47067: Private John W. Herron, 1st Wisconsin Heavy Arti

Private John W. Herron, 1st Wisconsin Heavy Artillery, Archive of Letters. A group of 18 letters, written by Herron at the conclusion of the Civil War and in the days that followed. The letters date from April 3 to June 20, 1865 and are written to his wife Julia. The majority are simply signed "Husban" and have multiple spelling and grammar errors. Herron enlisted near the end of the war, on September 19, 1864. He was mustered into Company K, 1st Wisconsin Heavy Artillery as a Sergeant. He survived the war and mustered out on June 26, 1865. Company K was organized in October 1864, after General orders no. 21 called for additional companies to be recruited for the regiment. It was assigned to the defenses of Washington, D.C., under De Russy’s division and remained there until the conclusion of the war. On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered his forced to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. Celebrations broke out in the North, and on April 14, 1865, the Stars and Stripes was once again raised over Fort Sumter. That same day, writing from Fort Lyon near Alexandria, Virginia, Herron wrote his wife to detail the celebrations. In part: "…in high spirits on account of the good News that we get every day the people think that the war is about played here what doe the folks think of it up thair but I don’t think that we will get home before our time is out. Julia there is grate times of rejoicing among the people thy have been celebrating the forth anniversary of this war today they took 50 men and went down to Alexandria to stay for the celebration thare was a grate turnout they say…I did not go for I am on Guard…Julia who wod have thought that when this was began four years ago that it would have lasted this long but it don’t seen a long time since it began but so it is and if we had ben told how many lives it would cost who would believe that…that so many of our friends would be sacrificed, and that it would be the means of separating so many families but lets hope that the worst is past…We are looking every day for the fall of Mobile and for the surrender of Johnston…" [Four pages of a bifolium, 5" x 8"]. Unbeknownst to the revelers, tragedy would soon strike when President Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theater. The troops at Fort Lyon were some of the first to receive the news of the event, as the city of Washington, D.C. was put on lockdown. At the time Herron wrote his letter on April 15, people still held onto the hope that Lincoln’s wound was not mortal. It reads in part: "…longe before you get this the news will have reached you of the shooting of A. Lincoln, President of the United States. We got the dispatch about one hour ago through the signal corps whether he is dead or not it did not say. I went out to the Barracks as soon as I heard of it and the Camp was all astir…not a man woman or child is allowed to pass out or in the lines. Everything is to be perfectly guarded the company are ordered out on the lines. Wont that he a hard blow to the Country…I will wait before sending and see what news we get next…may the next news be better we don’t now whether he is Dead or not." [Two pages, 5" x 8"]. Two days letter, on April 17, it had been officially confirmed that President Lincoln was dead. It would be at least another week before John Wilkes Booth and the other conspirators were caught, and the city was still on high alert. Herron wrote to Julia about the reaction to the rebels and any sympathizers, in part: "…since the death of the President there has ben no mail allowed to come in the communication have been entirely stoped. Boats and cars have been stopped entirely the lines all around Washington and Alexandria have ben strongly guarded and now one has ben allowed to pass on every consideration whatever. The people have ben prohibited from traveling at all inside of the lines a grate many have ben arrested and they have kept us under arms for the last three days…it has ben a very sad time for the last few days you never saw sutch a change in the feeling in so short a time from joy to sorrow…you ought to see how bad the soldiers felt and it wont doe for any of these Rebs to say one word or express one word of joy on the death of the president. They have shot a number of them at Alexandria and have arrested files of them the soldiers are desperate now. Yesterday they took a minister out of the church and if it had not ben for some of the officers one man said he was glad that Lincoln was dead and one of the soldiers shot him dead in his tracks…let the copperheads slink in their holes for all the Rebbles sympathizers take care of themselves now. We have had a dispatch since dark through the signal corps that Mobile has surrendered with everything and that they have taken the man that tried to kill Suord [Seward] and son, but the news don’t create sutch an excitement as it did before we lost our president…" [Four pages of a bifolium, 5" x 8"]. By the following month, the soldiers at Fort Lyon, including Herron, were becoming restless. His letter of May 23, 1865 describes his eagerness to return home to his wife and children: "…time begins to drag rather slow since pease is Proclaimed. The boys are ancious to get Home but we cant tell any thing about it. We may be among the first to come home and we may be among the last. The order is that all troops whose time expires on or before the first of October next will soon be discharged that is what I herd the Governor of our state say…" [Four pages of a bifolium, 5" x 8"]. Herron would not return home until the end of June. This archive provides an incredible perspective on the end days of the war, including the immediate reactions to the death of Abraham Lincoln. Condition: Flattened mail folds, with varying degrees of toning, soiling, and foxing. There are a few rough edges or areas of paper loss. Most letters have retained their original transmittal covers with usual wear and soiling. HID03101062020 © 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved