Download or read book The Civil War Letters of Joseph Hopkins Twichell written by Joseph Hopkins Twichell and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1861 young Joseph Twichell cut short his seminary studies to become a Union Army chaplain in New York's Excelsior Brigade. A middle-class New England Protestant, Twichell served for three years in a regiment manned mostly by poor Irish American Catholics. This selection of Twichell's letters to his Connecticut family will rank him alongside the Civil War's most literate and insightful firsthand chroniclers of life on the road, in battle, and in camp. As a noncombatant, he at once observed and participated in the momentous events of the Peninsula and Wilderness Campaigns and at the Second Bull Run, as well as at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Spotsylvania. Twichell writes about politics and slavery and the theological and cultural divide between him and his men. Most movingly, he tells of tending the helpless, burying the dead, and counseling the despondent. Alongside accounts of a run-in with slave hunters, a massive withdrawal of wounded soldiers from Richmond, and other extraordinary events, Twichell offers close-up views of his commanding officer, the "political general" Daniel Sickles, surely one of the most colorful and controversial leaders on either side. Civil War scholars and enthusiasts will welcome this fresh voice from an underrepresented class of soldier, the army chaplain. Readers who know of Twichell's later life as a prominent minister and reformer or as Mark Twain's closest friend will appreciate these insights into his early, transforming experiences.
Download or read book In Their Letters in Their Words written by Mark Flotow and published by Southern Illinois University Press. This book was released on 2019-10-14 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vital lifeline to home during the Civil War, the letters of soldiers to their families and friends remain a treasure for those seeking to connect with and understand the most turbulent period of American history. Rather than focus on the experiences of a few witnesses, this impressively researched book documents 165 Illinois Civil War soldiers’ and sailors’ lives through the lens of their personal letters. Editor Mark Flotow chose a variety of letter writers who hailed from counties throughout the state, served in different branches of the military at different ranks, and represented the gamut of social experiences and war outcomes. Flotow provides extensive quotations from the letters. By allowing the soldiers to speak for themselves, he captures what mattered most to them. Illinois soldiers wrote about their reasons for enlisting; the nature of training and duties; necessities like eating, sleeping, marching, and making the best of often harsh and chaotic circumstances; Southern culture; slavery; their opinions of commanding officers and the president; disease, medicine, and hospitals; their prisoner-of-war experiences; and the ways they left the army. Through letters from afar, many soldiers sought to manage their homes and farms, while some single men attempted to woo their sweethearts. Flotow includes brief biographies for each soldier quoted in the book, weaves historical context and analysis with the letters, and organizes them by topic. Thus, intimate details cited in individual letters reveal their significance for those who lived and shaped this tumultuous era. The result is not only insightful history but also compelling reading.
Download or read book My Dear Wife and Children written by Nick K. Adams and published by Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency. This book was released on 2015-10-19 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What does a father write to his wife and young children when he's gone to war? Does he explain why he left them? How does he answer their constant questions about his return? Which of his experiences does he relate, and which does he pass over? Should he describe his feelings of separation and loneliness? These questions are as relevant today as they were over 150 years ago, when David Brainard Griffin, a corporal in Company F of the 2nd Minnesota Regiment of Volunteers, wrote to those he left behind on the family's Minnesota prairie homestead while he fought to preserve the Union. His letters cover the period from his enlistment at Minnesota's Fort Snelling in September 1861, to his death in Georgia during the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863. One hundred of them were preserved and passed down in his family. They, along with one from his daughter as she asked the next generation to read her father's words, have been carefully transcribed and annotated by a great-great-grandson, Nick K. Adams, allowing further generations to experience Griffin's answers to these questions. Filled with poignant images of his daily activities, his fears and exhilarations in military conflict, and his thoughts and emotions as the Civil War kept him apart from his family, these letters offer a fascinating insight into the personal experiences of a common soldier in the American Civil War.
Download or read book The Tented Field written by Susan Downs Burleson and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2009-07-13 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Share the personal letters of a family separated because of the war. Experience life in the South during the Civil War. Family members talk about the price of cotton, who has gone to war and who isn't coming home. James and Robert describe life in Army camps, battles, hospitals and in the Prisoner of War Camp, Elmira.
