This may be a lesson to them of our power. To execute justice.

Autograph letter signed by Charles L. Taylor, Co. K, 16th Connecticut Infantry. Head Quarters, Getty's Div., 24 October 1863. 4 pages, 8vo, 5 x 8 in. With original envelope with Norfolk, VA postmark and red 3-cent stamp.

A letter written by Private Charles L. Taylor to his wife where he includes a detailed account of witnessing the execution of a murderer of an officer of the 1st USCT: "Three regiments of our division 8th + 15th Conn. + 4th R.I. Vols. Were ordered down to Norfolk Thursday night to be present the following day at the execution of Dr. Wright for shooting an officer with negro troops who were halted and drilled front of his house. Perhaps you have the circumstances in mind. I send the "Old Diminion [sic]" with an account of the execution +c. You may save the paper to keep. I also enclose an older copy of paper which I intended to have sent before to fill up. The secessionists there said the Yankees would not dare to hang him, but there is too much power in Yankee muskets aided by cannon especially loaded and artillery men standing by to load again. There was no disturbance, a good many tears more shed by them. This may be a lesson to them of our power. To execute justice."

The Baltimore Sun reported on the execution on 27 October 1863, including an expansive account of Dr. Wright's attempted escape while wearing women's clothes: "For the murder of Lieut. Sanborn, attached to a negro regiment, came near making his escape on Wednesday evening previous, as appears by the following statement of a correspondent of the Philadelphia Inquirer… One of the party, entering through a door slightly stumbled. This was noticed by one of the turnkeys, who, after they had just cleverly reached the street, exclaimed, "By ---, I believe that was Dr. Wright in disguise." Lieut. Cook, who was sitting among those present in the room, rushed out and intercepted the party before they had gotten many steps. Walking up to one of them he exclaimed, "That's played out: I know you Dr. Wright;" at the same time lifting up two heavy veils that concealed the face…When he left the place of his confinement he was clad in the garments of one of his daughters, who remained behind." The article mentions the presence of the regiments that Taylor detailed in his letter, also noting that the executioner was John Armstrong of Co. B, Twenty first Connecticut regiment. It concludes the lengthy account with "A Short Review of Dr. Wright" noting that he was "a man of strong Southern feelings, and this, in a measure, may have prompted him to commit the act."

Alanson L. Sanborn, the murdered officer, was from Thetford, Vermont and enlisted on 30 June 1863 at Washington, D.C. as a second lieutenant and commissioned into Company B of the 1st United States Colored Troop (USCT) Infantry. His murder by Dr. Wright occurred less than two weeks of his commission.

Condition: Excellent, bright and crisp. Please note, the lot does not include the newspaper inclusions mentioned by Taylor in his letter.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Crime & Punishment, Murder, African Americana, African American History, Slavery, Abolition, Contrabands, Documents, Letters, Manuscripts, Ephemera]