The collection of prewar and wartime correspondence written by Hugh Watson McNeil, of Company D, 1st Pennsylvania Rifles, are provided to us courtesy of the Pennsylvania State Archives. McNeil started in Company D as Lieutenant and later Captain, eventually gaining the Colonelcy over the regiment. He was killed in action at the Battle of Antietam, September 16, 1862.
The Hugh Watson McNeil Letters
Washington, D.C., December 28, 1855
Washington, D.C., 28 Dec [18]55
Dear Marion,
I don't know why so long a time has elapsed without my writing to you. I think I was waiting to hear from home. I feel very lonely, a sensation that I have not known for nearly ten years + I was...