(CIVIL WAR PRISON) Austin George Correspondence of a Salisb

Sale 2287 - Lot 195

Price Realized: $ 240

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 200 - $ 300

(CIVIL WAR--PRISON.) Austin, George. Correspondence of a Salisbury Prison survivor. One Autograph Letter Signed to his sister Lizzie Cannon, 2 June 1863; and 5 later typed transcripts of letters written during his imprisonment; each about 10 x 8 inches, various conditions. Vp, 1862-63

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Captain George Austin of Indiana joined the 2nd Kentucky Infantry early in the war. He was soon captured and sent to Salisbury Prison in North Carolina. When Union forces threatened to execute a group of Confederate civilian raiders, the Confederates held a lottery and designated Austin as a hostage who would be executed in retaliation. This lot contains four transcripts of letters written by Austin in prison, including one describing the infamous lottery. While they are not original, they appear to be unpublished. Captain Austin was a brother of Henry Benton Austin (lot 155).