Recap: The following letter was found in my grandmother, M. Edith Raff's, effects. Her father was Capt. A. K. Raff, who was City Recorder for Muscatine, Iowa. On October 30, 1903, while at work at City Hall, he suddenly threw his arms up in the air and collapsed dead over his desk. The letter is typed verbatim. ~~~~~~*~~~~~~ Chatanooga Tenn Missouri Ridge Nov. 11, 1903 Mrs. A K Raff and Family Muscatine Iowa I have just received the sad intelligence of Capt. Raff's death and I hasten to express to you my heartfelt sympathy. I sorrow and grieve with you in this hour of great affliction . Capt. Raff (Marty as we formerly called him) was for four years my warmest friend and chum and a part of the time my bunkie and during that time I learned to love him for the many good qualities he possessed. The end of the war separated us and during the past thirty eight years I met him but twice and at each time we renewed our old time friendship with a cordiality that only the soldier boys of 1861 can experience. Marty was a grand soldier and a noble hearted boy. During the four years of bloody war we shared our joy and sorrows in common and now in the hour of death I renew the pledge of comradship as pure and enduring as the crystal gems at the foot of the cross. He was one of the coterie of bright boys of the old Regiment who through their own individual efforts and sterling qualities rose to the command of company long before they had attained their maturity. It now warms my heart with pride when I recall the scenes of forty years ago and see those gallent boys back in the grand whirl of battle. Marty was ever the first to lead and was the first to sniff the gyrating eddys of smoke as we charged the enemy guns. We were comrads. Yes we were comrades sure for shoulder to shoulder over many bloody fields we followed the alluring light of the gilded star of fame. But now lost! forever lost! Yet in this hour of deep affliction we have the consoling thought that he was the embodiment o! f all that is noble in man. His military record is luminous with such bright names as Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville, Stone River, Hoovers Gap, Lee and Gordons Mill, Chickamauga, Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Buzzards Roost, Ressacca, New Hope Church, Picketts Mill, Pine Sap, Kennesaw, Chattahoochie River, Peucht**r Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Lovejoy Station, Columbia, Franklin, Nashville. These are the glints of glory which shine with ceaseless luster upon the bloody trail 40 miles wide and 300 miles long when the boys of the great north west shed their blood. Marty, stood on the fire line 242 days during a four year war. I deplore his death but honor his memory. My sympathy with the bereft is best expressed in Whittier's most tuching words "Let me sit in the circle of thy mourning, for I, too, have lost a friend." I am here at the instance of the dedication of the Ohio Monument and will return home on Saturday. Very Truly- P. D. Reefy* ~~~~~~*~~~~~~ *The "P" in "P. D. Reefy" stands for Phil. Elaine Rathmann ACC Scott Co, IA USGenWeb Project List Adm: *IA-CIVIL-WAR *IA-DANES