Two autograph letters signed by Captain Charles Henry Thayer (1840-1903), Co. C, 1st Rhode Island Cavalry, as a prisoner of war, addressed to his mother, Caroline Taft Thayer (1806-1885). Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, April 1863. One is 1 page, 4 1/2 x 3 3/4, on "Sanitary Commission" letterhead, with original cover with prison markings. The other is 1 page, 4 3/4 x 4 3/4 in. 

Thayer enlisted in September of 1861 as a 2nd Lieutenant in Co. D of Ambrose Burnside's 1st Rhode Island Infantry. His regiment was dispatched to fight at Bull Run, the first major battle of the Civil War. After three months, he reenlisted in Co. C, 1st Rhode Island Cavalry and was transferred to the Army of the Potomac. His regiment fought in Kellys' Ford, where Thayer was wounded ("through the fleshy part of the thigh") and taken prisoner. 

These letters, in spite of their brevity, convey both the heightened anxiety felt by the inmates at Libby Prison and the degree to which their mental wellbeing hinged upon on the possibility of exchange. First, on April 2, Thayer tells his mother that "the privates of [his] regiment are with [him]. A flag of truce boat is here and will take them off tomorrow. No chance for the officers to be paroled or exchanged." Indeed, from the second letter, we learn that "100 officers [are held] in one room including two generals...we are waiting very anxiously to hear news of exchange." He hopes that something will be done soon concerning the parole of officers and to be in receipt of some letters from family soon, the only comfort that could be afforded to him.

Thayer would not be exchanged until December of 1864 and was honorably discharged shortly thereafter on December 31, 1864. After thwarting war, Thayer became a doctor of dental surgery, graduating in 1869 from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. He then moved to Chicago, Illinois where he established his practice in 1870.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Prisoner of War, POW, Andersonville, Libby Prison]