Civil War Letters

Historian David Williams has written the first account of the American Civil War as viewed though the eyes of ordinary people - foot soldiers, slaves, women, prisoners of war, draft resisters, Native Americans, and others. Richly illuminated with little-known anecdotes and firsthand testimony, this path-breaking narrative moves beyond presidents and generals to tell a new and powerful story about America's most destructive conflict.

All for the Union is the astonishing and eloquent diary of Elisha Hunt Rhodes, the Union soldier featured in Ken Burns' highly acclaimed PBS television documentary The Civil War. Enlisting as a private in the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, Rhodes fought in every major campaign waged by the Army of the Potomac, from Bull Run to Appomattox. Here, in his own powerfully moving words, Rhodes reveals why he was willing to die to preserve his beloved Union.

This is a fictional series of letters starting in 1861 between brothers from South Mississippi. The oldest brother, Author, is fighting for the South, while James, the youngest, has run away from home and joined the Union army. The letters between the two brothers, and the girl they are both sweet on, Beth, as well as to their Ma and Pa, are full of horrors of war, the unbelievable cruelties put upon the slaves, and some redeeming qualities of humans mixed in.

James McPherson shows that, contrary to what many scholars believe, the soldiers of the Civil War remained powerfully convinced of the ideals for which they fought throughout the conflict. Motivated by duty and honor, and often by religious faith, these men wrote frequently of their firm belief in the cause for which they fought: the principles of liberty, freedom, justice, and patriotism. For Cause and Comrades lets these soldiers tell their own stories in their own words to create an account that is both deeply moving and far truer than most books on war.

Letters from Lizzie (The fourth book in the Carolina Rain series) Come home to North Carolina and revisit old friends as the pages of history unfold. You shall travel with Lizzie across the sea to witness the end of the Victorian Era. Intertwined in a mix of facts and fiction, the author masterfully creates exciting plots and introduces new intriguing characters. In 1896, the War Between the States was over. Those too young did not care to hear about it and the old folks tried to forget. Perhaps, humans will never learn that it is through the past that we shall clearly see the future. The ...

Robert E. Lee is remembered by history as a tragic figure, stoic and brave but distant and enigmatic. Using dozens of previously unpublished letters as departure points, Pryor produces a stunning personal account of Lee's military ability, his beliefs, and his time, shedding new light on every aspect of the complex and contradictory general's life story.

This book fleshes out the man and reveals the workings of a great military mind and a warm, understanding, and generous human being. It shows all the facets of the general during the war; at the conclusion, when he was an outspoken proponent of a reasonable peace which would allow the South to rejoin the Union; and after the war, when he served as president of Washington College.

Powerful, haunting, and unforgettable, this remarkable gathering of original documents, including never-before-published letters and papers, creates a day-by-day eyewitness account of the monumental collision at Gettysburg, in the words of the commanders, soldiers, politicians, and civilians from both the North and the South who experienced firsthand the changing course of the Civil War. New York Times bestselling and award-winning historian and author Allen C. Guelzo delivers an invaluable and sobering firsthand perspective of the Civil War’s turning point.

War Letters presents historic, dramatic, personal accounts of both World Wars, the Civil War, Vietnam, Korea, the Cold War, Somalia and the Balkans, revealing in vivid detail what the servicemen and women of America have experienced and sacrificed on the front lines. Read by an all-star cast, including Joan Allen, Tom Brokaw, Rob Lowe, Noah Wyle, and more.

As fresh and poignant today as when they were written, these touching letters capture the heart of everyday life during the Civil War. Set both at home in Florida and on the front, the letters were written by two generations of families whose members included radical secessionists, moderates, and even a few Unionists.

Robert E. Lee is one of the most famous and decorated American generals in history. The son of Revolutionary War hero Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee III, General Lee was a native of Virginia and a top graduate at West Point. So distinguished was Lee that President Abraham Lincoln offered him command of the entire Union army before the onset of the Civil War. Lee famously declined the offer and instead served his home state of Virginia after it seceded.

On October 3, 1807, Thomas Jefferson was contacted by an unknown traveler urgently pleading for a private "interview" with the president, promising to disclose "a matter of momentous importance". By the next day, Jefferson held in his hands two astonishing manuscripts whose history has been lost for over two centuries. Authored by Muslims fleeing captivity in rural Kentucky, these documents delivered to the president in 1807 were penned by literate African slaves, and written entirely in Arabic.

Torn between the man she loves, and the man who loves her.... Cordia Pike has always been strong-willed, but she knows her family expects her to accept the hand of her childhood friend, Jaris Adams, in marriage. As the conflict between the states continues to escalate, Cordia hopes it will last long enough for her to find a way to free herself without breaking her friend’s heart. On the eve of war, as the men prepare to ride off to battle, Cordia meets a mysterious newcomer. There’s just something about Will Tucker that she finds both intriguing and dangerous. Under the guise of caring ...

These are the passionate and poignant letters from General George E. Pickett, C.S.A., written to his wife, Sally. These letters reveal intimate details of Pickett's personal life, as well as his incredible accounts of Civil War battles and personalities. A must-listen for any Civil War buff!

Reconstructed from actual letters and diaries, this is the story of four young people living in Philadelphia whose lives become intertwined when the American Civil War begins in 1861. Jan is a German immigrant who begins his studies at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg. Emma is a Quaker who has learned survival skills growing up in a thick forest. Gabrielle, is a Southerner, was raised by her governess and wealthy Virginian father. Maura travels alone to America from Ireland to escape the potato famine and eventually enters the convent as a Sister of Mercy.

Among the piles of obsolete farm and household implements, haystacks, dust, and debris abandoned in her historic barn, Katie Aldridge discovered a box containing the Civil War letters of Charles Freeman Biddlecom. Painstakingly transcribing and lightly editing more than 100 letters written by the soldier to his wife during his service, Ms. Aldridge resurrected the voice of the Civil War combat soldier. The tone and character of "Charlie's" detailed accounts of the war compelled Ms. Aldridge to find out more.

Author and Genealogist Maureen K. Wlodarczyk weaves a work of historical fiction inspired by the true stories of the owners of three 1850s copies of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter: a Mississippi boy of thirteen who, along with his two brothers, is destined for the battlefields of Virginia during the Civil War; a New England sea captain's daughter, newly-married and living in Alexandria, Virginia when that war breaks out; and a transplanted Virginia man living in New Orleans who must flee the Union occupation there. Their family stories converge over the ensuing decades as their ...

In May 1861, Virginian Thomas Henry Carter raised an artillery battery and joined the Confederate Army. Over the next four years, he rose steadily in rank from captain to colonel, placing him among the senior artillerists in Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. During the war, Carter wrote more than 100 revealing letters to his wife, Susan, about his service. His interactions with prominent officers - including Lee, Jubal A.Early, John B. Gordon, Robert E. Rodes, and others - come to life in Carter's astute comments about their conduct and personalities.

Cultural and familial fireworks flare when the headstrong teenage daughter of a wealthy New Yorker falls passionately in love with a young man from New Orleans, and from a very different background indeed. What makes this story sizzle and soar are its time and place - the United States during the Civil War and Victorian England - and a couple of key facts about the protagonists.

Love and the Working Class is a unique look at the emotions of hard-living, nineteenth-century Americans who were often on the cusp of literacy. These laboring folk highly valued letters and, however difficult it was, wrote to stay connected to those they loved. This book displays the personal expression of factory hands, manual laborers, peddlers, coopers, carpenters, lumbermen, miners, tanners, haulers, tailors, seamstresses, laundresses, domestics, sharecroppers, independent farmers, and common soldiers and their wives.