Beschreibung:

Lot of 28 war-date letters, some written on patriotic stationery, and one albumen photograph. Twenty-seven letters were written by Corp. Robert A. Hubbel, Co. K, 14th New York State Volunteers, with one letter written by recruiting Sergeant John W. Holsapple, also of the 14th NY. Engaging and descriptive, the letters span nearly the entirety of Hubbel's enlistment (1861-1863), and include references to multiple engagements, General McClellan, the Monitor and the Merrimac, contraband, the Siege of Yorktown, and more. Robert Alexander Hubbel (1834-1868) was born in Hudson, NY, to Henry and Elizabeth Hubbel. He remained in Hudson up until the time of his enlistment. The 1860 Federal Census shows that on the eve of the Civil War he was working as a clerk, and living at home with his parents and three younger siblings, John, William, and Elizabeth. On 9/13/1861 at the age of 27 he enlisted as a private and mustered into "K" Company of the New York 14th Infantry. The 14th New York Infantry, also known as the 1st Oneida County Regiment, left New York for Washington in June of 1861. After his enlistment in September of that same year, Robert Hubbel would have traveled south to join his regiment. His first letter is written to his sister from Arlington [Heights, VA] just a few weeks after his departure, and he anticipates moving again. "We leave Arlington tomorrow (Monday) and go to our camp which I believe has been named Camp Muligan it is about 6 miles from here. And I am anxious to get their as it is a more healthy location being removed from the valley running along the Potomac...." By October 22, 1861, Hubbel has reached winter quarters at Miner's Hill [also sometimes Minor's Hill]. He writes to his parents on that date that he expects to find trouble soon "as they have just defeated our army or part of it at Leesburgh and killed one of our General [Col. Edward Baker] which will inspire them with extra confidence." Hubbell, however, is not inspired with confidence in his commanding officers, writing that "Our Colonel [James McQuade] is sick and gone to the Hospital. We are not satisfied with his sickness...that is we think he is playing it as he did not look sick and was not until yesterday. And things look to me as if he is afraid and I am sure Captain [William H.] Seymour is from the way from the way he acted when we went to Munson's Hill...." While in winter quarters at Minor's Hill, Hubbel and the 14th NY remained close to the Confederate lines. Hubbel writes to his parents on November 10, 1861, about the difficult nature of picket duty, and being called out by a discharge of rifles. His letter includes a detailed map of their picket positions in relation to Miner's Hill. In another letter from Miner's Hill he describes a party of forty men from the 30th NY regiment who were surrounded and taken prisoner while on a foraging tour. Mostly during the fall and winter of 1861, however, Hubbel and his unit are drilling and preparing for the hard fighting that they know is to come. Hubbel tells his brother in a letter of December 29, 1861, that he expects to march soon and he anticipates the destination will be a return to Bull Run. "We will have a hard time taking it. A great many will leave their bones upon that spot and perhaps myself...I shall do my duty at all hazards." A march to Bull Run was not imminent though, and Hubbel and his fellow soldiers grow weary of the waiting. "Dear parents," Hubbel wrote on Februry 12, 1862, "...I really hope they will do something soon as we begin to get impatient...yet I hear no grumbling...but the utmost confidence in Gen. George B. McClellan...." Confidence is building not just in McClellan, but in the prospects for Union victories. "You have probably heard of our again being successful at Roanoke Island. I think those at Manassas must begin to think that the Yankees are somebody after all." At last in mid-March 1862 the 14th Regiment moved to Fortress Monroe to participate in the Peninsular