May 07, 2020 - Sale 2534

Sale 2534 - Lot 323

Price Realized: $ 1,062
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
(MILITARY--CIVIL WAR.) Manuscript records of Company C of the 118th United States Colored Infantry, including muster and clothing rolls. 75 manuscript items in one large flat box (including 3 muster rolls from April to June 1865, 5 clothing rolls and 10 supply lists naming individual soldiers, 10 letters, 7 manuscript special orders, 9 receipts and memoranda, and 31 returns and invoices) plus one worn flag fragment, 25 blank forms and 5 original envelopes; condition generally strong with occasional dampstaining or wear. Vp, 1864-66

Additional Details

This Civil War regiment was recruited in Owensboro, KY in October 1864, and served in the sieges of Petersburg and Richmond. Almost all of the documents here date from the year after fighting ended in April 1865, when the regiment was stationed in Texas at Brazos Santiago and Brownsville until mustered out in June 1866. Charles Bachman Randolph (1837-1910) of Fayette, NY, an Andersonville Prison survivor who took command as captain of Company C in April 1865, was the keeper of these records. Highlights include: 30 December 1864 letter in which Randolph received his appointment Personal letter to Randolph from his wife Celia, 6 August 1865 Letter in which Randolph complains about poor quality goods given to his servant by the sutler "that he could not sell to a white man," 24 May 1865 5 clothing rolls in which soldiers signed for supplies by mark Pair of muster rolls dated April and June 1866 in which individual soldiers signed for their pay by mark Company muster-out roll dated June 1866, listing the fate of each soldier including those previously discharged or deceased back to October 1864. 12 soldiers are recorded as deceased, most from camp diseases. Henry Elams drowned while bathing near Petersburg, VA on 28 April 1865, and William Oates and Dade Davis died of gunshot wounds on 6 January 1866 at Clarksville, TX. The flag fragment, a tattered bit of red and white silk measuring about 4 by 11 inches, was found with the collection, but its status as the regimental flag of the 118th is unknown.