UNION SOLDIER, ELISHA N. PIERCE'S LETTER. "My Own Darling Wife." Letter from a Union soldier describing a number of Negroes who had crossed over into Union lines, one of them a woman, dressed as a man. 4to leaf, folded to form four small 8vo pages, written on all four sides; some light staining; with original envelope addressed to Mrs. E. N. Pierce, West Cambridge, Massachusetts. Pine Tree Signal Station, Out Post Line, North Carolina, 3 December, 1863
A delightful and affectionate letter, "My own darling wife . . . I have got quite a collection of rebel notes today from a party of negros (sic) who came in, 5 men, stout, intelligent fellows they were, but one walked with a shuffling gate (sic), short steps and legs knocking together. I asked him the reason he walked so. He said his "trousers galled him." The other darkies set up a loud laugh and on enquiring the cause I found 'dat darkie were a gall wid britches on.' It seems that this enterprising young lady was determined to run off with the boys, and doffing crinoline donned the britches . . ." He goes on to describe how the Negroes were very nearly caught by a scouting party, and that they had come some 17 miles from Wilmington. He talks a bit about home and his upcoming court martial for having been AWOL.
