A group of six (6) letters and ephemera related to the Fitts Family of Haverhill, Massachusetts, most written by Henry Thomas Fitts (1842-1919) of Co. H, 22nd Massachusetts Infantry, while at the Hospital at Point Lookout, Maryland. Also included is a letter from his older brother, Stephen Fitts (1835-1903), who served in the same company. Items include: 

1. Autograph letter signed by Stephen W. Fitts, Co. H, 22nd Massachusetts Infantry, to his brother Daniel Fitts. Halls Hill, Virginia, 6 September 1862. 2 pages, 8vo. With original envelope with Washington D.C. cancel and red 3-cent stamp. 

2. Autograph letter signed by Emily Fitts to Henry Fitts. [Massachusetts], [1863?]. 2 pages, 8vo, upper edge trimmed unevenly. With original envelope with Haverhill cancel and red 3-cent stamp. 

3. Autograph letter signed by Henry Fitts to Sister Emily. Point Lookout, Maryland, 26 November 1863. 4 pages, 8vo. With original envelope with Point Lookout cancel and red 3-cent stamp. 

A letter penned on Thanksgiving day, he reflects on his enlistment: "I should much like to be at home today but find there is not much use in wishing, fortune favoring this is the last Thanksgiving I shall ever spend in the Army. Next year I hope to spend this day with you at home. We are going to have a dinner here of roast pigs and apple pies."

He also touches on the re-enlistment campaigns of 1863: "They are offering great inducements for the old veterans to re-enlist but I can't see it - at least not till my time is out on this enlistment, and then - why, we will see, what we will see." 

He closes, lamenting the local photographer: "I have use for eight photographs and although there is a gallery here, yet they take such poor ones that I should be ashamed to send them to any one and I want you, if I have any good ambrotypes at home, to take the best one and get me eight photos copied from them." 

4. Autograph letter signed by Henry Fitts to his mother, Susan Fellows Fitts (b. 1805). Point Lookout, Maryland, 15 January 1864. 2 pages, 8vo. With original envelope with Point Lookout cancel and red 3-cent stamp.

WITH bark relic from Washington's tomb affixed to page 3, approx. 1/2 x 3/4 in.

He writes to his mother, regaling her with his travelogue that took him to Mount Vernon, where he snagged a souvenir which is included here: "I have just returned from a trip to Washington where I was sent by the r. in charge of the Hospital on business connected with the Laundry...we laid at this place one day and two nights - it was just opposite Mount Vernon, and all on board took advantage of the time and visited that historical place. I send you a piece of bark which I peeled from a tree just in front of Washington's tomb." 

5. Autograph letter signed by Henry Fitts to his sister, Emily Fitts (b. 1837). Point Lookout, Maryland, 1 June 1864. 4 pages, 8vo. With original envelope with cancel and red 3-cent stamp. 

He excuses his tardiness in reply because of the many wounded from the Battle of the Wilderness that arrived at Point Lookout: "We have had very busy times for the last three weeks receiving wounded from the late battles day and night which has kept us hard at work. The poor fellows suffer much this warm weather but you hardly hear a complaint from one of them. As many as five a day have been buried ever since their arrival which is a large percentage on so few - eighteen hundred." Continuing, he notes the constantly changing populations: "All the regiments which have been stationed here have left for the front and their places supplied by the Veteran Reserve Corps. We also have had many additions to our prisoners having 15,000 privates and 700 officers, making quite a small army in themselves."

Commenting on the continuing drafts of 1863, he notes Grant's military needs and the brutal Overland Campaign: "Grant needs all the men he can get and that puts me in mind that the army has got back to McClellan's old ground of the Peninsular - the same place which was the scene of the military exploits of your humble brother, that is, what few he performed." 

6. Autograph letter signed by Henry Fitts to Brother Daniel. Point Lookout, Maryland, 7 August 1864. 4 pages, 8vo. With original envelope with cancel and red 3-cent stamp. 

WITH View of Hammond Genl. Hospital, and U.S. Genl. Depot for Prisoners of War. Lithograph with red ink annotations. Point Lookout, Maryland: George Everett, 1864.

Henry relates a dramatic tale of a violent storm, possibly a tornado, that ripped through Point Lookout, which he helpfully illustrates on a birds eye view lithograph of the Hospital: "Yesterday morning we witnessed a sight which once seen will never be forgotten. At about 5 1/2 o'clock in the morning a whirlwind passed over this place creating a great destruction of property but fortunately attended with no loss of life. If you had seen it and the course it took you would hardly believe that it could have passed among so many men and not have killed any. I send you a diagram with its course marked in red ink, from the place it first touched the Point till it left. Two of the long Hands in the circle were blown flat and although they were filled with patients at the time...they managed to all get out to a place of safety and not a man in either ward was injured. Six other buildings belonging to the Commissary Dept were completely demolished besides the sutler's shop...I suppose that the time occupied in its passage over the Point was not more than three minutes all together but the scene in this short time beggars description. The air was filled with flying boards, beams, bonels and all manner of loose stuff that was lying about." 

7. Three envelopes, each with cancels and red 3-cent stamps. Items include: Envelope addressed to Henry Fitts, with hand-drawn Union shield to verso. -- "Official Business Med. Dept." envelope addressed to Daniel Fitts. -- Envelope addressed to Mr. Daniel F. Fitts. With Washington D.C. cancel.

Henry Thomas Fitts enlisted on 14 September 1861 as a Private in Company H of the 22nd Massachusetts Infantry. His brother Stephen joined the same company a month later. The regiment joined the Peninsula Campaign (which Henry references in his 1 June 1864 letter home), where it was the first regiment to plant its colors at the Siege of Yorktown. It engaged at the Battle of Gaines' Mill, where it sustained its heaviest loss of the war and Henry went missing. He rejoined by 16 October 1862. 

The regiment was held in reserve at Second Bull Run and Antietam, but saw heavy action at Fredericksburg, where Stephen was wounded, sustaining injuries that forced his discharge in March 1863. 

Henry's letters indicate that he spent an extended period of time at Point Lookout, Maryland, presumably as a patient, though the nature of his wounds or illness is unknown. Despite misgivings of re-enlisting, he did join the 216th Co. Veteran Reserve Corps, 1st Battalion on 24 April 1864 before mustering out in October that year. After the war, he served as Post Commander of GAR Post #47 (Major Howe) in his hometown of Haverhill, Massachusetts. 

An excellent soldier's letter grouping with several unique stories and relics. 

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