[Civil War] Fry, James B. Autograph Letter to Louis Garesché regarding the biography of his fallen father. New York City: March 31, 1883.

Letter (5” x 7 3/4”) Single page graph paper written on recto only, in brown ink. Near fine condition. Edges are crisp and without wear. Minor soiling to the paper. The page has been folded into thirds.

A fine association letter linking the Provost Marshal General of the Union Army, James B. Fry, to one of the Civil War’s most tragic figures, Lt. Col. Julius Peter Garesché. Writing to Garesché’s son, who was then compiling testimonies for the Biography of Lieut. Col. Julius P. Garesché (published 1887). Fry politely declines to contribute a memoir due to his own travel plans. Despite his refusal to write a full chapter, Fry offers a glowing, if brief, tribute to his former colleague: “I esteemed him most highly as one of the ablest of our officers and purest of men... no one but myself can tell the respect and regard I felt for your noble Father.” Julius Garesché served as Chief of Staff to General William Rosecrans and was killed instantly at the Battle of Stones River (1862) when a cannonball removed his head while he was riding alongside his commander. The graphic nature of his death, combined with his noted piety, made him a martyr figure in post-war literature. Fry’s letter captures the deep, fraternal respect held by the surviving officer class for their fallen comrades, even two decades after the war’s end.