiers chopping down trees and carrying logs in forest. Untitled paintings include a great scene of Confederate troops at farm house well watering both men and horses, PLUS scene of union troops standing and firing at unseen enemy with one soldier dead, one wounded on ground and officer just getting shoot, AND painting of draped U.S. and Regimental Flag. Nearly all are signed or initialed and dated, many also have a painted red cross in lower right corner. Dates from 1890-96.

The 4to buckram-bound scrap book from which the paintings were removed has an albumen photograph of Elvert and friend in front of a Gettysburg monument to the Philadelphia Brigade, 5.5" x 8.5", PLUS two early silver print portraits of Elvert, PLUS large selection of early 220th century Gettysburg post cards, PLUS chromolithographed pages from a book with Army Corps badges, AND an early silver print of Elvert seated at Gettysburg under and umbrella painting, 3.75" x 7".

The 82nd was at 1st Bull Run, the Peninsular campaign, Fair Oaks, Charles City crossroads, Marvin Hill, Chantilly, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Funkstown, Rappahannock Station, Cold Harbor, Ft Stevens, Summit Point, Sheridan's valley campaign and Sailors Creek and was at the extreme front when Lee surrendered. Lot also includes printed soldier and unit history.

Lot # 755

GEORGE G. GREEN PAPERS, 1862-64, 142ND ILLINOIS INFANTRY, CO. B,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $1,150.00
Auction: 2007, Western & Historic Americana, Dec 6th and 7th
eight items.

In June 1864, George G. Green traveled from his home in Courtland, Illinoi, to Freeport to enlist in the 142nd Illinois Infantry. Like most 100 days regiments, the 142nd found itself occupied largely behind the front lines, spending most of its enlistment assigned to duty guarding the Memphis and Charleston Railroad in West Tennessee, but seldom catching more than a glimpse of the guerrilla forces in the region.

Although he never saw a battle, Green's letters offer an unusual perspective on the war, conveying a strong sense of the rarely documented life in a 100 days regiment and some insight into federal-occupied West Tennessee. A well-educated young man, his letters are descriptive and highly enjoyable, and although few in number, they cover his entire service from mustering in, when the newly minted soldiers were "equipped in a fine suit of clothes & an Enfield Riffle," to mustering out.

Once arrived in Memphis on June 25, Green updated his father, describing the trip to Tennessee, the beauties of the city, nothing like he expected in the South, and his daily duties. "We have marching orders tomorrow morning," he wrote, "to go 80 miles out & guard the trains, darn dangerous work, especially picket duty I expect… We have tents that hold two of us, darling little tents they are to us, we mess off in cooking, Capt., Lieuts., sergt. &c in all 10. We hire a niger and have, when we can get them, some butter milk, fresh bread &c… I took a walk out to talk with the contrabands, some that are working around here for 1.75 or 2.00 per day. They seem to think that the yankeys are bully boys. So do I. They were hoeing cotton…."

Not surprisingly, given that the only water available to drink was "Mississippi water" (mud and water mixed, "certin diarrhea"), Green took ill in July and was laid out with complaints of the kidney and liver for most of the rest of his service (he was lucky; the regiment lost none in action, but 30 by disease). In hospital, Green helped to make up prescriptions and to assist the surgeon, but wrote that he "could not stand it at the hospital and gave it up…." His assessment of the local populace was keen: "This country now is gone up. The people pretend to live around in the country but they do not cultivate the ground much. A great many of them are guerrillas at night & Union in day time. They are making up another expedition to Memphis to go out & whip Forrest again. I hope they clean him next entirely…."

Perhaps Green's most interesting letter includes a description of when he was plucked from the hospital by the colonel and sent to a nearby plantation to act as a safeguard against looting. "When our boys come out there to take thing you will not let them take anything by they will not bother you much. Take a little pistol & you need not carry your heavy gun. Well says [I] how about getting gobbled up by bushwakers. There is not the least bit of danger you are too near picket lines & besides they never disturb safe guards. I told him I would like to go…." His experience there was fine indeed. "I never sat down at a finer table, tomatoes, Lima beans, squashes, peas, potatoes, corn bread & other bread, milk & meat or ham, in fact if I am not disturbed & I do not think I will he, I shall have a good time of it… they have a hansom house, large halls, piano, & other music…."

In September 1864, back in camp, Green described the chaotic scene engulfing him: "this West Camp has been quiet except the commotion created by Smith's army of 30,000 troops returning about 10,000 cavalry passing through for two days & the cars running through our camp filled with Infy…. Smith has been out after [Nathan Bedford] Forrest for about a month, but could not catch him, or the General who now commands his forces. He seemed to run too often…."

The Green letters offer an opportunity to document that peculiarly Civil War outfit, the 100 days regiment through the eyes of educated and well motivated young soldier. Fine letters in good condition, seven written while Green was in the service, the eighth while he was student, in 1862.

Lot # 757

CIVIL WAR LETTER ARCHIVE OF GEORGE W. YOUNG, 17TH INDIANA "WILDER'S BRIGADE,"

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $6,325.00
Auction: 2007, Western & Historic Americana, Dec 6th and 7th
Co. D, 66 soldier's letters plus eight from other soldiers, miscellaneous envelopes and ephemera.

One of the early regiments to respond to the national emergency, the 17th Indiana Infantry was mustered into the federal service on June 12, 1861, and was soon dispatched to duty in the Cheat Mountain district, West Virginia. Private George Young, who appears to have thought of himself as a fighting, brawling Irishman, tough talking and tough acting, but with a good heart and good mind, was one of those first volunteers, even as his father served in 37th Indiana.

Young's blood began racing at Cheat Mountain on September 16 when his regiment was called up from the pass just in time to hear the long roll beat: "we saw the 3rd Ohio and the 6th Ohio and the 15th Ind falling in to line of battle and we was ordered to fall in with them. We then marched out to the breastworks and took our stand. I could see our pickets running in bringing news that the enemy were only 2 miles off and advancing. Our artillery went out and fired a few shots at them and found out they were not advancing but were encamping with a force about 7 or 8 thousand and we were only about 3500 strong and consequently could not go out to give them a fight…."

With Young and his mess mates, however, fighting wasn't just for enemies, it was for friends too: "We liked to had a battle in our company yesterday. Six or sevem of the boys got to quarreling six or seven knives drawed but I am glad to say nobody hurt…." Indeed, fighting was what he longed for, and West Virginia did not have enough of it for him. Hearing of all the fighting going on in Kentucky, he wrote on October 12, 1861: "I say let them pitch in for their might be such a thing as ours corps and rosecrantz brigades coming there yet and then they will be cleaned out certain." On November 1, 1861, he tried to continue his tirade: "I have been trying to write but the du[t]ch are roving around in the tent so I will have to quit. My tent mates are all du[t]ch Catholics… there was one American in the tent by the name of John Danly from moorshill but he deserted sometime since and they cant find where he has gone too…." With that out of the way, he continued: "I wish they would transfer our brigade to Ky. I think we could clean out the secesh in little or no time. They are not doing the business right running green men that don't know their right hand from their left into open field fights. I believe our brigade… can whip all the soldiers they have got in Ky. "

Young got his wish in the next month when the 17th was ordered to Kentucky. It may be, however, that not all his comrades were as eager as Young was for a good scrap; several took it upon themselves to visit home en route. "Our captain and first Lieut. have resigned their offices and gone home and I think the co. will be disbanded with dishonor if they don't do better. There is 10 of our co in the guard house and 24 of us got excused by the doctor this morning so that left the company small…."

Although Kentucky was quieter than Young might have desired, he had his full taste of battle at Shiloh on April 12, 1862, fighting under the regiment's new Colonel, John T. Wilder: "The fighting began Sunday the 6th and last until the next day 4 oclock. Sunday our men were routed and severely cut up Monday Buell reinforced Grant and drove them back 8 miles killing numbers of them and they are there yet. And we are expecting another attact from them. I have been on picket two nights in four. Havent slept but very little since we have been here. Have had nothing to cook in and very little to cook. Have to lay on the ground without tent as we were on a forced march for 11 days and our wagons could not keep up with us. I feel hardly about to write today and fear I will have a spell of sickness but hope not. Our officers say they will make another dash on us tomorrow and if I don't feel better I'll make a poor out bushwacking. The field is about six miles by four and I don't know how many were killed where Nelson fought. They were strewn awful thick. Think our men nearly all buried but not half of the cecesh. They were poorly clad but apparently well fed they nearly all had biscuit in there haversacks and nearly every canteen had whisky in them. I sounded over a hundred of them but found everything but money although one of our boys got 80 dollars by taking a belt off one…."

Later that year, the 17th Indiana and other regiments under Wilder's command, the Lightning Brigade, were outfitted as mounted infantry and in May 1863, were armed with Spencer repeating rifles. Stationed at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Young wrote good letters describing the sight of the slaughter there inflicted upon other Indiana regiments, while commending Wilder as a shrewd and tough commander, equal to John Hunt Morgan. He also includes interesting reports of going on scouts, foraging for food, and taking in prisoners, and of being wounded in leg in July 1863, an injury that sidelined him for barely a month.

There is another side to Young, however, not without its hardboiled tenderness. On several occasions, he encourages his young sisters to be good girls and study grammar and writing, but adding a characteristic Young flourish by saying he did not want them to be "like the girls in the tennessee mountains. The grown girls don't know their letters and look as wild as Indians and hide as quick as they see anybody. There was one man of our company that died of his wounds… and I believe every man that had a bone broken I believe has died. I suppose the warm weather was the cause of it… I have found a blue eyed mountain lass that says she wants to marry some yankee and I am going to bring her up north with me. She is tall enough to pick young squirrels out of the tallest tree in Indiana. " He did not elaborate on why she might want squirrels.

