(CIVIL WAR NEW YORK) Delong Baltis Letter describing the di

Sale 2380 - Lot 94

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Estimate: $ 700 - $ 1,000

(CIVIL WAR--NEW YORK.) Delong, Baltis. Letter describing the disastrous assault on Marye's Bluff at Fredericksburg. Autograph Letter Signed to friend Isaac, 6 pages on 3 4to sheets torn from a blank account book; several ink spots, minor wear. (MRS) Falmouth, VA, 27 December 1862

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Baltis Delong was a private in the 61st New York Infantry, also known as the Astor Rifles, under Colonel Nelson Miles. They lost 36 men in the 13 December charge on Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg--a story told with panache in this letter. It begins with the regiment wandering about deserted Fredericksburg before the battle, looting and carrying off as much tobacco as they could carry. The next day, the result was comical and terrifying: "All at once we heard the rattle of musketry. This jarred the wool off our eyes and we began to see plainly what we were coming to. The field where the battle was was very muddy and as we were marching along you could see hundreds of blankets, knapsacks, haversacks and the like thrown away to lighten our loads. . . . I had rolled up in my blanket about 5 lbs of the best plug tobacco but when the bullets began to come wiz wiz, says I goodbye blanket and tobacco." As the casualties mounted, the men were ordered to hit the ground: "The balls and shells were flying over and among us, a perfect stream, each one every moment expecting his time had come. Hundreds of us never fired a gun but we had to stand the fire. Bad luck to the man who sent us into such a place as that to be slaughtered."