[MILITARIA]. 2 soldier's letters from Fort Leavenworth, each incl. Fort Leavenworth postmark.

BUMPASS, A.P. 2 autograph letters signed ("A.P. Bumpass"). Each from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Includes:

4 September 1846. Addressed to father and mother. 2 1/2 pages, 8 x 10 in., bifolium, creasing and toning to folds, wear and some loss to margins. The soldier writes to his parents, providing descriptive details about the fort, describing it as "pretty a place as I ever saw." He explains, "We are the 4th company here and one has landed today which makes five...There is a great quantity of business done here. There has left fifty or sixty wagons today for Fort Bent and Santa Fe, and wagons are going and coming all the time." He proudly shares, "We have all praise from everybody that sees us as being the most respectable company that has marched into the fort." Integral leaf addressed to Mr. William Bumpass, Gasconade County, MO, with rare Fort Leavenworth postmark.

26 September 1846. Addressed to his parents. 2 1/2 pages, 8 x 10 in., bifolium, creasing, tape repairs to some folds, soiling. Bumpass writes about "some fool acts and some sad incidents" that happened since he arrived at Fort Leavenworth. One incident involved a drunk man who was taken to the guard house but broke free, and was subsequently shot by the Sentinel..."the ball entering between the shoulders and passed through his body and came out near his right nipple killing him almost instantly. I was about two hundred yards off at the fire of the gun and when I arrived at the spot he was dead." He describes another incident in which a young man was breaking mules..."they ran away with him and threw him off and ran over him wagon and all and mushed him almost into a perfect jelly and he died in a few days." He also mentions that one of Captain McNair's Company was out hunting and shot himself. He states that when he gets home from the fort, "I think I shall Sing Joyfully, Joyfully safely at home..." Integral leaf addressed to William Bumpass, Gasconade County, MO, with rare Fort Leavenworth postmark.

Together, 2 letters from a soldier stationed at Fort Leavenworth.

Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Broadsides, Ephemeral Americana, and Historical Documents