Apr 16, 2019 - Sale 2505

Sale 2505 - Lot 49

Price Realized: $ 552
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
"IT WAS A HARD BLOW ON THE ARMY WHEN THEY TOOK LITTLE MACK FROM US" (CIVIL WAR.) Brisbin, James S. Pair of personal letters by a Union cavalry officer, with his later commissions for the Colored Troops. Autograph Letters Signed as "James S. Brisbin" and "Jim." 7 total pages, about 10 x 8 inches, each on a folding sheet; minor soiling and wear at folds. Vp, 1862-66

Additional Details

James Sanks Brisbin (1837-1892) was a captain in the 6th United States Cavalry Regiment from 1861 to 1864. The first of these letters to was written to his mother Margaret Brisbin of Boalsburg, PA, as the army lurched toward the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg: "Preparing for battle. Jackson is said to be in our rear and moving this way with seventy thousand men. We are ready for him, and will give him battle if he comes on. . . . I am now in command of the regiment, and you can form little idea of the amount of labor I have to perform. . . . If McClellan had only been let alone, the victory was certain but now we are in the hands of a man who is far inferior in ability to 'Little Mack.' The rebles are no doubt rejoiced over the removal of McClellan and already they have become bolder. Yesterday they captured 30 of our wagons that were coming from Harper's Ferry. It was a hard blow on the Army when they took Little Mack from us. As he rode along the lines and regiment after regiment unfurled their tattered and torn flags, men cried like children, and the big tears ran down the General's cheeks. . . . Genl. Pleasanton and I have got to be good friends. I like him. He has got pluck and I love a man of courage." Waterloo, VA, 13 November 1862.
The other letter was addressed to his wife, Mary Jane Wagner Brisbin, after the anticlimactic Battle of Mine Run: "We had no great battle. When all was ready and all expected hourly a great fight. Mead suddenly fell back, why no one can tell. . . . Mead from the first acted as if he was afraid of Lee. Mead is no match for Lee in generalship, still I think he could have whipped the Rebles as we had far more men than they had. It will be a long time before we have another such a chance to thrash the rebles." Brandy Station, VA, 3 December 1863.
With 3 commissions: as Colonel of the 6th Regiment of Colored Troops signed by Edwin Stanton, 20 January 1864 An official copy of the same with a secretarial signature and as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 6th Regiment of Colored Cavalry, signed by Thomas Eckert, 19 February 1866.