The following letter was written by William Nelson Lane (1843-1924), the son of William Henry Lane (1804-1882) and Lavina Wakefield (1809-1877) of Brownsville, Oxford county, Maine. In his letter, William mentions his older brother Simeon Pease Lane (1841-1921) who served in Co. H, 20th Maine Infantry.

William was 21 when he enlisted on 1 March 1864 as a private in the 3rd Maine Light Artillery. He survived the war, mustering out of the service on 1 September 1866. William was a farmer; his composition and spelling suggest a limited education.

When William wrote this letter from their encampment near Petersburg, the 2rd Maine Light Artillery had only recently joined the 9th Corps. Until 9 July 1864, they had been stationed at Camp Barry in the defenses of Washington D. C. Their commander was Capt. Ezekiel R. Mayo. During the siege of Petersburg, the battery participated in the 9th Corps’ infamous effort to mine and then blow up the Confederate defenses on 30 July 1864—just ten days after this letter was penned.

Transcription

Near Petersburg, Virginia
July 20, 1864

Dear Parents,

As I received a letter from you and was glad to hear from you and to hear you was well but father, I am sorry to hear that you are not well. I am well today and I hope these few lines will find you the same.

I saw Simeon yesterday and he as well then and he looked very well. But he said that he should like to be to home and see the folks. But he said that as long as the war [is going on and he is] so far away from home, he must be contented where he is. He has seen hard times since he left home. He has been in every battle since Grant’s [Overland] Campaign. His first battle was at the Wilderness and then he kept on till he got to Petersburg and here they had to stop and here we are today, both together. His regiment lays about half a mile from here where I lay,

It has been hot out here and dry but we had a nice rainstorm here the 18th of July and the army was glad to see it.

We have been a building a fort for the last few days. We are still at work now and I hope that we shall get through work soon for I am getting tired. I have heard the bells in Petersburg ring and I can see the city all plain. We can throw shells right into the city of Petersburg. we fired a shell from one of our guns into a house and set it on fire and there was three buildings burnt [that caught fire] from the first one that was burnt. The building that was burnt was brim full of sharpshooters and when they saw the fire, they all took out and commenced putting out the fire and as quick as we saw them, we opened on them with twenty pieces of artillery right at the fire and made the rebels run for dear life. And the faster they run, the hotter it grew till we could not see one of them. ¹

There has been heavy firing on the right today but it all quiet now. It is five o’clock p.m. and I am in camp now a writing this letter. Father, I should like for you to be out here and see this place and see what we are a fighting for. Father, I received the money that you sent me and it come in a good time, you better believe.

I am in hopes that we shall get paid off soon for I want some money to buy something to eat. I do not get enough to eat out here and if we could only get paid off it would do us some good. We can et anything out here we want if we have money to pay for it.

I have no more news to write today. Write as soon as you get this. From your son, — Wm. N. Lane

Direct your letters to Mr. Wm. N. Lane, 9th Corps, 3rd Division, 3rd Maine Battery, Washington D. C.

Write soon as you get this letter. W. Nelson Lane

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¹ This shelling probably occurred on Saturday, July 16, 1864 as I journal entry written on that day by Charles Campbell, a civilian in Petersburg, reads: “The shelling today as usual. In afternoon heard the fire bells ringing twice, probably on account of houses set on fire by shells.” [See—Charles Campbell Journal, July 1864]