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Civil War-dated ALS from Confederate soldier Samuel A. Swanson, a 2nd Lieutenant of the 38th Virginia Infantry Regiment (Company D), three pages, 5.75 x 7, October 27, 1861. Addressed from “Camp Edmonds, Va.,” a handwritten letter sent to his sister Mollie C. Swanson, discussing the events of the Battle of Ball's Bluff, in part: “You have no doubt ere this received accurate account of the brilliant engagement that took place down here a few days ago. It has spoiled our prospects of a general engagement as McLellan, will scarcely dare, to make an attempt to take Centerville after having met with so disastrous a defeat at the outset of his campaign. Should he come however he will meet with a hearty reception as the troops seem anxious for a fight. I had the pleasure of again seeing Gens. Johnson, Beauregard and Longstreet and others.” Swanson has added at the top of the first page: “Direct your letter to me at Manassas Junction, care of Col. E. C. Edmonds, 38th Regt Va., Vol., Co. D.” Swanson was killed in action on May 31, 1862; the opening day of the Battle of Seven Pines. In fine condition, with trivial light stains.
Fought in Loudoun County, Virginia, on October 21, 1861, the Battle of Ball's Bluff (also known as the Battle of Leesburg or Battle of Harrison's Island) was an early conflict of the Civil War that proved a humiliating defeat for Union forces and Major General George B. McClellan. The operation was planned as a minor reconnaissance across the Potomac to establish whether the Confederates were occupying the strategically important position of Leesburg. A false report of an unguarded Confederate camp encouraged Brigadier General Charles Pomeroy Stone to order a raid, which resulted in a clash with enemy forces. The Union losses, which included the death of Colonel Edward D. Baker, a sitting U.S. Senator, alarmed Congress, which set up the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, a body that would provoke years of bitter political infighting. The Battle of Ball's Bluff demonstrated that the war would be longer and more brutal than initially anticipated by both sides.
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