"...The minister says a few words, and ten soldiers are detailed out of the company to carry loaded guns. They follow the corpse to the grave and when the corpse [is] in the grave, they all fire three times together..."

Autographed letter signed by Charles Hendrich Forristall (1841-1917), 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters, to his friends "Hattie & Florence". Washington, D.C. 28 January 1862. 3 pages, 8vo. Written on Charles Magnus letterhead illustrated with scenes of Washington, D.C, namely St. Matthew Church, Trinity Church, the U.S. Arsenal, and the Military Asylum.

In this letter, Forristall writes to his friends of the great number of soldiers dying in Washington during the winter of 1861-62: "[A] soldier's life is hard - especially them that are sick. There was a time that they died four and five every day for five weeks." Disease ran rampant that season, and more deaths were attributed to camp-born illnesses than to battlefield combat. 

In addition, he describes the typical burial of fallen men, including the three-volley salute, firing three rounds into the air: "The minister says a few words, and ten soldiers are detailed out of the company to carry loaded guns. They follow the corpse to the grave and when the corpse [is] in the grave, they all fire three times together."

Son of Thomas and Mary Morse Forristall of Fitzwilliam, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, Charles Forristall enlisted on October 21, 1861 with Co. F, 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters. After serving for three years, he mustered out on November 26, 1864.

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