And back to battle. Writing from Prior's Ford, Tennessee, on September 27, 1863, Young described the Battle of Chickamauga: "Old Rosey is picking away at them. Our brigade received the first attack on Friday over a week ago and stayed with the Saturday and Sunday last. The two hard fighting days and then we were sent here to guard this ford… One week ago yesterday we held our position on the right center with but little loss and one week ago today we took our position on the right line of reb skirmishers and would have been going yet I expect had not one of our divisions on our left give away. So the lighting brigade had to try the retrograde. I don't know the loss of the brigade. Our regt lost about 15 killed and wounded. I don't think the rebs has got any more bullets for me…."

He was wrong. On October 7, Young was killed in action by a shot to the right breast. His collection includes other soldier's letters, including nine from a soldier in the 12th Indiana and three from the 68th, as well as numerous fine examples of patriotic envelopes and letterhead, particular from the first year of the war. The collection includes everything that Civil War letters should be: intelligent, articulate, fun-loving, and without a trace of pretense. A wonderful large collection from a pugnacious member of the renowned Lightning Brigade.

Lot # 759

SAMUEL KEYES PAPERS, 1862, 16TH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY, CO. H,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $4,312.50
Auction: 2007, Western & Historic Americana, Dec 6th and 7th
11 letters and covers.

Samuel Keyes' service in the Civil War was all too brief, barely more than a year, cut short by a wound sustained on the battlefield. A teamster from Waltham, Massachusetts, Keyes enlisted in the 16th Massachusetts. Infantry when it was organized during the summer of 1861, and performed guard duty at Fortress Monroe from September 1861 through the following May when they were called into action on the front lines of the drive on Richmond.

On February 27, 1862, Keyes wrote to a female friend at home to say that he could see how quickly things seemed to be building up at Fortress Monroe, knowing only vaguely that this was part of the staging for the Peninsular Campaign: "Troops arrive every day," he wrote. "We have 25,000 here now besides 4 batteries and 15,000 are expected here tomorrow, so you see we have quite a city here. Add to these the Ladies & Gemman ob Color and it is quite a sight. We expect a fight as soon as our troops are able to get into position…." Three weeks later, he was already getting impatient with the slow pace of the campaign and seemed to be itching simply to get in and do the work. "I hear nothing but War War," he wrote, "and I am tired and heartsick of the word and without doubt you are as sick of it as I am. We have seen some desperate fighting here but as yet it has been done on the water but we are looking for some sharp fighting on the land…."

McClellan, however, continued to move only in his characteristically ponderous way, much to Keyes' annoyance. "We owe the Rebels something," Keyes complained, "and we await a chance to repay them with compound interest…." The letter provides a wonderful account of the 16th Massachusetts at a critical moment, with all the boredom and comradery, and all the biases showing. "You ask about a soldier's life," he continued. "Well I like it very well to be sure we do not get such nice food or beds as we were accustomed to get at home, but yet we get along quite comfortable. I wish you could look into my tent as I am writing your would see two or three mending, others playing cards, others reading, and &c. but all are busy and happy and seem to be perfectly contented with a soldiers life. I don't regret enlisting, for I felt it my duty to do so and if my time was up now I would enlist again if I could be of any use to my beloved country, but I don't think she will need us much longer… But about the Darkies, or as we call them Contrabands, before I came South I had some sympathy for the slaves, but it has all gone. I have not the least rit now. I am tired and heartsick of Niggers. I wish you could see them [?] around here and they will steal anything they can get hold of. I believe they never take anything that is out of their reach but they reach like the _____ Old Nick." In another letter, Keyes described another reality in a Civil War soldier's life: "the time I miss home the worst is when we are on picket - or on the scout - then in the night - on a post in a dense wood liable to be shot at any moment, then is the time my mind wanders back to home and friends far away but the whistle of a musket ball past my head soon brings me back to the stern realities of war and bids me keep a sharp look out for No. 1."

Moving into positions in the Siege of Yorktown in April, Keyes was witness to an historic naval engagement: "The Merrimac made her second appearance yesterday and before our folks was aware of their intentions, they had captured one Brig and two schooners from our fleet in Hampton Roads just opposite our Camp… We can see by the way the rebels have fought already that they are determined to contest every inch of southern soil ere they give up. Surely they fight worthy of a better cause, but there is no question they must give up eventually for instead of gaining ground they are losing every day, and a few more battles like the battle of Pittsburg Landing will demoralize their whole army…." Keyes helped build a battery near Yorktown under cover of Berdan's Sharpshooters, whom he praised effusively: "as soon as the rebels showed their head over their parapets to fire their guns, they were sure to face from the deadly aim of the Berdans."

The frustration of the early weeks of the Peninsular Campaign continued to build, and the hard fighting and lack of clear success began to take its toll. In a lull following the Seven Days Battle, Keyes sounded almost mournful: "There is no denying it - our arms have met with a sad reverse but yet it is not so bad as some of the daily journals represent it. If our Army lost 10,000 men the Confederates certainly lost 30,000 and to us that is some consolation, but this defeat is not the fault of the men who compose the Grand Army for History does not record where troops fought better than did ours during the Seven Days Battle on the 30th inst. after we had marched 20 miles without food water or any rest whatever. The Rebels attacked us with double our force they were repulsed with fearful loss on both sides but their reinforcements kept coming in and they attacked us three different times during the day and were handsomely whipped every time. Doubtless you have heard of Heintzelmans Corps making the fearful charge. We are in that Corps and we drove the Rebels at the bayonets point over two miles, captured one whole Brigade of them and the best of all captured the colors of the South Carolina 11th Regt. Nothing hurts the Johnnies as bad as to lose their colors…."

Keyes was shot in the arm at the Second Battle of Bull Run on August 29, 1862, and the last three letters he wrote came from hospital. Keyes described the fiasco at Bull Run and, in a real rarity, his own wounding: "we had no sooner pitched our camp at Warrenton than news came that Stonewall Jackson had got in our rear and burnt the railroad bridges at Catlett's Station also at Bull Run and the enemy were holding the ground to cut off our supplies, Hooker's and Kearney's divisions were ordered to go down and drive Jackson out, which we done but with heavy loss on both sides…. The rebels had fallen back to the old battle field of Bull Run. We camped near them that night and in the morning we began the fight and fight it war. We fought steady from 6 in the morning till dark part of the time we had the best of it and again. Then about 3 oclock we were ordered to charge through the woods. We done do but it proved a sorry job for most of our brigade. The rebels were in ambush and at the first thing we knew they poured a volley into us with fearful effect and I among the rest got wounded. I had just got my rifle up to fire when a bullet hit my right arm. I fell but finally got back to a house where I laid that night and the next day a surgeon dressed my arm for me and got me aboard an ambulance… although the bullet is not extracted yet but my arm begins to fail me so I will close…."

The Keyes letters are a remarkable survival with outstanding battle and social content. With fine content, these are highly literate and well-thought letters from a motivated soldier with an intense interest in doing his duty. Typical comments on blacks, but atypical description of engagements in the Peninsular Campaign and Second Bull Run. Outstanding.

Lot # 761

GEORGE CLAPP PAPERS, 1862-65, 37TH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY, CO. G,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $18,400.00
Auction: 2007, Western & Historic Americana, Dec 6th and 7th
102 soldier's letters.

Organized in September 1862 from the four counties of western Massachusetts, the 37th Massachusetts Infantry reached the main body of the Army of the Potomac in late November, just in time for the costly debacle at Fredericksburg. If George Clapp was not the best writer in the regiment, the most observant and interesting, he could not have been far from it. While many writers can turn a good sentence, Clapp lavishes attention to his subjects, stringing sentence after interesting sentence to achieve something that few of his peers could. Writing home to his family in Northampton, Clapp left an extraordinary archive of over one hundred long letters that paint a vivid portrait of life in one of New England's finest regiments, turning even the most mundane details into fascinating tales and transforming the haze of battle into clear accounts of chaos and courage.

The 37th swung into action in May 1863 at the Battle of Maryes Heights and Salem Church, important battles often lost in the shadow of Chancellorsville. Clapp wrote a dense, descriptive 12pp letter to describe the engagement:

"we moved towards the heigths and after marching nearly 2 ½ found ourselves in the Cuty of Fredericksburgh Sunday Morning at Just before day light had got there with no noise or disturbance and we thought that the Rebs had all left to go up and fight Hooker who crossed the river several days before a number of miles above us. We had heard hard fighting up there [Chancellorsville] every day since we had started. We soon found out that there was one or two Rebs left there for as soon as it was fairly light they gave us a dose of bullets & shells & you had ought to have seen us get um on our feet. It did not take us more than a week, I don't believe, we did not lay they any longer than Theod Wright staid in Joel Hanks barn when it blew down. I made up my mind now the 37th had got right into it…. We lay there [under fire] I should think nearly all the forenoon when we were ordered up & forward and Deven[s] Brigade did rush forward with a yell & did not stop till our flags were waving on the breastworks of the Rebs on the first heights. We had to run as fast as we could with our everything…."

The 37th was later called in to support the 10th, with the 7th lying between. Clapp continues: "there was two lines ahead of us and the Rebs were driving them back one whole regiment in front of us broke and run back through our ranks like crazy ones. We were then right in the hottest of it. We were supporting a battery right in front of us and the Battery men got some frightened once seeing the men in front broke & run & they attempted to pitch uyp and leave but we yelled them to keep to work & we would protect them as long as man was left. Then they went at it & such a noise of cannon & musketry I never did dream of hearing. It was exciting in the highest degree bullets whistled around us like hail in a very hard hail storm. We could see the Rebels coming up at a steady pace not halting for anything, our batteries would make a hole in their lines a rod wide & they would close right up as though nothing had happened and march right on. But they could not stand our grape & canister…." The letter continues in the same tone, the same great detail for five more pages.

