Woolston, Charles (fl. 1864-1865) to Benjamin A. Woolston
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03523.26.02 Author/Creator: Woolston, Charles (fl. 1864-1865) Place Written: Alexandria, Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 16 November 1864 Pagination: 4 p. : envelope ; 20.5 x 12.3 cm. Order a Copy
Writes to his father in Tullytown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, that his regiment is at City Point, Virginia where he will be going soon to meet them. Says they have plenty to eat and can do what they want so he is in no hurry to go. Reports visiting the cemetery at Fairfax where General George B. McClellan fought in 1861. States that Confederate General Garnett was killed here. Says the men were all buried respectably in marked graves. Lists some purchases he has made, a gold pen, rubber suspenders, a pocket glass, etc. Written from Camp Distribution near Alexandria, Virginia.
Woolston enlisted as a private on 7 October 1864 in Company U, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, Pennsylvania. On 13 July 1861, at Carrickford, Virginia, Union troops crushed Confederate forces and killed Confederate General Robert S. Garnett. This is most likely the battle Woolston refers to in his letter. The Confederate forces lost 20, Union lost 53 men.
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