150 Years Ago (1864 9/27)

by BusyMom | History | 1982 Views

(Post marked Martinsburg, W. Va. Oct. 1, 1864)

 6th Vt. Vols. Spt. 27, 1864.

Madam –

 It is with very sad heart that I inform you of the death of your husband. He was killed in action Sept. 19th, at the battle of Winchester during the last charge made by our Regt; A canister shot passing through his breast. His last words were, “I am a dead man.” We were in a great hurry at the time and I did not see him fall and did not learn of it until after the excitement was over. His things were all lost much to my sorrow. Although he had been with us but a short time, we had all learned to respect and honor him as a man. As a soldier he was ever ready to do his duty in any and every case, always looking on the bright side, no matter how dark the prospect. The whole company deeply sympathize in this your great loss. We drop a tear in memory of him and add another to the already long list that have gone before us, gone in a great and noble cause, nobly doing their duty.

 Very respectfully,

Your Obt Servant,

E. H. Nye,

Lt. Comd’g. Co. D.

6th Vt. Vols.

 

Mrs. Charles Blake.

Comments | 3

  • Submitted by cgrotke on September 28, 2014 at 12:13 pm

    Charles

    I nice letter about a sad occasion.

    Quite the final words, eh?

    So is this the end of the story? Do we find out how Mrs. Blake carried on?

    If this is the end, we need to ask you some questions about this whole series of letters….

    • Submitted by BusyMom on September 28, 2014 at 6:58 pm

      Just one more letter

      But you’ll have to wait until 150 years from its original writing! Don’t worry, it won’t be a long wait.

  • Submitted by Rolf on September 28, 2014 at 12:31 pm

    In a previous life

    In a previous life, I worked in the Shenandoah National forest, near Luray and Winchester. I actually hiked in the Massanutten Mountains, where Early had a tower that was used to try to spy on the Union troop movements.

    http://www.shenandoahatwar.org/The-History/The-Campaigns/Sheridan-s-1864-Shenandoah-Campaign

    I did not know, until today, the link between Brattleboro and those specific sites of my memory, even though I have seen the names Cedar Creek, Savages Station, Winchester and others, on the civil war monument.

    Thank you very much for posting all of this.

    Do you have other great material to release?

    I personally am most interested in Brattleboro of the 1870’s, and when I walk around town, see things through the lens that I have acquired, thinking about the somewhat famous and not so famous people of that era.

    Thanks again,

    Sincerely,

    Rolf

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