#172-CIVIL WAR SALE: 1865 LETTER TO "DEAR FATHER" WITH ENVELOPE

This letter, based on its contents, is not from an active duty soldier as the content is about A family getting together (and who did NOT make it for Christmas) and one family member who suffered a serious cut on her leg.

When we acquired a group of Civil War paper, this envelope was with this letter. The letter is dated January and so is the portion of the concellation I can read on the envelope. That it is addressed to 'GENERAL COBB', who may well be the "father" being sent this letter which is an excellent starting point for research. I have invested a lot of time on all aspects of this sale and to be frank, I couldn't afford another 5 or 10 hours on each item. If time were no concern, and I didn't need to make a living selling, I'd be just as busy....doing precisely this type of research about dozens of items. I have always sought out "personal" items when writing about history and do try to include history not just routine repetitive text. Not all letters contain earth-shattering information but just about all have something to add to our knowledge about the Civil War's participants including those who had the difficult task of maintaining the family home or farm, and dreading what they might hear about their loved one.

If you have any knowledge about the general, who was in Georgia, by all means please share it with me. It is very easy to create a plausible scenario--the Union general, stationed in Georgia near the end of the war, received this letter from his son.....and so on. I only offer such an idea when I can make it clear that it is purely speculation--but plausible.