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Lot 179
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Outstanding Collection of 190 Civil War Dated Letters by Dr. Abraham Landis
Outstanding Collection of 190 Civil War Dated Letters by Dr. Abraham Landis
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Outstanding Collection of 190 Civil War Dated Letters by Dr. Abraham Landis

Outstanding collection of 190 Civil War dated letters by Dr. Abraham Landis (father of the first baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis), an assistant surgeon in the 35th Ohio Infantry, who took part in dozens of battles and skirmishes with his regiment, including Hoover's Gap, the Atlanta Campaign, Resaca, Chickamauga, Dallas, and Kennesaw Mountain where he was WIA. In addition to graphic battle content, Landis' pens interesting stories in these letters to his wife Mary: treating the wounded from Shiloh, Hartsville and Stone's River, his short time at Libby Prison when he was captured after Chickamauga, and the overall effect of the war, never losing his humanity in describing the terrible conditions, often writing that he would "weep like an infant" after particularly difficult days. Landis' prose is some of the most enjoyable we have encountered, both sweeping and detailed in its tone, with amusing anecdotes about his beloved horse Lucy, and the southern landscape he observed during his 2.5-year enlistment.

Excerpts of Landis’ letters are presented here in chronological order. The first year of Landis' service, from April 1862-63, he attended to the wounded, with a trial by fire initiation in caring for the Shiloh survivors during a brief stint with the 18th Missouri Infantry before he was transferred to the 35th Ohio. His second letter home to his wife is dated 7 April from Savannah, Tennessee, describing the aftermath of Shiloh: "There has been a terrible battle at Pittsburg 8 Miles up the river. It commenced yesterday morning and raged until about an hour ago the firing ceased. We could hear the booming of cannon on our boat for 20 miles. The loss of life is said to be terrible on both sides but thank God the rebels are retreating.”

In late 1862, Landis was stationed in Gallatin, Tennessee, controlled by the notorious Union General Eleazar A. Paine, who Landis often mentions. On 9 December, he writes about a Union surrender, “I suppose you will hear of the shameful surrender of three of our regiments at Huntsville, 18 miles east of this. The body of Capt. G. Holson of Cincinatti, who was killed on the occasion, was brought to my hospital last evening. He was shot through the chest & must have died instantly. Oh the horrors of war!”

Landis relates some interesting anecdotes about Gallatin in a pair of letters dated 27 December 1862 and 14 January 1863: "A terrible casualty happened here a few evenings ago to one of our soldiers. A drunken orderly sergeant ordered one of his men to do something and he refused, whereupon the orderly shot him. The ball entered his chest and lodged in the region of the spine. The man is yet alive, but in all probability will die. A few weeks ago one of the guards of our hospital took his gun & stired the fire with it holding the barrel in one hand & the bayonet with the other. The gun went off and the bullet, a minnie ball, passed through his wrist. Another had his gun loaded, but no cap on. He cocked the gun and pointed it towards one of his comrades remarking, 'I will shoot you.' The gun went off and hit the poor fellow in the hip. He died in two or three days…Gen. Payne [sic] who commanded the post here had all the approaches to town blockaded with army wagons during the night and the few troops that were here were in line of battle all night. How do you think I felt under such circumstances? I slept as soundly as if I had been on a feather bed in our own bedroom with you and the children. Such is the nature of war.”

After the Emancipation Proclamation on 1 January, Landis tells a story about a slave refusing the entreaties of her owner to come home: "…A rich scene occurred at my hospital this morning. We have a black woman employed as cook whose mistress lives two miles from this place. This morning the mistress came to the hospital and inquired of me for her servant. I told her if her servant was willing to go with her she was welcome to do so, but if you chose to remain she should remain. So I went to the kitchen for the black woman and her mistress coaxed her a long time to go with her but it was no go. The Contraband was set in her way. She says she is bound to inhale free air the balance of her days. This is but one specimen and thousands that are occurring down here in Dixie.”

