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AMERICANA

SPECIALIZING IN ORIGINAL CIVIL WAR MEMORABILIA

What's New!

The Greatest Lifelong Collection of Civil War Battle Letters is going up at auction on December 6th.

These are the “Best of the Best”!

To view the collection please visit: www.HA.com. Under the Departments drop-down menu, select Historical and then Civil War. Scroll down the page and you can view the online catalog. On this site you can register and bid online on December 6th.

Don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity. It will be a great reference tool also.

Over 100 battle letters… all available for your collection!

A Great “Diary Type” Item from the 101st Indiana Infantry – John H. Gray Writes a 36 Page Summary of his War Experiences from August 1861 through September 1863 – “STILL THEY POURED THEIR SHELL INTO US BURSTING ON EVERY SIDE.” – “WE DROVE OUR CARRIAGES OVER THE DEAD AND DYING AS IT WAS TOO HOT TO TURN ASIDE FOR THEM.” NOTE: John Gray’s descriptions are so detailed about camp life that this material could (and should) be used in a magazine article or be included in a regimental history… it’s that good!

Here is a Cute, Short Letter that John H. Gray of the 101st Indiana Infantry Wrote to his Little Sister Anna When He Left for War

Grouping of 9 Letters from William H. Gray, Sutler Assistant & then a Member of the 131st Ohio Infantry

Chancellorsville Battle Letter from James K. Lewis, 16^th North Carolina Infantry – As Featured in Civil War Times – He would be Killed 1 Month Later at the Battle of Gettysburg!

1803 “Servant” Slave Badge – The Finest “C. PRINCE” Tag We Have Offered

An Amazing Letter from Private Richard C. Johnson, Hampton Legion Cavalry – You’ve Got to See How “Hard Up” He was for Paper!

Confederate Letter Written on Captured Union Stationery with Union Patriotic Envelope – From Soldier in the Virginia Salem Flying Light Artillery – William E. Hubbert Writes his Wounded Friend William McCauley of the 42nd Virginia

Long, Large Letter from the 3rd Maine Infantry, Birney’s Brigade – 20 Miles from Richmond – Sgt. Hannibal A. Johnson Writes a Great Letter about the Battle of Williamsburg: “Half of their men were killed by the bayonets of our boys for the rain had rendered half of the guns useless…” – “THE WOUNDED COULD BE HEARD MOANING IN PAIN, FOR IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET OFF ALL OUR WOUNDED” – “THE ROAD AND FIELD WAS COVERED WITH THE BODIES OF FRIENDS AND FOE ALL DEAD” – “Some of these poor fellows were so deep in the mud and water that we could not tell whether they were our men or not”

8th Virginia Infantry Letter on the Death of Stonewall Jackson! – Lt. Col. Charles B. Tebbs Writes from Richmond, May 11th, 1863 - “HE IS FAR BETTER OFF THAN HE WAS HERE, AND MAYBE GOD TOOK HIM BECAUSE WE WERE DEPENDING MORE UPON A SOLDIER AND OUR GENERALS FOR VICTORY THAN UPON GOD.”

9th Michigan Cavalry Letter by Sergt. William Butler – Describes the Pursuit of Morgan & the Battle of Buffington Island - “I did not wish to waste shots and so got but one opportunity to fire. It was at a single man and judging from the blood splattered on the corn through which he passed, the shot must have taken effect.” – The Best Account of Fighting Morgan that we have seen!