After the battle, Clapp wrote home to describe their return to their old camp. "Everything goes on the same as ever. The same number of company & battalion drills also the same amount of cleaning up quarters and sweeping streets and the usual number of inspections. We were ordered our yesterday armed & equipped for a Division Review & Inspection by Generals Sedgwick & Wheaton, the latter being in command of our division at present & was at the battle with us. As they rode down in front of our lines each regiment gave Gen. Sedgwick 3 rousing cheers. It was one continued shout. As he rode along he returned the salute by riding with hat in his hand & leaving his head uncovered…." He follows with a lengthy description of how a review is conducted.

As part of the 3rd Division, VI Corps, the 37th Massachusetts was rushed to Gettysburg, arriving well after the battle had begin. Clapp paused as his regiment was preparing for another battle to write a breathless letter describing what he had been through: "We have marched from Falmouth through Virginia & Maryland into Pennsylvania & now are back in Maryland driving the Rebs like fun… we have marched night & day for over a month & made some 300 miles. Was in the fight at Gettysburg, Pa. 4 days and no one in our company was hurt. The Regiment lost 25. It is very hot here and bad marching but Lee is a whipped man. I think Old Hooker is not our commander & I am glad of it. He liked whiskey too well…." Later, when the regiment finally paused on July 20, Clapp described the forced marched to Gettysburg and the role his regiment played on the field north of Little Round Top. "got to Gettysburg at ½ past 3 oclock in the afternoon, and what there was left in the ranks dropped, and we lay there till 4 oclock when we were raised up and sent up in front. We went in and at that moment there had been a brigade of Rebels charged out to take a battery of ours. They were told there was nothing to contend with but state troops. They came on till they saw the 6th Corps cross of the caps & then threw up there arms & yelled Oh God the 6th Corps all is lost. We took that Brigade prisoner. The Rebs dread our Corps very much. We drove them that night off from the ground they held all day and they gave up gradually…."

After the Draft Riots in New York, the 37th was ordered to the city to perform guard duty for three months. Ironically, for some of that time, Clapp was under guard himself, locked up for drunkenness, he wrote, and forced to carry a log as punishment. "The Lieut Col," he wrote, "was so much engaged in attending to his own pleasures that he could not find time to Court Martial us… It was a splendid sight for the New Yorkers and afforded the Officers some considerable amusement to see us walking up and down the Color line with so much wood on our shoulders. It did not trouble me much, for as soon as I see what sort of a game was up I managed to get a small stick and I had rather go out & walk than to be penned up in the guard house." Clapp goes on to describe the case of a soldier who deserted from the 37th only to be discovered and turned in by his former comrades when he enlisted in another regiment for the bounty. All, according to Clapp, was the result of liquor.

Clapp does not appear to have admired all of his officers. When William Bliss, a Lieutenant in his company resigned, Clapp let loose: "Now we have not one of the Officers that came out with us. The boys all felt sad to think they had lost Capt. Moody, but at the same time we should all have been mad as march hares to have seen anyone else taken the Major position; we hated to lose him, but still like to have him promoted, but no one thinks so to lose Bliss, not a tear will be shed. He leaves the company without a friend, I am sorry to say it, but it is true as gospel. We all feel that he has not used us right, look upon his going home as a mean trick on the men he induced to enlist & come out with him, and they came and have upheld him in everything. It looks like getting us into a good scrape then leaving us. It is no more or less than a case of heavy homesickness. He can just as well stay as any of us & I don’t believe his relatives at home want him any more than our relatives want us…."

If Clapp had foreseen what the next year would bring, he might have been even more bitter. When the Spring campaigns began in 1864, Clapp was serving as provost guard for 2nd Division, 6th A.C., and on May 1, he was able to write that he had nothing to report, although he noted "there are many rumors afloat that we are to move tomorrow night." Ominously, he added, "Orders were read to the different regiments last night that when we do move, we are not to burn our camps or anything as we usually do when we break camp, and furthermore we are not to have any fires for cooking or any lights after dark for the first two weeks…."

Seven of Clapp's next letters describe the bloody progress of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor Campaigns, each displaying Clapp's characteristic style and his care for his fellow soldiers. On May 13, for example, he wrote: "This is the 9th day of the fight & it is still going on. We are getting the best of the Rebs but it is slow work for they are desperate. Sid & Elisha were all right up to last night, Maj. Moody was wounded yesterday in the thigh, also Capt. Wetherell in the knee and Alanson Mangam not serious. The loss is very heavy on both sides. We took 6,000 prisoners yesterday & 4 Rebel Generals & 30 pieces of cannon… I am still on duty at the Division Hospital and probably shall be till this fight is over, if that ever happens… I have been witness to many amputations & feel as though I could almost do it myself…."

Three days later he wrote that Sid was reported missing, adding that he hoped Sid had been taken prisoner, rather than wounded and left to die. Clapp added somewhat bitterly, "It seems to me that our Division has done most all the fighting. We have now lost in killed & wounded more than half the number our division came over the Rapidan with. We had some over 8000 men in the Division & have lost 4,580, I heard, and that is pretty correct. Elisha is all right but not being satisfied with having the Rebs to shoot at him, had to shoot himself. He was cleaning his gun & it was accidentally discharged. The ball passed betweent he two forefingers of his right hand injuring the first finger the most He thinks he will lost that or it will always be stiff…."

Near Gaines Mills on June 9, Clapp described the conflict that would not end: "We had our prisoners out at work night & day building a very strong breastwork for us to take shelter in when they send over their shells. They have got a few guns in such a position that they rake our camp every shot, so when we hear a gun open from that direction, we all make a grand rush for the breast works just like a pack of frightened rabbits going for their holes. We have our tents pitched a short distance from the breastworks and sometimes they send over a shell at midnight or before daylight in the morning, then you ought to see us stir around. We make pretty good time getting out of bed. It is laughable to see it but it is no laughing matter to get a crack from one of those shells…."

The 37th remained near Petersburg through the operations on the Jerusalem Plank Road (two nice letters), and were then ordered to Washington to counter Jubal Early's raid, before joining Sheridan's remarkable Shenandoah Valley Campaign from August to December. Clapp's first letter from the Valley is a long classic of a letter, describing how the 37th were moved to the front of the skirmishers because they had Spencer repeating rifles, rather than Springfields, and (five pages in to a long letter!) he offered a skeptical view of their performance:

"I have got on a full head of steam & must blow off a little or burst, Which it is best to do! I suppose that you will see in the papers how the gallant Genl. Sheridan forced the enemy up the Valley & punished them dreadfully &c &c &c. Well you see the truth is he did not fight them at all, and he gave them plenty of time to move just as they pleased. When he got to Strasburg he found the enemy he was driving so terribly was in a good strong position & he did not trouble them, but quietly pulled up & came back with the Rebs as close to our heels as we ever were to theirs. I know in the meantime they had managed to get hold of our Supply train 3 times during the trip and captured & destroyed quite a number of wagons & their loads…."

The joke as he tells it: the 6th Corps had been back and forth to Harpers Ferry so often they called themselves Harpers Weekly. On September 18, just before the 3rd Battle of Winchester (Opequan), Clapp was wounded in the arm a little below the right shoulder. The last 20 letters or so in the collection describe his experience in a string of hospitals: first in Washington, then Philadelphia, and finally, in December, at Dale Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts. The earliest of these were written by the Gazette correspondent E. P. Bridgman, presumably because the arm injury impaired his ability to write for himself. He was released into civilian ranks in mid April, 1865.

It is hard to convey a sense of the rich quality of Clapp's writing, the flavor he gives of camp life and marches, battles and skirmishes, his attitudes toward duty and war, his officers and fellow soldiers, and quite often turning the daily and trivial into an unforgettable scene. One example may suffice, though many might be cited. In winter quarters at Brandy Station, Virginia, in January 1864, Clapp wrote: "The first mail for 4 days came last night and you may just imagine how this company looked when we heard, at seven o'clock in the evening, the ever welcome call, 'Co. G. Fall in for Mail.' Every one then makes a grand rush for the mail carrier, who is the well known E.P. Bridgman, the [Northampton] Gazette correspondent from our regiment. I was lucky enough to get a letter from you…. I also got a letter a few days ago stating that box had just commenced its career as a soldiers express box, but that box, the grand box of all boxes, has at last arrived on the sacred soil and in the land which once resounded to the silent but stately tread of the high minded noble blooded F.F.V.s, the land which now & then resonds to the clash of steel and weapons of war, and the once quiet home of nthe 'Noble F.F.V.' is now destroyed and trampled under the foot of the once despised 'Yankee' but now much to be feared rather than despised. Occasionally we catch a sight of a scion of one of these F.F.V.s. looking about with a vacant stare and mentally saying to himself, 'Oh my Father, where art thou now? Where is thy hiding place! That I may take refuge with thee.'"

Many letters are eight, 12, even 16 pages in length, closely written, and sustained in their description of events, people, attitudes, and they often provide tidbits such as preparing a body for embalming and shipping home or mourning the loss of Sedgwick. The collection includes a small assortment of artifacts, including a miniature set of three dice and telescoping shaker set in a nice round leather case; a piece of shrapnel (possibly the shrapnel that shattered his right humerus); and two minute pen knives, at least one of which appears to be carved from a bone fragment (his own?). An educated young man, intelligent and strong minded, brave and drunken all at the same time, Clapp is memorable.

This is a stunning collection of the size and sort that rarely comes on the market any longer.

