Being offered are two 1864 letters written by Captain Charles Woeltge to Captain John Pugh Green and one letter from Charles’ brother Albert (also a Captain) to Green concerning his brother who has been killed in action at the Battle of Resaca in Georgia (13 pages total).

In his first letter from Erie, Chas. Woeltge describes the extravagant and well-orchestrated welcome the victorious 111^th Pennsylvania Infantry received in their hometown Erie after the Chattanooga Campaign. In the second, intimate letter to his “true and worthy friend” Capt. Green, he sincerely writes about not being swayed by the fair sex that is bedazzled by a soldier’s “bright buttons and shoulder straps.” He reflects upon the rumors regarding the war and says, “The people at home are very anxious and all eyes are directed towards the Cumberland army as really one substantial defeat on [their] side may prolong the war for years. . .”  He sees the winter months as crucial to stop the advancement of the rebels in order to be able to say, “Peace is at hand.”

In his June 1864 letter, Albert Woeltge thanks Capt. Green for his “feeling letter” of condolence: “it afforded us great comfort to hear from you how bravely he [Charles Woeltge] had faced death, and that his friends had properly buried him.” Listing the difficulty of transporting a body given the War, he asks Green for advice, or if provisions could be made the mark and protect the burial.

Capt. Charles Woeltge of the 111^th Pennsylvania Infantry was a staff officer at Lookout Mountain, TN under Colonel G.A. Cobham who commanded the Brigade. He was killed in action at the Battle of Resaca, GA on 15 May 1864.

Capt. John Pugh Green (1839-1924) served as Captain and Assistant Adjutant General under General Thomas Kane and others during the Civil War. In 1865, he began a career with the Pennsylvania Railroad, retiring as the Vice President of the company. He also wrote extensively about the 11^th and 12^th Army Corps movements, Inter-State Commerce Bills and the Pennsylvania Railroads, some of which have been published.

Condition: The two letters from Charles Woeltge are written on 7 sides of 7½” x 9 ½” ivory ruled paper. There are three file holes along the top. The letter from Albert Woeltge is written on 4 sides of 4 ½” x 7” ruled white paper. The writing is clear, unaffected by files holes, and legible in all the letters. All have mailing fold lines. Generally very good condition.