Civil War Letters of William Clark

Updated August 6, 2026

Estimate: 30 / 300 THE LETTERS OF WILLIAM H. CLARK… TRANSCRIBED AND ARRANGED WITH CONNECTING EVENTS BY JOHN MAURICE ALBERS. Kenosha, WI, 1916. 4to, bound in cloth boards. Collection of 139 typed Civil War letters of Captain William H. Clark of the 21st Massachusetts Infantry, bound together by editor John Maurice Albers in 1916. The correspondence spans January 1862 through late July 1864, documenting Clark's service in many of the war's principal campaigns, including Roanoke Island, New Bern, Chantilly, Fredericksburg, Knoxville, Petersburg, and the Battle of the Crater. Clark was wounded at Chantilly, later severely wounded at the Crater on July 30, 1864, and died shortly thereafter in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Rich in firsthand battlefield observations, the letters vividly recount combat, casualties, and camp life. Clark describes his capture at Chantilly, writing, "I am a prisoner of war...," his wounds at the Crater, the devastating losses at Fredericksburg, and the terrible carnage of the Knoxville Campaign, where he remarked, "I never before saw so many dead men on so small a piece of ground." A compelling firsthand narrative of one Union officer's experience from the opening campaigns through the final year of the Civil War. Condition: Very Good condition, clean, boards very slightly bowed.

Register & bid on this lot at Bidspirit →

More lots in this auction

• William McKinley Signed Document
• [African Americana] Underground Railroad
• 1620, Jesuit History
• 18th c. Georgia Land Grant Documents
• RARE, Moore's Utopia, 1639
• Twain's Life on the Mississippi
• 1693, Cicero's Orations
• [Important American Provenance] Plutarch

See all lots in 1066: Rare Books & Bookworm, ONLINE-ONLY Sale →