CIVIL WAR: CONFEDERATE SOLDIER'S LETTER. ALS: "W.S. Baxter", 2½p, 7¾x9¾, conjoined leaves. Gainesville (Virginia), 1861 September 11. To the "Hon[orable] E.O. Gronmer" concerning recruiting. In part, with misspellings: "District D Line BF Stookey is here and very anxious to get into a Cavalry Regiment - He has a company of 115 men all ready to mustered in at any pursuit. Most of them are men who will not go with anyone else - Chas. Masters came down with him...[he] says Stookey's men are first rate dare Devils and will fight the Enemy every chance they can get...he and his men are 'Spilling' for a fight...If authorized they could get horses...in a few days as they at first contemplated...and many of them have first rate horses for the purpose already selected. Please see what can be done...Stookey's men swear they will not go unless Stookey goes with them. Please send...two muster rolls". Gainesville is just northwest of Manassas, where the Battle of the 1st Bull Run took place on July 21, 1861. When the Civil War began in April 1861 (about five months before this letter was written), the Confederacy was at a great disadvantage as far as enlisting soldiers was concerned. As an indicator (at the end of the war), the total enlistment for the Union ran approximately two million to the Confederacy's 750,000. The South was outnumbered and under resourced throughout the fight. As evidenced by this letter, the Regiment was critical to the war effort. It was a second home to its men, who were usually from the same area and had known each other in civilian life. Lightly creased with folds, one touches the "B" of Baxter. Light ink show through. ¼-inch separation at vertical fold at upper blank margin. Fine condition.