Item #44826 [ALS] Isaac Arnold Jr, Chief of Ordnance at Hilton Head, Thanks Major Wheelock Pratt for His Service. Civil War, Isaac Jr Arnold, Wheelock Pratt.

[ALS] Isaac Arnold Jr, Chief of Ordnance at Hilton Head, Thanks Major Wheelock Pratt for His Service.

Hilton Head, SC: 1865. [2 pp], rectos only. 8 x 10 inches. Very good, folded, staples removed from top corners, lightly creased, minor soiling and fading, contents clean. Item #44826

September 3rd, 1865 from Isaac Arnold Jr., Chief of Ordnance, Department of the South, at Hilton Head, S. C. This letter acknowledges the service of Major Wheelock Pratt, before Arnold departs to serve as Asst. Ordinance Officer in for Allegheny, PA. Arnold praises the competencies of Pratt, claiming that "In no instance has any complaint reached me... At the same time the achievements of affairs within the Depot was satisfactorily constructed upon the arrival of Genl Sherman's Army... with you again rested the responsibility of... a large part of it. And the dispatch with which you completed this duty is deserving of the greater credit....Upon hearing your being mustered out of service I made an effort to have you retained in position but am sorry to say it failed as the request made was contrary to the rules of the War Dept.."

In his closing, Arnold warmly wishes Pratt happiness, should he choose civilian life, but would "extend the right hand of fellowship" if he chose to remain in service. But Pratt would die a year later due to injuries,

Isaac Arnold Jr., (1839-1901) graduated from the Military Academy in 1862, and over the years had earned the ranks of Brevet Captain, Captain, Major, and Lieutenant Colonel. He died Oct. 15, 1901, at Allegheny Arsenal, PA.

Major Wheelock Pratt (1829-1866) enlisted in In Sept. 1861, in "C" Company, United-States Engineer Battalion,where he served through the peninsular campaign, at Antietam, South Mountain, and Fredericksburg. But due to his serving as leader of a "Black" company, a written protest by by Engineers kept him from being placed in charge of the reconstruction of Battery Wagner; he was " placed in charge of Battery Chatfield, in rear of Cummings Point. While superintending the construction of that work, a shell from Fort Moultrie exploded near him, inflicting a slight wound on his face, and causing a permanent injury to the brain, which, three years later, Dec. 30, 1866, resulted in coma, paralysis, and death."

References: 1. edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army
USMA/ Cullums_Register/1979*.html). 2. Charles Barnard Fox: Record of the Service of the Fifty-fifth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Cambridge, 1868, pp. 90-1.

Price: $150.00

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