Exceptional grouping related to Confederate soldier, William L. Johnson, who served in the well-known South Carolina Palmetto Sharpshooters (Jenkins' Brigade) during the Civil War. The Palmetto Sharpshooters was formed in April of 1862 as a Confederate sharpshooter unit and was heavily engaged throughout both the Western and Eastern theaters of war.

This lot includes: Johnson veteran's "Cross of Honor" badge inscribed with his name, a carte-de-visite (CDV) photograph of Johnson in uniform, a sixth plate ambrotype of Johnson in uniform, and a 40+ page journal recording extracts from letters William L. Johnson wrote during the Civil War.

The journal is handwritten by Johnson himself and contains the impactful note at the top of one of the pages "I read to here when my father [William L. Johnson] said 'put a marker in there and wait a while,' he fell asleep and died the next day. Mrs. L.D. Campbell." The journal itself is an important account of Johnson's service in the Civil War, but the fact he was being read from it at the time of his death adds an evocative layer of significance.

The ambrotype of Johnson is nearly immaculate and so clear that his state-seal buttons bearing Palmetto trees are discernible to the naked eye. It is housed in a full leatherette case.

The journal begins: "The following extracts are from letters written to Annie E. Gaffney (now my wife, Mrs. W.L. Johnson) during the Confederate War and are generally correct as to date. They are written out, thinking in the future they might be more or less interesting to my children or grandchildren as to the time and date of certain happening to me or to those in my regiment, [the] Palmetto Sharpshooters, my company being "K" of that command…"

The journal contains many notable, detailed descriptions of Johnson's service and experience during the Civil War, some include: being reviewed by Confederate President Jefferson Davis at the start of the war, a description of the Battle of First Manassas ("I can't tell you how sadly I was to see my own comrades fall in the field around me.."), a rare description of Union hot air balloons that were performing aerial reconnaissance, a description of the Battle of Seven Pines ("last Saturday we were in the one of the most terrible battles you can imagine…"), a description of the the Battle of Petersburg ("while shot and shell are dropping all around me, I write these lines…"), and descriptions of battle during the Siege of Petersburg ("several times in the last battles I have been surrounded by Yanks…I made up my mind to die fighting if I must…I was carrying the colors- two of the guards have been shot down during all the late fights").

A complete transcription is available upon request.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Ephemera, Coins, Uniforms, Medals, Historic Photography, Cased Images, Tintypes, Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Portraits]