American Historical Ephemera and Photography Featuring the Civil War and American Militaria Collection of Bruce B. Hermann

Letter from Asahel C. Wallace, Co. G, 24th New York Infantry Regiment. Arlington Hills, Virginia, 9 August 1861. Addressed to Miss Mary Parmenter of Sandy Creek, Oswego County, New York. 4pp, 8 vo (light soil, creasing at folds) on "United States Capitol" lettersheet with envelope handstamped "Washington, DC" 6 August 1861.

Writing from near Washington, DC, Wallace recounts his march through Virginia in the days immediately following the First Battle of Bull Run which occurred on July 21, 1861, and was the first major battle of the Civil War. After receiving orders "to pack up & take nothing but our blankets & one Shirt [&] two days rations," Wallace departed. He writes that "all along our march we saw thousands of the soldiers that had been in the battle the day before retreating back & and lo[a]ds of dead officers & the wounded but we kept a stiff upper lip & marched on...."

Asahel Charles Wallace (1843-1879), an eighteen-year-old private, enlisted with the New York 24th Infantry Regiment on 5/7/1861 at Sandy Creek, NY and mustered into Co. G. He mustered out at Elmira on 5/29/1863. The 24th, known as the "Oswego County Regiment," was organized at Elmira, NY, and participated in major engagements of the war including the 2nd Battle of Bull Run, Battle of South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville.