[Battle of Chancellorsville] Charles M. Anderson of Co. I, 33rd North Carolina Infantry, CSA: Letter to His Parents Describing the Horrors of the Battle. Four pages in ink, 7.25" x 9.25" on lined paper, Camp Gregg, Near Fredericksburg, Virginia; May 10, 1863. Charles Anderson was a twenty-one year old farm boy living in Stokes County, North Carolina, when he enlisted in the Confederate Army on August 10, 1861. This letter was written shortly after the notoriously bloody Chancellorsville battle, April 30- May 6, 1863. May 3rd has the distinction of being the second bloodiest day of the Civil War, with more than 21,000 men lost between the two armies. Anderson would be captured at the Battle of Funkstown just two months later during the Gettysburg Campaign. Excerpts below. Included with the lot is a full transcript and copies of his service records from the National Archives. It reads in part: "I thank God I am blest with the pleasure this Sabbath morning to write to you again..." "...the Yanks fired into our Regt. and we Skirmishers fired, & the line of Battle behind us fired right thru us & then we was between too heavy fires. We was between our lines and the Yankees. Now for the truth. It was in the night but it appeared like the bullets came as think around me as if I had been standing in the midst of a large bee swarm. You know how thick they will fly around you. It did look like it was impossible for a man to escape in there, but I called on God for help and he granted me my request and carried me out safe..." "A week ago that morning [May 3] the Yankees had 40 pieces of Artillery a playing on our Brigade. At once the cannon balls come by us and through our lines part of the time faster than you could count..." "We took in a large number of prisoners. I seen myself not less than six thousand prisoners that we took, and I am satisfied I did not see all that was taken. We went in with five hundred and sixty men & came out with 270 men. We lost over half..." Condition: Smoothed folds with occasional smudged word that does not affect legibility. Small hole near top margin that does not touch the text. HID03101062020 © 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved