AN EXTRAORDINARY LETTER
382
●
(MILITARY—CIVIL WAR.) EMILIO, LOUIS F.
Twelve page letter sent to
Captain Luis Emilio from fellow soldier and close friend Daniel Anson Sanger,
Lieutenant 2nd class.
12 pages, written on three 4to leaves, each folded to form four
pages; with the original addressed envelope, with two 3 cent stamps, mailed from Lowell,
Mass, on October 24, 1863.
Camp, second Mass Infantry, near Stafford, C.H. Virginia, May 30th 1863
[4,000/6,000]
A WARM
,
AND EXTRAORDINARILY DETAILED LETTER
,
TO LUIS EMILIO
,
CAPTAIN OF THE
54
TH
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER REGIMENT
.
Emilio’s close friend wrote this long letter in pieces, begin-
ning in May, in the field in Virginia, and mailing it in October, while on medical leave in Lowell
Massachusetts. “Allow me to congratulate you on your advancement in the military line. . . this is what
I have long wished to see, colored men fighting for their liberty, and helping with their strong arms, the
continuance of ours. . . “He describes his wound, and explains the long delay in replying “. . .You see at
that time we had just returned from Chancellorsville . . . when we were suddenly ordered off, and were on
the move more or less from that time until the battle of Gettysburg, not once pitching our tents during
that time. . .” He describes his visit home and how he visited with Emilio’s mother and sister—obvi-
ously quite smitten with the latter. “I know that I was most pleased to see her and I think she was well
pleased to see me. I wanted Capt. Smith to tell me the particulars of the charge of your regiment on
Fort Wagner, but I didn’t see him but for a few moments. That was a desperate affair, and must have
fully proved the mettle of your men. I think Luis, you are one of the lucky ones as we have a few like
you in our Regt. in that respect—they never have been hit, and have been in all our engagements. Our
fight at Gettysburg was I think the sternest fight we have had, though the loss was not greater than it
has been several times before, we
went into action with two hun-
dred ninety (290) and came out
with 125 men—in my company
there were thirty-five and after
the fight ten men-many who
were wounded have since died;
we got so close to the enemy that
every shot that hit was severe—
we were right in among them (as)
I believe you were at Wagner.
Many people are dissatisfied with
the results of the Gettysburg bat-
tle because Meade did not totally
destroy or capture Lee’s army-we
drove them back the whole length
of the line—they fell back in
pretty good order—I believe-it
had been a desperate encounter
and we had taken long fatiguing
marches before the engagement-
both parties were pretty well used
up. They had a little advantage
in numbers . . . Don’t be
revengeful and not write me
because I neglected you for so
long a time . . . your friend
Dan’l.” Emilio was the author of
“A Brave Black Regiment, the his-
tory of the 54th Massachusetts
Volunteer Regiment.
