U.S. And C.S.A. Postal History and General Foreign Stamps and Covers continued...

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A WONDERFUL AND EXTREMELY DETAILED CORRESPONDECE FROM A SOLDIER WHO SAW ACTION THROUGHOUT THE WAR AND FOUGHT AT FREDERICKSBURG, GETTYSBURG AND THE WILDERNESS. A GROUP WITH SIGNIFICANT HISTORICAL INTEREST.

Sgt. Bronson was an erudite and eloquent writer and the letters betray a sophistication of thinking and an appreciation for political and moral issues (if not a firm grasp of grammar and spelling). Among the many fascinating references in the letters is the battle and aftermath of Sharpsburg (Antietam), the replacement of Gen. George B. McClellan, the battle of Fredericksburg, the lead-up to the Battle of Gettysburg, "many are of the opinion that they are trying to make another forward move toward Maryland or Washington", a detailed account of being taken prisoner on the first day of Gettysburg, being sent as a POW to Bell Isle prison camp, a letter from Camp Parole in Maryland (and a sometimes bitter discussion through several letters of why he had not acted dishonorably in being captured), a discussion of the Battle of the Wilderness and being wounded, "after firing 18 rounds at Johnny Reb I received a bad wound in the lower part of my breast", a discussion of his convalescence and watching the electoral votes for Lincoln's re-election being counted in Congress, and a reference to the Sept. 1865 trial of Major Henry Wirz, Confederate commander of the infamous Andersonville prison, "the Wirz trial still seems to engross a large portion of the public attention. The prisoner grows weaker every day and should the trial continue much longer fear that the gallows will be cheated of its lawful prey"(Wirz was executed by hanging shortly thereafter).

There are many fascinating and telling quotes in the letters that reveal Bronson's and certainly many other soldiers feelings on the army leadership, Union and slavery. In one he writes As to the removal of Gen McClellan the soldiers are en mass” opposed to it but they are willing to give Gen Burnside a fair trial." About Burnside, he writes "Gen Burnside is ambitious and will probably make his own plans and not follow the plans of other generals wholly notwithstanding they were equil. if not superior to his own…" On the Union and slavery he continues in the same letter on the necessity that "the two great cardinal points of every lover of humanity is accomplished. i.e. the restoration of the Union and the down fall of slavery...sooner or later the issue must be met -- freedom or slavery must fall...may this war never close until one gains ascendancy over the other and may it never be settled in a manner so that the same evil will be meted out to coming posterity in a ten fold ration".

In describing an encounter and debate with a pro-Confederate Virginia woman he states as to the respective merits of the two parties now engaged in deadly strife – my reasoning was not it seems that kind that carries everything before it, for I could not convert her into a unionist no how, while I on my part could not see the pint” of her argument…The above is the general opinion among the fair sex here in Va and if there can be any difference they are more rabid than the opposite sex…”

In discussing the ascendancy of General Ulysses S. Grant (whom he had described in a previous letter "scooping the rebs and gradually but surely drawing his net around that Gibraltar of America, Vicksburg") to the head of all Union armies in 1864, Bronson writes, he has at present a fast hold upon the affections of the officers and soldiers of the Army…McClellan has been idolized, Burnside has been loved for his modesty and Hooker has been the hero of many a camp fire story. But the climax of esteem and confidence had been reached in the soldier heart only when Grant visited our army and by his kindness won the love of all...” Of Grant's new foe, General Robert E. Lee, he writes, In Lee he will find no Pemberton or Johnston but a foe worth of his steel”

Finally, at the news of the surrender of Lee's forces at Appomattox Court House, Bronson writes, "This is a dark and gloomy day as far as weather is concerned but otherwise it is one of the brightest day that Washington has ever seen... Lee’s army like all powerful bodies dies hard but its ultimate fate is no less certain for it is doomed”

This is most likely the finest collection of Civil War soldier letters from a single correspondence we have offered. (Image)

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