1862 Manuscript Civil War Soldier's Letter 8 Pages On Ship Kitty Simpson For Sale

---

The 5th Rhode Island Infantry was organized at Providence, Rhode Island as a battalion of five companies and mustered in December 16, 1861. An additional five companies were raised afterward and mustered in December 27, 1862. After being mustered in on December 16, 1861, Benjamin F. Drown was aboard the large transport Kitty Simpson with his Regiment, the 5th Rhode Island Volunteers by the middle of January, 1862. The transport made its' way through Chesapeake Bay to Hatteras Inlet. The opening phase of what came to be called the Burnside Expedition, the Battle of Roanoke Island was an amphibious operation of the American Civil War, fought on February 7–8, 1862, in the North Carolina Sounds a short distance south of the Virginia border.

This Civil War Letter was written on board the Ship Kitty Simpson and is dated January 10th, 1862. It was written by Private Benjamin F. Drown of Company C., 5th Regiment Rhode Island Infantry to his Mother. It is written on two 4 page folded letter sheets and each page measures approx. 5" x 8"; the manuscript covers nearly all of the surface of all eight pages.

Drown begins his letter by describing his current situation to his Mother. In his own words:

"We are lying at anchor in a dense mist of fog waiting for fair weather. The rest of the fleet are ahead of us. We passed one of the ships last eve that had run ashore so we dropped anchor and have been lying here ever since."

Drown then goes on to describe the ship and his first nights at sea:

"We left Annapolis Wednesday noon and embarked on board of the Ship we are in called the Kitty Simpson. She is a fine clipper nearly new. Wednesday night the first night we were on board I wish...you could have had a peek at us. You would have laughed I guess. Here we were about 400 of us between decks with bed and baggage. When it was time for us to go to bed such a confusion you never saw. It was get off my feet, get off my hair, where is my canteen, where is my blanket, etc. After some of them got quietly laid down there was a storm commenced of throwing beds and that was kept for one hour. Some was underneath and some was on top and beds was flying in all directions...it was two o'clock in the morning before we got finally laid down. Last night I had a trial of a soldier's life. It was the first time since I have left that I felt sick. I was on guard when they went to bed so I lost my bed and tried to crawl in somewhere else, but I happened to get on someone's feet and I got a cursing for it so...I took up my birth on the stairs that went on to the deck but there was so much travelling up and down that I had to get out of that...I got up and stood between the ship mast and one of the posts that hold up the deck. Here I slept until 12 o'clock when someone woke me up and then I turned in on one of the Co.s chests and made out to half sleep until morning."

Drown tells his Mother that he has been assisting the Quartermaster Sergeant in writing, and thinks he will have the opportunity to be his clerk. He also speaks of one of the men of the Battalion dying in his tent before they left, and of his burial in the Soldier's Burying Ground.

Next Drown writes:

"I heard this morning that we should be on board 3 weeks. Don't know where we are going...The Fourth are one of the Reg't.s that are with us. There is about 1500 troops in the fleet. It was a beautiful sight when they passed down by us yesterday morning. Most of the Bands were playing Dixie and other patriotic tunes."

Drown concludes his letter by sending good wishes to various family members, giving directions as to where his next mail should be sent, and mentioning his steady diet of Hard Bread and Salt Beef. And then:

"I will offer you Good By, From Your Affectionate Son, Benjamin F. Drown"

This very rare, original Civil War Soldier's Letter is in very good to excellent condition. The sheets are clean and crisp and the handwriting is dark and bold - neat and legible.

A rare and fascinating, original, 1862 manuscript Civil War Soldier's letter and a fantastic addition to any collection!!!

Overseasshippping is extra and cost will be quoted at buyers request. Massachusetts residents must add 6.25% sales tax.

Please check out other early and interesting items offered by this seller on . Click Here to See Our Items We Have for Sale in the Gallery and Click Here to Add Us To Your Favorite Sellers List

Click Here to Discover More About this Item and Many Others on Our New Informational / Non-Commercial / Reference Blog - Walnutts.com.

Important Notes about Shipping Charges:

The amount quoted for Shipping & Handling is calculated by and is equal to the EXACT amount charged by the Post Office plus a $1.00 "packing fee" - the $1.00 fee is our only compensation for the virgin packing materials we use on all of our professionally packaged boxes as well as our cost for the salaried help that does most of our packing - as I am sure you can see, we make NO profit on the Shipping charges and, in fact, our costs are usually greater than the $1.00 fee. Please contact us if there are any issues regarding the cost of shipping.

.

This item has been shown 141 times. 1862 Manuscript Civil War Soldier's Letter 8 Pages On Ship Kitty Simpson: $34