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(CONNECTICUT CAPTAIN KIA ANTIETAM)

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(CONNECTICUT CAPTAIN KIA ANTIETAM)
A touching collection of four war-date letters related to Captain Newton Manross of the 16th Connecticut Vols., concerning the war and his death at Antietam. First is an A.L.S. from his brother, Corp. Eli Manross of Company B, 5th Conn. Vols., 3pp. folio, Frederick City, Md., Sept. 17, 1862, written during the battle of Antietam and detailing the death of Newton. In part: "...The roar of battle has ceased. Our grand army under McClellan thus far is victorious…our loss has been heavy…this battle will turn the tide of affairs…Jackson made a great mistake coming into Maryland…it will prove the ruin of the rebel cause…they [the rebels] were not looked upon as liberators but as intruders. Maryland is thoroughly Union…there are actually more rebel secessionists in the old state of Connecticut then in the slave state of Maryland…the 16th Conn. passed through here yesterday on their way to the battlefield…our brigade has gone onto the field but have not been in the fight…we can hear the cannons again…Sep. 20th…I was never more impressed in my life then when I heard the sad news…one of our company…told me yesterday…the body of my brother was in the town…I went to the place directed and assumed the sad duty of superintending the preparations of sending the body home…three men of his company were detailed to accompany the body home…he was killed by a solid cannon shot which struck him in the right breast just beneath the shoulder. He lived about two hours…his last words - the instant the shot struck him were 'O! My Wife'. I could hardly suppress the tears when I heard this…his conduct of the field was all one could ask…the rebels have been thoroughly beaten in this state…". Along with three war-date letters from Newton to his wife. giving war news and some rather ironic comments about the future, in part: "...March 5, 1862...Major Clark [wrote] a few days after the battle of Roanoke Island…[that] he was under fire about two hours where the bullets whistled pretty thick around him but he never got a scratch…May 13, 1862…wonder if by the fall every factory was in operation again and everybody busy as bees…May 16, 1862…One more week…and 'I'm with you once again'…". Unfortunately, Newton would only be with her for a short period of time: after giving a patriotic speech, he was asked to command a company in the 16th Connecticut. His resulting death allowed for the veterans to name a G.A.R. post and the school children of Bristol to plant a tree in his honor. Slight fold separations, else overall very good .