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Lot #2099
Union Soldier's Letter on Lincoln's Assassination and Lee's Surrender

Remarkable letter on the end of the Civil War: "We had a hard chase before we got Lee cornered...We are told that President Lincoln has been killed"

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Estimate: $300+
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Description

Remarkable letter on the end of the Civil War: "We had a hard chase before we got Lee cornered...We are told that President Lincoln has been killed"

ALS in pencil, three pages on two adjoining sheets, 5 x 8, U. S. Sanitary Commission letterhead, April 15, 1865. Handwritten letter home from "Camp at Burnesville Junction, Va.," in part: "I suppose we will stay here for several days to rest and refit as the men greatly need shoes and clothes. Our mails are not regular and we get no newspapers so that I have not yet been able to see an account of the capture of Petersburg and Richmond yet. We had a hard chase before we got Lee cornered and our brigade had the honor of receiving the flag of truce that preceded the surrender and afterward of receiving the rebel arms and colors. I hear there was a general jubilee in Phil'a when the news of our victories was received there, and I do not wonder at it…We are told that President Lincoln has been killed and is to be buried today but there is so many tales about the affair that we can scarcely believe anything. I suppose there is a general sadness throughout the north and the south cannot well rejoice for they will not be likely to find one so lenient in the White House hereafter." In fine condition.

Auction Info

  • Auction Title: Military and the Cold War
  • Dates: #684 - Ended May 18, 2023