Lot # 765

CIVIL WAR DIARY OF THOMAS C. BRADBURY, 17TH MAINE, CO. I,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $2,415.00
Auction: 2007, Western & Historic Americana, Dec 6th and 7th
February 6, 1863-June 19, 1865, about 130pp.

Mustered into the federal service in August 1862, the 17th Maine Infantry earned the dubious distinction of suffering more casualties than any other regiment from the state. Although Thomas Bradbury was one of those who survived unharmed, his diary suggests just how hard the war was for the soldiers of the 17th.

The diary begins in February 1863, with the regiment having already survived its first major engagement (Fredericksburg) and with its first harsh winter in the service nearing an end. Joining the Army of Potomac at such a terrible low point in morale appears to have had an impact on Bradbury, but whether for this reason or some other, he appears to have harbored a particular dislike of Abraham Lincoln. On April 7, 1863, he reported that the regiment was taken off their work to be reviewed by the president, but, as he wrote, "the honorable gentleman did not make his appearance. Bully for him for that. Don't want to see him at all." The next day, the regiment was made to march five miles to be reviewed by Lincoln, putting Bradbury in an even fouler mood, and two days later, when they were given the choice of escorting Lincoln to the depot or going on guard duty, Bradbury wrote tersely, "I went on guard am glad to get rid of him. He is a good deal of trouble to the soldiers."

In May, Bradbury provides a nice account of the Battle of Chancellorsville: [May 3]: " The fighting commenced this morning at daylight. They drove us back about a mile but now we hold our ground. This is the hardest fight of the war. The 3rd Corps are going all the fighting we are now supporting a battery in front. [May 4] Their has been much fighting today. We are building up some brest works to protect us from the shells…. [May 5] They routed us out in the night but it proved a false alarm…." When the smoke cleared, the 17th reported 116 casualties.

Bradbury rode in an ambulance for at least some of the time that the Army of the Potomac trailed Lee's forces northward, but he was fit to fight at Gettysburg on June 2, when the 17th Maine achieved lasting fame for the critical role they played in the Wheatfield, fending off wave after wave of Confederate assaults. July 2, 1863: "They broke us out a three o'clock and marched us about 10 miles when the Rebels opened on us and we fell back and formed a line of battle and waited for them to attack us which they soon did. As soon as we found they were coming we advanced a little got behind a stone wall and just as they came up to us we opened on them but they charged on us and drove us back. It was a fight at close quarters almost a hand to hand fight. We lost out of the company 11 wounded and killed. The 6 Corps came up and helped us and we drove the devils a mile or two back into their brestworks. [July 3] This morning they opened with artillery and kept it up sometime very heavy. We were ordered to the front again and never did I hear such cannonading or lay under such heavy shelling. Thunder was no name for it. You could not hear yourself speak. After dark we were ordered our in picket about a stones throw of the rebels we had to lay flat on the ground as the devils would pick us off. We had to keep a wake all night…."

On July 6, with the fighting over and the enemy in full retreat, Bradbury described the scene: "I have been over the battlefield. I never saw such a sight and never want to again. Thousand upon thousands lying dead and wounded and piled up on top of another, legs and arming laying in all directions, an awful sight."

For rest of the summer, Bradbury's diary entries are little more than one line each, with the exception of a slightly longer description of a skirmish during Lee's retreat into Maryland, during which a sergeant major of the 17th was killed. During the autumn, Bradbury provided brief accounts of the Bristoe Campaign (including the battles of Catlett's Station and Kelly's Ford) and the Mine Run Campaign, but the entries return to the brief form, referencing or reflecting the routine of camp life in winter.

When the spring campaigns heated up in May, Bradbury and the 17th were once again in the thick. At the Wilderness on May 6, he described a scene as terrible as that at Gettysburg: "The[y] routed us out this morning at day light, when we made a charge on the plank road. We went in with 47 men came out with 19 loosing in our company 28 killed, 8 wounded. Our Col. was wounded… We are relieved from the front and have gone to the rear to rest." Nevertheless, they were called out again the next day, charging through the woods with grape and canister flying, and their travails continued through Po River, Spotsylvania, North Anna River, Totompotomoy, and Cold Harbor, all of which Bradbury records. At Cold Harbor, what was left of the regiment took part in the assaults of June 16: "They commended to shell us this morning and we made two charges on the enemy's works but were repulsed both times. We lost about 100 men in our Regt. only one killed in our company…." It's a wonder that anyone remained.

Bradbury's diary provides a slender chronicle of the long and painful siege of Petersburg during the summer and into the fall of 1864, and then, after a winter with occasional forays, he provides a breathless run to the fall of Petersburg in April. The end came suddenly upon him: sitting in the trenches, Bradbury writes that he could hear the fighting, but before he took part, the city's defenses collapsed. He reported the news of Lincoln's assassination with equanimity, apparently never forgiving whatever slight the president might have offered: "the regiment had an order read to them of the death of Lincoln. He was shot at Fords Theater. We were relieved from picket at dark tonight…." A ceremony followed, shooting 36 guns on April 25, followed on April 29 with an order read to the 17th that John Wilkes Booth had been shot by the cavalry.

Text block separated from leather binding and signatures and pages loose, but apparently complete. Worn, but very well-written and a remarkable record of service in one of the most active regiments from Down East. Also included is a copy of the scarce regimental history by Edwin B. Houghton, The Campaigns of the 17th Maine (1866), in fair condition, with front cover detached but present, soiling and showing age.

Lot # 769

LARGE EASTERN SHORE CDV ALBUM WITH 19 MILITARY CDVS,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $660.00
Auction: 2008, Spring Historic Americana, June 5 & 6, 2008
a diverse body of photography probably compiled by Harry E. Dabell related to Pvt. William H. Dabell found in the album. There are 19 military views comprising nine identified and eight unidentified soldiers, plus a British Royal Artillery sergeant with a lithograph of Abner Doubleday. Additionally, there are 84 civilian portraits - mostly CDVs including some later tintypes and cabinet cards - ranging from the 1860s thorough the turn of the century with many identified subjects. Highlights include a fine cabinet card of an anonymous New York GAR veteran in uniform and two 1860s advertising CDVs featuring John Rodgers sculptures along with several popular little people of the day.

The military views in order of their appearance are: a tinted CDV of Pvt. William J. Dabell, Co. B, 93rd New York (discharged for disability 8/12/62), an inked signed vignette of Captain W.H. Nash, Co. B 1st USSS with shoulder straps barely visible. Twice brevetted, Nash served a regimental commissary and was captured in the Wilderness on May 6, 1864. He remained in the regular army attaining the staff rank of brigadier general commissary general upon retirement in May 1898. Next is a Royal Artillery sergeant identified as H.I. Born 29th May 1863 wearing his trio of medals (Crimea w/ one bar, Sultan’s Turkish Crimea and India Mutiny). An unidentified captain with Baltimore backmark that bears a strong resemblance to Edward B. Knox of the 44th New York. An unidentified private. A very artistic photograph of an unidentified sergeant with civilian man and women. 1st Lieut. Edward S. Dewey with blindstamp of US General Hospital/Div 1/Annapolis. Dewey served as an NCO in the 10th Massachusetts and transferred to Co. D, 57th Massachusetts in October 1863 as lieutenant. He was wounded in the leg at the Wilderness May 6, 1864, hospitalized at Annapolis, and discharged for wounds in September 1864. Ink signed 1st Lieut. John W. Vannetta, Co. C 83rd Pennsylvania. Vannetta was wounded and captured at Second Bull Run, fought at Gettysburg, and was discharged in September 1864. A tinted view of Hospital Steward William H. Bass, 6th New York Cavalry (m/o 8/9/65). Another hospital steward and wife pencil identified as Mr. & Mrs. Campbell, state unknown. He wears clearly visible caduceus insignia of a hospital steward on both sleeves of his frock coat. Cpl. Charles F. Russum, Co. B Purnell Legion and 8th Maryland in civilian clothes (m/o 3/5/65). Probably Pvt. John N. Guthrie, Co. B, 5th New York and Co. G, 146th New York. Unidentified infantry captain wearing sword. Unidentified vignette. Unidentified private wearing open five button sack coat. Unidentified junior officer. Captain Edwin L. Hunt, Co. G, 7th Rhode Island wearing two indistinct metallic badges, one round, and the other shield shaped. Hunt was wounded at Petersburg on April 2, 1865, and mustered out in June. Lastly, an unidentified private followed by a lithograph of Abner Doubleday.

Lot # 769

W.O. TAYLOR, LITTLE BIGHORN SURVIVOR, ALS,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $4,600.00
Auction: 2005, Historic Americana / Nov 16, 17 & 18
4pp, Orange, Massachusetts, March 14, 1922 from Taylor to Colonel Alfred Burton Welch of Mandan, North Dakota.

William O. Taylor was a private in Company A of the 7th and was with Reno in the valley and the hilltop fight. He survived to tell his tale. In this letter, apparently responding the questions Welch posed about the battle, Taylor provides important details about the valley fight and the Arikara and Crow scouts. In part: One thing bothers me a little, the Official Report of Major Reno gives as killed "Ree Scouts Bloody Knife, Bob-tail -Bull and Stab, some one else calls him Litte Horse. I suppose Reno ought to know... he got his information from Lt. Varnum who had charge of the scouts. Varnum, in a letter to me dated 1921, says that he had to report 21 Rees as "missing" when he made out his muster rolls on June 30th....Forked Tongue and Goose remained on the hill with Reno. Goose being wounded in the hand....I have never heard where Bob-Tail-Bull and Stab, or "Little Horse" were killed, but as the greater part of the scouts went into the fight (on the bottom) on our extreme left I have supposed it was over there, or else when the Sioux started them on the run and perhaps killed one or two then. Anyway..the "Rees" "kept a going" until they reached Powder River..one of the infantry guards there (Powder River) in a letter says to me "they were a badly demoralized gang with arrows stil sticking in some of their horses."

