INFORMING HIS SISTER OF EVENTS AT PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA IN NOVEMBER 1861, FROM HIS POSITION AS A CLERK TO GEN. A.G. BLANCHARD, HEADQUARTERS, 3rd BRIGADE VOL.
[Portsmouth, VA: 1861]. Single sheet of blue paper, folded to 25 x 18 cm., [4] pp. of text, approx. 800 words, all in a neat hand. Holland makes mention of the battle which had commenced at Pensacola on Nov. 22, engaging Gen. [Braxton] Bragg's forces. He had heard that the Federals "were firing about five shots to our one," according to the latest dispatches. News was also coming in from Columbus, Kentucky about "a serious fight" there, with Com. Hollins and his fleet heading to it from New Orleans. Holland had also heard that Sec. Seward was predicting the war wouldn't last any longer than ninety days, and he hopes that will be true. He asks his sister to send him some clothes he left behind and says he is sending her a bucket of Oysters with his letter: "they are very cheap... this little can only cost 75 cts." He is otherwise occupied doing the principle part of Old Gen. Blanchard's letter writing, and the General seems to like him. He makes out the Brigade reports every ten days or so. The letter also reports on family news and people they both know. Item #70903
Colonel Albert Gallatin Blanchard (1810-1891) and his 1st Louisiana Infantry were sent to Norfolk, Virginia in May 1861, at the outset of the Civil War. By November, Blanchard had been promoted to Brigadier General, in charge of the 3rd Brigade at Portsmouth, consisting of the Third, Fourth, and 22nd Georgia infantry regiments, the Third Alabama infantry, Col. William's North Carolina infantry battalion, Girardey's Louisiana Guard artillery, and the Sussex cavalry. Blanchard, a graduate of West Point, had seen service on the frontier and during the Mexican American War and was living and working in New Orleans when the Civil War broke out. It is uncertain where W.W. Holland was from but he appears to have had some family connections in and around Portsmouth.
Price: $225.00