(CIVIL WAR MASSACHUSETTS) Harriman Henry G Long and detaile

Sale 2324 - Lot 130

Price Realized: $ 1,105

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Estimate: $ 300 - $ 400

(CIVIL WAR--MASSACHUSETTS.) Harriman, Henry G. Long and detailed description of the Goldsboro Expedition in North Carolina. Autograph Letter Signed to sister Beth. 6 pages, 11 3/4 x 7 1/4 inches, on three sheets torn from a "confiscated" ledger; moderate wear with slight loss of text. Newbern, NC, 22 December 1862

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Henry G. Harriman (1835-1863) was a shoemaker from Ashland, MA. He enlisted in the 5th Massachusetts Infantry, which was assigned to help disrupt Confederate rail lines in North Carolina. This letter describes several engagements in this expedition, including the Battle of Kinston, where the rebels "had their bateries planted and a small bluff in an open field and our men had to charge through a swamp covered with a thick wood and water up to their knees." The rebels were nonetheless routed, and retreated across a bridge: "They had the bridge covered with turpentine and set it on fire as they retreated across it, but our men were so close on them that they knocked the man that set it afire into the fire, and he was burned to death." In Kinston, "I saw one pretty good looking girl here that said she wanted to go north. I began to have considered half a notion of asking her to go with me, but after watching her a while and seeing her squirt a lot of tobacco juice out of her mouth I thought it wasn't best." Two days later at White Hall, "one of our bateries had evry man shot down except the srgt commanding. He loaded the gun alone after that and kept on firing." The final fight at Goldsboro and the destruction of two miles of railroad tracks are also described. A great letter about a little-known campaign. Harriman later fell ill and died in the hospital at Newbern the following June.