(CIVIL WAR NEW HAMPSHIRE) [Clark Ward] Letter from a corpor

Sale 2533 - Lot 87

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(CIVIL WAR--NEW HAMPSHIRE.) [Clark, Ward.] Letter from a corporal who is "getting to be quite an abolitionist." Autograph Letter (unsigned) to sister. 4 pages, 8 x 5 inches, on one folding sheet; a few ink blotches, minor wear. With original envelope addressed to father Moses Clark of Landaff, NH and bearing stamp and 2 March Old Point Comfort, VA postmark. Newport News, VA, 24 February 1863

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Ward Eastman Clark (1839-1913) of Landaff, NH was a corporal in the 11th New Hampshire Infantry. Here he recounts a rousing Unionist speech by his colonel Walter Harriman, adding that "I think he would make a first rate Governor." Harriman did in fact run for governor later that year, and served two years as governor after the war. Clark continues with a discussion of the political debates in camp, describing some soldiers who "have found out that they are fighting for the Nigger and not the Union. I do not see things in that light, neither that we were all a pack of cowards for enlisting. . . . I would not take a discharge if it was offered to me. . . . I want to see this rebellion put down, and I think I am doing my duty. . . . I have not seen anything to alter my political views, only the effects of slavery on the soil &c. I am getting to be quite an abolitionist."