[CIVIL WAR]. ELLSWORTH, Ephraim D. ALS ("E.D. Ellsworth") regarding his fallen son, Elmer E. Ellsworth. Mechanicville, [NY], 26 January 1862. With letter from mother Phebe on reverse.

7 3/4 x 9 7/8 in., creased at folds, some separations repaired with tape, chipping/wear to edges, some ink smearing and spotting.

Ephraim D. writes a post script on the verso of his wife's letter to "Friend Jackson." He notes that while his wife has written "all the news" he thought he would let him know of his recent success in acquiring Elmer's horse. He writes, in part:

"I have Ben [sic] on to washington & got our Sons horse at last the first time I whent [sic] thare [sic] after him I Could not find him they Said they had Sold him for his Bill But Could not tell whare [sic] he was nor Who had him But I put a man on watch & he Said he was down in Sickles Brigade & then I Started again & maid [sic] out to find him but I had to give one hundred & fifty dollars for him Before they would give him up I paid them for him & got him home Safe..."

Phoebe's letter on verso begins with a statement of gratitude for the recipient's letter. She writes: "Your very welcome letter is received a soldiers letter is truley [sic] welcome to me for my own dear boy was a soldier." She updates him on the latest goings on in Mechanicsville, writing, in part: "Some of our village boyes [sic] are in the Army Mr. Andrews I supose [sic] you know is captain in the Bemis Height Regiment quartered near Washington..."

Mrs. Ellsworth then waxes poetic about her recipient's drastic change in circumstances, from student to soldier. She encourages him with the following words: "the Soldiers no dout [sic] have hard fare but they know they are engaed [sic] in a righeous [sic] cause and that God rules (instead of Jeff Davis) our countrey [sic] is passing through a terible [sic] crisiss [sic] I hope she may be purged of every traitor that that has cursed her soil..."

She ends her letter by referring to a "Mr. W[?]insor," who she identifies as a reporter for the New York Times, asking her recipient to give the reporter her best wishes if he has the chance, noting "he was with my son at the time of his death and came with his remains to his last resting place."