[CIVIL WAR]. WOMACK, E. Lockett. Autograph letter signed ("E.L. Womack") as Confederate soldier, Company D, 18th Virginia Infantry, describing the Battle of the Crater during the Siege of Petersburg.

"Near Chester in Trenches" [Virginia], 31 July 1864.

4 pages, 5 3/8 x 7 1/8 in., folds, some soiling/discoloration to creases and edges.

In this letter to his wife, Womack writes of recent activity:

"Shore (sic) was quite an exciting time in Petersburg yesterday. The yankees blew up a battery of four guns, killing all the men attached to it by tunnelling (sic). They then charged the line with three lines of battle, putting a negro Regiment in front and as they came they said no quarters, and I understand none was shown, but it was not as they intended, it was not to show our men any. Our men just chopped them to pieces and continued to do so until a Brigdr General road (sic) up and stopped them. We took about all who came forward. The number of prisoners I am not very positive about, have heard many reports though reckon between ten & fifteen hundred about four hundred killed, I understand. The yanks got decidedly the worst of the job..."

He goes on to discuss materials he is sending to his wife, including "some lead which I have picked up in the ball state and [indecipherable] into bars, the things the yankees shot at us, have 9 bars..." He also writes, "I will also send my old shoes hoping they will do some of the negroes some good, will be first rate shoes if they were sewed up."

Edmond Lockett Womaack (1834-1913) was 27 years old and working as a farmer when he enlisted on 24 April 1861 at Prince Edward County, VA. He enlisted as a corporal in Company D ("Prospect Rifle Grays"), of the 18th Virginia Volunteer Infantry, the regiment he served with throughout the war. Along with much of the regiment, Womack was captured at Sailor’s Creek on 6 April 1865. He was paroled in June at Point Lookout, Maryland. The 18th Virginia served in Pickett’s Brigade and in Pickett’s Division, and was engaged in many of the major battles of the Army of Northern Virginia, including First Manassas, Seven Days' Battles, Second Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Five Forks, and Sailor's Creek. At Gettysburg the 18th was part of Pickett’s Charge on July 3, 1863 and lost 54 killed, 134 wounded and 57 missing or captured.

Property from William H. Itoh, collector, historian and retired Foreign Service Officer