Letters home from the battlefield

[william42]

Richmond, Va.
March 1st, 1862

My Dear Genl

The accompanying ring is the work of Thompson Sivghner, Esq., a private in the 25th Regt. of Virginia volunteers. The material out of which it was made is the root of a tree at Camp Alleghany, where the sanguinary battle of the 15th of Dec. was fought and glowingly won by a gallantry unsurpassed in the history of the present war. This root was selected by a reason of the mournful circumstance of having been watered by the blood of an officer who fell upon it mortally wounded, and who died like a soldier, beloved and venerated by all under his command. That officer was our brother, Capt. Anderson. No picuniary consideration would induce me to part with this ring, as the man whose name was designed to the commemorative by it was cherished by all Western Virginians and indeed by all who knew him; but considering the higher claims which you possess, I have concluded to send it to you with but one consideration, and that is, if Capt. Anderson has a widow , a daughter, or a son, that you deliver it to one of them as a token of the enduring and affectionate regard which a private soldier entertains for the noblest and most genuine specimen of mankind.

Yours most truly,

Jn Bennett