The following letter was written by John Holmes Newcomb (1838-1883), the son of Foster Newcomb (1789-1869) and Fanny Collins (1799-1878) of Enfield, Massachusetts. John wrote the letter to his brother, unidentified, but most likely Leander Witherell Newcomb (1833-1908) who was next closest to his own age.

John enlisted in Co. E, 2nd Massachusetts Volunteers on 25 May 1861 for three years. He was seriously wounded in the Battle of Cedar Mountain on 9 August 1862 and was in the hospital many months before he was discharged for disability in late March 1863. The wound was a 1 oz bullet in his right thigh that was not removed. This wound ultimately was the cause of his death. When discharged from service March 9, 1863, he held the rank of sergeant, but through an error the discharge papers read “private.”

The 2nd Massachusetts was trained at Camp Andrew in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. Roughly half the regiment was mustered in on May 18, 1861 and the remainder on May 25, 1861 for a term of three years. The regiment saw extensive combat as part of the Army of the Potomac. The regiment spent the winter of 1861-62 guarding the upper Potomac River and Frederick, Maryland. The camp depicted in the lithograph was located on the Baltimore Pike four miles east of Frederick, Maryland, where they were for three months. This image is one of a group of 23 hand-colored lithographs of Union encampments produced by Rosenthal’s Lithograph of Philadelphia between 1861 and 1865.  Armed with a pass that provided him full access to the camps of the Army of the Potomac, Max Rosenthal’s pencil sketches provided the basis for this encampment series, a subset from over 150 prints of Civil War battle and camp scenes published by the Rosenthal brothers.

To read other letters by members of the 2nd Massachusetts transcribed and published on Spared & Shared, see:

Amos Perley Burnham, Co. C, 2nd Massachusetts (2 Letters)
William Foster Morgan, Co. C, 2nd Massachusetts (5 Letters)
David J. Orne, Co. D, 2nd Massachusetts (1 Letter)
Malcom G. Kittredge, Co. G, 2nd Massachusetts (1 Letter)
William Nutt, Co. I, 2nd Massachusetts (1 Letter)
Horace F. Nason, Co. I, 2nd Massachusetts (1 Letter)
Everett Wilson Pattison, Co. I, 2nd Massachusetts (1 Letter)
William Edward Perkins, Co. I, 2nd Massachusetts (1 Letter)
William Edward Perkins, Co. I. 2nd Massachusetts (1 Letter)
George H. Willis, Co. I, 2nd Massachusetts (1 Letter)
Moses Webber, Co. K, 2nd Massachusetts (2 Letters)

Transcription

Camp of the 2nd Massachusetts Regiment
[February 1862]

Dear Brother,

As I want to send you a picture of our camp I will write you a few lines. I am tough and rugged. The regiment is very healthy now considering the wet damp weather which we are having. This is a very good picture of our camp. You will see the band tent & also the band. On the left you will see the Colonel & Lieut. Colonel on their horses & the guard marching off to fire off their guns. The long tent on the left is the officers’ mess tent. This picture was taken from the road so you can’t see the colonel’s tent very plain but, however, it shows some. The picture will do enough to look at but come to be here in reality, it ain’t quite so funny. Mud is two feet deep without any exceptions.

I heard that Put was at home. I saw in newspaper the account of David’s death. I was surprised to hear that he had gone up.

I see that old Burnside is doing considerable business down in Dixie. I suppose we shall stop here until spring owing to the mud. We have fine weather over head. The blue birds and robins are as lively as they be in spring. It seems like spring.

I have had a sore throat. I began to look wild for one of them fellows which takes a fellow’s pelt but I have come out so I guess I shall escape it. I have not much news to write. I should not have wrote this but I thought you would like to see the location of the camp. If I can get one, I will send you a painted oner. They have them but they was all gone before I could get a chance to get one. So I will close.

From your brother, — John Newcomb

Write when you get ready.