1st Delaware Infantry (A scarce regiment to find letters from) – Sergt. Major John W. Barney Writes in route to Gettysburg while camped on the Bull Run Battlefield – “I am sitting on the tombstone of a Confederate Soldier that once belonged to the 2nd Mississippi Regiment”

1st New York Mounted Rifles – Letter from Henry C. Smith – “Head Quarters Army of the James” – INCLUDES A DRAWING OF THEIR LOG HOUSE

Letter Written by Workers (Probably Female) at the Confederate Fayetteville Armory in Fayetteville, N.C. August 10th, 1861 – “We are now altering old Hall’s Rifles to Carbines”

Stonewall Jackson Related: One of the Coolest Little Items in our Collection – A Ticket on the James River & Kanawha Canal from Lynchburg to Lexington… The Exact Trip of Stonewall Jackson’s “Going Home” after being Killed

5th Michigan Infantry - Lt. John J. Knox - THREE LETTERS: May 8th & 10th, 1862 & June 5th, 1862 - Williamsburg, West Point, Va. & Hospital after being Wounded at Fair Oaks - The Peninsula Campaign

13th Iowa Regiment – John Armsted Writes an Amazing 16 Page Letter from Vicksburg, Miss. September 22nd, 1863 – Describes the Negro’s Role in the Battle of Milliken’s Bend – “The colored troops bursted out on the Rebel horde like a thunderbolt” …in less than 10 minutes had sold possession of the field. “AFTER THE FIGHT WAS OVER, OUR NEGRO SOLDIERS BAYONETTED THE WOUNDED REBS AND THEN (TO USE THE NEGROES STYLE OF SPEAKING) PLANTED THEM.” + Great Mention of Famous Iowa Nurse Annie Turner Wittenmyer

Document from the Major of the Confederate Choctaw & Chickasaw Regiment of Mounted Rifles!

Brady CDV of Professor Lowe Reconnoitering at the Battle of Fair Oaks – A Great View of the Professor up in his Balloon getting Confederate Positions for General McClellan + a 1-Page Song Sheet “Fair Oaks Battle” Dedicated to the Gallant 23rd Pa. Regt. – Look Great Framed together

Letter from Corp. Arthur M. Stone, 34th Mass. Infantry: Appomattox Court House, The Death of President Lincoln, “A piece of the apple tree under which General Lee surrendered his sword to General Grant” & “Some Confederate money which I got from some of the prisoners of Lee’s army. Some of them gave it away and some would sell it for a cent on a dollar” – RELICS INCLUDED!

Estate Document from the Famous Woodbine Plantation along the Banks of the Satilla River in Georgia – One of the Largest Plantations in the 1830’s – Lists Inventory of Equipment including “57 Pair of Negro Shoes”!

From Our Charleston Collection: 3 Currier & Ives of Great Charleston Themes: 2 Views of the Bombardment of Fort Sumter & 1 View of “The Great Fight at Charleston, S.C. April 7th, 1863”

For the Gettysburg Collector – A Tremendous Listing of all the Makeshift Hospitals Set Up to Treat the Wounded after the Battle. The Gettysburg Gas Company Sends the List of Charges Due – SIGNED BY THE HEAD OF THE GAS COMPANY, DAVID McCONAUGHY, WHO WAS ALSO HEAD OF THE GETTYSBURG SPIES…WHO BUFORD MET FIRST WHEN HE CAME INTO TOWN TO FIND OUT THE CONFEDERACY’S PLAN!

96th Pa. Infantry Letter Written After Gettysburg by Daniel Faust – “AT GETTYSBURG… WE WENT DOUBLE QUICK IN THE FIGHT, AND I FEEL I COULD RUN RIGHT THROUGH THE REBELS.”

The Finest Description of a Civil War Execution that we have read – Letter by James C. Stuart of the 7th Indiana Infantry Witnessing the Execution of a Poor Man in the 19th Indiana “Iron Brigade” for Cowardice – “I HAVE STOOD WHERE BULLETS FLEW THICK & FAST & SEEN MEN LITERALLY TORN TO PIECES, BUT I NEVER FELT AS I DID WHEN THIS POOR MAN WAS MURDERED, FOR I CAN CALL IT NOTHING ELSE.”

