This letter was written by Alfred Orlo Smith (1841-1912), the son of Norman Smith (1806-1865) and Emily L. Smith (1816-1892) of Rome, Oneida county, New York. Battery H, 3rd New York Artillery, was organized at Rome, New York in February 1862. They were sent to New Bern, North Carolina, in late March 1862, and were still garrisoned there a year later when this letter was penned. Alfred entered the service as a private and was appointed corporal on 1 September 1863—his highest rank.

Alfred’s obituary was published in the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, New York, on 12 October 1912, asserting that he “took an active part in the second battle of Bull Run and was also involved in the battles of Missionary Ridge and Antietam. He participated in twenty-eight battles, in addition to numerous skirmishes. He sustained a bullet wound in the leg during the battle of Missionary Ridge, which resulted in a lifelong disability.” However, an examination of Alfred’s military record indicates that he spent the entirety of his service along the eastern coastal seaboard, never once nearing the aforementioned battlefields, nor was he ever wounded in combat. These fabricated accounts likely originated during the post-war glory days of the GAR, an organization with which he was proudly associated.

In the 1890 Veteran’s Schedule, Alfred claimed he held the rank of 1st Lieutenant and served from mid-August 1862 to 24 June 1865 (2 years, 9 mo., 26 days). In the disability column of this record, he suggests periodic lung difficulty but says nothing of any wounds or having been lamed by a bullet.

In his letter, Alfred informs his cousin of the recent skirmish at Deep Gully that occurred in mid-March 1863, a segment of a poorly orchestrated Confederate assault on New Bern, aimed at regaining control of the city from Union forces. Concurrently, a less effective attack was launched against Fort Anderson, situated on the bank of the Neuse River, directly across from New Bern.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

New Bern, North Carolina
April 1863

Dear Cousin Nellie,

I received yours of the 13th March and was happy to hear from you and to hear that you was well and in good health. I had begun to think that you had forgotten me but the letter came at last. We are having pleasant weather here at present and I hope these few lines that I write will find you enjoying good health as they leave me with a bad cold. We have been out on an expedition since I last wrote to you. We went into Onslow County within 8 miles of Jacksonville. We see nothing worthy of note. We captured some [ ] and prisoners of war. We arrived here on the 10th of March, safe and sound.

We were attacked here on the evening of the 13th by the Rebels at a place called Deep Gully, distance nine miles from New Bern. We got orders just as we were getting supper. We marched five miles double quick and come to a halt in Battery for the night. We lay by our guns all night in the chilly night air. In the morning we advanced two miles to the front. The Rebel skirmishers commenced firing on our advance. We were there to a halt about twenty minutes when we heard heavy firing in ythe direction of New Bern. We then could see what was up. The Rebels had come down on this road so as to decoy us out of New Bern. We got orders to counter march back to New Bern.

We arrived in New Bern about 10 o’clock a.m. When we got here, we could see the shells of the Rebels guns burst over our camp and around our gunboats. We were ordered to be ready at a moment’s warning but we did not get a chance to fire a gun. They kept up their firing all day. The next day they retreated and we have not seen them since and I am in hopes we won’t as we are not on very friendly terms.

Today the news is that Little Washington is taken by the Rebels. We heard heavy firing all day yesterday. We are expecting an attack every minute. We are under orders to be ready in a moment’s warning. We just got the order not five minutes ago and on that account, you. must excuse bad writing and spelling.

The trees are all leafed out, the fruit trees are all in [illegible due to repair tape]…as well as he ever was and a little better, I think. Dave Roberts is here in the 92nd New York Regiment. He has been here to my quarters several times. He has got a discharge and I think he is on his road home. I have heard that a good many are getting married. I hope you won’t stoop so low as to marry a man that is too big a coward to fight for his country in this hour of peril. Tell Marie I was glad to hear from her and I will answer it the first opportunity. I can’t think of anything else. Give my love to all enquiring friends. From your cousin, — O. Smith

I’ll do better next letter.