Beschreibung:

Lee, Isom (ca 1848-1912). Private in Co. A, 2nd South Carolina Infantry. ALS "I.L.," 4pp, 7.75 x 9.75 in., "Vienna Fairfax Co." August 1, 1861. Addressed to "Mrs. Woodruff." The 2nd South Carolina Infantry, frequently referred to as the 2nd Palmetto Regiment, was organized on May 8, 1861 near Richmond, VA under Colonel Joseph B. Kershaw. Lee enlisted as a private and mustered into Co. A, led by Captain William H. Casson. By July, the regiment had moved to Manassas and was assigned to the brigade of General Milledge Bonham. In his gracefully written letter, Lee highlights key military events that transpired earlier in the month, culminating in the Battle of First Manassas on July 21, 1861. To begin, Lee recounts the Confederate retreat from Fairfax Courthouse, noting that it "sheds glory and credit on the heart and head of our brave Col. Kershaw, who on being a third time solicited to fall back from the foe that was surrounding him and leave about ninety of us, myself among the number, to our fate. . . replied, 'no, I will cut my way through their entire army before I forsake my brave fellows in their perilous positions.'" His recollections evince his admiration for Kershaw, and Lee's pride in both his regiment and the Confederate cause strengthens as the letter progresses. He continues: "Our retreat was followed by two battles - the last a pretty decisive one - and then there [were] forced marches forward again and pickets and guards that are unknown to the body of the army." On the morning of July 21, Union General Irvin McDowell ambushed the Confederate Army at Matthews Hill. Unprepared for the attack, the Confederates were driven back as additional Union brigades poured in across Bull Run. Lee notes, however, that his comrades were undeterred in their defense and offers grandiloquent descriptions of their gallantry in battle: ". . . I was struck motionless to see the valor of mere boys. . . I never saw or read of anything fit to be placed on a level with the conduct of some of the South Carolinians on that terrible 21st of July. There was the brave Irishman and the hardy Scotsman opposite us & well they fought and fearlessly they meet their death wound and firmer, aye, much firmer they stood than the much vaunted New York Zouaves. We came into the field at a terrible crisis. Ten men were giving way a little but only to make a firmer stand and then I saw the mettle of our boys tried. . . Boys of sixteen to twenty. . . trampled over the wounded, dying and dead with as firm set lips and glowing faces. . . and did not shrink from the fearful fire the enemy poured upon them no more than if we were only playing some game when at the word of some actor, all would rise up and with a dash of water clear away all traces of death." The courage of the 2nd Palmetto Infantry prevailed, even when faced with the inevitable consequences of war. As Lee explains in part, "We had some killed but their comrades, after a hasty glance, pushed on. There were many wounded but I did not hear a groan from a Southern Soldier. The Yankees were lying also wounded beside them and I am sure this as much as pride restrained them. Mr. Lincoln and his General must indeed be maniacs to entertain for an instant the idea of subjugating such people." The gritty determination of the Confederate army, vividly captured here in Lee's letter, was rewarded with the arrival of reinforcements from General Joseph Johnston's army, including a brigade of Virginians led by General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. Their assistance allowed Lee and his fellow soldiers to reform their lines and ultimately rout the Union army back to Washington, DC. Condition: Wear and discoloration to edges, with fold lines running vertically and horizontally through the body of the letter. Some areas of smudged ink.