Originally aired on May 19, 1995 - In part 38 of our Civil War series, Virginia Tech history professor James Robertson tells us about the important role that letter writing played for soldiers both Blue and Gray.
#38 – Soldiers’ Letters
Except for business purposes, few of us write letters anymore. It is too easy to pick up the telephone, or to pay a visit. Yet the 1860s were a far different time. At the midway point of the Civil War, an Iowa soldier told his wife: “More men die of homesickness than all other disease, and when a man gives up and lies down he is a goner. Keep the men occupied with something new…”
Letter-writing was the sole means of contact between most Americans. Sending and receiving letters was the most popular occupation of servicemen. One private told his family: “You can have no idea what a blessing letters from home are to the men in camp. They make us better man, better soldiers.”
The Civil War pulled a large percentage of America’s common folk away from home. Seeing new sights and doing new things with new friends caused soldiers blue and gray to write often. Their letters have a delightful sameness to them. The salutation was straightforward, unencumbered by romanticism. Typical greetings were “Dear Wife” and “Howdy, Kate”. The first sentence of the letter generally went: “I seat myself and take pen in hand to drop you a few lines to inform you that I am well and hope that you are enjoying a like blessing.”
The soldier next would give a report on his health, for sickness in the army was more feared than the enemy. Following that would be inquires or comments on affairs at home. The bulk of the letter centered on the soldier’s military situation: camp life, marches, battles, food, clothing, religious expressions, opinions on officers and fellow soldiers, the weather, and anything of interest that the soldier had witnessed of late.
Then, when he ran out of paper (he never ran out of things to say), the soldier closed with phrases such as “your affectionate husband”, “your dear friend”, and the like. On occasion, enterprising men might employ a bit of poetry, such as:
When this you see, remember me
Though miles apart we be.
A small number of such letters are models of literary excellence. Yet the majority consisted of phonetic spelling and crude handwriting reflective of the limited educational standards of that day. An Alabama soldier got a letter from his brother, who was also in service. The brother responded: “I have carried your letter through two regiments trying to find someone who can read it, but there was not a man who could even make out the day of the month.”
Many soldiers took satisfaction in improving the quality of their letters. A young drummer boy told his sister: “I rote you a letter the other day in answer to one that Ulysses coppyed for you, but last Sunday evening I received a nother from you in your own hand wrighting whitch was the best of all. I could read every word except one. If you will keep trying you will soon get so as to wright first rate. You must learn to spell, to.”
A Lexington soldier had a good reason when he gave up the task of producing nicer letters. To a loved one he confessed: “Excuse his scratch. I believe I am getting more careless about my writing every day but I console myself my saying that all great men wrote badly.”
Coming away empty-handed at mail call sent men into the depths of despair. A Rockingham County soldier caught the feeling and told his fiancée: “I stood by the postmaster when he called out the mail. My heart at times was in my throat at the sight of some of the letters with small white envelopes so much like yours which some loving sweetheart had written to her devoted swain. I could scarcely hide my disappointment when the last letter was called out, and none from you.”
If one word were used to characterize camp life in the Civil War, that word would be loneliness.
