Andersonville POW, Edward H. Risley, Civil War Tintypes, Diary Referencing Capture, & Additional Correspondence

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Nov 18, 2016 - Nov 19, 2016

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• Lot Description
  Lot of 30+ items related to Edward H. Risley, including 2 Civil War-period tintypes; partially printed document issued and signed by Connecticut Colonel, Ira W. Pettibone, appointing Risley as a corporal in Co. B, 10th Connecticut Regiment, dated September 1, 1862; Risley's war-date diary, which references his capture; 15+ war-date letters, many accompanied by covers; a booklet entitled, A List of the Union Soldiers Buried at Andersonville, published by the Tribune Association, New York, 1866. Risley is referenced on p. 2; and post-war correspondence and documentation.
  
  Edward H. Risley enlisted in the army as a private on March 11, 1861. That same day, he mustered into the 3^rd CT Infantry, Co. A. His service with the 3rd CT was relatively short. He mustered out three months later, but on October 1, 1861, he enlisted a second time and mustered into the 10^th CT Infantry.
   
  The archive features a sixth plate tintype of Risley as a young corporal, wearing a nine-button frock coat, the buttons highlighted in gold, his cap on the table beside him, with what appears to be a 10 on the top, housed in full case, and a ninth plate tintype of Risley, whose face appears more gaunt, wearing a kepi and button-down shirt, accompanied by an inked note that reads, Just from the Trenches, housed in full thermoplastic case.
   
  The photographs are accompanied by several letters written by Risley from the field. After enduring heavy fire at Bull Run, he continued to courageously fight for his country. From Morris Island he wrote his mother:
  
  The Rebels undertook to capture the whole fleet last evening but was foiled in the attempt. We all turned out so if they had undertook to land on Morris Island they would have met with a warm reception…I was on [guard] three night times and the Rebs shelled us all night so we was glad to keep under cover (Morris Island, October 5, 1863).
  
  It must have been an incredible feeling to ride the ironclads into battle and to see the spark of gunpowder and flashes of shelling in the night sky. At the battle of Roanoke Island, he described heavy combat to his mother.
  
  We have met the enemy on the fields of Battle…you need not be alarmed about my safety….When the gunboats which were in advances of the Fort commenced to Bombard the fort which to me seemed some like Bull Runs. The Rebels returned the fire in good earnest as if they thought that they was so strongly fortified that the whole Union army could not take it. But our gunboat did not think so for they soon disabled the Guns in the Fort so that but one could return the fire which they did till dark. About 2 o’clock Gen. Foster came in site on board the steamer Pilot Boy and told us to get ready to land. Which churned us up and we loaded the boat in all possible rank(?). As we had to land in the small boat and only 30 could go in the boat at once…there were some 500 men in tow on board the Pilot Boy as we neared the shore we thought we should meet with some resistance we could distinctly see the Rebels drawn up in a line of Battle. To give us a good reception, But we soon flushed them out of that as a couple gunboats came behind us and then some shells over into their midst which made them scatter like a flock of sheep so that we landed without any opposition from the enemy whatever. Captain Otto was the second man ashore and the good old Flag of Connecticut was the first that was planted on Roanoke Island…The Stars and Stripes were planted by the Massachusetts boys first.  We had to jump into the water to our waist when we landed and after we got landed it was not much better as we had to wade through the mud up to our knees and I came pretty near getting stuck once or twice but we was going through it live or die, which we did in the best of order….they continued to land troops all night long for that by morning we had some 10,000 men safely landed and ready for action (Board Schooner E.W. Farrington, Feb 11, Three days after the battle of Roanoke Island, 1862).
  
  While serving in Florida, Risley and several men in his regiment were captured. He wrote in his diary, Arrived at Camp Call near Palatski, Fla. We are well treated so well that we hardly know we are prisoners of war (December 31, 1863). Being captured so close to Christmas meant that he and his fellow soldiers were well fed and given better treatment than most prisoners. Holiday cheer soon ended as did the good treatment. After arriving in Charleston at dark, he discovered what it was truly like to be a prisoner of war. His first night at camp, he was given no blanket to endure the chilly January night and no food to fill his empty stomach. Cold as the Devil, he wrote in his diary (January 8, 1864). He survived the bone-chilling weather and transferred to Andersonville prison in Georgia. There, he would meet his maker. He died of diarrhea on July 20, 1864. He was buried in a shallow grave with thousands of other unfortunate souls. Prior to  his capture, he wrote his mother, Do not worry about me for I shall come out all right or if I fall you must remember that I did in my countrys cause which is a noble death (Roanoke Island, March 2,  1862). Although he did not die under more "heroic" circumstances, he perished for the same cause. His bones still remain underneath the prison ground. 
  
  The consignor relates that Secretary of Navy Gideon Welles lived next door to Edward Risley and his mother Sophrinia. The material was acquired from the Estate of Barbara Hutt, South Glastonbury, CT, the daughter of Charles Hutt and Nellie Bantle, whose mother was a Risley. Barbara Hutt lived in a house built in 1742 on Main St., South Glastonbury, five miles down the road from their original homestead on Main St., Glastonbury, CT

  Condition

  Sixth plate tintype case separated at hinge, few spots on plate. Ninth plate tintype with few scratches/nicks along perimeter where plate meets mat, light wear to case, velvet interior has separated from case. 
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