Wonderful letter by Pvt. E.D Hills 121st NYV Sept 1862

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Historically significant letter written by Pvt. E.D. Hills, Co. G., 121 New York Volunteers from " Fort Lincoln near Washington Wednesday 3 ½ Oclock Sept. 3 rd 1862" with McClellan's army gathering around Washington . Pvt. Hills writes a fairly long letter starting with his departure from New York City and his vivid and quite exciting journey via ferry and train to Ft. Lincoln on the outskirts of Washington . Vivid description of slavery in Maryland . Poisoned soldiers in Baltimore ! Details of Fort Lincoln . . Some of the interesting passages: "we started for Philadelphia ... saw many beautiful towns on the road, nothing happening worth mentioning except that we ran over a cow and killed her..." Pvt. Hills describes Philadelphia .. " the city of Philadelphia which is a beautiful city and one which a soldier can never forget..we marched to an eating saloon ...good bread, and cheese, and cold beef...They have fed one hundred and fifty thousand men in this saloon since the war ...and fed eighteen thousand on Sunday and Monday....We marched to the depot to embark for Baltimore and on the way to the depot almost every house in the street through which we passed was opened, and young ladies and old women saluted us with their handkerchiefs and ...came out and shook our hands..." Then a detailed description of entering Maryland ... "we were in the State of Maryland as we soon found out be seeing the slaves and their huts. Negroes are as thick as hops in the south. I saw them take eight or ten of them to jail in Baltimore for running away...all around are built little white huts for the slaves" Tragedy strikes..." we only had one track and so had to stop a great many times to wait for other trains..we saw a soldier lying near the tracks with his head cut off...nine were killed the other day by falling off in this way." Historic details of Baltimore ..." we arrived in Baltimore ..and very much surprised to find the people very patriotic and strongly in favor of the Union . This city you know w the riot took place on the 19 th of April 1861 w the citizens fired on and killed two or three men from Massachusetts... we stayed had two meals none of which was poisoned although the report is that fifteen soldiers were poisoned on the day before..." Describing his arrival in Washington & Fort Lincoln ..." we can see the dome of the Capital and Fairfax court-house from the fort...about twelve miles from ...We reached the fort at last and found a very pleasant place. I do not know how many acres of ground it covers but it looks very strong. It is situated on the top of a small hill and commands a part of the Potomac. It mounts fourteen thirty-two pounders and a howitzer while near the fort is quite a large rifle pit, lower down are strongly fasted portions of the tops of trees and brush with butts turned in for the purpose of keeping the enemy from scaling the breastworks....Sept. 4, 1862 we heard heavy firing yesterday and saw the smoke and today we find that a battle took place yesterday near Chain Bridge about five miles from on the other side of the river. T is no rebel army on this side of the river..." Many other interesting descriptions of a soldier newly minted two weeks earlier from Cherry Valley , New York and just two weeks away from participating in one of greatest battles of the entire war. . An exciting piece of history from the Maryland Campaign of 1862. Condition: Excellent condition, two watermarked sheets folded to create eight written pages. Wonderfully legible written in pencil. Signed at end of letter ... " Yours affectionately, E.D. Hills Co.G 121st Reg. NYV, Fort Lincoln Washington DC / care of Capt. Clark" PS: The images do not show the accurate color of the letters. I apoligize for the yellow appearance. They are in fact slightly off white, as most letters o... read more

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