A fine, informative letter from a well-known Little Bighorn survivor. (For more about Taylor see With Custer on the Little Big Horn. A Newly Discovered First-Person Account by W.O. Taylor, Greg Martin, Editor. 1996.)

Lot # 772

CIVIL WAR DIARY OF THOMAS DUNN, 25TH OHIO, CO. K, KIA AT GETTYSBURG,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $5,175.00
Auction: 2007, Western & Historic Americana, Dec 6th and 7th


Volunteering for service in June 1861, Thomas Dunn was assigned to duty with the 25th Ohio and sent to West Virginia. Dunn's regiment took part in some of the earliest campaigns in the region, including the Cheat Mountain Campaign where Robert E. Lee conducted his first offensive operations as a Civil War commander -- and where he was first driven off by stubborn federal defenders. Dunn described the build up to Cheat Mountain in his diary "3 day Of September we was surrounded by the enimey we laid on our arms 5 days and nights without any sleep there was one man in our company shot himself accedently. there was one company of the 13th indinia regiment got cut up pretty bad the rebels got in the rear of them and attacted our wagons and one half of a company drove one thousand and killed several of them and then we went back to the sumit again with the rest of our regiment and then our Company had to go on picket every other day and it rained the most of the time." The results at Green Brier one month later, however, were somewhat less auspicious: "we fought the rebels 4 hours with the artillery and the rebels got some more reenfoursment so we had to fall back to Cheat mountain again we got back about 8 o clock in the evening all tired out and feet sore we had 27 men killed wounded."

During the fall and winter, the 25th Ohio conducted several small expeditions and engaged in a few skirmishes, including the fight at Hunterville in January, where they burned the town, and then the Battle of McDowell:

"there was an arlarm that the seesh had attacted our advance and were driving them it was the 32 Ohio regiment and part of hymans Battery was the advance so we was all drawn up in the line of battele on the side hill about 3 hours and at night our regiment was ordered to go on picket and one battery of artillery to surport us it was virg. boys battery. and on the morning of the 9th we was taken in to support jonsons battery the sceesh were scermishing with us all day and there was tring to plant some battery to work on us so the 29 and 75 Ohio was ordered to go up on the mountain to se what the rebels was doing so we went up and fought them 3 hours and at night our regiment run short of cartridges and then we was supported by the 82 and 32 Ohio we had 6 men killed in our regt so then we fell back to rest and we got some coffey and hard Bread and the rebels was so strong for us we had to fall back to franklin so the night of the fight we started with every thing we had and we had to burn up considerable stuff that we couldent get away we had about 8 thousand men and 9 battreys of artillery and it toock to days and one night to go to franklin the rebels followed us up and they attacted us the same day we got to franklin."

More or less a draw between the Union and Confederate forces, but followed by Union withdrawal, McDowell was a signal of things to come. The 25th Ohio was one of the regiments charged with the unfortunate responsibility of countering Stonewall Jackson during the ensuing Shenandoah Valley Campaign, filled with long, hard marches and a frustrating lack of success. Dunn's account of the march from Franklin to Strasburg is fascinating and gives the perspective of the average union soldier of the give and take of that campaign:

"June the 1st we toock up our line of march and when we had gone about 9 miles our advance commenced fighting the rebels throwed shells at us about 3 hours and then Old Jackson began to retreat there was to regiments sent out that night and they followed them up through strawsburg.
"June the 2nd our regiment had to get up at 6 o clock in the morning to go out on picket and we stayed out until daylight and then we came in and cleaned up our guns and we then toock line of march again the rebels ahead of us all. Our calvery was ahead of us fighting all day we marched through strawsburg and we toock to hundred prisnors that day we drove them through Woodstock and then we stoped and it rained all day and night we toock 2 pieces of artillery from Old Jackson it was a very pretty country through the Shenandoah valley.
"June the 3rd we started again and went about 5 miles to a place called Edensburg and there we had to stop and build a bridge that the rebels burnt down when they were retreating and then we started on again and by that time our calvery had caught up to them again and they drove them through a town called mount Jackson and we drove them over the river and the rebels burnt the bridge they planted their cannons on the other side and kept our Calvery back until they se the bridge on fire and by that time our artillery got up to them and we throwed shells into them and they fell back. they killed one of our men and we recaptured 30 of our men back that Jackson had taken we had to stay there and camp that night so as to build a bridge and it rained all the time the water became so high that it washed the bridge away once."

After a brief description of the Battle of Cross Keys and the exhaustion that followed, Dunn reported that next "we started out all determined to bag Old Jackkson but in the night he retreated back and shields attacted him in the rear but after all Old Jackson made his escape through and got across the river and then he burnt the bridge and by the time our fource got up we could see the rear of Jacksons train at fourt republic." Jackson, for one of many times, slipped the noose.

In August, the 25th Ohio left the Valley and joined the larger scale fights in northern Virginia. They arrived too late to play a significant role at Cedar Mountain, but they were full participants at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Dunn's account is memorable:

"Jim smith brought us some beef earley in the morning and the fighting commenced about 8 o clock in the morning on the right wing and about 3 o clock in the afternoon the fight commenced on the left there was what was called hard fighting our right was cut up pretty bad and the rebels flanked us on the left and drove us back Our whole brigade surrounded and we fought our way out again and our troops all fell back to Centerville and there we stayed for the night. Our Division was on the left wing. general schenck was wounded in the arm in two places he lost his arm above the elbow. we were rienfoursed by general Mclelens men and they stoped the rebels from advancing any further. August the 31st. the roads was gust lined with ambulances and coaches from Washington city they came after the wounded there was new reinfoursment coming in all day and some going out it rained mostly all that day that day there was a little cannonading that was all September. the 1st we laid in Centerville resting some of our men went out with a Flag of truse that day to bury the dead and to get the wounded that was left on the battle field and about 3 o clock we got orders to march the rebels was trying to get around us to cut of our wagons. and we had a very hard fight with them about 12 miles from Fairfax Court house general stevens was killed and general kelenney was killed the same time and several wounded we marched to Fairfax court house that night and stoped."

The remainder of Dunn's diary provides details of the various assignments undertaken by the 25th Ohio as they were moved about northern Virginia, taking part in small expeditions, the Mud March, and performing guard duty. Dunn's diary ends on April 20, just before the Spring campaigns heated up, although Dunn added a list of his regiment's killed and wounded at Chancellorsville, a complete list of battles involving his regiment, and lists of men from his company who had been killed in action, taken prisoner, or who had deserted, with the instructions "please mother to keep this Boock for me until I get home." She apparently did; Dunn was killed on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Dunn's small (about 4 x 5"), leather-bound diary shows its age with the wear and tear of an object carried through the mountains of West Virginia, the galloping engagements of the Shenandoah Valley and the Second Bull Run Campaign. His spelling is rough, but legible, and gives an immediate sense of the experience of an average young soldier in some of the most strenuous engagements of the Civil War.

Lot # 776

LOT OF SEVEN EARLY BRADY CDVS,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $300.00
Auction: 2008, Spring Historic Americana, June 5 & 6, 2008
including three generals, the 7th NYSM chaplain, with three civilian personalities. The generals include Irvin McDowell and divisional commanders Daniel Tyler held responsible for the Bull Run disaster and George A. McCall who was captured at Glendale in June 1862 and confined at Libby. PLUS Chaplain Sullivan H. Weston of the 7th NYSM (m/o 9/62). The civilians are Thomas H. Clay, W.B. Cooper and another unidentified.

Lot # 805

CIVIL WAR LADDER BADGE OF CO A., 42ND PA BUCKTAILS

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $862.50
Auction: 2007, Historic Firearms and Early Militaria, May 2
German silver 4-part with braided brass tassel, each bar stamped with recessed area painted black, top bar/pinback reads Co. A., next 42, next Penn. and last Buck Tails, 2" x 5".

The Bucktails got their name by wearing the tail of a white-tailed deer on their headgear. The 42nd were engaged at New Creek, saw heavy skirmishing in Shenandoah Valley from May 25 to June 6, at Harrisonburg on the 6th they lost nearly half their numbers, and saw action at the Battle of Cross Keys, second Bull Run, Peninsula Campaign, Mechanicsville, Gaines Mill, Glendale, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg, where they captured most of the 15th GA and their colors.

Lot # 808

EDWARD S. GODFREY'S 7TH CAVALRY PRESENTATION SWORD,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $72,900.00
Auction: 2005, Historic Americana / Nov 16, 17 & 18
Model 1872 Officer's Grade II Presentation sword made by Pettibone and Brothers of Cincinnati. Complete with original chamois leather protective case. Nickel-plated blade with martial acid-etched engravings, and presentation inscription etched in a blued panel with gilt lettering Presented to Major E.S. Godfrey USA, By members of H Troop 7th U.S. Cavalry Dec. 18, '96. On the opposite side of the blade is another blued panel featuring an acid-etched gilded spread-winged eagle. The grip is a white shagreen wrapped with a gold bullion wire, and pommel and knuckle bow of gilded brass. Scabbard of nickel, with carrying rings and the fittings of gilded brass featuring martial motifs and an engraved spread-winged eagle.

The military career of Edward Settle Godfrey (1843-1932) spanned nearly his entire adult life, and involved his participation in each of the major wars of the last half of the 19th century. He served as a private in Co. D of the 21st Ohio Volunteer infantry during the early part of the Civil War. Entering West Point during the war, he graduated in 1867 and was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 7th Cavalry. He served throughout the Indian Wars, commanding Co. K of the 7th at the battle of the Little Bighorn. He survived the "hilltop" fight with Reno, and the following summer was involved in the campaign against Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce and later received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the battle of Bear Paw Mountain. With the outbreak of the Spanish American War he served in Cuba and in the Phillipines during the insurrection there. He was retired by operation of law in 1907.

