John Joyce Carter (1842-1917) was a grocery clerk in rural Nunda, Livingston County, NY. He was the town's first resident to volunteer for military service, mustering in as a private in the 33rd New York Infantry and eventually rising to the rank of captain. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Antietam. After the war, Carter founded the Carter Oil Company in Titusville, PA, a precursor to the Exxon Corporation.
The second of these letters describes the regiment's role in the siege of Yorktown during the Peninsular Campaign. Early in the campaign, Carter notes that "the Rebs kind of skadaddled" from their fortifications at Young's Mills, leaving behind "plenty of provisions cooked . . . and a pack of cards all delt on the table." He then describes a skirmish, apparently at Lee's Mills, where his unit was ordered to serve as a decoy to draw the enemy's fire: "Not long after this, you could hear our cannoneers as they unlimbered their pieces for action, and now the fun was commenced in good earnest on both sides. Thus the day was spent in a continued thunder of cannon and the bursting of shell."
with--Family photograph album, disbound, inscribed "Presented by John J. Carter to his sister Mrs. Geo. Jacobs, Nunda," and including a photograph of Carter in uniform Typed transcripts of both Carter letters 3 other letters to Bell from friend George of Wiscoy, NY, 1862 and 2 letters from Bell to George, undated 2 Grand Army of the Republic pins A worn copy of the Centennial History of Nunda, containing substantial sections by and about John J. Carter.