Battle of Shiloh 1862 Letter by McCarron Fighting & Captured by Confederate Army

Description

This is very awesome letter from a participant in the Battle of Shiloh between the Union and Confederate Armies. His name was Wilber F. McCarron, and he was a Sergeant in the 12th Iowa Infantry that served alongside U.S. Grant during this very bloody battle. The battle occurred in April of 1862, and in this letter McCarron personally wrote in August of 1862 he describes some of the battle and his subsequently being captured and held prisoner of war.
Some quotes from the letter he wrote to his relatives are as follows:
"I will commence on the battlefield. You will be interested in knowing first how we came to be captured. I will tell you. Early Sunday morning we were surprised in hearing a tremendous roar of artillery and muskets, and knowing something of magnanimously serious nature was on hand, we were marched to the field to the contest." "We were posted near the center of our line of battle and very soon had our luck tried by the approach of a heavy body of Rebels armed to the teeth and in grand battle array." "But knowing the object we were ordered to lay flat upon our faces and wait till they approached quite close and then raise and pour a unanimous volley into them." "Our Division General being killed, our Brigadier General took his place about noon .." " … the right and left had fallen back, leaving the enemy to flank us on both sides." " … the first thing we know they were closing upon us from four sides, pouring in grape shot and muskets till we were enshrouded in a circle of smoke." "Seeing our comrades fall from our side, well in a gore of blood and struggle for the last vestige of life ..." " .. still the contest waged even more fierce till almost at the point of the bayonet we were compelled to surrender, or be completely slaughtered." " .. we were soon conducted off the field and on our way to prison." His writing continues on with details of the prison conditions, then concludes with how he was ordered to Camp Benton and then he ended up at Schofield Barracks. Overall, a very moving and detailed description of the Battle of Shiloh.
W.F. McCarron enlisted in 1861, and his service included more than 30 battles- at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, the Atlanta campaign, and Nashville among others. During the Civil War he was captured & held prisoner twice with one escape
The letter size is 12" tall & is on a single sheet of paper, folded upon itself, and he wrote on all 4 pages in ink pen with his autograph at the conclusion.
The envelope condition is very good with a portion of paper loss in the lower left front & tears, and a hand written in pencil notation of the content on the upper left. The letter's condition is very good with small splits of the paper on the top edge where it was folded, and some light staining as seen in the photos. This auction includes Free Insured Shipping.
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