[this letter was] taken from the dead body of a fine looking young man on the field of the Battle of Williamsburg May 5th 1862. A piece of shell had entered his body behind and had gone completely through, carrying his heart and a portion of his lung right out and they lay out on his vest still attached to his windpipe.

Autograph letter signed by William Dickey, to Joe. Camp 7th Reg. N.C.I., Kinston, North Carolina, 22 April 1862. 4 pages, 8vo, on "Confederate States of America" letterhead illustrated with a firing cannon with a Confederate flag flying above, printed by W.& J. Bonitz of Goldsboro, North Carolina. WITH Autograph note signed by Butler Fitch. [Williamsburg, Virginia], [5 May 1862]. 1 page. Note detailing the acquisition of the letter. WITH Vignetted CDV portrait of Butler Fitch. [New York]: Jordan & Co., n.d. Photographer's 229 Greenwich St. imprint to mount verso. INSCRIBED by Fitch to mount recto lower margin: "Respy. Yours Butler Fitch Capt. 8th N.Y. Indt. Bat." Modern pencil inscription to mount verso reads: "Captain Butler Fitch 8th New York Light Artillery, Enl. 9/24/61 at Delhi, N.Y. Comm. 10/30/61, Resigned 9/13/64, Part of N.Y. Tenth Legion, Battery Organized as Part of the 10th Legion, 56th New York Inf."

A gruesome trophy of war collected by a Union soldier, this blood-stained letter was written by Confederate soldier William N. Dickey, a 27 year old teacher from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Dickey enlisted on 21 August 1861 as a first lieutenant into Company I of the 7th North Carolina Infantry. The regiment initially served in garrison duties in North Carolina, first seeing action at the Battle of New Bern, which Dickey mentions in his letter: "May you be more successful than we were at Newbern." Here, he writes to his friend identified only as "Joe", but clearly also serving in another regiment as Dickey is unclear as to how to address his letters. Explaining his infrequent writing he admits: "I am very lazy as you know. Another reason is that I do not know where you are. We learned that all your lines had been changed. Where you are does not appear yet. I will direct this one as I have been doing for some time to Smithfield." Dickey goes on to express his assessment of the ongoing war: "In fact I know nothing but what I see and scarcely that. Joe, are we whipping the Yankees much? Do you seen any prospect of peace? I do not. I have made up my mind to endure everything rather than submit to the lousy scoundrels. They may over run the country exterminate us but I for one will only be conquered by putting the rod over me. I might be made a prisoner of war. That is all they will get from me. No allegiance."

Accompanying the letter is a period note titled "Rebel Letter". In a looping script, New York soldier Butler Fitch describes the grim scene in which he found this letter: "Taken from the dead body of a fine looking young man on the field of the Battle of Williamsburg May 5th 1862. A piece of shell had entered his body behind + had gone completely thro. carrying his heart + a portion of his lung right out + they lay out on his vest still attached to his windpipe." Given the horrific wounds, it is no wonder the letter is stained in blood.

The recipient of the letter, and the corpse upon which it was found, was almost certainly Joseph Thompson - also a 27-year-old teacher from Mecklenburg County who was serving as a first lieutenant in Company B of the 13th North Carolina Infantry. He was killed in action at the Battle of Williamsburg. Joseph had likely had just received the letter from his friend and fellow teacher from Mecklenburg County, written just a few weeks earlier. Only four North Carolina regiments fought at the Battle of Williamsburg, with Company B of the 14th recruited from Mecklenburg County.

Dickey continued with the 7th North Carolina Infantry and appears on the returns consistently until he resigned on 4 February 1863. He had been wounded at the Battle of Frayser's Farm. The surgeon of the 7th North Carolina, Wesley Campbell, assessed his condition for resignation on 9 February 1863 at Camp Gregg: "Gunshot wound of the right thigh received at Frazier's Farm on the 30th of June 1862...producing paralysis of the muscles of the leg and ankle so that he cannot walk without artificial assistance and that in consequence thereof he is in my opinion inept for duty."

The letter was taken by Butler Fitch on the battlefield of Williamsburg. He enlisted as a captain on 24 September 1861 and was commissioned into the 8th New York Light Artillery on October 30th. Originally part of the 56th New York Infantry, it was organized as part of the 10th Legion, 56th Infantry and was later often known as the 8th Independent Battery. The battery was assigned to Casey's division and the IV Corps in the Peninsular Campaign of 1862, including the Battle of Williamsburg where Fitch took this letter, as their first major engagement. They would later engage at the Battle of Seven Pines (Battle of Fair Oaks) and Malvern Hill. They participated in Dix's Peninsula Campaign in 1863 and were primarily involved in Butler's operations against Petersburg and Richmond throughout 1864. On 12 December 1864, Fitch was promoted to major and additional paymaster and transferred into the US Volunteers Paymaster's Department. He saw out the end of the war, mustering out on 31 July 1865.

An incredible grouping that reflects the unrelenting brutality of war.

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