The following letter was written by Charles Frederick Urban (1838-1916) of Co. H, 13th Pennsylvania Reserves (42nd Pennsylvania Infantry), also known as the 1st Pennsylvania Rifles, Kane’s Rifles, or simply the “Bucktails.”  Charles enlisted on 1 August 1861. He was wounded on 19 August 1864 in the fighting at Weldon Railroad and was taken prisoner. He was released in March 1865.

Charles was born in Saxony (Germany) and was laboring as a stone mason in Lebanon, Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, when he volunteered to fight for the stars and stripes. He was barely literate and I had to interpolate a bit to make any sense of his letter.

The letter appears to have been datelined from Pierpont on December 1 but I suspect the fighting described refers to the Battle of Dranesville which occurred on 20 December 1861. It was in that battle that Col. Thomas L. Kane was wounded (though not in the penis, that I am aware of).

Transcription

Camp Pierpont [near Langley, Va.]
December 1, [1861]

Dear friend,

I take my pen in hand to inform you with a few lines that I am well and still in the land of the living yet and I hope that this few lines will find your family in good health.

My dear friend, you wanted to know about the war. I can tell you a little about it what happened this week. They had a little [ ] and killed two or three and some wounded and them that were wounded we carried along to our hospital and when he was near dead, said he could lick four of our Union Soldiers. He was shot in the head and in the side and arm, but he was dead the next morning and the rest [too]. There was one of our soldiers wounded and he said that they should get his pistol and shoot that secesh but the soldier was dead the next morning. The Colonel’s horse was shot under him and a [ ] shot in his penis and did not hurt him further. I cant tell you more about it.

Further, I let you know that I have seen in your letter that you have stopped berry time now [and] I want you to come to war and fight for the stars and stripes. That is all I can tell you now, my dear friend. You must excuse me for not writing more. Dear friend, I have been with my father two days and one night and we had some Lager beer and some more to drink, but you can see what fun times we had for we have not seen each other for about four months and the rest of the Lebanon fellers that left with him.

I must come to a close for tonight. So good night John and Danel and your family. From your true friend, — Charles Urban

So good night John and Daniel Moser