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12/15/1863 Civil War Soldier Plays Baseball Handwritten Letter
For a very rare and nearly unique vintage baseball memento, a collector has the chance to possess this fascinating Dec. 13, 1863, handwritten letter from a Civil War soldier from the 13th New Hampshire Volunteers in which the soldier discusses playing baseball. Of course, legend has it that the first baseball game was played in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1845 when Alexander Cartwright organized a game featuring his New York Knickerbocker team. In actuality, baseball evolved essentially from other games, particularly the English game of rounders. In fact, baseball is mentioned in a newspaper report that mentions the Prince of Wales playing "Bass-Ball" [sic] in 1749. Another reference occurred in 1778 about American soldiers "playing at base"" at Valley Forge. In the handwritten offering, a soldier, E.H. Leslie, is writing to a friend and acknowledging his receipt of the friend's letter. Leslie professes his sympathy for the friend's illness and then shares some news. "Thompson has not got back and he is marked as a deserter and we think he will never come back unless brought back by force." Then Leslie describes some of the recreation available in the camp. "... we have baseball once in a while and since I commenced this letter I have been out and played a game so you will please excuse my writing for I am all heat up." <span style="font-size: 13px;"> Included is a modern copy of statistics - sadly, not of baseball, but a sobering summary of the casualties of Leslie's 13th New Hampshire Division, culled from the American Civil War Research Database. The two statistics pages show, in a three-year period, five officers and 82 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded and another 93 enlisted men dying from disease or accidents. </span>The intriguing antique missive itself is two pages long on a four-page folded piece of stationery., folded at 5" x 8". The letter shows folds where it was evidently folded into thirds to fit into an envelope. Otherwise, the letter is in very good condition. The neatly written letter has great cross-over appeal to historians, Civil War buffs, and sports collectors.
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