Civil War Letters from the Western Theater, Incl. Detailed Account of Battle of Shiloh

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American Historical Ephemera & Photography, I...

By Cowan's Auctions

Jun 26, 2020

Set Reminder 2020-06-26 10:00:00 2020-06-26 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : American Historical Ephemera & Photography, Including African Americana:Premier Auction https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/cowans/american-historical-ephemera-photography-including-african-americana-premier-auction-5208
Cowan's Auctions is delighted to present the June 26 American Historical Ephemera and Photography Auction, including 55 lots devoted to the African American experience, over 175 lots dating from the Civil War Era, and more than 60 lots documenting life in the American West. Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com

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• Lot Description
  Civil War Letters from the Western Theater, Incl. Detailed Account of Battle of Shiloh
  
  Lot of 4 letters written by Waldo T. Davis (1840-1915). Letters from April 10-May 30, 1862 including extensive descriptions of the Battle of Shiloh.
  
  Davis had a complex service record. He enlisted April 18, 1861 as a private into Company E of the 15th Ohio Infantry, mustered out just 4 months later on August 27, 1861. Shortly thereafter he enlisted as a private on October 12, 1861 into Company G of the 46th Ohio Infantry; he was discharged for disability (unspecified) on March 7, 1862 in Memphis. He then re-enlisted as a captain (erroneously transcribed in records as “chaplain”) on July 27, 1862 and mustered into Company K of the 88th Ohio Infantry on August 3, 1863. His final muster out was on July 3, 1865 at Camp Chase, Ohio at the close of the war. He filed for a Civil War pension on May 14, 1890 in Indiana and lists his service record as “G 46, E 15, K 88, Ohio Inf.,” confirming the muster rolls.
  
  This archive includes four letters written by Davis to his mother recounting in exquisite detail his experiences in the Spring of 1862, especially his extraordinary participation in the Battle of Shiloh – one of the pivotal battles fought in the Western Theater. Fought on April 6th and 7th, Davis recounts both days of the battle in detail. In his first letter, written mere days after the battle on April 10th from Camp Shiloh on patriotic letterhead, Davis reassures his mother of his safety, “Probably you have heard of our little squabble at this place and doubtless (if you heard the particulars of the battle) you think me numbered with the dead or the wounded. But I am left unharmed, though in the midst of the thickest of the fight and exposed to the shower of bullets and cannon ball that rained at me with the rest of our living for 2 days.” The rest of the letter contains a report of the battle, but he includes even more details in his second letter of April 20th, also from Camp Shiloh. In a particularly riveting passage, Davis describes the charge and his appropriation of a Confederate’s horse, “When we made the charge (which we headed by the 46th Ohio on the right, 6th Iowa in the center and 40th Ill. On the left) I took the opportunity of taking one of the battery horses through the balls whispered their wild songs in my ears. After extracting the harness from him I mounted on his back and was soon on my proper business & duty. My horse was a noble one though he had not a very neat outfit. He had nothing on but a bridle (no saddle) and the rider was not encumbered by weapons as follows: Sword and belt with pistol, regular equipage for a gun, and gun slung across my back. My appearance was quite comical and attracted considerable attention of the officers to see one who had the appearance of a private riding among them and conveying orders from Col. McDowell to them.”
  
  His next letter is penned from Camp No. 6 in Mississippi on May 18th and he describes the Union’s procession across the South as, “pressing forward like a large and dark wave on the stormy sea. Skirmishing is kept us all the time.” He recounts picket duty, the capture of a “Grayback, as we call them,” and reassures his mother, “don’t think I am careless, but on the contrary ever on the lookout. Noticing every movement ahead and taking every advantage of trees and logs ahead for immediate protection.” His final letter, written from Corinth, Mississippi on May 30, describes the town they entered, “The houses once neat (from their present appearance) are now in a ruinous condition.”
  
  After the war, Waldo moved to Indiana and married Elizabeth T. Davis (1843-1909), having at least five children together. In the 1880 census, Davis is listed as a “hub and spoke manufacturer,” as an “artist” in the 1910 census, and his death certificate from October 1915 lists his occupation as “real estate.” In 1913 and 1914 he was admitted three times to National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers for various complaints, the records further confirming his complicated service record. He passed away on October 4, 1915 due to a hernia complicated by a prostate obstruction.
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