1862-03-27: Bell, T. S., to Mrs. Mason, Letter Fragment |
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[page 1] In Cantonment near Newbern, N. C. March 27th 1862 My dear Mrs Mason, Though I wrote to you a long letter as late as last Sunday, yet, relying on your kind assurance that I need not fear that frequent letters from me will “trouble you,” I feel I cannot let this evening pass – tho’ “tattoo” has already sounded – without an answer to your most welcome letters of the 13th & 15th Inst., - that reached me safely by the mail two days ago. Could I have known on the 13th that you were then writing to me I’m quite sure that the thought would have cheered me on. I’ll never forget the labors or anxiety of that dreary afternoon or night as with broken down men, I equally fatigued, tried to urge them forward with the heavy cannon over the seemingly impassable road. Every moment I expected to hear the battle open ahead, & learning the absolute necessity of having the artillery up, & the almost utter impossibility of getting it forward, I leave you to imagine my feelings. You may be certain that Gen’l Burnside’s kind message that I might rest if I thought best, was an immense relief to me, & to you I may confess that his con- gratulations & thanks, as, tired to death, covered with mud & wet through & through, I told him that I had all the guns before his headqrs. before the earliest dawn of day, fully compensated me [page 2] for all my labor, & really made the two or three rails, on which, blanketless, I slept till day, seem quite a pleasant bed. Could I have known tho’ that during some part of this march – or rather drag – you were writing to me, I think I should have valued that even more than my General’s thanks. The letters I’ve written to you since our establishment here, in which I give you some account of the action, were addressed to Annapolis, but have, I presume, been forwarded to you. The newspaper accounts of the battle are I see quite full, but we (that is my Reg’t) feel rather chagrined that the N.Y. 51st should be given the credit of the charge which we made. Fortunately, however, Gen’l Reno was himself present at the time & gives us the credit in his report. Today the SS “Cossack” sailed for Annapolis to bring D’Epineuil Zouaves down here. I can’t say that any of us feel any very great desire to see them again, as our intercourse with then at A. didn’t impress any of us very favourably, & since the gallant conduct & death of their Lt. Col. at Roanoke fighting away from the reg’t that had so persecuted him – I may say that there is a general feeling to dislike to them throughout the Division. How much, had you been at home, I should have like to have [page 3] taken passage on the old “Cossack” & visited Annapolis again! I ‘m sure my feelings on reentering your beautiful harbor would have been far different from those which I had on that gloomy morning when we sailed out – only four months ago. So much has happened since then that it seems scarcely possible that it is so short a time ago. Would my appearance in Annapolis again have astonished you much? & are you quite certain that you would not for a moment wondered, “isn’t it his ghost?” I intended to have written to you yesterday, but I was feeling so very gloomy that I was fearful my letter would bear the plain marks of my pessimism. “The blues” of yesterday were occasioned by Col. Hartranft suddenly leaving for the north on a twenty day furlough. By the same mail that brought me your letter he heard of the death of one of his children, the serious illness of the other two, & the probable sickness of his wife. Poor fellow, he was greatly distressed & applied immediately for leave, &, before I could well realize it, he was on board the N. York, bound north. Tho’ I appreciated the necessity of his going, yet I was most sorry to see him go, for I don’t relish the heavy responsibilities of commanding a regiment at this time. It’s no joke to have [page 4] charge of a regiment that is liable to be attacked by the enemy at any moment. In his coolness, bravery, & good judgment I have the very fullest confidence & so shall look forward to his return with the greatest anxiety. We are entrenching ourselves on the Newbern side of the river so that if the enemy come down they will meet with a remarkably warm reception. Should they come down on this (south) side of the Trent my reg’t will be the first to meet them, as we are about a mile nearer to them than the others. I hardly think they’ll venture tho’ to make the attack. Thank you, my dear Mrs. Mason, for the confidence you have manifested in me by telling me of your husband’s objections to our friendly correspondence. I regret, most sincerely, that he should carry his objections to the Federal cause so far. Perhaps, if I did not value your correspondence as much as I do, my pride might counsel me to rob myself of its pleasures, but I cannot for a moment be so unselfish & selfsacrificing. Could I appreciate that there was anything wrong in our correspondence, did I not think that it was of great good, to me at least, I might say good bye to it, but, as it is, I cannot & your assurance [remainder of letter is missing]
Object Description
Title | Bell, T. S. Letters (1862) |
Creator | Bell, T. S. |
LC Subject Headings |
Bell, T. S. United States. Army. Pennsylvania Infantry, 51st (1861-1865) United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 |
EOA Categories |
History – 1838-1874: Sectionalism, the Civil War and Reconstruction Peoples -- Military Life Government and Politics -- Military |
Description | The collection consists of 1 letters and 3 fragments T. S. Bell wrote between March and May, 1862, describing the military situation in New Bern, N.C. Bell served as an officer in the 51st Pennsylvania Infantry during the Civil War. |
Digital Publisher | Auburn University Libraries |
Date | 1862-03-27; 1862-04-02; 1862-04-26; 1862-05-20 |
Original Format | 1 letter, 3 fragments |
Type | Text |
Format | |
Original Item ID | RG 0294 |
Rights | This image is the property of the Auburn University Libraries and is intended for non-commercial use. Users of the image are asked to acknowledge the Auburn University Libraries. For information about obtaining high-resolution copies of this and other images in this collection, please contact the Auburn University Libraries Special Collections & Archives Department at archives@auburn.edu or (334) 844-1732. |
Relation With | www.american-south.org |
Language | eng |
Collection | T. S. Bell Letters, 1862 |
Repository | Auburn University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives. |