Download or read book Letters from the Storm written by John Alexander Hastings Foster and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: LETTERS FROM THE STORM: THE INTIMATE CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF LT. J.A.H. FOSTER, 155th PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS. 2010 by Linda Foster Arden; Edited by Dr. Walter L. Powell. LETTERS FROM THE STORM is based on a collection of 101 letters written by Lieutenant Foster, mostly to his wife Mary Jane, while serving with the 155th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Company K. Skillfully interspersed with Linda Arden's commentary about the events and situations of the era, these letters are a time capsule of the mid-nineteenth century. In many respects, Foster's letters mirror the comments made by soldiers on both sides: their efforts to seek comfort with news from home, their litany of complaints about the rigors of camp and battle, and their descriptions of men and events on the front lines. However, there is another dimension to Foster's letters that is much less common in Civil War correspondence;the intimate exchange of the couple's views on sex. Throughout their long separation, the couple shares their passionate longing for each other, their fantasies, and their apprehensions about mutual faithfulness--expressions that certainly challenge the broad assumption that "Victorians" did not speak of these matters. Another important dimension to Foster's letters is that he had an especially keen eye for detail, reflected in occasional drawings of subjects as varied as pontoon boats across the Rappahannock or the new corps badges adopted by the Union Army, and a talent for colorful language in speaking of events or personalities. At his best, Foster's comments about the war as seen from a soldier in the field rival anything that has been published. The legacy of Lieutenant Foster's letters reveal a man who lived almost 150 years ago as a man of detail, purpose, and passion. To say the least, the Civil War had an immeasurable effect on Lieutenant Foster, his family, his wife. No readers of LETTERS FROM THE STORM can come away without a true sense of what life was during that time and not be affected themselves. See review, January 2011, CIVIL WAR NEWS: http://www.civilwarnews.com/reviews/2011br/jan/letters-b011117.html. Indexed, 53 illustrations and photos 365 pages, 7 x 10 soft cover
Download or read book Fallen Leaves written by Henry Livermore Abbott and published by Kent State University Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Major Henry Livermore Abbott of the 20th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was the most widely known and highly respected officer of his rank to serve in the Army of the Potomac. This text contains a collection of his wartime letters to family and friends.
Download or read book Brothers in Gray written by Thomas W. Cutrer and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 2004-10-01 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Residents of antebellum northwest Louisiana held strong pro-Union sentiments, and the Pierson family of Bienville Parish, Louisiana, were no exception, opposing secession in 1861. Yet once war began, the region contributed its full share of support to the southern army, and four of William H. Pierson's eight sons enlisted. Ranging from the early battles of the Trans-Mississippi to the epic battles of the Army of Northern Virginia, and from the brutal trenches of Vicksburg to provost guard duty in north Louisiana, this extensive collection of Civil War letters, written by three of the Pierson brothers, offers riveting glimpses of almost every variety of experience faced by Confederate soldiers. Prolific letter writers, the Piersons were educated, observant, and well placed to comment not only on the battles and campaigns of their regiments but also on their commanding officers, the effect of political activity on soldier morale, being taken captive, and, most of all, their entire family's understanding of and commitment to the Confederate cause.
Download or read book Yours in Filial Regard written by Kassia Waggoner and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2015-10-30 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In March of 1861 Texas seceded from the Union, and the Love brothers of Limestone County—Cyrus, Samuel, James, and John—enlisted to fight for the Confederate cause. For the next four years, the brothers travelled the war-torn South as cavalry in Terry's Texas Rangers, seeing action in some of the fiercest battles in the Western Theater, yet faithfully sending letters home to their expectant family. Complete with a scholarly introduction shedding insight into the Love family, their travels, and their family communication network, this volume collects, transcribes, and annotates 78 letters by eight authors spanning the entire Civil War. In addition to soldiers’ correspondence, the collection also contains letters written to and from their female relatives on the domestic front. Yours in Filial Regards: The Civil War Letters of a Texas Family offers a fascinating inside perspective of the Civil War from both the Confederate battle lines and the home front.
