(MILITARY CIVIL WAR) James William Massachusetts cavalryman

Sale 2534 - Lot 319

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Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800

(MILITARY--CIVIL WAR.) James, William. Massachusetts cavalryman's letter, mentioning the capture of his family by the rebels. Autograph Letter Signed to "Mr. Stowell." 3 pages, 8 x 5 inches, on one folding sheet; quite legible with minimal wear. With original partial mailing envelope (stamp and postmark excised). Point Lookout, MD, 14 October [1864]

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Additional Details

William James was apparently born into slavery in Plymouth, NC circa 1842, and he enlisted in the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry (Colored) as a private in January 1864. The regiment served in the Siege of Petersburg in June 1864, then spent much of the war guarding Confederate prisoners at Point Lookout, MD. He addressed this letter to a Mr. Stowell, care of Charles C. Fowler in Westfield, MA. This may be the white merchant Dwight Stowell who appears in Westfield in the 1865 census. Private James had apparently pledged his recruitment bonus to Stowell to settle a debt, and was having difficulty finding the man to make payment: "I wrote you before I got my bounty to come out and receive it, but you would not come. . . . I hope you will not think hard of me. I done about as well as I knew how, but I think harder of myself than you would think of me, but I hope you will not be anyways uneasy. I will send you the money and the receipt of it."
James offered some impressions of his time in the service: "I have had very bad misfortune since I left home. . . I don't know as I shall return home until my time is out or sooner discharged. . . . The rebel prisoners on this point are allowed to take the oath and some of them have enlisted for the Union army." He also reported on some family news: "I have met with the good luck to see my brother, and to hear from my mother and sister. I heard they was captured by the rebels."
After the war, James worked as a general laborer, getting married in Boston in 1871 and appearing in Cambridge, MA in 1900. He was buried in Stoughton, MA in 1917, where his tombstone mentions his company and regiment.