Autograph letter signed by R.F. Edwards, Co. I, 90th Pennsylvania, to his parents. Battlefield near Sharpsburg, [Maryland], 24 September [1862]. 3 pages, 4to. 

Edwards writes from Sharpsburg shortly after the devastating Battle of Antietam. One of the most amazing letters we have seen for display, the author includes detailed drawings of five dead and dying Confederate soldiers. 

He recounts the fortitude and courage of his regiment: "Our Flag is full of bullet holes. The smoke of battle has soiled its snow white and crimson folds, but letters of gold will 'ere we return record the actions of Thorofare Gap, Bull Run, East Mountain and Sharpsburg, through which the gallant old 90th has passed triumphantly and won golden opinions from all by its spartan courage. I am proud of my Regt., the National Guard both as the 19th and as the 90th. I wish that I had been in the Sharpsburg affair, for there will never in this war be another like it."

He continues with an eyewitness account of the bloody aftermath of corpses on the battlefield. Remarkably, he includes five detailed drawings of the fallen Confederates among his penned lines: "Still I have seen all the horrors without positively been in the action. The dead and dying. Long lanes of dead fallen where they stood, marked the Rebel lines of battle. All positions, some kneeling, others on their hands and knees. Some peacefully lying there on that bloody field as if on some rose strewn couch. We still remain at this stupid place. No signs of the enemy. The daily thunder of cannon that for the past two weeks has been a familiar sound has ceased and all is quiet. We will move shortly. It is expected to Harpers Ferry. I wish they would leave us there all winter but time will show."

One of the best illustrated letters we have encountered.

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