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"The bugle blows...."

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:137.00 USD Estimated At:275.00 - 350.00 USD
 The bugle blows....
Pair of letters of Connecticut officer and future P.O.W. A(ndrew) Upson, (20th Conn. Infantry). His men among the last to retreat at the disaster at Chancellorsville, Upson was captured, but quickly paroled. One of the first to arrive at Gettysburg, the 20th Conn. stood at the front of their line of battle for seven hours, sustaining heavy losses. Fairfax Court House (Va.), Dec. 14 (1861), 5 x 8, 1 1/4 pp. In pencil. To his wife in Plantsville, Conn. "We have just arrived here on our March from Harpers Ferry. I seize a few moments while we are halted to drop you a line. We have got along pretty well though it has come pretty tough on some of the boys. I stayed with Uncle Lancelot's people Fri. night. We happened to encamp within 4 miles of his place...Got permission to go on & remain until the brigade came by next day. They are well and much more cheerful than would be expected considering all their trouble...This (letter) I shall give to a Vermonter whose regt. is encamped here ...Don't know where we are going. Some day(s) Dumfries on the Potomac, others to Fredericksburg...The bugle blows." Some lighter passages due to his pencil, but entirely legible, some pocket stains at right portion, else about very good. * "Camp near Fairfax Sta.," Jan. 31, 1862, 4 3/4 x 7 3/4, 4 full pp. In rich brown ink. Complaining of the postal "servants of Dear Uncle Sam. We had 3 mails yesterday & out of all I got at last one...We learn that Smith's body reached home...Where are all my correspondents? Seems to me I have written enough to receive more letters...H.D. Smith has put us in a rather tight place. Gifts are strange things in our experience. You will have to apologize to him, I guess for some of your jollys & pokes at him. I hope the children will show proper respect for him...It did me good to hear so favorable a report of your management in business matters...Tell me how much the big hog weighed & whether you have laid in enough for your own use. Also how many oats are carried to Dea Fairchild & whether you will have any corn left after fattening the hogs...Confound it, I should like to lie down on the lounge & have a good chat with you. You can't imagine how strange men from home look in citizens clothes. We see nothing but military rigs & anyone dressed as at home is a curiosity...I hope you may have a blessed happy new year...I wish it were possible to send you some tokens & also the children. But there is nothing here save old poor pine cones...Good night. It would be a good one if we could unite in bidding the old year farewell & commence the new one with our country's cause triumphant & all things settled." Upson didn't see the end of the war; wounded in 1864 at Tracy City, Tenn., he succumbed to his wounds. Service history accompanies. Uniform file toning of last page, else very fine. * Dark cream envelope to his wife, apparently from a local correspondent, Plantsville c.d.s., Jan. 6 (1863), postage stamp sound, some toning, else about very good. (3 pcs.)