(CIVIL WAR CONNECTICUT) Cone William E Archive of letters h

Sale 2287 - Lot 181

Price Realized: $ 660

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 300 - $ 400

(CIVIL WAR--CONNECTICUT.) Cone, William E. Archive of letters home by a sergeant in a nine-month regiment. 16 Autograph Letters Signed, to brother Joseph Henry Cone of Hartford; 8vo, condition generally strong. Vp, September 1862 to May 1863

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William Ezra Cone (1842-1925) was the son of a prosperous Hartford farmer. He enlisted as a sergeant in the nine-month 22nd Connecticut Infantry in September 1862. His 9 February 1863 letter tells the story in a nutshell: "We have earned the name of Lincoln's Pets, the Kid Glove Regt, &c. We have the name of making the best appearance on parade of any Regt around here." They never saw combat, but did garrison duty and built fortifications in the Washington area during their term of service. They also participated for two weeks in the Siege of Suffolk, described in Cone's 22 April letter: "We lie about 4 miles from the rebel army in our entrenchments. We can hear cannon & mortars night & day, also our sharpshooters." On April 28 he added, "If we have the blues all we have to do is to go down to the Nansemond River & show ourselves above the rifle pitts & a shower of bullets will fly thick & pass about our ears." After the war, Sergeant Cone owned a hardware store and served as a colonel in the state militia.