Godfrey will perhaps be most remembered for his actions at Little Bighorn. Attached with Benteen's scouting party consisting of companies D, H and K, Godfrey arrived on the hilltop above the valley of the Little Bighorn to find a fluid situation, with Reno's men having arrived from the valley floor confused and panic-stricken. The main body of Custer's command was now under attack several miles away. Later in the afternoon, Reno attempted to join forces with Custer. Unknown to Reno, Custer and his portion of the command were now killed to the last man. Now the Indians turned their attention to Reno. Godfrey and company K were in the lead, with the majority of the command in the rear. As the attack came, Godfrey executed a textbook falling-back movement that not only saved the men in his company, but likely kept Benteen and Reno's command from being overrun. For the next day and a half, Godfrey dug in, along with the remaining members of the 7th, and ultimately survived.

After the Little Bighorn, Godfrey was severely wounded at the battle of Bear Paw Mountain. Despite his wound he continued to command, and was later awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.

Godfrey served with the 7th for nearly 30 years before being promoted to Major and being transferred to the 1st U.S. Cavalry on December 8, 1896. This sword, given to him a week later, almost certainly commemorates this momentous event in his career. Oddly, he was transferred back to the 7th a year later, serving three years here and then successively until his retirement with the 12th and 9th cavalry.

In a letter sent from Fort Apache, Arizona Territory, on December 15, 1896, addressed only to "Colonel", Godfrey writes of the occasion when he received this sword:

...I had quite a surprise party myself Friday afternoon. The door bell rang and I went out, saw Sergt Lehman and some men and I thought to myself well I wonder what's the trouble now, as I supposed that some order had been issued for a detail to go out! However they all looked happy and smiling and to my astonishment Segt. Lehman began a formal sort of speech and winded up by handing me a beautiful, gold mounted saber with resolutions...Of course, I could not refuse, so I made a short speech of acceptance and the next morning at inspection gave them a more extended talk. I have always been opposed to presents from those under or over in (me) in the service and had I known of their intentions would have stopped them.

Descended directly in the Godfrey family, and consigned by his great-grand-daughter. With a copy of the letter, now in private hands.

Lot # 812

THREE CIVIL WAR LETTERS FROM CAPT. JACOB J. BIERER, 11TH PA. VOL. INFANTRY,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $180.00
Auction: 2008, Spring Historic Americana, June 5 & 6, 2008
two on single folded letter sheets, one of which is an illustrated sheet with portrait of McClellan, all written to his sister, 1st dated Dec. 20, 1861, Annapolis, Md. Tells her about the camp and the many soldiers dying of various diseases, including some men know to her such as poor David was buried this morning at ten o’clock, he died yesterday morning at six o’clock. He only took sick Wednesday morning at about five o’clock and died the next morning at six o’clock. He had something what they called, Stagnation of the Blood. The second letter dated Feb. 5, 1862, St. John College, Annapolis, Md., talks about wanting to get out of the city (Washington) and the large number of soldiers in and around the city. The last letter written on a 6.5" x 8" scrap of paper is dated April 11, 1862, Bierer tells her about getting orders to ship out and drawing cartridges and packing but the orders were cancelled just as they were going to draw rations. Also talks about what a nice city Washington is and his visit to the capital. All letters include a typed transcription.

Jacob J. Bierer was commissioned Captain of Company C in the 11th Pa. Vol. Infantry Sept. 9, 1861. After the brief stay in and around Washington described in his three letters to his sister, the regiment saw its first action at Great Falls on the banks of the Potomac, then went with McClellan on the Peninsula campaign with disastrous results for most of the regiment, fought at Mechanicsville but at Gaines Mills all but Company C were surround and captured after a valiant attempt to fight their way out with the loss of 46 KIA and 109 wounded. Company C then fought at Glendale and Second Bull Run, where Jacob was wounded. Company C was assigned to the 40th PVI Regiment and later fought at South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, Rappahannock Station and all of the battles of the Army of the Potomac from Wilderness through the month of May 1864. The last battle they were engaged in was at Bethesda Church. Lot includes printed soldiers and unit history from civilwardata.com.

Lot # 813

INDIAN AGENT JAMES MCLAUGHLIN'S DEVIL'S LAKE RESERVATION COPY BOOK,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $0.00
Auction: 2005, Historic Americana / Nov 16, 17 & 18
4to, pebbled cloth in half calf, 890pp, with copies of official correspondence on all but one page, free end paper with Devil's Lake Agency Dakota Ty. James McLaughlin U.S. Ind. Aget.

James McLaughlin (1842-1923) spent nearly 50 years of his life in the service of the Government, most of these as an Indian Agent. This copy book contains all outgoing correspondence for the Devil's Lake Agency between August 12, 1876 to March 23, 1878. This was McLaughlin's first official government posting, and immediately prior to his appointment as Agent at Standing Rock (see Lot 814, this catalog).

McLaughlin, a Canadian by birthright, immigrated to Minnesota in 1863, and shortly thereafter found employment at Fort Snelling, and met and married Louise Buisson, a Sioux half-breed. His marriage brought him into direct contact with many Native Americans, and by 1871, when the new Devil's Lake Agency was established, McLaughlin applied for a position as a blacksmith. While his official agency staff position was listed as this profession, he quickly became the regular Indian Agent's Major William Forbes -- right hand man. By 1875, Forbes was confident of McLaughlin's ability to run the agency and, failing in health, actively promoted him to Washington to serve as his successor. At Forbes' death, however, in 1875, another Paul Beckwith, a novice, was appointed his successor.

For a short time chaos ensued. Beckwith was clearly incompetent. He was jealous of McLaughlin and his wife Louise, who served as Agency interpreter. Finally, in March of 1875, things came to a head: McLaughlin and his wife were dismissed from their posts, only to be rehired a month later. Growing charges of incompetence forced Beckwith to retire in July 1876, and by August, McLaughlin was officially appointed Indian Agent at Devil's Lake.

The letters in the present copy book cover the period beginning immediately on his assuming the post of Indian Agent, and cover the first two years of his tenure. During this time, McLaughlin made clear his concerns were first, to help his charges on the "white man's road", and secondly, to conduct his business honestly. He continually writes to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs complaining about a lack of supplies and the general welfare of his charges. And when supplies are sent, he complained of their shoddy character "You shipped a carload of flour loaded over a kerosene-soaked floor." (October 2, 1876), and two weeks later Indians don't like bacon...Also all of my Indians are almost naked."(October 16, 1876). With Winter setting in and supplies not at the Agency he fretted Supplies have not yet reached Jamestown...82 miles away over cold prairie...Indians do not understand why "their" Agent has failed." Faced with traditional customs that he felt were deleterious to the Indians, McLaughlin forbade the Medicine Dance, and proclaimed "The Indians are like spoiled children and require a firm hand to guide them." McLaughlin was particularly proud of his involvement with the St. Michael's School, run and staffed by the Grey Nuns. He believed that education was the key to wresting control of the children from the undue "bad" influence of their parents. To that end, he fought for increased salaries for teachers, book orders, and championed the idea of using the school as a boarding facility. When he left for Standing Rock in 1881, McLaughlin is reported to have considered the loss of his school as his greatest regret (Pfaller 1992:42-45).

McLaughlin was also keenly aware of the fragile nature of Indian-White relationships. He had taken the position at Devil's Lake only a few months after the debacle at the Little Bighorn, and knew that Sitting Bull and his band had fled to Canada. He saw this issue as a continuing problem, and in a curious letter written to Mrs. William Tecumseh Sherman on April 21, 1877, pleaded with her to use her influence on her husband (in his capacity as the head of the U.S. Department of the Missouri) to allow Sitting Bull to turn himself in to a Catholic Agency.

In addition to the routine business of running the Agency, McLaughlin also wrote a number of lengthy letters describing the general condition of the Indians at the Agency, their burial customs, defending his conduct in awarding contracts to traders he considered honest, health issues and more.

McLaughlin's successes at Devil's Lake eventually caught the attention of his superiors who were convinced he could help improve the situation at the Standing Rock Agency to the south of Devil's Lake. There was much animosity between the Sioux and the resident Agent. Sitting Bull and his band had finally turned themselves in and were to reside at the agency. McLaughlin was convinced to take over, presiding over a territory twice as large as Devil's Lake, and occupied by Indians who mistrusted the government and their representative.

A fine record of the beginning of the career of one of the most successful Indian Agents. Descended directly in the McLaughlin family and given to Colonel Alfred Burton Welch, by McLaughlin's son, Charlie on February 16, 1921.

Lot # 816

THE LETTERS THAT LED DIRECTLY TO THE DEATH OF SITTING BULL,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $0.00
Auction: 2005, Historic Americana / Nov 16, 17 & 18
lot of three historically important letters relating directly to the death of the famed Hunkpapa chief, Sitting Bull.

From it's origins with the Paiute prophet Wavoka in the late 1880s, by the fall of 1890, the messianic movement known as the Ghost Dance had swept the reservations of virtually all of the Plains tribes. Kicking Bear and a handful of others from the Standing Rock Agency had visited Wavoka early in the summer of 1890, and when they returned, delivered the messianic message to Sitting Bull: By the spring of the following year, the earth would be blanketed with a new layer of soil burying all white men. New, sweet grass, running water, and vast herds of buffalo and wild horses would return. While the earth was being completed, all Indians would be suspended in the clouds, returning along with the sprits of their departed ancestors when the world was new again. There would be no white men. Sitting Bull was apparently not convinced, but allowed Kicking Bear to teach the dance at Standing Rock.

