This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/30/2026
Excellent lot of 11 letters by Alphonso F. Childs, a young man who enlisted in the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry, Co. E, and fought at the Battle of Brandy Station, the largest cavalry battle of the Civil War and the opening salvo in the Gettysburg campaign. Childs was later captured at the Battle of Trevillian Station and died at Andersonville Prison of ''diarrhea and nostalgia.'' Childs is an articulate correspondent, well-educated and observant as he travels through the southern states. He also matures into a seasoned warrior during his enlistment as his letter following Brandy Station reveals.
Dated 12 June 1863, three days after the Battle of Brandy Station, Childs' letter reads in part, ''...the Cavalry in these parts have been having a little fight for the excitement of the thing, & the writer had a hand in it. Can say I know what a skedaddle of the Rebs is. Monday...We got started out about two o'clock & went to Morrisville, where we arrived about ten o'clock P.M., camped for the rest of the night, fed our horses, &c. But with details for this & that, we got no sleep & started out again about two A.M. for Kelly's Ford without supper or breakfast except dry hard bread & muddy water. We crossed the ford a little after daylight & formed a line of battle. Our Squadron, Co's E & G, was thrown out to the left as skirmishers. We continued to skirmish through woods, over fences, & through ditches, &c., until about noon, when we came upon quite a body of rebels, 200 or more, who fired from behind fences & wood piles & houses & every place where they can shelter themselves & get a good sight at us. We stood in line in the woods for some five minutes while the balls were whistling over our heads. Here we lose one Sergeant of our Company who was shot dead & fell from his horse. It was a rather queer feeling came over me as the balls would ''zzip'' close to our ears.''
He continues into the heart of battle, ''We soon advanced, came into the open field in plain sight. The bugle sounded the charge & away we went upon the gallop, right into their face & eyes with sabers raised. Just then we came to a five-rail fence, which we had to jump or get over the best we could. This broke up our line. The rebs were skedaddling & it was every man for himself, & the one who came up to them first was the best man. We were right upon them entering Stevensburg, when we came upon a deep mud hold in the road, into which my horse plunged above knee deep & sent him on a summersault on his head, which threw me out of the saddle, bruising me some & shaking me up ''right smart.'' But we picked up & on again & drove them to their main force some two miles back, capturing some 54 prisoners, most of them wounded more or less with the saber, which shows how hot the contest was. We then returned, gathering our wounded, & I helped bury our Sergeant, the only man killed in our Company. We recrossed the river about night & camped for the night at Rappahannock Station, well satisfied with our day's work...''
In another letter, Childs writes of the Battle of Fredericksburg which was raging nearby. Written over 10 days from 4-14 December 1862, he writes to his father, ''...This place is about 8 miles from Fredericksburg Va., now occupied by rebs...While writing this, a fierce conflict is raging, as indeed it has been for the past 4 days. Thursday morning at 5 o'clock we were awakened by heavy cannonading in the direction of Fredericksburg. Boots & saddles were sounded & we were off for the scene of battle, but stopped about two miles to the rear, where we still remain with horses saddled all day & where we can get them on a moment''s warning by night. A very fierce conflict is now going on by the sound of musketry & cannon. We know nothing outside of our own division, but the report is that Franklin has driven the enemy 5 miles on the left with the intention of cutting off R.R. communication between this & Richmond. Hooker is engaging them in center (our division). Sumner is on the right, while Banks with 60,000 men is said to be behind Richmond with serious intentions...''
Childs writes of the Antietam battlefield in his 9 November 1862 letter, shortly after his enlistment. He begins, ''We have had a little of the spice of a soldier''s life since I last wrote'', then describes their march to Antietam and the town's devastation after the battle, ''We rolled up our blankets, but waited around our fires until ''most night, when we started bundle equipments & all over the hills (big ones too) for Antietam, about 7 miles off, where we arrived about 8 1/2 o'clock. Put up in a stone house with windows broken in, situated among the ruins of a factory burnt to the ground by rebels. Slept again & started for Sharpsburg, 4 miles (Virginia miles, about 7 Mass. miles). Arrived there about noon. Passed through the town, which is quite a place in its way. Dirty houses built mostly of logs, plastered between them. We halted just the other side of town at a church completely riddled with balls & shells. It is on the battleground of the Antietam Battle, about three miles from where the battle commenced & from which the battle takes its name. There was there many graves about with boards at the head with name & Reg in lead pencil. In sight is a mound where it is said 1300 rebels are buried in trenches. Cannon balls & shells are laying about. Large trees show the effects of the shots. Rail fences, too, scarcely an inch of the surface without a bullet hole...''
