Voices from the

Civil War

The Civil War has been given many names:

the War Between the States, the War Against

Northern Aggression, the Second

American Revolution, the Lost Cause,

the War of the Rebellion, the Brothers’ War…

Its battles were fought in over 10,000 places,

from New Mexico,

to Tennessee…

from Vermont

to the Florida coast.

More than 3 million Americans fought in it, and over 600,000 men,

2 percent of the population, died in it.

In two days at Shiloh, on the banks of the Tennessee River,

more American men fell than in all the previous

American wars combined…At Cold Harbor,

some 7,000 Americans fell in twenty minutes.

American homes became headquarters,

American churches and schoolhouses

sheltered the dying, and huge foraging armies

swept across American farms and burned American towns.

It was unquestionably the most important event in the

life of the nation. It saw the end of slavery and the downfall of a southern

planter aristocracy. It was the watershed of a

new political and economic order…

We know of its horrors through personal letters of the soldiers, nurses, doctors, generals, and

citizens who witnessed it firsthand…

Its historic players have been recorded by early photography,

such as this tintype camera.

Tintype photography became popular in the mid-1850s and

continued being produced into the early twentieth century.

…And its everyday

events preserved by

artists such as Winslow Homer…

Winslow Homer (1836—1910) was 25 years old when the Civil War began in the spring of 1861. Although his native state of Massachusetts was recruiting thousands of men his age to serve in the Union army, Homer, as a special artist for Harper’s Weekly, was fortunate to have been able to pursue his chosen profession…

From these eyewitness sources, voices from the Civil War

can be heard…

“The country is now in a fearful state of agitation. So much so that thinking men believe that a war between the sections is imminent.”

…John Cochran to his mother, 1860.

“As you have seen by the papers, our own glorious native state has last determined to throw off the shackles which would be a disgrace for any southern man to submit to.”

“We could muster with a days notice five hundred good and true men who are determined to maintain our rights.”

“I imbibed in the war spirit immediately. I wanted to join the first company organized…”

John Weatherred.

African-American teamsters,group of "contrabands" dressed in Union uniforms

Fugitive African Americans fording the Rappahannock

“We are forming the rear of about ten or twelve thousand soldiers…”

“Andrew is somewhat wearied and broken down from a march of about 11 miles yesterday, under the broiling sun, some dust, and little water…”

William Brooks, July, 1861

“At our last encampment we were placed in an open field with orders to be at our posts for four days…”

“General Johnston sent away the women and children; we have no battle yet, but on Sunday evening our pickets had been driven in…”

“What is going to be done, I don’t know; the soldiers never know the intentions of their commanders…”

“So we here in camp have as little idea of action as you…”

“We heard yesterday that Lincoln recommends for 400,000 men and $400,000…”

“There is great excitement to hear about the war; everybody is for the fight. Illinois has turned out 70,000 troops for the war and can send more…”

Fannie Hunt to her cousin, 1861.

“I am of the opinion that the war will end in 12 of 15 months…”

“I say down with the rebel flag; if it takes all we have got, our propewrty and our lives, let us wallow in blood before we give up…”

“The first real fighting I saw was in July when our company volunteered for an expedition. We had two howitzers that could do some damage. We saluted them with our cannons and checked their advance.”

“ I am sorrow to inform you that Will Holmes died on the 15th; it looks like our company will be gone soon…”

Newton Scott, 1863

“Oliver Boardman was killed in the late fight in the rear of Vicksburg and several more of that company.”

“We was shooting rebels and the bullets cam whistling around

our heads thick as hail…”

“I was over apart of the battleground

the next morn and saw the dead scattered over the ground.”

“At one place I stood and counted

35 dead rebs in about 15 paces of ground…”

“We had quite a hard fight. The first evening was an artillery duel and we

hugged the ground closely. The Yankees made it hot for us that

evening…”

“…but by the goodwill of Providence, we repulsed the rebels with great slaughter…”

“Our loss in killed and wounded was less than 200 and the rebel loss was over 2500…”

“We gave them the most thrashing they ever got from Yankees.”

“We got very friendly and frequently would cross over and do a lot of trading- the currency was coffee on the Yankee side and tobacco on the rebel side…”

“ We are here near Fort Albany, drilling, drilling, and then for a little change, we drill…” A.P Carpenter

“ I am doing first rate if I could get over Peninsula Chronic Diarrhoea. “

“I would love to be at home but I will content myself and hope for

better times in the future…”

“ In 1861, I was a boy of 17, living in Tennessee. I had the military spirit and at the first opportunity volunteered to fight for my native state…”

“We camped around Chattanooga until the Yankees came down and concluded to give us a spanking…”

“We drew lots of fire there and the other side lost heavily, too. I dreww one minnie ball…”

Robert Carden, 1861

Fredericksburg, Va. Nurses and officers

of the U.S. Sanitary Commission

“ For two hours we had fought desperately. The men seemed

inspired and fought

with determination.”

“ The field is ours. No other attack is suspected, but we go to supperless to sleep, the unburied dead sleeping around us.” A.C. Carpenter

“ There was a battery on our left that was giving us grape and the bullets were singing around us. A canister struck a man standing in front of me. He was a dead man..”

“Dear Mother, Ely is wounded pretty badly. He was struck in the chest, the ball passing through him. But I rather think we’ve given the Rebs the worse.”

“The weather

is very cold and we have not had much sleep. Many were frostbitten. We are marching to avoid the enemy…” C.E. Goddard

“ I remember the night before the surrender, I was so scared

I left my weapon in the ditch. I understood at the time that the panic went through the whole camp.”

“ The bloody field was our possession, but at what cost?

The ground was strewed with dying, whose groans for help rent the air.”

“ Indeed, Miss, there is thousands of poor soldiers

that will see home and friends no more in this

world.

If you was to see the number of sick and disabled soldiers,

it would make your heart ache…”

“I wish never to return until this forsaken rebellion in destroyed…”

“…May we all be permitted to return to our homes and live peaceable lives.”

Voices from the

Civil War