Beschreibung:

Lot of 13 letters written by Second Lieutenant William Rowe Russell (1837-?), 4th Vermont Infantry, to his wife, Annie, 1862-1864. Russell is a wry, often opinionated correspondent, and highlights of his letters include descriptions of the Battle of Cold Harbor (1864) and interesting asides about regiments of African American soldiers, the folly of new recruits, and more. Russell enlisted as a corporal and mustered into Co. G, 4th Vermont Infantry. He was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant during his service and by June 1864 was given "command [of] Co’s A & F. . . The Reg.’s are so small that are divided into 4 battalions and I command the 1st bat." The 4th Vermont was organized in 1861 at Brattleboro under the young Colonel Edwin H. Stoughton and spent its first autumn in Virginia with Brooks's Brigade, primarily tasked with the defense of Washington, DC at Camp Griffin. Russell's letters from this time capture the difficulty of adjusting to the hardships of war, compunded by his longing for home and the bitterly cold weather conditions he endured that winter. In a letter from December 10, 1862, Russell relates that "5 men froze to death on picket and 7 more died from the effects of the cold in one night last week. That is cold soldiering, isn’t it?" He also shares with his wife that he " dreamed last night that the war was over and we were keeping house and it seemed so pleasant when all of a sudden my house collapsed. . . I hope darling to have that dream realized for I think we could live happily together" (August 2, 1862). By 1864, Russell had more military experience under his belt, including at the Battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. At Gettysburg, 437 of the regiment's men were engaged, and only one was wounded, under the leadership of Colonel Stoughton's younger brother Charles. Though he still misses home and questions whether or not he will re-enlist at times, his letters suggest a stronger commitment to his service of the Union. In January of 1864, Russell has been given a leadership role as acting adjutant. On January 7, he writes that every day they are receiving some twenty recruits, some of whom are extremely green: "I’ve laughed myself to death to see them perform. One of them just burst into the Major’s tent (he is the very personification of a dignified soldier) calling out “Say you I want some of you fellows to go down to the well and get me some water. I can’t find the darn place.” He was informed that he had better knock before entering person’s tents and that it wasn’t an officer’s business to fill canteens. 'Well,' says he, 'you are a darned stuck up, accommodating set of fellows anyhow' and left. One went into the gen’s tent and very coolly told him he liked that better than where he was quartered and guessed he’d stop overnight with him. Took some time to persuade him that he was in the wrong pew." Later, on June 19, he shares with Annie some of his experiences at the Battle of Cold Harbor: "We were the first Reg. of our Corps out of the rifle pits at Cold Harbor . . . We left Tuesday morning about daylight the Reb’s following us through the woods very closely to the open ground. But we had another line of works with a few cavalry in and they didn’t dare to advance farther ‘till next night when we were down within two miles of James River near Powhatan. . . The 18th Corps took the Rebs by surprise and captured a very strong line of works & 18 pieces of artillery. We have worked up, since yesterday morning, to within less that 1 miles of the town right on the City Point R.R. so if you have a map can see where my Division reaches from the R.R. to the Appomattox River. Grant doesn’t believe in fighting more than he can help on Sunday but as we are only 80 yards apart there is constant rattle of rifles and occasionally a shell goes booming over like a gigantic bumblebee. . . They threw shells at us for the last three nights at Cold H. From mortars they look coming just like stars f