Collection of (11) Civil War era letters

Collection of (11) Civil War and Civil War era letters, to include: (8) autograph letters signed from Union infantryman, Joseph D. ''Dustin'' Dessert, to his brother Mitchell Dessert and niece Amelia Dessert in Green Island, Albany County, New York, 1861-68, including a letter describing Rebel gunfire, written from Camp Winfield Scott during the Peninsula Campaign, a letter discussing the intense summer heat and its effects on the wounded, and another mentioning General Sheridan's victory in the Shenandoah Valley; along with (2) letters from another soldier, J.A. Forcey, to Amelia Dessert, his niece, 1861-62; and one letter to Amelia from her cousin in North Adams, Massachusetts, dated 1868, (most with stamped and postmarked envelopes). Together with a group of (8) 18th and early 19th century letters and papers in French, possibly from Montreal, (some are fragments).