107th Illinois – Letter by Elias Brady – Subject: Chasing Rebel Raider John H. Morgan – “WE SENT THEM BACK THE ROAD THEY CAME WITH SHELLS AND GRAPE SHOT FOLLOWING AFTER THEM”

20th Indiana Infantry – A Hard Fought Regiment Reaches its Final Goal at Appomattox Court House – Letter by David R. Cottrell - “THE SURRENDER WAS MADE APRIL 9TH, AND I DON'T THINK THAT DAY WILL EVER BE FORGOTTEN BY THOSE THAT WERE PRESENT. IT APPEARED TO ME THAT EVERY MAN IN THE ARMY HAD GONE WILD.”

7th Mass. Light Artillery – An Inexpensive Letter Mentioning Christmas & Playing Football! Corporal Newman W. Storer – “Our Regiment had a Christmas dinner, given us by the Colonel's wife of chickens and butter, and we enjoyed ourselves first rate.”

57th PA. Infantry – Thomas C. Zahniser Gives a Great, Graphic Description of the Start of the Peninsula Campaign – “THEIR LIMBS WERE TORN FROM THEM AND THEIR ENTRAILS WERE HANGING OUT.”

Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens Writes from the First Capitol of the Confederacy, Montgomery, Alabama

Relic from the Famous U.S.S. Kearsarge which Sank the Confederate Raider Alabama – Came Out of a Museum, with Great Original Tag

100th Pa. Soldier E. F. S. Pinkerton Writes Home on His Way by Ship to South Carolina. “Thought our vessel was gone forever”… He Survived but 9 Months Later Drowned When His Ship Went Down on the Potomac River! “We got lots of Negros as captives. They like it first rate, they know they are free. I will send you a piece of cotton as it grows here.” – And it is enclosed!

Reunion Souvenir from the 121st New York Volunteers & the 5th Maine Regiment Reunion September 29th, 1885 – They were Brigaded together

A Very Rare Early War Date (5 days after the war began) ALS by Confederate General States Rights Gist Requesting Arms for the famed Lexington Rifle Corps, which became Co. B., 15th South Carolina Infantry – Gist would be killed at the battle of Franklin, Tennessee

Nice 3rd Rhode Island Volunteer Artillery Document from Hilton Head, S.C. Signed by 2 Captains, the Colonel Commanding the Post & by Major General Quincy A. Gillmore

2 Historic Documents from the City of New York – The “Tweed Ring of Corruption” – Documents Signed by 3 of the 4 Members of the Ring!

Great Little Souvenir Found in Vienna, Va. Camp of the CS General Kershaw's Palmetto Guard by Robert F. Smith, Co. K, 49th New York Infantry

Original Standard Issue Civil War Cup

2 Letters, Battle of Fredericksburg – Colonel John F. Pierson, 1st New York Infantry – “The groans & cries of the wounded resounded on the air… for two days and two nights did several hundred wounded men lie upon the ground exposed to cold and calling for a little water for the love of God” – “One round shot struck a man near me, and tearing him into two parts, sent half whirling in different directions.”

Confederate General R. S. Ripley Writes from Charleston, S.C. on April 25th, 1861 regarding Requisitions for Fort Sumter – They are to be sent over on THE STEAMER PLANTER…The Ship that Negro Slave Robert Smalls Stole 17 Days Later!

99th Pa. Infantry – William J. Dougall Describes Battles at Auburn, Bristow Station, Fairfax Court House, Bull Run, and best of all, A BULLET GOING THROUGH “THAT RED PATCH… ON THE TOP OF THE CAP” (Corps Badge: 3rd Corps, 1st Division, Red Diamond)

14th Illinois Cavalry – Major David Quigg Writes Home from Prison in Charleston, S.C. After His Capture in Athens, Georgia – Includes P.O.W. Envelope

Brig. General Q. A. Gillmore’s Official Thanks to the Troops on the Fall of Battery Wagner & Gregg (Where the Black 54th Mass. had Charged)

Our Favorite Runaway Slave Broadside - $50 REWARD for a Slave Named Zada – Dated Nov. 19th, 1852 this Slave is Similar to Eliza in Uncle Tom’s Cabin!

