A new series of letters is being patiently added to the archive. Today the first in what will be many additions from William H. Clark, who was a Captain in the Twenty-First Massachusetts Infantry. Here’s part of the letter: Dear Father, I have received three letters from home since I have been here though two of them were quite old (having made a voyage to Newburn in quest of me),…

[Originally posted at my former site, Blog4History] For Country, Cause & Leader, The Civil War Journal of Charles B. Haydon, edited by Stephen W. Sears. A resident of Decatur, Michigan, Charles B. Haydon enlisted in early 1861 during the first rush to “defend the colors.” He joined the Kalamazoo Light Guards and ended up with the 2nd Michigan Infantry, Company I. His diary/journal is one of the more lucid, vivid,…

The battle took place in and around the town of Fredericksburg from December 11-15, 1862. Union Major General Ambrose E. Burnside maneuvered his army near the town and awaited the arrival of pontoon boats to cross the river. During this critical delay, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia dug in on the high ground outside of town and awaited for a battle that Burnside would surely be…

John Zimm, with a forward by Michael Edmonds, isthe editor/author of This Wicked Rebellion: Wisconsin Civil War Soldiers Write Home. Zimm is interview concerning the Civil War letters collected and preserved by Civil War era historian Edwin B. Quiner and his daughters. Click here for interview!

On April 11th, 1864 Union soldier Joseph Harris wrote a scathing assessment of some Northern newspapers to his friend or associate Cornelius Pervin. But not just an attack on the newspapers, but challenging his friend on his apparent “Copperhead” political disposition. The content is excellent as it addresses several political themes that are to this day debated about historians. How did the idea of the war transforming into what Harris…

As we know Civil War soldiers were some of the most prolific writers in the history of modern warfare (if you want to call the Civil War the first modern war or the last Napoleonic I don’t care!). As a collective they wrote easily hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of letters home. Some regiments had their own newspapers and published their own pamphlets. But also, countless soldiers wrote home to…

Christmas was often a time of reflection for Civil War soldiers as their hearts and minds fixated on past and more joyous times. In spirit of the Holiday we here at Soldier Studies wanted to share with you some touching letters dealing with Christmas. Samuel J. Bradlee took pen in hand on Christmas Day (1864) and wrote home to his beloved wife, “Just four short years ago tonight you and…

On July 7, 1862 a fierce but small battle took place near Bayou Cache River in eastern Arkansas. During the fight the Ninth Regiment Illinois Cavalry Volunteers was called into action to help sustain a charge that resulted in the Confederates fleeing from the battlefield. The regiment hisorian noted the arrival after the battle of Contraband, who he described as literally crawling out of the woodwork and flocking to the…

With my master’s thesis completed and accepted I have had some time on my hands. So I have surfed the blogsosphere and came across another gem of a post. This time over at Faces of War (an excellent site!). Civil War blogger Ron Coddington posted a memorial given at the dedication of a monument in 1909 to honor James Melvin’s three brothers who perished during the Civil War. The memorial…