The response of the United States Government was at first one of nervous apprehension. Indian Agents feared that the movement would incite the tribes to violence. By December 1890, Big Foot's band at Pine Ridge vowed to dance until they dropped from exhaustion. They reported to Sitting Bull that the Messiah himself would appear, and hoped that he would travel from Standing Rock to Pine Ridge. After of weeks of letters to officials in Washington expressing his concerns over Sitting Bull's involvement in the Ghost Dance, Standing Rock Reservation Indian Agent James McLaughlin was finally authorized to arrest Sitting Bull. Early on the morning of December 14th, the Indian Agent received an alarming letter from J.W. Carignan the local school teacher at Grand River: Sitting Bull, along with his Ghost Dancers was preparing to leave the reservation.

The next morning, on December 15, a party of Indian Police sent by McLaughlin approached Sitting Bull's cabin. About 42 Indian Police, under the command of Lieutenants Bull Head and Shave Head were to make the arrest, with a detachment of U.S. Cavalry to be held in abeyance about three miles from Sitting Bull's camp in case things got out of hand.

Entering Sitting Bull's cabin just before dawn, Bull Head woke the old man, who agreed to dress and come with the police. In the meantime, a large group of Ghost Dancers angrily assembled outside the cabin. In the confusion that followed, a rifle shot rang out and Bull Head was hit in the side. Attempting to fire back at his assailant, Bull Head accidentally shot Sitting Bull. A melee ensued, and Sitting Bull was shot in the head and killed by First Sergeant Red Tomahawk. These historically important letters are witness to the tragic events in the weeks before Wounded Knee.

In the first of these, a two-page hand-written letter dated Grand River, Dec. 14, 1890. 12:50 AM Carignan writes McLaughlin :

Dear Sir -- "Bull Head" wishes to report what occured at S.B.'s Camp at Council yesterday. It seems that Sit Bull has received a letter from the Pine Ridge outfit, asking him to come over there, as God was to appear to them. S.B.'s people want him to go, but he has sent a letter to you asking your permission, and if you do not give it, he is going to anyway, he has been fitting up his horses, to stand on a long ride and will go on horseback in case he is pursued. Bull Head would like to arrest him at once before he has the chance of giving them the slip....He also says something about "Shave Head" coming down here but as I am not good enough interpreter to understand everything he has said you can use your own judgement...one thing I understand thoroughly, and that is, that the poor man is eat out of house and home, he says that what with councils and couriers coming to his place, that even the hay he had is very near all gone...Yours respectfully, John M Carignan"

The letter is written on a single sheet of ruled paper, folded and integrally addressed, with the notation that it is being couriered by "Hawk Man."

When Hawk Man arrived several hours later, McLaughlin wasted little time, and immediately wrote a letter on Indian Service stationary authorizing the arrest. In the 4:30 AM letter, addressed to Lieutenant Bull Head or Shave Bull he wrote:

From report brought in by scout "Hawk Man" I believe that the time has arrived for the arrest of Sitting Bull and that it can be made by the Indian Police without much risk. I therefore want you to make the arrest before daylight tomorrow morning or as soon after as possible. The cavalry will leave here tonight and will reach the Sitting Bull road crossing of Oak Creek before daylight tomorrow (Monday) morning where they will remain until they hear from you. Louis Primeau will go with the cavalry command as guide and I want you to send a messenger to the cavalry command as soon as you can after you arrest him so that they may be able to know how to act in aiding you or preventing any attempt at his rescue.

I have ordered all the police at Oak Creek to proceed to Carignans school to await your orders. This gives you a force of 42 Policemen for to use in the arrest. Very Respectfull, James McLaughlin, U.S. Ind. Agent.

P.S. You must not let him escape under any circumstances.

Lest there be any misunderstanding, McLaughin wrote a duplicate of the letter, this time in the Lakota language, placing both letters in an envelope addressed to "Bull Head or Shave Head Lieutenant Indian Police" inserting as an afterthought "Or "1st Sergeant" and on the margin "This letter to be opened by Bull Head, Shave Head or J.M. Carignan."

Included with the lot is a newspaper clipping from the Mandan Daily Pioneer dated October 15, 1925, headlined "WELCH HAS ORIGINAL ORDERS FOR ARREST OF SITTING BULL." and an original clipping from the Mineapolis Sunday Tribune from June 20, 1926, in which the entire letter is reproduced. Welch acquired these letters directly from McLaughlin's son, Charlie, who was still residing in the area after the Agent's death in 1923.

Lot # 835

BOARDMAN, OHIO FAMILY ARCHIVE, INCLUDING CIVIL WAR LETTERS,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $960.00
Auction: 2008, Spring Historic Americana, June 5 & 6, 2008
(later changed to Boardman Center, Ohio) consisting of a large number of letters, many manuscript and partially printed documents, several early newspapers and other items. This archive begins with a letter dated April 21, 1806, addressed to one Mrs. Rachel Noble, but most of the early letters are addressed to Orlando Davidson on Boardman beginning in 1824 and extending till his death in February 1865, at that point there are a number of letters addressed to Mrs. Orlando Davidson in Boardman, Ohio. Nearly all the letters are from close family members, including nieces and nephews, married daughter, in-laws and some from friends. Some of the other family names include Noble, Orlando’s daughter, Roxalena married C.L. Noble; Horace Burrough, who appears to be a brother-in-law. The family appears to have spread out across the Midwest with the daughter and her husband C.L. Noble moving near Fort Defiance, Ohio, in a town called Bryan and Horace Burrough, a stone cutter to Illinois. Horace appears to have had a bad beginning in Illinois with his wife, daughter and sister both dying in the 1830s. He talks of building homes and churches and his son is a cabinet maker, an earlier letter from Burrough is addressed from Shakersville, Ohio. The Noble branch in Defiance is at first in the fur trading business and in the 1840s speaks of trading with Indians for 12,000 coonskins and 2000 deerskins, talks of a 3,000 strong Wm. H. Harrison rally held at Fort Meigs in northwest Ohio, but indicates he is not a Harrison man. Noble’s son William appears to have been a more settled and active member in his community and working in an unmentioned line of business and gentleman farmer appears to have prospered. He talks of setting up a 180 volume library, giving lectures on American Independence, temperance and rights of the Colored Race. He was educated at an unnamed seminary and had at least two sons, Homer and Levi. Both of which would soon be Union soldiers and ardent abolitionists, like their father and uncle, Orlando Davidson. Burrough now in Kane Co., Illinois. Talks of the wonderful prairie soils, but also the high cost of lumber, also mentions the large number of Irishmen working on both the railroads and the Great Western Rd., Clinton & Painesville roads and the death of another daughter. There is an interesting 1855 letter asking Orlando if the horse he sold has returned to its former master, the new owner having lost it when a group of militia were practicing near his home and spooked the beast. There are a large number of letters to Orlando from a Dr. Brainard in Cleveland, who is related to Orlando through his brother Norman's wife's family. Orlando appears to have been suffering from gale or kidney stones, and most of the letters are recommending various treatments, none of which appear to have helped him much. The letters from the 1860s are primarily war related, both Mr. and Mrs. Davidson receiving letters from their nephews in the war or having sons in the war. One from Albert Burrough in Illinois addressed Albert Capt. Co. A 36 Fox River Reg. Ill. Vol. Cavalry, wishing Orlando good health, advises that he not let his sons enlist and speaks of the large number of Illinois soldiers already killed in the war. Some of these from William Noble in Bryan, Ohio, are quite interesting and worth quoting in part such as letter dated March 5, 1861, which speaks of the coming war and the task ahead of the new President, Abraham Lincoln. The next letter reads in part Our town is all commotion & excitement martial music now salutes my ears and soldiers is parading our streets all is uproar and confusion a company of 100 volunteers were ordered to take the rail at 12 noon but a dispatch just received says await further orders. Slavery a dark cloud is hanging over our lives.. The next two war letters are from Homer Noble, William's son and addressed Homer Noble Co. H. 105th OVM in Munfordsville, Ky., Nov. 14, 1862, on patriotic stationery. They are guarding the rail lines and building a bridge. Mentions seeing captured rebel soldiers and what a wretched condition they appear to be in. The next letter dated September 1863 from William to Orlando tells him of his son Levi falling ill in Kentucky and his trip to bring him home. He talks of the 2,000 sick Union soldiers in Lendon, Ky., hospital and after he got Levi home William fell sick with typhoid, undoubtedly caught in the military hospital and it spread to most of the other members of his family, letter ends with anti-slavery comments. May 5, 1863, William to Orlando reads in part We have quite exciting times of late in Political matters, the snakes began to crall (sic) round pretty thick before the spring election but when the Ballots were counted out they mostly sneaked away to their holes…A deserted was shot and killed while trying to run from an arresting Army officer. Feb. 18, 1865, William Noble to Orlando informs her of the death of his son Homer while serving in the Union Army. Feb. 29 William Noble to Mrs. Davidson expressing his sympathy for the loss of her husband Orlando and informs her of another relative named William joining the army, growing sorghum to replace the sugar no long available from the Southern states. The last war letter mentions the capture of Jeff Davis in petticoats, not true but a common rumor spread throughout the North, and the impending discharge of William in Cleveland. The later letters are addressed to Mrs. Davidson from a daughter named Julie and even later letters in the 1920s are to a branch of the family named Sparrow, also a name found in the records of the town of Boardman. Some of the more interesting documents include a notebook on laid paper entitled Constitution of the Boardman Library Society with seven manuscript pages of Articles 1-9, a manuscript indenture between William Sparrow, of the Co. of Tippurary (Ireland) of the 1st part; George Sparrow of the 2nd part; James Burke of the 3rd part and Mary Burke of the 4th part, dated 1820, being a marriage contract of George and Mary with listed obligations of each father towards the newlyweds. PLUS naturalization papers for William Sparrow, State of Ohio, Mahoning Co., dated 1848, PLUS an undated letter from Mary Burke to her mother in Ireland, PLUS a document between Horace Burrough and Davidson dated 1825, PLUS 1817 manuscript deed transferring David Noble’s land in Trumbull Co. to Elijah Wadsworth for ca $400, AND a number of other smaller document. This archive also includes a number of early newspapers including an illustrated broadsheet dated July 4, 1849 entitled Brother Jonathan published by Wilson & Co., N.Y., PLUS The Republican Sentinel, Youngstown and Canfield, Vol. 3, No. 5, May 12, 1854, with article on Benson’s speech on the Nebraska question, PLUS The Ohio State Journal, Columbus, June 1, 1852, PLUS The Harry of the West, Pittsburgh, June 26, 1844, PLUS same only July 13, 44, PLUS The Ohio Farmer, Cleveland, June 30, 1860, AND three 1880s Ohio paper on Garfield's death.

