"It was a hard and Bloody battle...and [we] fought like tigers." 

Autograph letter signed by Pvt. John Hanna, Co. C, 39th Indiana Infantry. Camp on the Battlefield, [Tennessee], 23 April 1862. 3 pages, 8vo, on "Forever Wave!" patriotic illustrated letterhead.

An extraordinary written just days after the close of the epic Battle of Shiloh. The writer, Pvt. John Hanna (alt. Hannah) of the 39th Indiana Infantry, describes for a friend his experience during the fight - the regiment's first - in folksy yet vivid terms. "I spose you have heard of the grate battle of Pittsburgh Landing. It was a hard and Bloody battle...and [we] fought like tigers...The balls whistled around our heads and flew in all directions. You best believe this child kind a felt scitchrish." Hanna goes on to describe how the dead and wounded "lay thick all over the ground," and details the names and injuries of the men of his company. He also correctly details his suspicions that "another big fight at Corinth" looms for his regiment before transitioning into more mundane matters, such as sending money home to his mother in Jay County and "shooting guns" with the orderly sergeant.  

The 39th Indiana Infantry, later mounted and renamed the 8th Indiana Cavalry, lost nearly forty men during the second day of the Battle of Shiloh. It would be Pvt. Hanna's only fight. The 39th camped on the battlefield in the immediate aftermath of the fight - Hanna repeatedly calls it "Camp Shilo." He complains about spartan camp conditions and their negative effects on his health early in the letter; surgeons sent him to a hospital in Nashville soon after the Union's successful siege of Corinth. Unable to regain his strength, he died there in late 1862. 

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

Letter is in very good condition with minor wear and original fold lines.