CIVIL WAR FORT HELL, VIRGINIA 48TH PENNSYLVANIA SOLDIER LETTER For Sale

The 48th Pennsylvania, composed of miners was a Schuylkill County infantry unit, famous for the construction of the famous tunnel under the Rebel lines under the direction of Colonel Henry Pleasants. The Mine Explosion created a huge Crater, but failed to dislodge the Rebel troops from the Petersburg Line. An Original Civil War Letter from Private Tomas D Lewis at Fort Sedgwick, Virginia, February 17th , 1865 to \"Friend Lizzie\",-he reports he and \"The Boys\" reached camp and are all in \"Fighting Order\", comrade Tommy Leyshon thanks her for the tobacco , stamps, etc. He writes that he is \"still in the same place- \"No chance of getting out of Fort Hell\" and is sorry he wasn’t able to see her and Mary while home, but soon hopes to be home for good. He asks for her photograph for him and Tommy, and asks if she is going to Mahoney City.and asks her to please write soon- news is \"about as scarce as Firewood which is mighty scarce\".. Please give regards to friends and family, Tommy Leyshon sends his \"kind love to you all\", and my love to you \"many many times Dear Lizzie\". He ends the letter with with a ps with his address \" Thos D Lewis, Co F 48th Pa vol, 1st Br, 2nd Division,\" 9th Army Corps,Washington DC, and again begs her to - \"Write back soon\". His 1895 Scranton Tribune Obituary says he was engaged at Cold Harbor, The Wilderness & Spottsylvania . A Complete , 4pp ink 8 x 5\" letter.The Letter comes with a typed transcript. The letter is burnt along the margin affecting some text to a minor degree, is stained and fragile, and front and back pages have been protected in laminate with archival repairs on reverse. Comes w service info.Fort Sedgwick, also known as \"Fort Hell\" stood opposite the Confederate\'s \'Fort Damnation\" at Petersburg. The fort, heavily built with bomb-proofs in late 1864 lay at a critical juncture of the Union Line, was under continuous shell-fire, and was one of the most frequently photographed forts of the War. It was also the scene of murderous infantry attacks by General Lee during the last Rebel Offensive, March, 1865. Comes w service info. Private Lewis born in Wales of a mining family, enlisted at Minersville, PA, and survived the War, and a notable citizen of Lackawanna County postwar.