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Phebe.

[Letter of the Wife of a Union Soldier Apparently From Maine, On the Ravages of the Civil War.]

Lawrence, Mass., 5 June 1864. 12mo (8.2” x 5”), white paper. 4 pp. of manuscript. With original envelope. Both the letter and original envelope feature small illustrations of a single bird.

A moving Civil War letter by the wife of a Union soldier apparently from Maine, referencing the horrors of the battlefield and her fears for the life of her husband Charlie who was apparently serving in the Maine 1st Regiment.

Writing to her “Friend Julia,” aged fourteen and living in North Berwick, Maine, the author of this letter—one “Phebe”—hastens to answer Julia’s letter of the previous evening. She begins by expressing her sympathies, having learned that Julia’s father has “gone to war”:

For Julia I know welI how to sympathise with anyone that has got a friend in the army, for many is the sad hour that I have spent since Charlie went away and everyday seems sadder to me. For when he was in the Fort I did not think that he would have to be ordered out but he was two weeks ago to day.

She notes that Charlie was ordered to Bell Plain and from there to Spotsylvania, Virginia—“and there they was in a big battle” (the Battle of Spotsylvania 8–21 May 1864). She continues:

The battle was of a Thursday and I never heard from him till the next Tuesday, and the news came here that the 1st Regt was all cut up and you don’t know what my feelings were, I got the paper every day and I was afraid to look in it for fear I should see his name in it, amongst the killed, but thank heaven he came out of the battle without a scratch...

In the following passage, Phebe offers a glimpse into the emotional trials experienced by the wives of those who fought in the war:

I had worried myself next to death about him for I could neither eat or sleep, and now I expect everyday to hear that he is in another battle so you know how bad I feel all the time, but his time will be out in one month from today and if god spares his life so long I shall see him once more I hope…I got a letter from him last week and he was then within 20 miles of Richmond, and now all I can do is to hope for the best but my heart fails me sometimes and it seems to me that my troubles are greater than anyone in the world.

She relates that two of her cousins have been killed: Seth Colby and Frank Bennett. Colby was from Sanford, Maine, and was mustered into “K” Co. Maine 8th Infantry; he died on 20 May ‘64 at Ware Bottom Church in Virginia. Phebe notes that Frank Bennett was drafted in Boston and was killed in the first battle he fought in. She then addresses the horrors of the ongoing war:

Oh Julia if we would only see the horrors of the battlefield you should know how to pity the poor soldiers. It almost break[s] my heart when I think of Charlie being killed out there and being buried as they bury them on the battlefield. But I will not say any more about it now for my head aches now I have cried so much. You said the trees are all in bloom, I know they are, and so they are here but l can’t enjoy the beauties of spring, and Charlie so far away from me and in these battles, but I must stop.

Phebe brings the letter to a close by asking Julia to send her love to her mother—and to “keep a good share yourself.” It seems likely that Phebe may have relocated to Massachusetts during the war, as in closing the letter she references numerous Maine residents and occurrences taking place near where Julia resides in North Berwick. (“When you write tell me how Shary and Jennie get along and tell me if she goes to school all the time. I have been expecting a letter from them all the week. I heard that Simon Bennett’s house was burnt tell me how it get to fire.”) While Phebe’s intimate knowledge of these Maine matters may have resulted from frequent visits, her familiarity with the area seems to indicate she was in fact from there. As such, we may conclude that her husband Charlie was likely from Maine as well, and thus that the 1st Regt. Phebe speaks of is the Maine 1st Regt. In the form of a postscript, Phebe signs off: “please excuse this very poor letter” (either referring to her writing or the gloomy tone of the letter).

CONDITION: Very good.

Item #5485

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