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THB[CIVIL WAR] Female Soldiers! (3) Letters Describing Women in the Army
![[CIVIL WAR] Female Soldiers! (3) Letters Describing Women in the Army](https://s1.img.bidsquare.com/item/xl/3275/32753879.jpeg?t=1UYRL9)
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About Auction
LiveNov 22, 2025
This exclusive catalog presents a select offering from the personal collection of Alejandro "Alex" de Quesada Jr., renowned historian, author, and collector. The catalog features exceptionally rare swords, historically significant belt buckles and military insignia, original Civil War flags, and a wide range of ephemera representing pivotal moments in military history. Fleischer's Auctions info@fleischersauctions.com
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- Lot Description
A remarkable collection of three (3) letters written by soldiers, each describing a woman serving in the army. Letters include:
1. Autograph letters signed by Charles Kilburn, [Co. B, 6th Massachusetts Infantry], to his cousin Nancy Kilburn. Suffolk, Virginia, 11 May 1863. 4 pages, 8vo. Laminated.
The letter is almost certainly written by Charles Kilburn of Shirley, Massachusetts, who was serving in Company B of the 6th Massachusetts Infantry and stationed in Suffolk shortly after the siege concluded, when he wrote this letter home to his cousin Nancy.
He enlisted on 9 October 1862 into Company B and moved to Suffolk, Virginia, with his regiment. On April 11th, General James Longstreet led Confederate forces across the Nansemond River in the beginning of the siege against the Union garrison. At the end of the month, the siege began to lift as Lee directed Longstreet to disengage and rejoin the Army of Northern Virginia at Fredericksburg. The forage wagons disengaged first, and was followed by a fighting ruing the withdrawal on May 3rd.
Here, Kilburn describes some of the recent fighting: "They made 3 attempts to enter our lines but were repulsed every time. The last time they killed 100 of our men in less than an hour one [colonel] and 7 captains of the NY Regiments. I went on picket last Sunday morning had not been there long before they drove us in 3 of a mile when we got in sight of our cannons they fired right over our heads and the ball opened. They come up regiment after regiment and our cannons would take them this way [diagram] into their ranks it made a winnow right through them while our gunboats were playing into in the rear our cannon were firing all night long we could hear them groan all night. There were 200 graves in one place say nothing of clear round town. They have retreated and 40,000 went from here 20 miles but did not overtake the main force. But get any quantity of stragglers and deserters wanted to know we did not shoot heir officers for they had got tired of fighting, well enough of this."
Most notably, he describes the ferocity and unexpected arrival of women on the battlefield: "The people of the North know nothing what their sons have to endure. I have been on fatigue all night, we have been out and have burnt all the Houses some splendid ones. A woman running into our lines when the Battle was raging and they shot her dead also I heard the Rebel women burnt one of our Hospitals."As a closing to his letter, he instructs his cousin to “Burn this up.” After operations on the Seaboard & Roanoke Railroad, the regiment returned to Massachusetts and was mustered out on 3 June 1863 at Lowell.
2. Autograph letter signed by D.M. Webster, [Co. E, 1st New York Engineers], to his wife. Camp on James Farm, Virginia, 6 March 1865. Approximately 6 pages (4 pages, 2 with overwriting), 8vo. Split at hinge.
The letter was almost certainly written by Dow M. Webster, a corporal in Company E of the 1st New York Engineers. He enlisted on 30 August 1864 and moved south to join the Siege of Petersburg.
Compellingly, he writes of a soldier giving birth: “One of the corporals of the 6 heavy artillery came in last night to have a baby and had it his husband is with him. They have him in the service 3 years and enlisted as veterans...also that the regiment gave the corporal a $1000.000 as a donation . I do not know whether to believe it or not.“
3. Autograph letter signed by Thomas Richards, Co. E, 143rd Pennsylvania Infantry, to his Aunt, Susan Fields. Hart Island, New York Harbor, 21 March 1865. 4 pages, 8vo. Small loss at lower corner.
Writing near the end of the war while stationed at the Prisoner of War camp on Hart Island, Richards writes to his Aunt with shocking and revelatory news about one of his comrades: "You wanted me to tell Harry Barger...well I must tell you that Harry has turned out to be a femail [sic] and is discharged from the army."
The soldier referenced is probably Thomas Berger who enlisted as a private on 4 August 1862 into Company C. They are listed as “deserted” on 10 February 1863.
Richards mustered into Company E of the 143rd Pennsylvania on 6 September 1862 as a private. Joining the Army of the Potomac, his regiment was hard fought, engaging at several of the major battles of the Eastern Theater, including Chancellorsville, the Overland Campaign, and the Siege of Petersburg. He would muster out, still on Hart’s Island, on 12 June 1865.
[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Women, Women’s History, Suffragettes, Women’s Movement, Suffrage]
Condition
May 1863 letter - laminated
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