John ross wallar volunteered to serve as a drummer boy in the civil war when he was only 15 years old. The civil war in the words of those who lived it, highlights the experiences of families like the nugents. Letters written by gatewood to his parents and other family members, 18601864. The book includes 533 quotations from letters written by 165 soldiers between april 1861 and december 1865. Soldiers diaries and letters essential civil war curriculum. Your affectionate son letters from a civil war soldier your. Search the librarys online public access catalog to find holdings of general books on the civil war era, including military histories, bibliographies, and guides. Cape cod and the civil war sandwich sailors, soldiers. Men from all walks of life and all ranks in the service are represented here over the span of the entire war. Instead of writing grammaticallycorrect english, these transitionally literate men used the alphabet to capture the sounds words made when they spoke them. Private voices corpus of american civil war letters. This handout contains excerpts of eyewitness accounts, diary entries, and letters for you to read to your students or to assign to your students as an independent reading activity. They bring us a history that is personal, sometimes even private, yet always revealing.
The book is a carefully selected and diverse collection of excerpts of letters written by soldiers, a few officers, medical personnel, and a chaplain during the civil war. Newly discovered letters bring new insight into the life. Contemporary accounts of the american civil war by ordinary americans on both sides of the conflict. New listing 1864 civil war soldier letter rappahannock station va 11th us infantry.
Wiley, who pioneered the study of the civil war common soldier, the average yank or reb was a white, nativeborn, farmer, protestant, single, between 18 and 29. F, th new hampshire infantry september 1862 to october 1863, and as 1st lieutenant and captain in g and f companies, 7th regiment infantry, united states colored troops november 1863 to may 1865. Among the most tragic letters were those that marked the last messages from soldiers killed in war. The letters and diaries written by union and confederate soldiers have bequeathed to scholars in the field the unusual problem of having an overabundance of firsthand. Editor mark flotows inspiration for this book was a previous project that had him scouring the letters of illinois soldiers to understand their wartime experiences. This book contains letters from the civil war and letters from more recent. During the civil war, the soldiers were free to write to their hometown newspapers, and in some cases their relatives and friends furnished the letters to the editors.
Your affectionate son letters from a civil war soldier. Men raised their weapons against their countrymen, and they slaughtered one another in one of the most violent and devastating conflicts in us history. It is the soldiers on whom the book focuses and what they wrote regarding the war, politics, the military, the south, combat, and much more, all through their personal letters. Illinois civil war soldiers letters in their letters. The civil war letters of sarah rosetta wakeman, alias pvt. Once you have finished reading all of the letters, use the information to respond to the questions provided on your life of a civil war soldier handout. Civil war blog civil war news the civil war monitor. Nat and fred gray, has appeared before, the twain letter is a completely new find. Bob blaisdell is the editor of numerous dover thrift editions and many other books. Civil war soldiers were among the most literate in history.
Post office department had been delivering about five letters per capita annually. Sandwich was unique among cape cods civil warera communities in that its economy was industrial rather than maritime. Due to its large file size, this book may take longer to download. Civil war letters read each of the following letters written by the soldiers of the civil war. Claire rosen photographed the letters along with other civil war artifacts, including a federal forage cap worn by union soldiers, a canteen, a regimental flag, a glass inkwell, a u. Discover librarianselected research resources on u. John bross, art institute supporter who wrote book about. From sketches drawn by forbes, waud, taylor, hillen, becker, lovie, schell, crane and numerous other eyewitnesses to the strife and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.
The american civil war began in 1861, lasted until 1865, and was ruinous by any standard. This split in the fabric of the country began a bitter war, concluding in the death of more than. Civil war soldiers letters home american civil war. Reference books on the civil war national archives. Civil war manuscripts vmi archives virginia military. Millions of letters were written during the civil war. We are able to learn much about the feelings of a person heading into battle, their feelings for a loved one. The corpus of american civil war letters project cacwl, which we also call common tongues, is a collection of thousands of letters written by civil war soldiers who wrote by ear. Here are letters from the civil war, world war i, world war ii, korea, the cold war, vietnam, the persian gulf war, somalia, and bosniadramatic eyewitness accounts from the front lines, poignant expressions of love for family and country, insightful reflections on the nature of warfare. The collection offers valuable insight on soldiers daily activities, experiences in battles, and views on the war. Extraordinary correspondence from american wars by. Armies and soldiers genealogy general government documents guides to records in the national archives laws maps military operations personal papers and other archival collections the list below is highly selective. A number of those letters appear in this work, to illustrate and fill in the narrative of the 6th ohios record under stedman.
Why are letters written by american civil war soldiers so well worded and articulate even though the majority of soldiers werent very well educated. Your affectionate son follows the thirtyseventh pa regiment, eighth reserve, company f from 1861 1864 and provides a firsthand account of the civil war as told by a soldier, james cleaver, 2nd lieutenant. The book brings the underground railroad down to the level primary students can comprehend. Book overview perhaps no army in history, prior to the american civil war, left such a remarkable and voluminous collection of letters to home during the years 1861 to 1865. A cape cod town in the civil war, tells the story of the cape cod, massachusetts community of sandwich before, during and after the civil war. Curious scenes around here, a continual stream of soldiers, officers, cripples, etc. Stauffer millers latest book, sandwich soldiers, sailors, sons. Susannah ural is the blount professor in military history at the university of southern mississippi. How the civil war taught americans the art of letter.
