Description:

Civil War - Around battle Spottsylvania Civil War battle report preparations with hand drawn map.

Bi-fold ALS on lightly lined paper stock, 8" x 9.75". Dated "June 21st 1864", and signed by 'W. F. Forbes / Capt A.A.I.G".

Heavily scripted on three of the four pages, with the last page blank and with a hand drawn map occupying a part of page two. Expected folds and overall clean with faint stains to first page and last page with soiling/stains which in part bled into the gutter of the interior fold.

This Civil War document from the 20th tMassachusetts were recently found in a home in Lowell Massachusetts. They originally belonged to Mr. Dudley L. Page of Lowell who was in several Massachusetts Army units during the Civil War. Uncle Dudley Page was well known in Lowell where he opened a Candy & Ice cream store in 1866, just after the war.

With the exception of First Bull Run the 20th participated in all of the major battles and many of the smaller battles fought by the Army of the Potomac. Their baptism of fire occurred at Ball's Bluff on October 21, 1861. Other battles included the Seven Days, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, the Seige of Petersburg and the Appomattox Campaign. The skirmish referred to in this ALS occurred shortly after the battle of Spottsylvania Court House (which ended May 21st of 1864).

Grant had ordered the Army of the Potomac (led by General George Meade) to march south via a flanking motion in an attempt to get between Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Richmond. Their destination was the small town of Spotsylvania Court House, a crossroads on the road to Richmond.

This very rare, detailed, Military Reports of the 2nd Div, 20th Massachusetts, includes a spectacular hand drawn Map on the second page of this report showing the stream, roads, a farm house and the skirmish lines from locations within Virginia. This report reads in part "This report reads in part "... I have just returned from the extreme right of the skirmish line of this division, and find it much exposed, for want of connection with the skirmish line of Williams Division. ... of these 11 companies are deployed as skirmishers the other 9 being used as reserves. The line is about a mole in length, following its windings. The left is in front of the left of our division and the right extends beyond the right of the division. The skirmish line extends thus ..." The report goes on to tell exactly where everyone was according to the corn field. Near the end of the letter on page three it reads; "The cleared hill held by the enemy across the corn field near the left of our line is very high and quite steep."

Needless to say this finely detailed, 2nd division, 20th Corps Report would be considered, Top Secret and is fascinating to review. A spectacular rare piece from the Civil War.

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