Autograph letters signed by Joseph S. Brown, Chaplain of Company A, Sumter Artillery. Near Fredericksburg, Virginia, 10–12 June 1863. Four pages, 8 x 11 and 8 x 4 1/2 inches. With original cover bearing Richmond cancel and blue 10-cent stamp.

Written over the course of three consecutive days in June 1863, these letters offer a rare chaplain’s perspective from within the Sumter Artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia, then under the command of General Robert E. Lee. Brown reports on the activity of his battalion as it engaged Union forces across the Rappahannock. On 10 June he notes that “our artillery fired a little on the Yankee’s yesterday evening; but our ammunition seemed to be inferior and most of our shell fell short.” The following day he observes the enemy at work on their defenses: “we can see the Yankees digging trenches below Deep Run on this side of the River.” Finally, on 12 June, he records a dramatic episode of aerial warfare: “just been firing at the Yankee balloon and it went down rapidly. We could see the shell burst from our (wagon) camp in the air.”

The balloon referred to was almost certainly one of the Union Army Balloon Corps, established under Thaddeus S. C. Lowe and sanctioned by President Abraham Lincoln in 1861. Lowe organized seven hydrogen-filled balloons for reconnaissance, which provided valuable intelligence on Confederate troop movements until the summer of 1863, when the Corps was disbanded after Lowe’s resignation. Brown’s commentary places the Sumter Artillery in direct engagement with this fleeting but highly innovative branch of Union military science.

Joseph S. Brown had entered service with the Virginia Amherst Light Artillery as a private on 11 September 1861, but was discharged in October 1862 on account of his calling as a minister of the gospel. Soon after, he accepted appointment as chaplain in the Sumter Artillery. Beyond these letters, his subsequent career remains uncertain.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]