Item No. 2177556

An 1863 autograph letter signed by Colonel William W. H. Davis of the 104th Pennsylvania Volunteers, in which the future brigadier general writes to the War Department to request the return of eleven men who had previously been detailed from the regiment to serve in the 7th and 8th New York Batteries, some having been with the artillery since the Peninsula Campaign a year before. Davis asked “whether it is fair and just, that soldiers taken from Pennsylvania Infantry regiments, to fill up Battery Companies from the state of New York.”

The letter is docketed on the fourth page and includes the endorsement signatures of several officers:

• Undated - Approved and forwarded, signed by Brigadier General Rufus Saxton.

• May 23 - Forwarded to the Adjutant General of the Army, signed by Major General David Hunter.

• June 1 - “Respectfully referred to the Comd’g Officer, 7th N.Y. Battery, who will please return these eleven men to their Regt at once; this paper to be returned action noted,” as ordered by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, signed by Major Thomas Vincent, assistant adjutant general.

• June 16 - “The men named in the within application have been sent to their regts (awaiting transportation),” signed by Captain P. E. Regan, 7th New York Battery.

• July 3 - “Respectfully returned to the Commdg. General, Department of the South, for his information,” per the order of Secretary Stanton and signed again by Major Vincent.

• July 14 - Returned to Colonel Davis of the 104th, by order of General Quincy A. Gillmore, and signed by Colonel Edward W. Smith.

The letter was written on three pages of a four-page letter sheet measuring about 7 3/4” x 9 3/4”. The endorsements appear on the fourth page. Light toning. Creased at the original folds. The full transcript appears below.

Hd. Qrs. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division
Detachment 18th Army Corps
Beaufort S.C. May 20th 1863

General:
I have the honor to transmit the names of Eleven men, detailed from the 104th Pennsylvania Volunteers, belonging to this brigade, for service with Batteries formerly attached to Casey’s Div. Some of these men have been absent from their regiment over one year and others nine months. When the detail was made, it was alleged by the authority making it, the Division Commander, that they would only be absent temporarily; whereas, their absence amounts to a permanent transfer to the Artillery service; which can only be made on an order from the Secretary of War.

I respectfully submit the question whether it is fair and just, that soldiers taken from Pennsylvania Infantry regiments, to fill up Battery Companies from the state of New York. In as much as each state receiving credit for the number of troops she raises and keeps in the field, she should not be permitted to recruit her shattered organizations from the regiments of a sister state. if recruits of the 7th and 8th New York Batteries cannot be raised at home, they can easily be detached from regiments from that state serving with them in the field. At all events, Pennsylvania troops should not be detailed for this service. At least if this could be done at the time these men were detailed, when the Batteries and the 104th Pa. Vols. were serving in the same division, on the ground of Military necessity. When the regiment ws transferred to another Department, the men should have been returned to it.

The casualties of the service have very much reduced the regiment, and as it is desirable that every member of it, capable of bearing arms, should be present in the ranks. I therefore respectfully request that these men be ordered to report to it for tudy. If they will not be permitted to return to their regiment, I would suggest that they be regularly transferred to the Batteries, that there may be no further necessity of being on the rolls of the regiment at each muster. The names of men who, to all intents and purposes, belong to a separate organization.

The following is a list of men detached, with the names of the Batteries they are serving in: viz.
Wilson Cavnaugh  7th New York Battery
Benjamin Carter  7th New York Battery
Isaac Hamilton  7th New York Battery
Abraham Roberts  7th New York Battery
Addis Rise  7th New York Battery
Alfred Tyndale  7th New York Battery
Sylvester Kyle  8th New York Battery
Adam Therolf  8th New York Battery
Frederick Wildoner  8th New York Battery
James Grimes  8th New York Battery
Henry Bowers  8th New York Battery

I remain very Respectfully
Your obt. servant
W. H. H. Davis
Col. 104th Pa. Vols. Comdg. Brig’d.

Genl. L. Thomas
Adit. Genl. U.S.A.