(CIVIL WAR--NEW HAMPSHIRE.) Fish, William W. Letter from a Union soldier at the...

(CIVIL WAR--NEW HAMPSHIRE.) Fish, William W. Letter from a Union soldier at the Siege of Vicksburg. Autograph Letter Signed to his sister. 6 pages; minor wear and soiling. Snyder & Haynes' Bluff, MS, 19 and 22 June 1863

William W. Fish (1843-after 1931) of Manchester, NH served as a private in the 11th New Hampshire Infantry, and by this point in the war had already been wounded at Fredericksburg. In this letter to his sister, he relates news about Vicksburg and the African American troops at Milliken's Bend: "On this side are a great many contrabands collected together and living in huts and tents. They are composed mostly of old and decreped men, and women and children. And there are also two or three colored reg'ts. One is the 1st Miss. These colored troops appear to be growing more in favor. They say that the colored troops at Miliken's Bend fought like tigers at that place a few days before we came down." The success of United States Colored Troops at Milliken's Bend on 7 June 7 had vindicated those who had supported the enlistment of African Americans into the Union Army.
Fish continues on the siege: "Grant has got them well penned up in Vicksburg. . . . The women and children live in caves in the city, it is said. When Grant gave them a chance to send their women and children out they would not do it. . . . It is the impression among many that Jeff Davis is here, from what we can learn from Negroes. . . . One of Grant's officers stated Grant said he will have Vicksburg in a few days and not lose a man. . . . Grant fell back 1 1/2 to 2 miles and let the rebs follow when he poured in to them on the flanks and front and drove them back with great loss. . . . I think Grant will storm the works soon." The next year, Fish was captured at the Battle of the Wilderness and did a stint at Andersonville, but survived the war.