A translation and original letter, in French, from Union soldier Francis Deleglise to his father about his wounds and imprisonment at Gettysburg, August 14, 1863.

Born in Switzerland, Francis Deleglise immigrated to the United States in 1848 and settled in Wisconsin. During the Civil War, Deleglise served in the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment and was badly wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. This letter is written in French (pages 2 and 3) but an English translation is provided in the first page and below.

Translation:

To his father from Baltimore, August 14, 1863.

Dear Father,

I received your letter of the fourth yesterday. At the battle of Gettysburg I was a prisoner of the enemy from the first of July to the fourth, and I was in the same place up till the sixth, during which time I was given no attendance, and had nothing to eat, except such as I asked for and received of the soldiers. But everyday I kept the full length of the wound wet with very cold water. This kept my thigh as natural as if it had never been hurt. I did the same thing for two days at Gettysburg. On the eighth I was brought to a good bed in a fine room. Here I was given a bath. On the eleventh I was put on a railroad train, and, although I was comfortably tucked up in a bed, yet, because of the jostling of the train, I was in a worse state when I arrived here than I had yet been, and that for more than a week was not able to write at all. At present, I change from one hand to the other. It is very slow, but I am getting better at it.

Ward A. West Building Hospital

Baltimore

Md.

Lately Ward B has been filled with Confederates, and the Federals are assigned to Ward A.