The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1894-04-19
A RELIC OF THE LATE WAR.
A Mysterious Letter, the Writer Of
Which is Still Unknown.

| w I1ICA Is Gull OhhuOWu.
The following letter, Old tattered and torn,
| around which is woven a web of deep mystery
was recently found in the garnet of an old build
ing in saltwater. and handed to us few days
since by an old veteran of Co.. B. 1st Inf. Reg,
Mnn.. Volunteers. with Il request and hope that
| through the columns of THE MIRROR the mys-
terry of its Origin might be solved. Any interested
parties who may have known Mr.. Willard. to
whom the letter was addressed, or the writer
thereof, if still living, whose has been torn
from the letter, will confer a favor upon num-
Der of old and interested veterans by kindly COM
municating with this Office Following is an
exact copy of the letter in its originality:
FIRST MINNESOTA REG'T.
BOLIVAR HEIGHTS, VA, Sept, oath 1862
| Friend Willard:
| received yours of the 3Cth
ult.. about ten days ago. 1t was gratifying to
| hear from YOU the more so, perhaps, for its be-
ing unexpected.
speaking of my previous letter, you say that
lit would be some relief to me (yOu) to know
that you CD have lost the date" You may feel
entirely relieved, as 1 have forgotten the date
lost it completely. 1 am obliged to you for the
papers that you sent me, they are welcome Wis
itOrs to us in camp.
The Indian troubles were, and probably are
more extreme than we had been led to suppose
l understand that an effort is being made to have
this regiment ordered home to protect the from
tier. l am doubtful about its succeeding-al-
though quite an influence is at work-and hope
it will not. l do not want to see Minnesota
again until this War is over. You will readily be-
eve me when say that wish it might be end
ed tomorrow. But more battles are tObe fought
and more decisive ones than Antetam before
there will be peace again in this nation, so wish
ing is idle
| know the eagerneSS with which people turn
to the words BATTLE blood, slaughter Perhaps
you looked for them when you opened this letter.
The papers have told you of the battle of Antie-
tam-you are anxious to hear from us. On the
morning OF the 18th inst, Sands corps crossed
Antietam Creek at ford that was made the
night before, and attacked the enemys left flank.
Sedgwick's division had the right, Germans
brigade the right of the division, and the 1st
Minnesota the right of the brigade. Soon after
crossing the creek, we were marching in line of
battle, and passing over the ground from which
Gen'l Hooker had driven the rebels. The ground
was strewn with dead and wounded We paid
no heed to them except to avoid stepping upon
them and soon were halted at fence in the
woods that the papers speak so much about.
Here there was some heavy firing We main
tanned our position for about half an hour, when
the rebels broke through Crawfords brigade,
who were on the left of German. The rebels
rushed through the gap and were in our rear at
the same time they advanced a battery on our
right so as to "entilade'' us. The choice was left
us of humiliation or backing out. We backed
out under heavy fire and in good order. The
brigade was under perfect control excepting,
perhaps, the 34th n Y. When retreating we
halted twice; thereby gaining time enough to
save two pieces of artillery. The rebels followed
closely for over half a mile and were then re-
pulsed by our artillery. The brigade then moved
to the support of the batteries and that ended
the fighting of the regiment. Short as the time
was that we were under fire, it was long enough
to have nearly nine hundred returned as killed.
wounded and missing out of the brigade; our
regiment losing nearly one hundred and fifty.
Going in and coming out we were under a fire
of shells, grape and canister. Co. "B'' lost Cor
pOral Oscar Carnman and John E. Goundry,
killed. Serg't, Sam1 Boomer, CorpI George
Oliver and private Scharbuck. wounded. Wm
Morgan, A. HOSpeS and A. QuiSt, missing. earn
man was shot through the head. on our advance
line; he fell fiat OF his back he did not know he
was hit. The second day after the battle was
over, several of the boys searched. for his body
| They had to do it hastily, as orders were very
strict about leaving the company. They were
not successful. Lieut.. Sinclair, after several at
temps, found him. The rebels had camped
where the regiment had been drawn up in battle
They had placed the body upon stretcher and
carried it a rod or two into d cOrn-fied. When
the discovery was made known. several of us re-
paired to the spot and buried him at the foot of
a tree near where lie fell. mailing a head-boarl
upon the tree. The spot is Just at the edge of
the woods and about six hundred yards from the
house of Alfred -etfenberger, near Keedsville,
Md. Ii you would give Mr.. Carnman the above
particulars have no doubt he would be glad to
receive them. would write to him if Lieut.. S..
had not already done so; but doubt his having
described the spot so that it could be readily
found. GOundry we buried the day after the
battle. They were both fine men and well liked
bv their comrades. Sam Boomer has had his
right leg amputated above the knee and is get
ting along well. DR.. Pugsley arrived a day or
two after the battle. Bishop Whipple was in the
field last Sunday. He addressed a few remarks
to us telling us what the feelings of Minnesota
are toward us. His words were simple and they
moved the boys feelings. Somehow they felt
stronger AFTERWARDS
understand that the bishop turned his steps
this way to look after the wounded. How differ
ent from our late chaplain who was with us
about half the time. / said Us. / mean the
regiment. Once in a while he gave us a Sunday
lecture He set himself SO completely apart
from the men, both the sick and the able. that
he was severely criticised. The last sermon he
delivered to us he endeavored to show how nat
ural was = 4
The remainder of the above interesting letter.
with signature, is torn away; hence the mystery
of its origin. Can any of our readers solve the
problem?