Submitted by | Thornton, Linda; Coates, Midge |
Description
Title | 1862-03-27: Bell, T. S., to Mrs. Mason, Letter Fragment |
Creator | Bell, T. S. |
LC Subject Headings |
Bell, T. S. United States. Army. Pennsylvania Infantry, 51st (1861-1865) United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 |
EOA Categories |
History – 1838-1874: Sectionalism, the Civil War and Reconstruction Peoples -- Military Life Government and Politics -- Military |
Description | The collection consists of 1 letters and 3 fragments T. S. Bell wrote between March and May, 1862, describing the military situation in New Bern, N.C. Bell served as an officer in the 51st Pennsylvania Infantry during the Civil War. |
Digital Publisher | Auburn University Libraries |
Date | 1862-03-27 |
Original Format | 1 letter fragment |
Type | Text |
Format | |
Original Item ID | RG 0294 |
Rights | This image is the property of the Auburn University Libraries and is intended for non-commercial use. Users of the image are asked to acknowledge the Auburn University Libraries. For information about obtaining high-resolution copies of this and other images in this collection, please contact the Auburn University Libraries Special Collections & Archives Department at archives@auburn.edu or (334) 844-1732. |
Relation With | www.american-south.org |
Language | eng |
File Name | Bell TS letters_1.pdf |
Collection | T. S. Bell Letters, 1862 |
Repository | Auburn University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives. |
Submitted by | Thornton, Linda; Coates, Midge |
Transcript | [page 1] In Cantonment near Newbern, N. C. March 27th 1862 My dear Mrs Mason, Though I wrote to you a long letter as late as last Sunday, yet, relying on your kind assurance that I need not fear that frequent letters from me will “trouble you,” I feel I cannot let this evening pass – tho’ “tattoo” has already sounded – without an answer to your most welcome letters of the 13th & 15th Inst., - that reached me safely by the mail two days ago. Could I have known on the 13th that you were then writing to me I’m quite sure that the thought would have cheered me on. I’ll never forget the labors or anxiety of that dreary afternoon or night as with broken down men, I equally fatigued, tried to urge them forward with the heavy cannon over the seemingly impassable road. Every moment I expected to hear the battle open ahead, & learning the absolute necessity of having the artillery up, & the almost utter impossibility of getting it forward, I leave you to imagine my feelings. You may be certain that Gen’l Burnside’s kind message that I might rest if I thought best, was an immense relief to me, & to you I may confess that his con- gratulations & thanks, as, tired to death, covered with mud & wet through & through, I told him that I had all the guns before his headqrs. before the earliest dawn of day, fully compensated me [page 2] for all my labor, & really made the two or three rails, on which, blanketless, I slept till day, seem quite a pleasant bed. Could I have known tho’ that during some part of this march – or rather drag – you were writing to me, I think I should have valued that even more than my General’s thanks. The letters I’ve written to you since our establishment here, in which I give you some account of the action, were addressed to Annapolis, but have, I presume, been forwarded to you. The newspaper accounts of the battle are I see quite full, but we (that is my Reg’t) feel rather chagrined that the N.Y. 51st should be given the credit of the charge which we made. Fortunately, however, Gen’l Reno was himself present at the time & gives us the credit in his report. Today the SS “Cossack” sailed for Annapolis to bring D’Epineuil Zouaves down here. I can’t say that any of us feel any very great desire to see them again, as our intercourse with then at A. didn’t impress any of us very favourably, & since the gallant conduct & death of their Lt. Col. at Roanoke fighting away from the reg’t that had so persecuted him – I may say that there is a general feeling to dislike to them throughout the Division. How much, had you been at home, I should have like to have [page 3] taken passage on the old “Cossack” & visited Annapolis again! I ‘m sure my feelings on reentering your beautiful harbor would have been far different from those which I had on that gloomy morning when we sailed out – only four months ago. So much has happened since then that it seems scarcely possible that it is so short a time ago. Would my appearance in Annapolis again have astonished you much? & are you quite certain that you would not for a moment wondered, “isn’t it his ghost?” I intended to have written to you yesterday, but I was feeling so very gloomy that I was fearful my letter would bear the plain marks of my pessimism. “The blues” of yesterday were occasioned by Col. Hartranft suddenly leaving for the north on a twenty day furlough. By the same mail that brought me your letter he heard of the death of one of his children, the serious illness of the other two, & the probable sickness of his wife. Poor fellow, he was greatly distressed & applied immediately for leave, &, before I could well realize it, he was on board the N. York, bound north. Tho’ I appreciated the necessity of his going, yet I was most sorry to see him go, for I don’t relish the heavy responsibilities of commanding a regiment at this time. It’s no joke to have [page 4] charge of a regiment that is liable to be attacked by the enemy at any moment. In his coolness, bravery, & good judgment I have the very fullest confidence & so shall look forward to his return with the greatest anxiety. We are entrenching ourselves on the Newbern side of the river so that if the enemy come down they will meet with a remarkably warm reception. Should they come down on this (south) side of the Trent my reg’t will be the first to meet them, as we are about a mile nearer to them than the others. I hardly think they’ll venture tho’ to make the attack. Thank you, my dear Mrs. Mason, for the confidence you have manifested in me by telling me of your husband’s objections to our friendly correspondence. I regret, most sincerely, that he should carry his objections to the Federal cause so far. Perhaps, if I did not value your correspondence as much as I do, my pride might counsel me to rob myself of its pleasures, but I cannot for a moment be so unselfish & selfsacrificing. Could I appreciate that there was anything wrong in our correspondence, did I not think that it was of great good, to me at least, I might say good bye to it, but, as it is, I cannot & your assurance [remainder of letter is missing] |