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| Union Army Guard Mounting (Library of Congress) |
Today's letter comes from a new soldier, Pvt. James H. Marshall of Company K, 79th Pennsylvania, in a new Lancaster newspaper, the Examiner and Herald. Although Marshall (bio) was a prominent veteran in Lancaster, you might best relate to as the brother-in-law of William S. and J. P. McCaskey (after whom Lancaster's J. P. McCaskey High School is named). I'll probably do a biographical post on Marshall sometime in the future on the anniversary of his wedding while home on furlough in May 1863.
The basic content of the letter introduces us to a company we haven't heard much about, Company K, commanded by Capt. Jacob Gompf. It was a private in Company K, Bernard Short of Martic Township, who was the first 79th Pennsylvania soldier wounded by a bullet when he lost a finger due to the accidental discharge of his musket. Marshall continues other correspondents' descriptions of camp life, and mentions a controversy I'll soon address between the colonels of the 77th and 79th Pennsylvania. The Examiner and Herald editors appended a letter from Captain Gumpf about apparently false rumors that we was to be replaced.
From the November 20, 1861, Lancaster Examiner and Herald: (alternate link)
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