17th Vermont Infantry

Item LTR-6660

Description

Original Civil War soldier's letter. 3 pages written in period ink.

Camp Near Petersburg, Virginia
March 26th 1865

Dear Friends at Home,

It is Sunday and I thought I would write you a few lines to let you know that I am well and enjoying good health. Hoping these lines will find you the same.

It is quite cold and windy here today. We had a hard fire here last week. The wind blowed very strong and the fire came on us all of a sudden. It burnt the officer’s quarters and a good many valuable papers. It came near burning our whole camp and the horses before we could get them out. The dust and smoke was as thick that we could not see a rod for two hours. A number of boys was killed by the trees blowing over on them in other regiments joining ours. But not any of us was hurt.

Never mind that. I have got some better news than that. The rebs made an attack on us about three miles to the right of us yesterday morning about three o’clock. They took two lines of breastworks and got into one of our forts before our men know it. We charged on them and drove them back and took two lines of their works and two forts and held them. The fight lasted about five hours. We lost about one thousand men, killed, wounded and missing.

In the afternoon, they had another fight on the left of us. They got whipped again there. The loss is heavy on the enemy’s side. It is said that they lost about four thousand killed, wounded and taken prisoners. We counted sixteen hundred prisoners that went by our camp.

I think that is doing pretty well. Don’t you? They think out here that the rebs can’t stand it much longer. But I am afraid they will last longer than we shall want to see them.

We fell in, in a line of battle, this morning about four o’clock, expecting they would attack again. But they did not. Everything is quiet here today.

I don’t think of much more this time. so I will close by wishing you good health and prosperity. Please accept this and write often.

From your son,

Gustavus Gould

To his Father Joseph Gould