Lot # 1017

TIMOLEON RACEHORSE BROADSIDE,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $1,610.00
Auction: 2006, Spring Americana, May 10, 11 & 12
Timoleon (The Sire of John Bull, who was the only contending horse in the best 3 mile race ever run on the Lynchburg Course. The third heat run (I believe) in 5m, 53s.) Late property of the Col. James White, will stand the ensuing season at the Mills of the subscriber, 3 miles east of Wythe Courthouse and will be let to mares at... Dated February 25, 1837. 13.5" x 15.5"

Timoleon was foaled in 1813 by Sir Archy (who is regarded as the first great thoroughbred stallion bred in America) and Saltram. Timoleon had excellent pedigree, inheriting the blood of Herod, Matchem, Eclipse and Childers and considered by many to be the best racehorse of his generation. Timoleon's greatest achievement was his son Boston (1833), an exceptional racehorse and the sire of Lexington (1850). Virginia was the primary home for Timoleon, but he spent time in Alabama and North Carolina was well. (See Anderson, 1946:59-63.)

Lot # 1027

CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH ARCHIVE,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $13,800.00
Auction: 2005, Historic Americana / Nov 16, 17 & 18
T. S. Dorsey Papers, 1818-1851, 1854-1861. 17 ALsS from California, 8 family ALsS, 4 diaries, 10 photographs.

T.S. Dorsey left his home in Homer, Michigan, in May 1854 to try his hand in the gold fields of California and apparently liked what he found. Somewhat more disciplined, more intelligent, or luckier than the average miner, Dorsey appears to have recognized that the money was not to be made toiling for a lucky strike, but in being a co-facilitator for those who chose to gamble for life and fortune.

The Dorsey collection gives a good overview of Dorsey’s two trips west, beginning with a letter written from central Nebraska on his trip west, and then with descriptions of Fort Laramie, the Rockies, and Salt Lake City. Although he made only oblique references on the crossing, preferring fine descriptions of the scenery and the logistics, once out in California, he revealed to his sister that his party had had “Indian troubles” while crossing the plains: Soon after his arrival in Sacramento, he seems to have recognized the situation in the gold country, writing: I would not advise any person to come to this country, but if they want to come let them come as I did, they can learn something if they do not make any money, and return home contented to stay there. Some say that they saw the Elephant on the plains. I suppose many did but more of them see him after they get here, dead broke as many are for money, and Strangers in a Strange Land, and there being so many of that class here that will beg & steal before they will work an honest and industrious man finds but few to sympathise with him…

Dorsey has a fine way with word and an observant eye. In Sacramento, he noted the prominence of the women and how different they looked than their counterparts back east: This is a gay town hat is as far as the Ladies are concerned. A calico dress is almost a novelty, many wear silk every day, they have the richest silk for dresses I ever saw. The negroes dress to the top of the fashion. Here we have them from all nations, many of them are the miserable Chineese, which are bound to overrun this state unless there is a stop put to their coming here…

Settling in Mud Springs, not far from Placerville, Dorsey began work at a general store, taking most of his trade on Sundays. This is in the mining country, he wrote, and the principal trade is with Miners. We buy their gold dust and send it to the mint at San Francisco and have it coined…This season been the hardest year that miners have had in California as it has been so very dry and miners cannot do anything without water to wash out the Dist. We have had the first ran within the last three weeks that has done the miners much good, and the prospect is that we will have plenty for the present… it is a hard life to live. There are many here that has been here since 1849 and cannot now raise one hundred Dollars. Many make luckey strikes and then Pile in a short time while others toil for years and do not make anything and many that do well spend their money easier and quicker than they get it, while others think of their families & Friends and start for the Atlantic States. This village is situated in a ravine and has a population of near one thousand souls, including about four hundred Chinese -- in this country we see persons from almost every clime, and is necessary that a person trading should speak some of all the diferent languages especially Chinese & Spanish…

Later, still in Mud Springs, he addressed the issue of violence in the west, without providing a sugar coating for his family: you will that that California is a hard Country, but that is too true. There was fifty two murders in this state from the first of Feby. To 15th of March, but we do not think much about it here, it has got to be an old story -- but owing to the hard times I am sorry to say that crime is on the increase. Last week there was hardly a day passed, but there was some person or persons robbed in this vicinity but mostly the Chinese. They have no protection as their oath is not allowed against a white man, and they are made the victims… He followed with accounts of the numerous robberies of “Chinamen,” lynch law, and general lawlessness in the gold fields.

Dorsey appears to have returned to Michigan late in 1855 before coming back a second time to California by steamer in March 1857, bringing his family to his place near Sacramento. Many work hard and have no luck and do not make anything, he wrote, describing the changing times, and the cry is as it has been for several years that the mines are all worked out, but the Gold in this vicinity will not be exhausted for centuries. But the time has past when men can come here and get a fortune in a few days, and I do not regret that, as matters will settle down to a permanency instead of a floating population as has formerly been… He adds a fine account of quartz mining and the prospects it holds for a bright future for California, and discusses the new excitement over gold discoveries on the Frazer River in Canada and at Pikes Peak.

Two diaries cover a sequence from Dorsey’s departure from Michigan to his arrival in California, providing an excellent complement to his letters, and a detailed account of traveling through the gold fields along the Humboldt River and off toward Coloma (1854). Though short, these are written in a clear, small hand and include great detail on the physiography of the landscape, the small villages and encampments he passed, and all in all they give a great flavor of life while crossing the continent and the rough and tumble of the gold fields. Dorsey’s third diary, a 16mo memorandum book, includes a poignant entry noting the birth of a son on Dec. 7, 1861, and his death two days later, otherwise documenting his voyage back to the east on steamer by way of the isthmus.

The final volume in the collection is an inventory of the estate of James Turnbull, a friend of Dorsey’s who died in Placerville, and for whom Dorsey acted as administrator. It includes copies of the relevant legal documents (there was no will), and a detailed, room by room inventory of what Turnbull left behind, providing a great record of the material goods owned by a gold rush-era Californian.

The family papers that accompany Dorsey’s letters are of interest in their own right, written prior to Dorsey’s California sojourn by relatives in Michigan and New York State. The gem of these family letters is a long, closely written 3p letter from Jonathan Hudson describing his canal and rail trip in western New York during the height of the Second Great Awakening, 1833, and his deep religious discussions with a fellow passenger: Let us be moved by his promises that we may escape his threatenings, that we may enjoy his favor and at last be permitted to enter into rest with the people of God. Let us endeavor to make each other happy -- Let us love each other -- let us by mutual forbearance and kiness, cause within our hearts that love to grow, which shall unite our bodies, souls, and spirits into one -- even into Christ, one living head… Brilliant insight into the religious ferment in the region. There is also a rare letter of recommendation for Dorsey signed by his Masonic brethren in Homer, Michigan, 1851.

The photographs include a carte de visite of Dorsey taken by a Coldwater, Mich., photographer and an unusual carte prepared for Dorsey’s 15th wedding anniversary in 1868, with a copy of the wedding photo on the front, framed with a border printed in gold, and a complete bill of fare for the anniversary feast, again printed in gold. Both photos have creases, but are otherwise good. The remainder of the photos are of Dorsey family members, including four fine tintypes.

Dorsey is a highly literate and observant writer, attentive to the details. A remarkable and historically valuable set of letters giving important insight into life in the California gold mines during the mid-1850s.

Lot # 1067

TWO O'SULLIVAN WHEELER EXPEDITION PHOTOGRAPHS,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $1,092.50
Auction: 2004, Fall Historic Americana / Dec 2-3
both ca 8" x 11" albumen landscapes mounted on larger printed War Dept. mount card stock. Includes Snow Peak Bull Run Mining District Nevada, marked No. 1; AND Cooley's Park Sierra Range, Arizona, marked No. 5. Each marked on matT.H. O'Sullivan Photo. and dated 1871; card stock is 15.5" x 19.5".

Lot # 1086

D.F. BARRY PHOTOGRAPH OF RUNNING ANTELOPE, HUNKPAPA CHIEF,

Sale Price Including Buyer's Premium: $1,150.00
Auction: 2004, Fall Historic Americana / Dec 2-3
with his West Superior imprint. An imperial photograph, 11.75 x nearly 7", mounted on large thick, beveled edge card.

Running Antelope was a principal chief of the Hunkpapa Lakota. He was one of Sitting Bull's closest advisors during the Indian Wars. His later beliefs that compromise with whites was in the best interest of his people led to Sitting Bull's disaffection.