Download or read book Letters of a Family During the Civil War Abridged Annotated written by Georgeanna Woolsey Bacon and published by BIG BYTE BOOKS. This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most remarkable collections of letters to come out of the American Civil War is this compilation by the Woolsey family. Educated, aware, and closely affectionate, the family exchanged and kept letters throughout the war. Included in the set are those from family members serving in hospitals, taking collections for soldiers at home, and a soldier serving on the front lines with Grant, Sheridan, and Meade. What was life like for those who watched their country rent by war? The desperate anxiety and despair of the early war and the hopeful expressions later on give a vivid and very human face to an event that, though long past, is still apart of who we are as Americans today. There is also humor and gossip, and an incredible awareness of what was going on in battles far from home. That the collection includes letters from various family members provides a view into Civil War life as no other. For less than you'd spend on gas going to the library, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.
Download or read book An East Texas Family s Civil War written by John T. Whatley and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 2019-04-17 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During six months in 1862, William Jefferson Whatley and his wife, Nancy Falkaday Watkins Whatley, exchanged a series of letters that vividly demonstrate the quickly changing roles of women whose husbands left home to fight in the Civil War. When William Whatley enlisted with the Confederate Army in 1862, he left his young wife Nancy in charge of their cotton farm in East Texas, near the village of Caledonia in Rusk County. In letters to her husband, Nancy describes in elaborate detail how she dealt with and felt about her new role, which thrust her into an array of unfamiliar duties, including dealing with increasingly unruly slaves, overseeing the harvest of the cotton crop, and negotiating business transactions with unscrupulous neighbors. At the same time, she carried on her traditional family duties and tended to their four young children during frequent epidemics of measles and diphtheria. Stationed hundreds of miles away, her husband could only offer her advice, sympathy, and shared frustration. In An East Texas Family’s Civil War, the Whatleys’ great-grandson, John T. Whatley, transcribes and annotates these letters for the first time. Notable for their descriptions of the unraveling of the local slave labor system and accounts of rural southern life, Nancy’s letters offer a rare window on the hardships faced by women on the home front taking on unprecedented responsibilities and filling unfamiliar roles.
Download or read book The Boys of Diamond Hill written by J. Keith Jones and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2023-12-22 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1861, brothers Daniel and Pressley Boyd left their farm in Abbeville County, South Carolina to join the Confederate army. William, Thomas and Andrew soon followed, along with brother-in-law Fenton Hall. During the Civil War, they collectively fought in almost every theater of the conflict and saw firsthand every aspect of soldier life--from death and illness to friendly fire and desertion. By war's end only Daniel survived. Based on their extensive personal correspondence, this updated edition includes 30 never before published letters, along with new research revealing additional family background and undiscovered information about the fates of the Boyd brothers and other family members.
Download or read book I Remain Yours written by Christopher Hager and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-08 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When North and South went to war, millions of American families endured their first long separation. For men in the armies—and their wives, children, parents, and siblings at home—letter writing was the sole means to communicate. Yet for many of these Union and Confederate families, taking pen to paper was a new and daunting task. I Remain Yours narrates the Civil War from the perspective of ordinary people who had to figure out how to salve the emotional strain of war and sustain their closest relationships using only the written word. Christopher Hager presents an intimate history of the Civil War through the interlaced stories of common soldiers and their families. The previously overlooked words of a carpenter from Indiana, an illiterate teenager from Connecticut, a grieving mother in the mountains of North Carolina, and a blacksmith’s daughter on the Iowa prairie reveal through their awkward script and expression the personal toll of war. Is my son alive or dead? Returning soon or never? Can I find words for the horrors I’ve seen or the loneliness I feel? Fear, loss, and upheaval stalked the lives of Americans straining to connect the battlefront to those they left behind. Hager shows how relatively uneducated men and women made this new means of communication their own, turning writing into an essential medium for sustaining relationships and a sense of belonging. Letter writing changed them and they in turn transformed the culture of letters into a popular, democratic mode of communication.
