1861 BOSTON RECRUITING LETTER – LT. H. WENTWORTH REQUESTS HAYMARKET SQUARE TENT SITE FOR BUTLER’S DIVISION

1861 BOSTON RECRUITING LETTER – LT. H. WENTWORTH REQUESTS HAYMARKET SQUARE TENT SITE FOR BUTLER’S DIVISION

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1861 Boston Recruiting Letter – Lt. H. Wentworth Requests Haymarket Square Tent Site for Gen. Butler's Division

An early-war letter signed by Lieutenant H. Wentworth, written in Boston and dated "Sept. 25 '61." Wentworth writes to "Messrs. Parmenter, Rich & Wilson, Committee on Paving," asking permission to put up a recruiting tent in one of the city's busiest public squares. The letter reads in full:

"Gentlemen: The undersigned respectfully represents that he has authority to Recruit men for Gen. Butler's Division, now in Camp in Lowell. For this purpose he anxiously desires your permission to occupy, for a few days, a portion of the small enclosure in Haymarket Square for a Recruiting Tent, and trusts that you will grant the request.

Respectfully,

Lieut. H. Wentworth"

In the fall of 1861, Benjamin F. Butler was raising his "New England Division" for the coastal expedition that would eventually capture New Orleans, with troops gathering at Camp Chase in Lowell. This letter shows the street-level work of filling those ranks: a young officer asking city officials for a patch of ground in Haymarket Square to sign up volunteers. The writer has been identified as Henry Wentworth, who served with the 17th and 50th Massachusetts.

The body of the letter is in a clerk's hand and signed by Wentworth. It is docketed on the reverse "H. Wentworth / Application for tent, Haymarket Square," with early pencil notations at upper left. One page on a folded sheet of lined paper, approximately 8" x 5". Usual folds and light toning; very good condition.

A great piece of Boston's war Civil War mobilization and of Butler's New England Division.   [cm] [ph:L]

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