The rest of Childs' letters are thoughtful reflections on his travels through the South and of the military, with a sample reading in part, ''...To show you what works we have here, I will give you an account of one proceeding which rather takes me down. More than a month ago, our Sergeant called the company into line, saying all those who wanted boots he would take their names. The Major was to send for boots for all who wanted & keep $5.00 on pay day. This suited my case, so I gave my name. Did not write for any. Upon their arrival yesterday, it found me without a good boot to my feet & nothing to keep out mud or water. But when I stepped up to draw my boots, I was informed that the ''Old Boys'' were to be supplied with boots regardless of names before any of the ''Recruits'' could have any. This took all the boots, leaving the ''Recruits'' out in the cold by the Major''s orders. This is a fair example of all the doings of the Officers in this Regt. Now I think you had better send me $15.00 & I will try to buy a pair of boots off some of the Sutlers about, or you had better have a pair made & send them to me by mail. This mode will cost $4.00 or $5.00 postage by express I should not receive them. If you have a pair made, have them large nines, heavy stock, with legs large, coming as high as the knee...Since I wrote last, I have been out on a scout twice about fifty miles outside of our pickets, & on picket once. Two nights we were out. It rained like suds, we getting wet as ducks & no shelter when we stopped. This I call bordering on the rough side of soldier's life. We are under marching orders again. Expect to go today or tomorrow. By present appearances, this Division of the Army will soon cross the Rappahannock, menace Fredericksburg, or do something else...''
Another letter reads, ''...We passed thru Greencastle & Chambersburg, which showed the ruins left by rebel cavalry, & other small places, & a splendid farming country. Everything smooth & clean & good soil. Lots fenced with rails in systematic order. One thing seemed wrong. The houses were mostly made of logs except in the villages, & the plows were all made to turn the furrow the other side from Mass. plows, thereby bringing the ''nigh'' horse in the furrow. Carlisle Pa. is a very pretty place, the R. Road running through the principal street, as indeed it does in most southern towns. We arrived in Harrisburg about night, crossed the Susquehanna into the city on an uncovered bridge nearly or quite as long as the one across the Connecticut in Springfield. We found the Capitol of Pa a very pretty & pleasant place...Monday we marched about 25 miles into Va. & camped. I can say nothing of the country we passed thru, only it is very barren to look at. The roads are terrible mud up to horses' knees, as red as brick. No bridges, all fords. Next day we started out again over hills & through streams & mud. We went the over one hill thru the woods ''single file,'' which was like going over Mt. Tom in the highest part, only mud all the way up to the Fellocks. That night we camped on Ashby''s farm, he having gone the rebel army & left his farm to take care of itself. We fed our horses from his stacks of unthreshed wheat, killed his pigs, &c. Next day our course lay mostly over corduroy roads for about 10 miles & camped again. By this time our rations run shorty & we had a very poor look for Thanksgiving next day. Next morning early, we were off again. Marched about 20 miles...''
In Childs' last letter, written shortly before his POW capture he writes, ''...Everything is moving along in the same military track. Now a scout, now a picket, now a night attack, and then expecting one. On the ''qui vive'' all the time. I have been quite ''lucky'' so far this winter, having no picket to stand or guard duty to do, having as the boys say, ''a soft thing.'' I think I am fatting up a little and thickening up too, if anything can be believed by the remarks made to me on the subject...''
Lot is accompanied by four additional letters by Childs' family members and by a fellow POW at Andersonville who escaped the loathsome prison. This person, Henry J. Remington of the 27th Massachusetts Infantry, writes two letters to Childs' family, reading in part, ''...I saw your son, Mr. Child, the 19th of July. Had a long talk with him in regard to my brother Orrin, who was in the same Co. He was not very well at that time and was stopping at the other part of the stockade. I was also unwell at that time and promised to come to his detach''t and see him. I went in a few days and he was dead, died the day before. The boys said he died of chronic diarrhea and nostalgia. / When I saw him he told me he could not long live there. Said he was captured July sixth. / Your son had a good name as a soldier and most good soldiers are true friends. I sympathize with you in the loss of One so noble and brave...''
A very good lot of letters nearly all with their original envelopes. Composed in both pen and pencil, lengthy letters generally run four pages or longer with legible handwriting. Of the 11 letters written by Childs, seven are during his enlistment and three more are war-dated but before he enlisted. Very good to near fine condition. With complete transcriptions.