Diaries, correspondence, and photographs from iowa soldiers and their families during the american civil war. Its a stark and realistic portrait of the enlisted mans view of war, similar to those published about vietnam. A selection of original civil war correspondence between soldiers from the battlefields and their family members and friends on the homefront. Woodworths book, based on extensive research of letters, diaries, and memoirs of union and confederate troops, is meant. Christopher hager has recovered the voices of ordinary soldiers who struggled into literacy during the civil war.
This section is dedicated to the words of those brave men and women who participated in the american civil war and shared their experiences with friends and loved ones through the written word. A black soldiers civil war letters from the front by james henry. Lowry wasnt the first to write about confederate and union soldiers in the civil war, but he was the first to recognize an lgbt presence in it. Civil war letters from the questia online library, including fulltext online books, academic. Originally published in the february 2014 issue of civil war times. The letters, which emerged after mr bradleys death in 2008, are therefore unusual and shed an important light on homosexual relationships during the war. The majority of the letters in the collection were written by prime to his wife, hannah snell. Among the most heartbreaking war letters are those written by soldiers who have been mortally wounded and realize that their life is ebbing away. I enjoyed this concise and diverse collection of civil war letters and the illustrations that accompany it. Reader war letters from fallen soldiers, veterans aarp. These soldiers were from illinois, but they could have been from any northern state. During the war, the average soldier sent more than five times that many.
Civil war letters from the hinchey family archive includes more than 60 letters written from 1861 to 1865 by soldiers j. Why are letters written by american civil war soldiers so. Mark hughes confederate soldiers in the american civil war is a short but comprehensive guide on the confederate soldier. Afterwards, have the students imagine that they are civil war soldiers or civilians. The book, your affectionate son, follows the thirtyseventh pa regiment, eighth reserve, company f from 1861 1864 and provides a firsthand account of the. The omission is all the more remarkable since the civil war broke out during a period of grassroots religious revivalsone beginning in 1857, the other in 186364that influenced many of the men who served in the war. Editor mark flotows in their letters, in their words is a valuable read for those interested an the. The book is arranged topically, but secondarily it also goes through the war era and its evolution relative to those who experienced it. By the end, 625,000 people had diedmore american casualties than world war i and world war ii combined. Soldiers diaries and letters civil war resources in. G, 2nd united states sharpshooters berdans army of the potomac, 18611865 by william h. How men thought, fought, and survived in civil war armies.
These letters describe firsthand accounts of battle, reflections on the nature of war and its profound effect on those involved both on those at the front lines and loved ones who remained anxiously at. During the civil war, if a soldier was wounded or injured in battle he may have been treated with a xanthorrhiza. Based on previously unpublished letters and diaries, civil war soldiers follows the troops of both north and south. I think that its brevity and the balance of letters from enlisted men, generals, president lincoln, and family members at home make it ideal for the general reader. The book includes the love letters of first world war sweethearts, middleclass soldier montague glover, left, and workingclass ralph hall, right, who began a. Your affectionate son is a collection of 34 never before published letters. The civil war lasted for four years and left over 600,000 soldiers dead. I love primary sources and as an old retired af guy i am still a military history junkie. John emond read letters from ordinary civil war soldiers, placing the letters in the context of the war as well as the soldiers daily lives, which he says were defined by personal hardships.
Illinois civil war soldiers write home edited by mark flotow. The letters draw from petes most recently published book the war for the common soldier. Subjects include camp life, the 1st battle of bull run, the battle of the wilderness, the union armys destruction of jonesboro, ga. Within months of president lincolns inauguration, seven southern states began the secession from the union and declared the confederate states of america. Illinois had over 259,000 soldiers, the highest number per capita of any state. I wish this cruel war was over ellen aldens discovery of her greatgreat grandfathers letters inspired her to write a novel about his role in conflict. Union soldier in the 110th new york infantry regiment.
Fox, a historian, were 360,222 from the north and 258,000 from the south. Civil war diaries and letters the university of iowa. Lyons wakeman, 153rd regiment, new york state volunteers, 1 by sarah rosetta wakeman 3. Early letters describe life at the virginia military institute hazing, daily routine, excitement about secession, cadets as drillmasters and in lexington, virginia, just prior to and during early months of the civil war. Confederate soldiers letters reveal personal side of. His book, letters to belle, written with his sister justine bross yildiz and published in 2018, was based on the letters of his ancestor, a civil war colonel also named john bross, who. My foremost desire in publishing this book was to share jamess letters with others who want to expand their. Ive been reading some letters sent home to families or lovers of civil war soldiers and im astounded by how eloquent and sophisticated they are. Soldiers diaries and letters civil war resources in dukes david.
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