On 8 July 1863, Landis pens a jubilant letter following the victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg: "I have been drunk, gloriously drunk for the last 24 hours. Not on whiskey, nor large beer, but over the good news. Yesterday we heard that Lee had been well thrashed at Gettisburg, Pennsylvania. Gen. Rosecrans ordered a salute of 35 guns to be fired in each division…This morning before I had got up I heard someone remark that Vicksburg had surrendered on the fourth of July and in a few minutes one of our batteries began to roar in honor of the glorious news.”

On 1 September 1863, Landis describes crossing the Tennessee River, and how his horse Lucy reacted, "You have no idea what a job it is to take an army across such a river. The horses were taken across in the following manner. Two large canoes were lashed together and the horses taken in the water three on each ride when the canoes were paddled across. The horses had to swim and the way some of them cut-up was funny. When Lucy's turn came she did tolerably well until she got nearly halfway across when she became unmanageable and the man that was holding her had to let her go and she swam back. The next time she was so tired she came over without much trouble.”

While attending to the wounded, Landis writes from "Chickamauga Battle Field Sept. 28th 1863" regarding his capture as a POW: "I write to you under rather irregular circumstances I am a prisoner of war in the hands of the rebs. I remained…voluntarily with the wounded. I could [take] my escape easily, but I preferred to remain with the poor boys that got hurt.”

Again from the Battlefield on 21 June Landis writes, "We are still in the face of the enemy and while I am writing this letter the earth under my feet is convulsed by the belching cannon…On the 18th my regiment was under a galling fire for several hours, but strange to say we only lost 10 and killed and wounded. It was there that Sergeant Jackson was killed poor fellow! He was shot through the heart and died in a few minutes. No man was ever killed in our regiment whose death was more universally regretted than his. He was as brave as a lion…Yesterday we had the heaviest cannonading I ever heard…I wish you could have heard it. It was beyond all description.”

A week later, Landis describes being wounded at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, so affecting it was to him that he named his son after the battle. Dated 28 June, Landis writes to his wife Mary, "I was wounded, which happened last Wednesday June 22nd. Our Brigade was at the time 3 miles from Marietta and 23 from Atlanta. We were in the front line. The Rebels had a battery on Kennesaw Mountain about one mile in our front. Wednesday the 22nd about 4 oclock they opened on us a most terrific fire of shell and solid cannon shot. Nothing saved us from terrible carnage but our breastworks. About noon they quit firing for a short time and Major Budd and several other officers including myself went to our Quarters about 75 yards in the rear of the breastworks. We all got behind trees where we thought we were nearly as safe as in the breastworks. While we were thus situated twelve pounds solid shot fired from a Parrot gun struck a tree about 20 feet to my right behind which Major Budd was standing and bounced at nearly a right angle striking my left leg a little below the middle fracturing the bones…the limb could be saved. Oh what a precious drop of comfort this was! Up to that moment I feared I would have to suffer an amputation…" In a letter dated 10 August, he follows up, "…Twice I was placed on the operating table and put under the influence of chloroform to have the gangrene cut out of my wound. Gangrene is mortification. I tell you that was a serious time. A large percentage of those who had gangrene in their wounds died, but it pleased the good Lord to spare my life for which I trust I am thankful…Colonel Vanderveer paid quite a compliment to me while here in Fred's presence. He said no officer in the 35th stood higher than I did."

With so much more thoughtful and interesting content not transcribed here, including stories of a 16 year old soldier who "blazed away on the rebels", burning buildings, the mindset of the Rebels who fight "like demons", military strategy, the city of Ringgold burning down and destroyed in battle, transporting Union families across enemy lines in a daring scouting mission that Landis participated in, another suspenseful mission attended by Landis to entrap Confederate pickets, and even the birth of Lucy's colt ("It is now only 3 days old and can run and jump just like its mama"). Overall an extraordinary Civil War archive written in a lively and descriptive style. With near full transcriptions for the 190 letters. Many letters are accompanied by original covers, and lot also includes approximately 150 non-war dated letters, as well as about 145 letters from his wife Mary to him during the war. Entire collection is in very good condition.

A full description with partial, but detailed, transcriptions is available by email upon request.

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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