Download or read book Between Home and the Front written by Smithsonian National Postal Museum and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2022-09-06 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The personal letters of Americans during the Civil War preserve first-person records of news, people, and emotions that humanize the horrific events of the war and provide unique insights into the conflict's effects on individuals, families, communities, and America. Often, however, only the letters sent home survived, leaving half of the story missing. Between Home and the Front presents previously unpublished letters from the Walters family's collection held by the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum, which include the exchange of correspondence between the home front and front line, a perspective not often seen. Between Home and the Front gives us a glimpse into the poignant questions, answers, and sentiments Private David Walters of the 5th Indiana Calvary and his wife Rachel shared in their correspondence. The letters from David give details about some of the lesser-known actions of the western theater of combat, such as Morgan's Raid. The letters by Rachel Walters record how she managed the household and a young child while becoming hub of communication for the family, often receiving missives from David's brothers, Isaac and John Wesley, both of whom served with Indiana units, and relaying the information to others. From the early letters describing a Civil War soldier's enlistment to his widow's struggle in the aftermath of the war, the letters of the Walters family add incomparable details to the study of the Civil War. Between Home and the Front offers not only unique first-person accounts from those that experienced the Civil War but also meticulous annotations that provide valuable historical context for the events, people, and material culture described in the letters.
Download or read book Love and War written by Augustus Valerius Ball and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ball's circumstances and experiences allowed him to glimpse the war through two sets of eyes, that of a loving husband, and of an increasingly disillusioned physician. The inclusion of Ball's medicinal recipe book is the first of its kind to appear in print completely annotated. Readers will find themselves educated about the medical and herbal lore of that era.
Download or read book The Civil War Letters of Joshua K Callaway written by Joshua K. Callaway and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2014-09-15 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Kentucky Campaign to Tullahoma, Chickamauga to Missionary Ridge, junior officer Joshua K. Callaway took part in some of the most critical campaigns of the Civil War. His twice-weekly letters home, written between April 1862 and November 1863, chronicle his gradual change from an ardent Confederate soldier to a weary veteran who longs to be at home. Callaway was a schoolteacher, husband, and father of two when he enlisted in the 28th Alabama Infantry Regiment at the age of twenty-seven. Serving with the Army of the Tennessee, he campaigned in Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, and north Georgia. Along the way this perceptive observer and gifted writer wrote a continuous narrative detailing the activities, concerns, hopes, fears, discomforts, and pleasures of a Confederate soldier in the field. Whether writing about combat, illness, encampments, or homesickness, Callaway makes even the everyday aspects of soldiering interesting. This large collection, seventy-four letters in all, is a valuable historical reference that provides new insights into life behind the front lines of the Civil War.
Download or read book Dear Wife written by Daniel B. White and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sergeant Simeon Anderson Tierce was a Hills resident and a Civil War Soldier. His eloquent letters were written to his wife, Sarah Jane, while serving in the Civil War. Evident in his writing are his love and concern for his family, friends, and neighbors in The Hills community. He described life as a soldier, the living conditions, work duties, illness, and death. Transcriptions are courtesy of Dr. Edythe A. Quinn, who discovered the letters during her research at the National Archives.
Download or read book Their Patriotic Duty written by Robert Francis Engs and published by Fordham Univ Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many of the farm families in the river country of southern Ohio sent fathers, husbands, and sons to fight and die in the Civil War. Few families have bequeathed a record of that experience as remarkable as that created by the Evans family: an extraordinary collection of letters that offers a unique portrait of life both on the home front and on the front lines. From his homestead near Ripley on the Ohio River, patriarch Andrew Evans sent two sons to war, and from 1862 to 1866 father and sons wrote each other hundreds of letters. Called "the soldier's letters" by the family, this cache lay untouched in a barn until the 1980s, when Robert Engs was invited to edit them. Here are 273 family letters, most between Andrew and son Samuel, that draw us into the complicated lives of a Midwestern family not just suffering the dislocations of war, but also experiencing--and describing in intimate detail--the sorrows and occasional joys of rural life in nineteenth-century America. From the front lines with the 70th Ohio and, later, as an officer commanding a unit of "colored troops," Samuel writes of the horrors of Shiloh, of the loneliness and fear of patrolling Union lines in Tennessee. Andrew writes of the seasons of rural life, of illness and deaths in the family, of the complicated politics of this borderland where abolitionists and "Copperhead" pro-slavery voices shared daily debates. One of the very few collections of Civil War letters from home front and front lines, this meticulously edited book is an engrossing chronicle of war and peace, family and country, and an indispensable addition to the history of the Civil War.
