The first item in this group is a very nice full-standing quarter plate tintype of George L. Turner as 1^st Sergeant of Company C, 1^st Connecticut Heavy Artillery. He is posed facing forward and holding his forage cap with the crown toward the camera. Clearly visible on the disc of the crown are crossed cannons with the company letter “C” and regimental number “1.” Turner wears a dark four button sack coat with gilt buttons and gilt exposed watch chain with tinted red 1^st Sergeant chevrons on each sleeve. His trousers are tinted sky-blue and around his waist is a red sash.

The image is very clear with very good contrast. There is some slight waviness to the plate. Image comes housed in the brass mat only.

With the image is a full length officer’s wine colored sash. It has both acorns and tassels. There is light surface dirt on the edges of the sash from use and storage. There are no pulls or snags. There are a few scattered small stains but otherwise the item is in excellent condition.

The last item in the group is a small lot of period copies of several of Turner’s letters home. Altogether there are 12 letters with dates ranging from June 1861 to January 1864. All are several pages long and written in a clear hand in bold ink. The letters are bound together at the top by a pink string that is tied into a bow on the first page. When the letters were copied is not known but from the ink and paper they look to be close to the war years.

The content is somewhat detailed covering camp life and the goings on within the regiment. Some of the highlights are:

The early letters talk about building the forts to protect Washington, D.C. He discusses his regiment being converted from infantry to artillery, of Mathew Brady coming to the fort and taking pictures of the men working the guns and he expresses frustration at being stuck in the fort while things happen around him.

In a July 1862 letter he gives good details of the fighting on the Peninsula and the Seven Days. He talks of the regiment acting as infantry until their cannons arrived and of their working the guns and having to drag them in the retreat as there were no horses available.

The September 1862 letter discusses in detail the part played by the 5^th Connecticut Infantry at Cedar Mountain and of the 1^st Heavy Artillery being back in garrison in Washington.

The June 1863 letter discuss the Confederate invasion of the North and Turner’s hope that the Rebels will be “chastised.”

In writing the January 1864 letter Turner expresses some war-weariness but then perks up and discusses new recruits joining the regiment.

George L. Turner was listed as a resident of Suffield, Connecticut but had ties to Massachusetts. He enlisted as a Sergeant in Company C of the 4^th Connecticut Infantry on May 23, 1861. The regiment was sent to Washington, D.C. where its designation was changed to the 1^st Connecticut Heavy Artillery and it was assigned to the defenses of that city.

Turner was promoted to 1^st Sergeant of Company C on April 1, 1862. Not long afterward the regiment took part in the Peninsula Campaign as part of the siege artillery train of the Army of the Potomac.

Turner was commissioned a 2^nd Lieutenant on December 22, 1862 and transferred to Company F. In April of 1864 he was made 1^st Lieutenant.

In addition to the Peninsula Campaign the 1^st Connecticut Heavy artillery saw service at Mine Run, Bermuda Hundred and Petersburg where the regiment operated the famous mortar nicknamed the “Dictator.”

Throughout his service Turner had trouble with sickness and while at the Petersburg front he fell ill again and was moved to Fortress Monroe. He died there on August 21, 1864. His remains were returned home and buried in Unitarian Church Cemetery in Dighton, Massachusetts.   [AD]

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