Battle Of Lookout Mountain Letter: 17th Mo - Jun 04, 2022 | Fleischer's Auctions In Oh
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Battle of Lookout Mountain Letter: 17th MO

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Battle of Lookout Mountain Letter: 17th MO
Battle of Lookout Mountain Letter: 17th MO
Item Details
Description
Two page letter written by German immigrant William Charles Heldman of the 17th Missouri Infantry on December 9th, 1863, following the Battle of Lookout Mountain. Heldman came out of the fight without a scratch, but considered himself lucky, reporting that "one ball cut the edge of my boot sole off." Writing from Bridgeport, Alabama a few days after the battle, William assured his father that "it was a hard thing to take Lookout Mountain....but we have given Bragg hell this time." The 17th Missouri was commonly referred to as the "Western Turner Rifles" and evolved from one of several unofficial pro-Unionist militia units formed semi-secretly in St. Louis in the early months of 1861 by Congressman Francis Preston Blair, Jr. and other Unionist activists. The majority of the regiment was composed of Germans immigrants who opposed slavery and supported the Union- few wrote letters in English that have survived today. Heldman was not yet ten years old when he arrived in the US with his parents, so his command of English language was better than most in his unit.
 
 Complete transcription:
 
 Bridgeport, Alabama?December 9, 1863
 
 Dear Father,
 
 Your letter I have received and am very glad to hear that you are all well yet. I am well too.
 We are now at Bridgeport again. We have had a hard battle but we have given Bragg hell this time. It was a hard thing to take Lookout Mountain. We took a good many prisoners there. At Ringgold we had the hardest fight. Our division lost a good many men. One ball cut the edge of my boot sole off. We have not had one days rest since my furlough is out. I just got time today to write this letter or else I would have wrote sooner. I believe we will soon march again. We have suffered a great deal with hunger and cold. While we were at Ringgold, it froze about an inch thick ice and we had no tents and only one blanket with us. We have only two men of our company wounded this time. You can read all about the battle in the newspaper better than I can write it to you.
 
 I will send 40 dollars in this letter. This is all I can write to you this time. 
 
 Yours truly, — William Heldman
 
 [Civil War, Union, Confederate] ] [Abolition][Slavery] [Abraham Lincoln]
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Battle of Lookout Mountain Letter: 17th MO

Estimate $150 - $300
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Starting Price $100
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