39th Mass Soldier’s Letter & Collar Mailed Home – SOLD

Sgt. Benning Hall, Jr. 39th Massachusetts Infantry sent this home not long after his enlistment.

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Description

Benning Hall, Jr., from Natick, Mass. enlisted as 1st sergeant in Company “I” of the 39th Massachusetts Infantry.  He was discharged for disability in February, 1864, from Washington, D.C.  In the early stages of raising troops, Natick was to provide just over a hundred men, or a company for the 39th regiment.  Hall, gave a rousing speech to the crowd at town hall on August 1st, in another attempt to bring up the quota of men. 22 more enlisted that day.

Hall wrote this letter just shortly after leaving their camp in Massachusetts on September, 4, 1862;

“We left camp in a hurry. We left Boston in a hurry. We are going to war in a hurry. We halted a the Depot 1 minute & 3/4. We haven’t been to dinner yet but expect to tonight.   We are all on it and in for chances. We are on the Perham Excursion Train to Washington. (P.S. turn over)   Fare 13 a month and found 13 dollars advance. Blacking Express.  I leave this collar, for they ain’t in style.  Everybody is lovely & the goose hangs high on the hen pen.   Yours truly,   Ben Hall.”

“Everybody is lovely & the goose hangs high on the hen pen” are part of everyday speak in that era, and I found exact quotes as late as 1884. Just another way to say, “I’m liv’n in the tall cotton,”  Hall’s knowledge of the trains, etc. stems from his being an expressman before the Civil War.

The letter is one piece, with the front side being a copy so the letter may be read in its entirety. Written in pencil.

The white dress collar, appears to be civilian in nature, and this one may not have adopted well if at all to his issue frock coat.  He wrote upon it, ” Latest Dispatch from B. Hall, Jr.”  The collar shows use, and the folds of course developed when cramming into a envelope.

Benning Hall, without complete records, probably was present as 1st Sergeant at Gettysburg, and Mine Run, Va., along with a few smaller engagements.

A neat, if somewhat ephemeral in nature, identified relic from the Civil War days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional information

Weight .6 lbs