This letter is six pages long and all legibly written in pencil. Four of the pages are legal sized and two are standard letter size. The letter was written by Private Walter Scates of Taylor’s Battery B, 1^st Illinois Light Artillery. With the letter are some supporting documents and two CDVs of Scates in civilian clothes.

The letter is headed “CAMP NEAR PITTSBURG LANDING-APRIL 9^TH 1862” and is written to Scates’ Father and Mother. It begins with him informing his parents that he has been in “…another terrible battle…” but is fine. He goes on to describe how on Saturday the 5^th “…various rumors were flying around camp of an expected attack, and at one time the First Division was drawn up in line of battle.” Scates goes on to write how he and his comrades were expecting a quiet day in Camp on the 6^th when they heard scattered rifle fire which they thought was just the camp guards clearing their muskets but then a heavy volley rang out and “Then the order ‘Hitch up the battery’ rung on our ears and we prepared for a fight putting on our revolvers, filling canteens etc… In a few moments we had the battery hitched up and were ordered to advance to the line of tents in front of us.” Scates then relates that as the battery reached the front the 77^th Ohio was falling back under fire of a Rebel battery on a hill in the distance. A line was formed and Taylor’s Battery deployed on the edge of a ravine. While in this position the battery exchanged shots with the Confederate battery in the distance but then as Scates describes “Soon we could see bayonets glistening through the trees on the opposite side of the ravine, and then the Rebels came down the hill on the double-quick for a charge on us. After a heavy volley (which wounded several of our horses and made one gun team run away and upset our limber) they came dashing across the ravine and right up the hill at us. Away ran the 77^th and left us without support. ‘Give them canister’ shouted Captain Barrett, and we did give it to them with a vengeance. With six guns belching out canister down that slope we made it too hot for them, and, after a short but desperate contest, they broke ranks and fled.” After further fighting Scates describes the batteries retreat “We had just time to save our guns one of which (my own squads) we had to haul off by hand. The wheel team were killed by a six-pound shot, which went through both horses, just as we were going to limber up. We left two caissons, the horses being shot.” After describing the batteries withdrawal to a new line and the replenishing of their ammunition chest Scates describes the attack on this new line. “At 11o’clock the enemy opened on our new line (Oglesby’s brigade), and for an hour we did some of the hardest work of our lives, our guns roaring incessantly, and shot and shell plunging and bursting all over and around us. After 12 o’clock our ammunition gave out… so we limbered up and left the field with one gun disabled. Here we lost Putz, who had his brains knocked out, and we brought off several wounded.”  Private Scates goes on to describe some narrow escapes including one he had when a shell burst behind him and he “…stooped,-just in time to save myself from being cut in two…” He then goes on to describe the rest of the battle in general terms discussing the arrival of Generals Buell and Wallace with fresh troops and darkness stopping the fight. He talks of expecting action on the 7^th but the battery was never called on. He closes with one last observation “For 3 miles from the river the ground was covered with dead and wounded. The battle-field is a horrible sight. Our tents were filled with dead and wounded. Horses laying around by the hundreds and the stench is horrible.” The letter also discusses how surprised the Union Army was by the attack and the demoralizing effect it had on Scates and his comrades. At one point Scates admits that “I am afraid to go into battle with our leaders.”

The letter is too long to quote in total but hopefully the passages used here will give you a good idea of the content of the letter, its tone and the first class writing skills of Private Scates.

The letter is in excellent condition with two vertical and two horizontal fold lines and only has some light surface dirt along the lines of the back page.

With the letter are two bust view CDVs of Walter Scates in civilian clothes. In the first he wears a dark suit with white shirt and dark bowtie. The image is clear with good contrast. The reverse has a photographers imprint for L.I. PRINCE…NEW ORLEANS. Reverse also has a modern pen inscription identifying the image. The other CDV shows Scates looking a few years older with longer hair. Again, he wears a dark civilian suit. The image is clear but the contrast is a bit light. The corners of the mount have been clipped and there is scattered surface dirt on both the image and mount. Reverse has photographers imprint for B. KIHLHOLE…CHICAGO, ILL. The identification on the images is confirmed by a photo of Scates during the war found in a battery reunion booklet published in 1886. A Xerox of both the books title page and the photo mentioned comes with the letter.

Also with the group is a copy of the letter as it appeared in the “Chicago Times” during the war. The letter is not copied by the newspaper verbatim, they left out what was written about Scates being demoralized and they also hedged on his discussing what he saw after the battle. The newspaper clipping of the letter is mounted on the back of a print of the Taylor’s Battery Association badge. Also included is a short obituary cut from the paper when Walter Scates died in 1917.

Walter Scates was born February 28, 1840 in Shawnelbon, Illinois. After his education he worked for a time in Mt. Vernon, Illinois in the office of the Circuit Clerk. When the Civil War began Scates enlisted in Chicago as a Private in Battery B, 1^st Illinois Light Artillery on July 27, 1861. He took part in the battles of Belmont, Fort Donelson, Shiloh and the Siege of Corinth. He was discharged for promotion on November 12, 1862. It was planned that Scates would be commissioned a 2^nd Lieutenant in Battery D, 2^nd Illinois Light Artillery but the commission fell through. After the war he published “The Sewing Machine Advance” and manufactured sewing machine parts. He was a member of the George H. Thomas Post #5 of the GAR in Chicago and died there at the age of 77 on May 7, 1917. He is buried in Chicago at Oakwoods Cemetery.

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