Lot 72
  • 72

[Civil War - Gettysburg]

Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Major Allen G. Brady. A field report from the Battle of Gettysburg, being an unsigned draft or retained copy, 4 July 1863, 6 pp. (8 x 5 in.; 203 x 128 mm) in pencil. with: [Andrew Johnson]. Officer's commission of brevet Lieutenant Colonel to Allen G. Brady, "for gallant conduct at the Battle of Chancellorsville Va., to date from March 13, 1865," 20 March 1866, rubberstamp signature, 19 x 15 1/2 in.; 483 x 393 mm); minor light foxing, horizontal and vertical folds. also with: Allen G. Brady. Autograph letter signed, 19 May 1877, 1 p., to the Adjutant General, U. S. Army, seeking a copy of the military record of Gen Hugh Brady, who fought in the War of 1812, response on verso — Wharton J. Green. Autograph letter signed ("W. J. Green), Washington, 13 December 1885, 2 pp. on House of Representatives letterhead, to A. G. Brady; with autograph envelope.
  • Paper, Ink
A UNION OFFICER'S COMMISSION AND FIELD REPORT FROM THE 17TH CONNECTICUT REGIMENT AT THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.

"We had not more than time to form before the enemy were discovered advancing rapidly upon us on our right & a full Brigade obliquely towards our left … our fire was so destructive it checked their advance the troops on our left giving way the enemy came in behind us but we still remained firmly at the stone wall until the rebels were driven back."



Many soldiers of the 17th Connecticut had been stung by criticisms leveled at their unit after the Battle of Chancellorsville, where the corps was surprised and driven from the field with a flank attack by Stonewall Jackson.  As Brady reports here, events of the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg were eerily similar to Chancellorsville.  On 1 July, their regiment was again divided, outnumbered, and outflanked by the same Confederate unit as it had been at Chancellorsville, although this time under the command of Richard Ewell.  As he drove the Connecticut soldiers from the field and through the streets of Gettysburg on the first day of fighting, Union Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Fowler was killed. In a disciplined retreat that evening, the 17th Connecticut fell back, and was posted near the center of the Union line at Cemetery Hill near a stone wall.  Their position, where the Union line's "fishhook" curved southeastward toward Culp's Hill, exposed then to murderous crossfire from Confederate artillery on three sides. The unit sustained high casualties for the next two days; of the unit's 386 men at Gettysburg, 20 were killed, 81 wounded, and 96 reported missing.  Brady himself was wounded by a shell fragment on 2 July.



The regiment performed heroic service on the second day of the battle, protecting Cemetery Hill from the attacks of Jubal Early's division, specifically Harry Hays's brigade of "Louisiana Tigers". The 17th Connecticut then withstood the Condererate bombardment of 3 July, spending much of the day trading shots with the sharpshooters in town.  Brady's report, in slightly revised and expanded form, is reprinted in Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 27, Chap. 39, Part 1, pp. 716–19. In closing there, Brady said, "The regiment behaved gallantly. No troops in the world behaved better. Both officers and men are deserving of great credit for their coolness and bravery throughout the entire three days' battle." 

Condition

As described in catalogue entry
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