Mortimer, Caleb C.E. (1835-1862) to his wife
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01898.21 Author/Creator: Mortimer, Caleb C.E. (1835-1862) Place Written: Gaines' Mills, Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 16 June 1862 Pagination: 4 p. ; 20 x 12.5 cm. Order a Copy
Writes "the enemy's pickets in plain sight it is funny the pickets of the two armies are within thirty yds of one another and they sometimes talk across to one another." Writes about a Dr. Gaines, the man who owns the land they on which they are camped. "...we are on a rabid old secesh has been sent to Fortress Monroe they caught him making signals to the enemy from his house. he said he would dig up the bodies of all the Union soldiers that were buried on his farm and throw them into the Chickahominy river..." Written from camp of the 3rd Massachusetts Battery.
Caleb Mortimer enlisted on 5 September 1861 as a 1st Lieutenant and was commissioned into the Massachusetts 3rd Light Artillery. He was wounded at Gaines' Mill, Virginia on 27 June 1862 and died the next day.
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