[CIVIL WAR]. A group of 2 letters written by "Daniel," Co. I, 26th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, describing the April 1862 Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip.

Autograph letter signed ("Daniel"), 1 May 1862, from “Quarantine La.”, to a family member, probably his father. 4pp., 4to. (pencil faint though legible, creases, light toning, some words rubbed out on p4). Soldier writes from aboard ship at the quarantine location, ”about 5 or 6 miles above Forts St. Philip and Jackson & 70 miles below N. O.” He continues: “Three weeks ago next Tues. we left Ship Island on board of the steamer Miss. along [with] the 31st Mass. Brig. & Gen. Butler[.] we came [indecipherable word] the south west pass & anchored 5 miles below Fort Jackson. Capt. Porter’s mortar fleet commenced shelling the fort & kept at it for 5 days & nights without intermission but did not make much impression owing to the fort being bomb proof. & our gun boat could not get by on account of a chain across the river. . . .” Once they cut it, “fire rafts came down. . . . . The frigates and gun boats went past the fort, giving and receiving broadsides as they passed. . . . Four boats got past and after destroying 12 of the rebel steamers besides the [indecipherable word] ram Manasas they passed safe[?] to N. O.” The enemy still held the fort so they passed on to Fort St. Philip. His regiment then boarded the gun boat Miami “& landed under the guns of the fort.” They had “to row and drag our boat 10 miles or more up the shallow bay [Oyster Bay] & a small canal leading to the Miss. River.” A turncoat rebel was their pilot. But there was no battle, and the fort surrendered. Company H captured 200 prisoners who had deserted from the fort. They took the oath of allegiance to the U. S. and were set at liberty. About 80 of them “have gone to work for Uncle Sam at the fort. Some went home, and some enlisted in the U. S. Army." -- A second ALS from
“Daniel,” 2 ½ pp., 4to, in pencil, 2 May 1862, to his mother. An abbreviated version of the above though the number of deserters from Fort Jackson captured by Company H has changed from 200 to 300.

The exact identity of the author is not indicated in the letters, however, most likely it is Daniel E. Worthley (1836-1913) of Lowell, Massachusetts. The 24 year-old manufacturer enlisted as a private on 10/5/1861 and mustered into Co. I, 26th MA Infantry. He served the duration of the war, having been taken prisoner near Newtown, VA, in October 1864 and exchanged in February 1865, prior to his mustering out at Savannah, GA in August 1865.

The Richard B. Cohen Civil War Collection

This lot is located in Cincinnati.