195
Civil War Letter Archive of the Dunn Family, 23, 24, 28, and
Currency:USD
Category:Collectibles / Militaria
Start Price:2,100.00 USD
Estimated At:3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD
Auction Date:2009 Jun 24 @ 10:00 (UTC-4 : AST/EDT)
Location:6270 Este Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, 45232, United States
1861-1919; 130 items, including 85 war-date letters (including 56 soldiers letters):
James H. Dunn, 1861-1863. 51st and 80th Indiana Infantry. 23 letters
Richard M. Dunn, 1861-1864. 33rd Indiana Infantry. 24 letters
Samuel L. Dunn remained home in Wheatland, Indiana, as his brothers, James and Richard, enlisted for military service in the Civil War. Handling the finances, the harvest and farm duties in James' absence, Sam carried on a long distance conversation that must have been repeated thousands of times during the 1860s.
While the 51st Indiana Infantry was being organized in Indianapolis, James wrote to boast about the good men the regiment had attracted (most of them anyway), I don’t think there is over 600 men in the regiment. They have a queer way of doing things there that is, sending out & bringing all those in who enlisted & failed to come & if they refuse to take the oath they are put to hard labor for sixty days, but I have not seen anyone who held out at work more than half hour, but you may tell the boys who enlisted & backed out that they will have to come up to the scratch anyhow...
The 51st was rushed into the field just in time to take part in the Battle of Shiloh (James' letter, if any, does not survive), and in the pursuit of Confederate forces to Corinth, Miss. Although James was laid out for some time with chronic diarrhea, he remained with the regiment as it returned to Tennessee and then Kentucky, chasing after Braxton Bragg and performing typical duty for western soldiers, appropriating chickens and houses for lodging. James described himself in April 1862 as a grizzled veteran and something of a fright to behold: I think I look like Lazarus in all respects except that of lying at the gate begging. I am as scabby & ragged as my worst enemy could wish me. I don’t want new clothes till I am ready to leave, which will be in a "few days." Discharged from the 51st in July 1862, he reenlisted in the 80th Indiana Infantry when it was organized in September.
The 80th returned to the old stomping grounds of the 51st and in October 1862, James found himself in combat again at the Battle of Perryville. What preoccupied his thoughts about the battle, however, was less the gore than the game one of his comrades seemed to be playing: I suppose David Pressnell has got home or will be by the time you get this letter and I expect he will tell some awful tales about the battle but he was careful enough to keep out of it himself and the worst is he left the reg and went and give himself up to the Rebels and got paroled and then started for home so you need not believe any of his yarns... In his next letter, James exhorted his brother I hope you will make him sick of it. Tell him of it every time you see him. We had some rebels to come and give themselves up to us. There was one that give himself up last night and was walking a long and fell dead in his tracks. They have just taken him a way... In his next letter, James recounts his return to the battlefield: it was a sight to see the men a laying all over the ground a good part of them was shot in the head. I did not see any of our men that was killed all that I saw were rebels. I don’t know how many there was killed out of our reg but there was several...
Like his brothers, much of Richard Dunn's service in the 33rd Indiana Infantry was spent in Kentucky and Tennessee. During its first two years of duty, the regiment was not among the most active, and Richard's letters have less of an edge as he describes the kind treatment they received from union families in the south -- better than they were treated in Indiana, he adds. It was, however, war, and in a fascinating letter from March 1862, Richard describes an effort by Lexington secessionists to bury a Confederate lieutenant killed at Fort Donelson under seces onners of war... the union people of the citty gave us the news and there was about 300 of us went to the sitty to stop it and when wee got there they found that they was caught. Then they sayd that they was knot going to bury him till the next day but wee told them that they had it to do then or wee would do it for them. So then they brought him out and there was about 500 of them marched out after the corps. We ascertained how many of them was his relatives then wee formed a line across the street and stopped the ballance of them so there was a mad looking set of them, but they did not raise the seces flag over him for wee marched to the grave year and done it to soot ourselves... The next day, a small mob tried to surround a union soldier and knife him, but he managed to shoot one of the attackers three times and drive the rest off.
The highlight of Richard Dunn's letters are several good descriptions of the Cumberland Gap Campaign in the late spring and summer 1862. On May 30, he writes wee maid an advance on the Gap a few days ago to see what wee would learn about it and it scared them so they reinforsed the Gap with 15 thousand more men from Knoxville so wee then fell back two miles and went to fortifying so in about 48 hours wee was ready for them, but they wase afraid to try us... July 4: After some 12 days hard marching thinking that we would get to try our Rifles at the Rebels at the Gap but they could knot stand the idie of us coming in such clost quarters of them on every side so they new it was e fight or runn, so running was their preference to fiting, so they left on the knight of the 17tth and wee marched in to the Gap on the eavening of the 18th and taking persesen of their great fortified Mountain buy making the hold Mountain trimble buy the reports of our cannons and the loud cheers of many wearied soldiers. They left 5 of their large guns on the Mountain with the wheels of them chopped to the ground and the guns spiked. They were all 64 pound morters...
The 33rd gained a measure of fame, or infamy, in March 1863, when nearly the entire outfit was surrounded by Confederate forces at the battle of Thompsons Station and taken prisoner. Richard managed to escape: two letters describing the battle, 7pp and 3pp I am still in good health and all so our company is all right yet but the balance of our regiment is gone at last, all taken prisoners and killed together in fact all of our Brigad is gone but five companys...that was left back to guard a bridge on the railroad...the cause of all of them beaing taken was by one of our old trater generals [Henry C. Gilbert] he stood back with a strong forse of Men and would knot reinforse Conel Cobern when he sent for them. Cobern was commanding the Brigad and fought them for 6 hours and cut his way out twist and they surrounded our Men again and they had runn our of ammunition by that time so then they killed them with their bayonets and about that time the Rebels made a charg on them with a large forse of cavalry [Nathan Bedford Forrest's] beside two Regments of Negrows that charged on at the same time so our men was wornt out and was ablige to surrender to them... In the second letter, he clarifies one point: I stated in my other letter to you that there ware a Negro Regiments fought our Men but it appears as they were Indians in stead of Negrows. At a low point in his service in October, Richard describes near mutiny of men who refuse to march until paid off.
An additional ten letters in the collection were written by relatives or friends in other Indiana regiments, mostly written in the early phases of the war: two are from C.B. Long (also 51st Indiana) and two from Michael A. Nixon, 26th Indiana, one of which was written during Fremont's advance on Springfield, Mo., the other complaining in Jan 1862: While inactivity is the very cause that weakens our army, still our gen.s fail to make a forward movement. Already our army has been weakened by inactivity. Every day we remain inactive strengthens our enemies enables them to become more ferocious and animating in the movements and causes our army to move with less vigor and alacrity...
Also included : 28 war-date letters of Virginia Allen and Samuel Dunn in Indiana; 7 patriotic covers, depicting Monitor and Merrimac fight; soldiers in firing position; and Kentucky; some post-war family correspondence; a handful of receipts and news clippings; and two WWI letters from a descendent C.S. Marmaduke, who had recently enlisted in the army.
Condition: Some wear and tear, particularly to the covers, separation at folds on some letters, but generally in good condition.
Auction Location:
6270 Este Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, 45232, United States
Previewing Details:
Tuesday, June 23, 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday, June 24 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Taxes:
| Tax | Rate | Desc. |
| Ohio |
5.5% |
Ohio State Tax |
Buyer's Premiums:
| From (Incl.) | To (Excl.) | Premium |
| 0.00 |
Infinite |
17.5% |
Additional Fees:
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