Original Civil War Letters/20th Indiana Infantry/Cottrell To Danville, Illinois

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Original Civil War Letters/20th Indiana Infantry/Cottrell To Danville, Illinois:
$316.11

This sale is for a group of original Civil War Letters written by a man named David R. Cottrell; who joined the 20th Indiana Infantry Volunteers; Company \"H\"; at Marion County, Indiana. He mustered out on July 22nd, 1861. He was writing his letters to his sister; Nancy D. Cottrell; who was living in Danville, Illinois at the time. It shows his company was re-organized and he mustered out (again?) in 1865 as a veteran; and a sergt. living in Danville, Illinois. I don\'t believe this is a complete collection of the letters he wrote his sister; as the envelopes don\'t necessarily match up with the dates on the letters (unless they were mailed at different times when they could finally be mailed). The letters span from November of 1861; when he was at Fort Clark in North Carolina....to April of 1865 when he was at the headquarters of Company \"H\". He talks about a major storm hitting Fort Clark in 1861; covering the island with 4 feet of water and washing away their clothes and such. He mentions a J.R. Spaulding mail steamer in the letter as well. He tries to comfort his sister in most of the letters; telling her his health is well; except for the letter of the bad storm. He talks about men dying or being killed. He talks; graphically; about a couple men getting their brains blown out onto his face; which he had to go and wash off. Other items or names mentioned in the letters are: J.A. Ford; marching for days; men where sun struck and died on the road for the want of help; have taken some prisoners and sent them to Washington; General Wards Headquarters; death of July(Julie?) Woods; Joseph Allen; Terry and Fred Albright are dead; Mr. Fry; John Palmer; eating hard crackers and pork fat; General Wood?; James A. Ford; proud to think that I have lived long enough to see the old Flag wave over Richmond & Petersburg and still more it waves over the proud army of northern virginia the army we have been fighting for almost four years but at last was compelled to surrender to its old foe the army of the potomac on April 9; farmersville; birksville; I think we are waiting on the surrender of Johnson\'s Army to Sherman; Camp Hamilton; Newport News; let me know the names of the boys shot in the fight at Fort Donelson; John Andrews at Springfield, Illinois; well you wanted to know how I felt to see the wounded and dead men it only makes a man feel like fighting the smell of blood and powder makes a man perfectly mad on the first day of the battle there was several men killed Wool was killed by my side they was both struck in the head and their brains flew in my face so I was abliged to stop and wash my face(my own translation/it may not be exactly word for word); (from a partial letter)the south is played out they have lost their railroads and the cities that was of any importance to them except Wilmington and they can\'t change that all together when our men is in sight of the works they haven\'t got force enough to hold any time, so I think their hopes is getting very little of gaining their independence , they are lost forever, they can never rise again(once again; my own translating that may or may not be exactly accurate).......One of the envelopes has a postmark from \"Old Point Comfort\" in Virginia; while the others have a Washington D.C. postmark. .....Somebody has tried to transcribe the letters over the years, a few different times; and I will include those papers; but can\'t guarantee their accuracy. All items are infairly good condition for their age with signs of wear and handling; which may include several of the following blemishes/damages, so examine the photos above before placing your offers:Surface wear and blemishes; envelope wear and damage; creases; soiling/staining; tearing to pages/tape; other blemishes and wear; etc.Winning buyer pays $6.00 shipping in the U.S. by Paypal please within 3 days of sale ending; or item will be offered to next highest buyer. The only exceptions are if you email me in advance and I give an ok for a longer payment time. Shipping charges include packing materials that will insure safe delivery to you. Please keep this in mind when paying for your shipping charges. If you have any questions about shipping charges, please ask before offerding! Good luck offerding!!