Item 71 - Louis Philippe d'Orléans, Orleans House, Twickenham, to Colonel Felix Comfort, 11 August 1862

3pp

English translation of a letter written by Louis Philippe d'Orléans to Lieutenant Colonel Félix Comfort (Confort), a French soldier serving in the Union Army during the American Civil Wat. The letter was written shortly after the Peninsula Campaign and specifically references the retreat from the Chickahominy River to the James River following the Seven Days Battles. The phrase 'Enfants Perdus' ('lost children') was the name of the regiment Comfort formed in New York City with backing from Major General George B. McClellan, drawing heavily from French and European immigrants. Due to lack of enlistment, this regiment was reclassified as the Independent Battalion of New York Volunteer Infantry.