5th Vermont Battle Letter – Lee’s Mill, Va. – Amos B. Hawley of Co. B – Sends Home a “Secesh Postage Stamp” – Bodies “unburied by the Rebels after being robbed of their clothing and brutally bayoneted and punched with sticks”

A Quite Amazing 27th Connecticut Battle Letter from the Battle of Fredericksburg – George S. Hill Describes being Hit there 3 Times & with a Piece of Shell Still Stuck Between his Eyes. His Overcoat had 9 Bullet Holes in it!

THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG, “BURNSIDES SLAUGHTER HOUSE” – LETTER & HAND DRAWN MAP BY SGT. RICHARD CROCKETT, 19TH MAINE INFANTRY – “MOST OF THE HOUSES BURNT UP OR RIDDLED WITH CANNON BALLS”

Fredericksburg Battle Letter Written by Ellis C. Strouss, Co. K, 57th PA. Infantry

Sailor Pardon (Horace) Spencer Writes from the USS Augusta , Port Royal, S.C. – “Hilton Head is a one-horse town”

Great Souvenir - Sent in a Rebel Envelope! 101st Illinois Infantry Soldiers Letter - Savannah, Georgia Has Been Captured - "Our grand reviews have all been held in the streets of this beautiful city" - Praises Discipline of Sherman's 20th Corps, Slocum, Howard.... and Carelessness of Kilpatrick's Cavalry "As if they were looking for chickens!" - Meets Sherman Walking in the City!

Finest Cahaba Prison Letter & Cover Known - Adam Bahn Co. B 102nd Ohio Vol. - Captured by CS General Forrest - Died When the Steamship Sultana Blew Up! - THE GREATEST MARITIME DISASTER IN U.S. HISTORY!

Currier & Ives Original Print “The Surrender of Genl. Joe Johnston Near Greensboro, N.C. April 26th, 1865” – Shows General Sherman & Johnston

One of the Famous Fred Fleet Letters, 26th Virginia Infantry, Wappoo Creek, S.C. November 1st, 1863 – As Quoted in the Book, “Green Mount, A Virginia Plantation Family During the Civil War”

18th Virginia Infantry – William Robert Elam, Wounded & Captured in Picket’s Charge, Writes from Johnson’s Island, Ohio

One of the First Newspaper Reports of the Custer Massacre, "Horrible Butchery!!" - From the Coldwater Semi-Weekly Republican, July 7th, 1876

Confederate Imprint: Miller’s Planters’ & Merchants’ STATE RIGHTS ALMANAC FOR 1863 – An Amazing Source Listing the Entire Government of the Confederate States, All the Officers of the Courts, Commissioners, Military Schools, Colleges… Even Every Member of the Police in the City of Charleston… All the Charleston Bank Officers, Rail Road Officers… 30 Pages of Reference Material + Listing of Battle Victories, etc. – A Wealth of Information!

U.S. Steamer Augusta, South Atlantic Blockading Squadron Off Charleston, S.C. – Fighting the Confederate Ironclads Chicora & Palmetto State, “We received one 9 inch shell through our vessel… the shot and shell flew around us for a time.”

U.S. Steamer Augusta Off Charleston, May 22nd, 1863 – Letter from Pardon Spencer – Great Description of the Union Ironclad “Little Monitors”, Capturing a “Contraband” & Chasing Blockade Runners. At Port Royal: “I saw one white woman the last time I was there. She had only one eye and perhaps a wooden leg.”

Great Little "Headquarters Army of the Potomac" Pass - December 12th, 1861

Broadside - Triumphal March of Sherman's Army into Atlanta, and Subsequent Movements in Verse - Composed and Respectfully Dedicated to the Heroes of the Georgia Campaigns, By W. F. Wilder, 18th Wisconsin Infantry

Written from the 1st Capitol of the Confederacy - Montgomery, AL. April 24th, 1861 - Confederate Cavalry Colonel E. K. Smith Receives His "Marching Orders" - Signed by S. Cooper for the Secretary of War

