Henry G. Mervine Letters

Soldier in the 17th New York Battery in the Civil War. Two letters to his wife. The first letter (July 24, 1864) was written in the trenches before Petersburg, Virginia, where he took furniture from a nearby house to protect himself in the earthworks. He notes that all the trees in the vicinity were filled with lead from picket firing. In the second letter (April 8, 1865), from Richmond, Virginia, he writes about the suffering of the citizens for lack of luxuries and necessities and that a committee was sent to General R. E. Lee asking him to surrender.