“But I do think that there has been some hard fighting done in the last three days, for it has been one continual roar of cannon, and I know that that powder was not burned for sport. Where it was or what it has amounted to, we have not been able to learn, but we think it has been between Pope and Jackson. And by the sound of the cannon as they moved from time to time, we think that Pope has got the worst of it. But we hope not. But if such should be the case, Washington is in greater danger than Richmond ever was.”

Item No. 1120069

In this August 1862 letter, Private Gaylord C. Tanner of the 6th Pennsylvania Reserves writes to a friend just three weeks before his death at the Battle of Antietam. Tanner recounts his regiment’s withdrawal from the Peninsula, speculates about the safety of Washington after hearing the rumble of cannon upriver from the Battle of Rappahannock Station, and provides updates on several comrades. The letter was written during the tumultuous weeks during which the Confederates, having driven the Union’s Army of the Potomac away from the gates of Richmond, had their sights set on General John Pope’s Army of Virginia in the northern part of the state. Major battles at Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, and Antietam would be fought within this six-week period.

Tanner opens his letter with news of their recent movement from the Virginia Peninsula to Fredericksburg, while also revealing an ailment:

I have got the rheumatism so that I cannot go with my Regt, and I don’t like it much, you may bet. We left Harrison’s landing a week ago Thursday and after being on ship board for five days we finally landed at Aquia Creek, and then took the cars for Fredericksburg. We encamped on nearly the same ground that we were on two months ago, and in that time we have traveled over 1,000 miles by land and water, and have not had a fight yet, our Regt I mean. But the rest of the Reserve Corps has had enough for us all.

(The 6th Reserves had been only lightly engaged during the previous campaign, while many of its sister regiments had been roughly handled at Gaines’s Mill and Glendale.)

The Confederates were now on the advance into northern Virginia. Tanner writes how his ailment prevented him from going with the regiment as they marched off to meet the advancing rebels, who from August 22-25 were attempting to force a crossing of the Rappahannock River at several fords—a series of skirmishes known as the First Battle of Rappahannock Station:

Our corps was ordered to march again last Thursday morning with three days rations, and where they were to go to was more than any of us knew. But I was too lame to go with them, so I had to go to the hospital. I have not heard from the boys but once since they left, and that was not definitely. It was reported here yesterday that our Brigade marched 26 miles the first day and had a severe skirmish, but whether it is so or not is more than I can say. But I do think that there has been some hard fighting done in the last three days, for it has been one continual roar of cannon, and I know that that powder was not burned for sport. Where it was or what it has amounted to, we have not been able to learn, but we think it has been between Pope and Jackson. And by the sound of the cannon as they moved from time to time, we think that Pope has got the worst of it. But we hope not.

Tanner speculates that “if such should be the case, Washington is in greater danger than Richmond ever was” during the previous campaign on the Peninsula.

He then turns his attention to his comrades, giving updates on several men with him in the hospital. He believes that he and Private James M. Bronson “will both of us be so as to join our Regt in a few days.” It’s unknown whether either man returned to the 6th Reserves in time to fight in the Second Battle of Bull Run, which began just four days after the letter was written. We do know, however, that Tanner returned in time to fight in the September 17 Battle of Antietam, where he is listed among the killed.

The letter was written in ink on a 4-page bifolium letter sheet measuring just under 5” x 8”. Creased at the original folds. The full transcript appears below:

Hospital Near Fredericksburg
Aug the 24th 1862

Friend Alonzo, I once more take my pen in hand to write a few lines to you to let you know that old Parker is still above ground, though not very smart. I have got the rheumatism so that I cannot go with my Regt, and I don’t like it much, you may bet. We left Harrison’s landing a week ago Thursday and after being on ship board for five days we finally landed at Aquia Creek, and then took the cars for Fredericksburg. We encamped on nearly the same ground that we were on two months ago, and in that time we have traveled over 1,000 miles by land and water, and have not had a fight yet, our Regt I mean. But the rest of the Reserve Corps has had enough for us all. Our corps was ordered to march again last Thursday morning with three days rations, and where they were to go to was more than any of us knew. But I was too lame to go with them, so I had to go to the hospital. I have not heard from the boys but once since they left, and that was not definitely. It was reported here yesterday that our Brigade marched 26 miles the first day and had a severe skirmish, but whether it is so or not is more than I can say. But I do think that there has been some hard fighting done in the last three days, for it has been one continual roar of cannon, and I know that that powder was not burned for sport. Where it was or what it has amounted to, we have not been able to learn, but we think it has been between Pope and Jackson. And by the sound of the cannon as they moved from time to time, we think that Pope has got the worst of it. But we hope not. But if such should be the case, Washington is in greater danger than Richmond ever was.

But enough of this, for it is all guess work and you will get the news before this reaches you. James M. Bronson is here with me. He is not sick, nor is he not well, but is not able to march every day and lay on the ground nights. But I think that we will both of us be so as to join our Regt in a few days. Oh, by the by, H. M. Wells Jr. is here with us. He has been sick, but is so that he expects to join his Regt soon. The Jackson boys are all well or doing well as far as I can learn. I have not seen Uncle Isaac since we left Harrison’s landing. He was detailed for the Ambulance corps, and they did not come on the same boat with us. But I presume he is well, he has got a good berth.

I will now close by asking two or three questions, not a dozen as you wanted me to. Who goes to see Tuny Harris? Is there any prospects of Daniel Duran being elected Gigadier Brineral over the home guards? Can Frederick Slocum make a plow shoe yet? That’s all. Give my love to all enquiring friends, and tell your mother and Willie that I want two from them, and the same to yourself. Goodbye. Yours truly
G. C. Tanner
U.S.A. P.R.C.

P.S. Direct as before.