Description:

Confederate Soldier Writes His Wife from Chimborazo Hospital

1p, measuring 7" x 10.5", Richmond, dated July 24, 1863. Confederate soldier, William F. Tanner, writes to his wife Mary while at Chimborazo Hospital. The letter was written several weeks after the Battle of Gettysburg, and Tanner notifies his wife of his new assignment in which he will receive better pay. With phonetic spelling and multiple grammatical errors, it reads in part [mistakes have been corrected for ease of reading]:

"I seat myself to drop you a few lines to let you know that I am well at this time and I am in hopes that these few lines may find you well when they come to hand and doing well. I would be glad to see you I feel mighty bad but I know that I can't. Now Mary I am a detailed to go to Charleston or to Georgia to guard some bridge at $18 dollars and a half a month. I won't have to march none…I will start tomorrow I will write to you as soon as I get there so you need not to be uneasy about me. I think that it will be better for me I want to get as close to home as I can. Mary I think that $18 dollars and a half a month is better than a $11 dollars a month don't you…I will remain your true husband till death…William F. Tanner". The letter has flattened mail folds, with light toning and foxing. Edge chipping and a few small separations. Overall very good.

According to war records, we believe that William F. Turner was a resident of Walton County, Georgia, and enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army on July 19, 1861. He was mustered into Company F, 16th Georgia Infantry but was hospitalized in November 1862 for unknown reasons. He missed the Battle of Gettysburg, where the regiment lost 26% of their unit of 303 (14 killed, 49 wounded, and 43 missing). Tanner died just one month after writing this letter, on August 31, 1863.

Chimborazo Hospital served as a Confederate Army hospital from 1862 to 1865 and treated over 76,000 injured soldiers. The hospital's mortality rate was among the lowest of the period, with a death rate of only 8.3-10.3%. Chimborazo Hospital kept meticulous records, which are a fantastic resource to historians today. As the war ended, patients had to leave or be evacuated, and the Union Army acquired it to treat their own troops. After the military departed, freed slaves used the building as a place of refuge.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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