Fifteen Years Later, General Carl Schurz Declines To Comment On The 11th Corps At The Battle Of Chancellorsville

CARL SCHURZ (1829-1906). Schurz was a German-American revolutionary, politician, and Union Army General. ALS. 3pgs. March 19, 1877. Washington. An autograph letter signed “C. Schurz” and “C. S.”. It regards the 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville, in which Schurz commanded a unit of the 11th Corps that was devastated in a surprise attack. Despite his presence, Schurz declines to give any real comment on the events. “My dear sir, In reply to your kind note of the 14th inst. I regret to say that I cannot give you any information about the ?? written in defense of the 11th Corps at the Battle of Chancellorsville. I remember to have seen it at the time. I have among my papers a long and detailed report giving all the facts connected with that affair, but cannot get at it, it being in a box filled with similar documents at St. Louis. My official report which is probably in your possession, throws much light on the subject. I think Gen. Boynton the Washington correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette, has studied the subject thoroughly, and may give you much valuable information. If I had time, I might perhaps give you a statement from memory, but I am so overwhelmed with work that I cannot attempt anything of the kind. Very truly yours, C. Schurz P.S. In answer to your postscript I would say, that I shall keep your name in mind and advise you, if any ... opportunity should present itself, which is probably. I am just informing myself of the needs of the Department. C. S.”. General Boynton was Henry V. Boynton who took up journalism after the Civil War. The letter is in very good condition, though the fold between the pages is severing.