War Date Letter on the Stationery of Larrabee & North, Dealers in Military Goods, No. 174 Lake Street, Chicago – Display Shows Hats, Swords, Saddles and Insignia – THE LETTER CONCERNS THE PRICES OF MILITARY BUTTONS

An Amazing Relic Found in Charleston, S.C. after Hurricane Hugo in September 1989 - Has to do with Surgeon John Drayton “In charge of Negro laborers on James Island”

WWII “Safe Conduct” Leaflet – German Soldiers have Opportunity to Give Up – Signed in Type by Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Aligned Expeditionary Forces

A Great WWII Photo of VE Day Somewhere in France - Can you help identify the city?

Song Sheet / Writing Paper - Battle of Cedar Creek, October 19th, 1864 - By C. A. Savage, Co. K, 8th Indiana

Song Sheet - "Sherman's Campaign, '64-65. Words by G. P. Hardwick" - Multi Color with 6 Different Corps Badges at the Top

Pass Issued by Gen. McClellan & Signed by James A. Hardie - To the "Picnic" at the Battle of Bull Run!

1st New Jersey Brigade Broadside - Col. A. T. A. Torbet Thanks His Soldiers for their Victory at Crampton's Pass, Md. - September 14th, 1862 - "Your advance in line of battle, under a galling artillery fire and final bayonet charge, was a feet seldom if ever surpassed."

1st New Jersey Graphic Battle of Bull Run Letter Written by Sergt. Albert F. Sharp – Written on Scarce Patriotic Stationery – “The Southerners behaved more like barbarous than civilized men. Beside burning our hospital and bayonetting our wounded on the field.”

ALS – Confederate General Henry A. Wise, Charleston, S.C. September 20th, 1863 – Gen. Wise Stays at the Mill’s House Hotel and Meets with Gen. Beauregard!

Important Confederate Telegram Regarding the Famous Confederate Submarines, or “Torpedo Boats”

From our Black History/Slavery Collection: Two Early 6 Inch Plates Featuring Slaves

Letter from W. J. Wilson of the 1st New York Engineers Writes to the Colt Arms Company -He wants to buy a colt revolving rifle with telescopic site!

Letter by J. B. Witherspoon Phillips, Company A 18th Battalion, South Carolina Artillery – His Beautiful Uniform is Pictured All Over the Internet!

Check From “The Bank of Indian Territory, Guthrie, Okla.” – Nice Indian Vignette

WAGON BOX FIGHT – Document Signed by Capt. James Powell 18th U.S. Infantry

In Early War Charleston, S.C., Col. Lemuel M. Hatch of the South Carolina Militia Writes to Gen. Beauregard Regarding the North’s Preparations for War – Great Content

War Date Letter from South Carolina General Wilmot Gibbes De Saussure - Written on Official State of South Carolina Executive Office Stationery - Docketed on the back by Governor Pickens

Two Stereoview Cards of the Famous Mill’s House Hotel in Charleston, S.C. – The First Before the Severe Union Shelling & the Second, How it Looked after the Bombardment!

Scarce CDV of Lt. Col. James M. Sanderson Who Wrote the Book “My Record in Rebellion” (About Libby Prison) – He was Commissary of Subsistence, 1st Army Corps

Book Written by Abner Doubleday, Reminiscences of Forts Sumter & Moultrie in 1860-61

CDV & Docketed Cover of Hon. Clement L. Vallandigham… Known as “The Great Copperhead of Ohio” in the North & “Apostle of Liberty” in the South – Banished from the Union for His Southern Sentiment

The 10th, 12th & 16th Mississippi Vols. Order Shoes (Brogans) from a Fancy New Orleans Dealer – Great Stationery!

98th Ohio Infantry Battle Letter – Marietta, Ga. July 1st, 1864 – “A truce was had to bury our dead. It was a sad task and a hard one as the smell was sickening.”

“Camp 99th O.V.I. near Atlanta, Ga. July 15th, 1864” – “Sherman is still drawing them on down the railroad until he has got them almost all together out of Atlanta”