March 2012 Auction Ends Wednesday, March 28th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/28/2012
Samuel Sawyer, Chaplain with the 47th Indiana Infantry, handwrites a letter, dated 1 September 1864, to Reverend H.W. Hunt. Sawyer, writing from Morganza Bend, Louisiana, reviews his three years of duty as a Union chaplain, ending with a critique of Union army leadership. Letter reads in part, '''...The regiment was mustered Dec 13, 1861. We marched to Bardstown, Ky., where I'...when requested to pray, choked nearly all the preachers and congregation because I prayed for the end of the rebellion and the perpetuity of the Union'...I was among the first to enter Fort Thompson, New Madrid. Here I had sundry dialogues with two rebel chaplains and other rebels of various standing'...At Memphis Maj Gen Lewis Wallace gave me control of Dr. Grundy's church from whose pulpit he had been banished because one Sabbath he prayed for his enemies'...My church had been locked against me in E. Ten. and here by military authority I was to open or close the churches of the rebels'...'' Sawyer continues by detailing the regiment's movements that included battles at Vicksburg and New Orleans as well as his own tasks as a clergyman that included being superintendent of freed men and superintendent of contraband. His letter ends with commentary on Union generals. He writes, '''...Pope was a pompous ill mannered ill bred profane swell head'...Wallace was pleasant and affable'...Sherman was a nervous wiry ambitious man'...with little humanity or reverence'...Gen. Grant was every inch a gentleman of cool judgment'...a good specimen of a pure minded true hearted patriotic general'...'' Four page 7.25'' x 9.25'' card style letter is in very good condition.
47th Indiana Chaplain 1864 Autograph Letter Signed -- ''...Grant was every inch a gentleman of cool judgment...a good specimen of a pure minded true hearted patriotic general...''
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