Civil War Vicksburg Bombardment Souvenir Taken June 28, 1862 – William T. Bates 2nd Massachusetts Light Artillery / SOLD

Description

Civil War Vicksburg Bombardment Souvenir 

Taken June 28, 1862 – William T. Bates 

2nd Massachusetts Light Artillery 

 

1836 Hartford edition of The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare (Vol. I), carrying a remarkable wartime attribution stating the book was taken “from a house opposite Vicksburg in the morning of the fight, June 28th, 1862 during the bombardment of Vicksburg.” 

 

The volume was taken by William T. Bates, who enlisted July 31, 1861 as a Private in the 2nd Massachusetts Light Artillery and was mustered out August 16, 1864. His battery was actively engaged against Vicksburg from June 20 through July 26, 1862, operating in cooperation with Farragut’s fleet during the early Union naval assault on the Confederate stronghold. 

 

The June 28 date aligns directly with the intense bombardment phase when Union naval and supporting artillery forces shelled the city from the Mississippi River — an early chapter in the long campaign that would culminate in the fall of Vicksburg in 1863 and secure Union control of the river. 

 

The book remains in original full leather binding with decorative gilt border; front cover detached, interior toned and age-appropriate. Condition aside, the historical importance lies in its clear wartime attribution to a named Massachusetts artilleryman engaged in the Vicksburg operations. 

 

A compelling Mississippi River naval campaign relic — a literary volume transformed into a documented souvenir of war during the 1862 bombardment of Vicksburg. 

 

Inventory Number: HIS 300