1862 CHRISTMAS LETTER FROM UNION SERGEANT TO HIS MOTHER

Autograph letter signed by Herbert Merriam, Co. H, 44th Massachusetts. New Bern, North Carolina, 25 December 1862. 10 pages, 8vo. With original cover. 

A 10-page letter from Sgt. Herbert Merriam of Company H, 44th Massachusetts. He writes to his mother on Christmas Day, catching her up to speed on life in his regiment. 

Merriam spends several pages detailing his experience in the Battles of Kinston and White Hall, making it clear to his mother that he "heard it was reported in Boston that we were repulsed at Kinston it was a mistake we experienced quite the contrary, we took the place!" His story begins on 9 December, when his captain called him to his tent and the adjutant "informed me that I was detailed for signal service and would not have to carry a musket but would have a signal cartridge box pistol & cap box." From here, he writes about how he faired on the march and what kinds of provisions the soldiers received. 

When his regiment arrived at Kinston, Merriam claimed its taking was "really war." He writes about seeing men, "Union & Sesesh," get their legs amputated behind a house and watching a rebel colonel go pale from blood loss. Then he walks his mother through the action: 

"We formed in line of battle and followed up the 45th threw [sic] a swamp but did not lose any men... when the 10th Conn. and other Regiments charged; the enemy ran running across the bridge trying at the same time to burn it but did not succeed after getting our knapsacks, which we had thrown off, and some cannon firing we crossed the bridge and entered the town, taking some cannon & a little way out of the town we took six peices [sic] of cannon all loaded." 

The next morning, on the Neuse River, Merriam and his regiment faced the Confederates again in the Battle of White Hall: "the artilery [sic] were firing on them besides infantry. we soon took position behind a rail fence on this side the river and commenced firing. as we marched to take our position a shell came over our heads and soon another struck two men in our right wing and killed them instantly. we lost on the field nine killed & thirteen wounded, two of the wounded have since died." 

The last snapshot of action comes from Merriam recounting his regiment's mission to burn a railroad bridge and tear up the rail's tracks: "we succeeded, but the rebels opposed us. they made a very daring charge on one of our batterys [sic], and were very much cut up by grape and cannister [sic] we soon got the news that the object of our expidition [sic] was accomplished and we were going home." 

He finishes his letter writing about returning to New Bern and getting to relax with it being the week of Christmas. Because of the holiday, Merriam and the rest of his regiment received such delicacies as preserved turkey, plum pudding and kegs of pickles. 

Merriam (1841-1926) lived his whole life in Massachusetts. He grew up in Boston, where he enlisted as a private on 26 May 1862. Initially mustering into Company B of the 4th Massachusetts Battalion, Merriam was promoted to sergeant of Company H of the 44th Massachusetts Infantry. In addition to the Goldsboro Expedition, Merriam would have participated in the Battle of Rawl's Mills and the Siege of Washington before mustering out on 18 June 1863. 

After the Civil War, Merriam married Fanny Hawes, with whom he had seven children. Sometime after his marriage and before the 1880 Census, he moved just a few miles down the road to Weston, Massachusetts, where he worked as a farmer for the rest of his life. 

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