I immediately made my way to the glass counter to look for the letter. I wanted to see this document written in the hand of a black Union soldier to his wife in May 1864.
What would this Connecticut man – who may or may not have known slavery – say about the war and what he was feeling? How was he received by the enslaved Africans and white people who lived in the South? How was he treated by fellow Union soldiers?
I had learned about the letter from my auction buddy Janet, who had been alerted by an auctioneer at one of my favorite auction houses that it would soon be coming up for bids. Intrigued, I had Googled the soldier’s name.
Joseph O. Cross. 29th Connecticut Infantry (Colored), Company H.
I found another letter that he had sent his wife in October 1864 from the collection of the Connecticut Historical Society, which had transcribed it. Cross wrote that letter while Union troops fought a tough battle to dislodge the Confederate president and troops from their capital of Richmond, VA. The society has 10 letters from Cross to his wife.
I was now even more interested in this man. At the auction house, I found the letter in a glass case with other documents, including a letter to Thomas Jefferson about the affair between Alexander Hamilton and Maria Reynolds in 1797, with acknowledgement of receipt (it sold for $4,000).
The soldier’s letter was smaller than I expected, the sheet of paper about the half of an 8 ½ x 11. It was faded and the writing was light. Cross had written on both sides and the letter was not an easy read. Someone had transcribed and typed its contents on regular-sized paper. There was also a short explanation of the letterhead, an engraving of the warship USS Monitor.
I handled the letter very carefully, taking it from its plastic protective sheath. There were already some tiny tears and folds in it and I didn’t want to aggravate them.
Here is an excerpt of the letter that Cross wrote to his wife Abby Simons Cross on May 12, 1864, while camped at Beaufort, SC:
Abby tell the children that I think of them evry day and night I see plenty of children here About your sise there is one little Boy that weares his hat Just the same as Herbert used to … it is so hot here that we can go with our shirt and drawers on and then Bee hot enough it is as hot here as in Jewly at home they say it is nothing what it will Bee By and By
Here is one thing more if I had known how the slaves feel towards the northern Coones i never wood have enlisted the first class negroes what was kept as waters (waiters) will damn us … they call us northern suns of Bitches one of our patrol men cuffed one of the woman and she had him put in the guard house …
Evry thing is in Bloom now treese and every thing looks difrent here than they do at home Wee have a cind of snake that is called the glass snake some calles them the Joint snake Just as quick as you strike them they will Break in two if you let them Be they will come to gether again All the boys is well came from Griswold Amos brought the razor and strap safe to me I was promoted corporal in Annapolis and when we got to Beaufort they enlisted me carptender I worked at it 3 days and now I am commissary corporal. …
We have not been payed off yet Abby tell captain Boardman to see to your draw money and send me some postage stamps paper and envilopes so I can send you the news it wood be a great sight for you to see the field of cotton groing in a field as far as you can see
this is from your one trew and loving husband James C Cross please to answer this soon as you can Right all the news.
The transcriber typed his middle initial wrong. It should be O as in Orin.
I found some information about Cross and his regiment on a website managed by descendants of the soldiers, along with other sources. The 29th was one of two volunteer infantries of black soldiers from Connecticut; the other was the 30th.
Joseph Orin Cross was living in Griswold, CT, when he enlisted on Dec. 31, 1863, leaving behind his wife Abby and his children. Blacks were first allowed to join the Union army in 1862, and President Abraham Lincoln laid down the challenge more so in the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863. Many joined to help end slavery and to fight for their freedom, encouraged by Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists.
The first recruit for the new regiment had arrived in August 1863 and the last by January 1864. Cross was one of 900 black men, Native Americans and at least one Hispanic – all farmers and laborers, freed men and others who may or may not have ever been slaves – from New Haven and surrounding areas who trained in the Fair Haven section with sticks because they had no weapons yet.
They did not get their commander until March, after which they got a flag from the “ladies of New Haven,” and embarked on their journey to the South. They disembarked in Annapolis, MD, and faced hostility from white soldiers as they marched three miles outside Baltimore to set up camp. To make matters worse, the Union’s military officers would only pay them half of what they were promised. (In Connecticut, which had first sanctioned and then outlawed slavery, the legislature passed a law to make up the difference.)
They finally got muskets in April, sailed for Hilton Head, SC, and then for Beaufort (from where he sent the May letter to his wife). There, they were consumed with “drill, picket and guard duty” for several months. They got their orders on Aug. 9 and sailed for Virginia. (The photo above from the Library of Congress shows soldiers in Company E of the 29th Regiment at Beaufort in 1864.)
Meanwhile, he was made a corporal on April 30, 1864, and sergeant on Jan. 1, 1865.
Joining with other black regiments and Union soldiers in Virginia, they pushed back a rebel attack at Deep Bottom. A month later, Union soldiers went after Fort Harrison, one of the Confederate defenses protecting the city of Richmond. They captured it in late 1864 and then went after the prize, but they were relentlessly repelled for months by Confederate troops. In one of the final battles for the city, the 29th lost 80 men. Confederate President Jefferson Davis, his cabinet and troops abandoned the city on April 3, 1865, burning down much of it as they scrambled out. A week later, Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox.
The 29th was the first black regiment to enter the city. It does not have the proud heritage of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, whose exploits were chronicled in the movie “Glory” in 1989, but it did its part to topple the Confederate stronghold of Richmond.
After Maryland, the regiment headed to Point Lookout, MD, where the soldiers helped guard about 20,000 prisoners of war, with stops through various cities before arriving back home in Connecticut for discharge in November 1865. In the end, more than 200,000 blacks fought for the Union during the Civil War.
Two years ago, an organization called the Descendants of the Connecticut 29th C.V. Infantry Regiment Inc. – with funding from the state – installed a monument in New Haven to honor the black soldiers. The granite monument lists the names of each of them and include plaques designed by sculptor Ed Hamilton.
At the auction house, bidding on the letter was not frantic. In fact, I believe there were only two bidders – one on the phone and another on the floor. It started at $1,000, but there were no takers. The auctioneer dropped it to $200 before stating that he could not go any lower.
Someone took the challenge and the bidding moved up. Cross’ letter to Abby sold for $325 – more than he was paid for his nearly two years of service.
