April 2021 Auction Ends Thursday, April 29th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/29/2021
Lot of 13 letters by Charles Lamos, a soldier in Co. B of the 1st Vermont Heavy Artillery, a regiment that sustained terrible losses in 1864-65. Lamos makes references of the multiple battles that he fought in, including his own wounding in the Battle of Cedar Creek. All letters are written to his sister and mother, revealing the harsh conditions of a soldier's life. In a letter dated 8 August 1863 near Richmond, he writes, ''...My weight is 139. The last fall my weight was 171 lbs. So you see we are haveing hard times...have skirmished a good deal. Several of our boys were killed. It is very sickley around here now...'' On 18 October 1863 from Fort Stevens, he writes, ''...the armies...are doing a great deal fighting every day within the last week there has been a great many killed on both sides. The President has just called for 300000 more Volls...''
Lamos describes the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House and dire conditions in a 31 May 1864 letter to his sister, ''...We left Washington the 8th for Dixie in 3 days, after that we came in the head quarters...Rebels we fought about 4 hours and drove them at the point of the bayonet. Our brave Col. was mortally wounded and several others from our regt was killed and wounded. I tell you sister, we are a haveing hard times. / We have been 4 days without a thing to eat and marched all the time. Last knight we got a little hard bread. It is very hard, but it will keep us from starveing. I also in a charge threw away all my cloathes. So I am without a change, nor a blanket, but no worse then the rest of the boys. We have to sleep on the ground without a thing over nor under us and when it does not rain we are luckey and when it does we have to take it. / We are within 6 miles of Richmond City and I think that we will atack it soon. I expect that there will be a great meany lives lost in takeing it, but it must come. / We have been in 7 hard battles since we have been heare. The Rebs fight well, but we can whip them and will do it soon. I think I must close for we must start on another march. I am tired, faint, & sleepy, hungry, and dirty...''
In the next letter, dated 4 August 1864, Lamos describes the Battle of Fort Stevens, ''...the Rebs have between us and Wash...but at last we have succeeded in geting on their flank and they have skedadled for Richmond where they will probably stay for a while. / We was transported on steamers to Washington the 12th of July at the time of the rade in Maryland. We first was marched to Fort Stevens (where we lay so long) we found the Rebs within one half mile of the fort. We took posesian of the fort and soon suceeded in shelling them back and we have been fighting them every since they have had more men heare then we have and have made us fall back several times, but they was afraid that we would get reinforced so they thought that they had beter leave...Our company has 13 men left out of 152. I am one of that number that has been spaired and still we are willing to press on and strive to conker until the last and falls our regt numbers about 350 men out of over 1800 that we took out. The Rebels loss was very heave in Maryland, more then ours...''
In his next letter dated 4 November 1864, Lamos describes his wound at the Battle of Cedar Creek, ''...We have had very hard fighting heare in the valey. Since I last wrote you we have had very good success in whiping the enemy and captaring a great meny prisoners and a large portion of their artilery. / I got a slight wound in the leg in the fight of Oct. 19th. It troubels me more now then it did when it was first done. The doctors says that I must keep still or I will have a bad thing of it. It was done by a piece of shell. / We have not gone into any quarters yet and it dont act as if we were going in this winter. I guess that they calculate to freeze us to death. It is now snowing very hard and the chiley winds around a little fire (made on the ground) a shivering we are all very thinly dresed for this time of the year, but we wont complain, but I wish that I had fathers pig pen for me a shelter and to brake the coald winds. / I supose that you are all thinking about who will be our next president. I will tell you Lincoln of course...''
In his final letter, written on 18 January 1865 from the ''Front Lines of Petersburg'', Lamos writes during the Siege of the city, ''...We are now lying in front of Petersburg a faseing the rebels strongest armies. We also fase or are in range of 8 parts of the enemy with the musels of several large 30 and 100 pounders guns a looking over the parapets a dareing our aproach. Our mane lines are within a stones through of each other...The Rebs have made several atacts on us but has been repulsed with heavy loss. We have a hard army heare to whip. It is no boys plays to fight heare. Our parts threw 100 30 pd shells in to the city yesterday. It caused several buildings to be burnt. I tell you sisters heare lies the main armies of boath the United States and the Confed are heare it must end and heare it shall end and the time is not far distant. The day will come before six months, but great will be the blood that will be shed on that day, but we shall at last win. We are wright and why shant we prosper?...''
A nice collection of letters by a typical Union soldier in the Civil War, all with original envelopes, some of which are patriotic covers. Despite some spelling errors, Lamos' letters are beautifully penned with very legible handwriting, overall in very good condition. With near complete transcriptions.
Lot of 13 Letters by a Civil War Soldier in the 1st Vermont Heavy Artillery, Wounded at Cedar Creek -- ''...Our company has 13 men left out of 152. I am one of that number that has been spaired...''
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