Jun 12 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2708 -

Sale 2708 - Lot 78

Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
(CIVIL WAR--PENNSYLVANIA.) Jacob S. Devine. Letter from a Union officer held at Libby Prison. Autograph Letter Signed to brother John Diehl of Philadelphia. One page, 9¾ x 8 inches; folds, edge wear, tape reinforcement to edges on verso, tipped into modern mat along top edge. With original envelope in similar condition franked "Prisoner's Letter, Flag of Truce" and bearing Old Point Comfort, VA postmark. Richmond, VA, 2 November 1863
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Additional Details

Jacob S. Diehl (1838-1917) enlisted as a private during the first month of the war, using the surname of the family which had adopted him, Devine. He rose through the ranks to become a first lieutenant in the 71st Pennsylvania Infantry in March 1863, and was captured at Gettysburg four months later. He was held in various Confederate prisons for almost two years before escaping. This letter was written from the notorious Libby Prison.

Here, Lieutenant Devine discusses the prison newspaper, and also taking shorthand [phonography] classes. "My health is not very well. . . . I received everything safe you sent me. The shoes are rather tight. I have got enough underclothes to last me 5 years. The Sanitary Comm's sent a lot down to us. We enjoy ourselves as well as can be expected. We have a paper called the Libby Chronicle, and a minstrel troupe. We have also French, Spanish & phonography classes. The latter I am studying. . . . I don't think that there will be any officers exchanged for some time. Some think that we are here for the war, but I hope not. The most things that we need here is sugar, coffee, tea, mustard, pepper, apple butter, butter, dried beef, condensed milk, pickles." He also adds: "I was angry when I wrote the letter on the 26th and I beg your pardon if it insulted you."

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