Synopses & Reviews
The Missouri History Museum archives are bursting with collections that provide firsthand accounts of both historic and everyday moments, but when archivist M. E. Kodner came across the James Love letters, she knew she had discovered something extraordinary.
My Dear Molly consists of the 166 letters that St. Louisan James Love wrote to his fiancandeacute;e, Eliza Mary andldquo;Mollyandrdquo; Wilson, during his Civil War service. The letters discuss the war, including activities in Missouri, battles, Loveandrsquo;s life as a soldier, and his time in a Confederate prison, in addition to detailing the love story of James and Molly. Spanning the entire Civil War period, the letters give a full account of both the ongoing conflict and the many different aspects of Loveandrsquo;s life, making
My Dear Molly a unique contribution to our literature of the time period.
The book opens with a prologue describing Loveandrsquo;s life before the war, including his immigration to the United States from Ireland, his early career, and a trip to Australia he took in the 1850s. The body of the text consists of his letters and is divided into three sections: Loveandrsquo;s early service with the Fifth US Reserve Corps, most of which was spent in Missouri; his service with the Eighth Kansas Infantry, which includes descriptions of military life and battle, ending with him being wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga and taken prisoner; and his years in various Confederate prisons and his attempts to escape. Each portion of the book begins with an introduction to place the letters in their historical context and to briefly explain the events and people that Love mentions in his letters. It concludes with an epilogue describing his final, successful escape, his life with Molly after the war, how the letters came to the Missouri History Museum, and Kodnerandrsquo;s discovery of her connections through family friends to James and Mollyandrsquo;s descendants. My Dear Molly is a remarkable, riveting volume that will add much to our knowledge of the Civil War periodandmdash;its battles and conflicts as well as the experiences of ordinary Americans like James and Molly.
Review
andldquo;[Stephen E. Ambroseandrsquo;s] collection of James Newtonandrsquo;s letters to his parents will appeal to readers who want to go beyond the din of battle and the oratory of politicians and look at the Civil War from a different perspective, that of a common soldier writing home.andrdquo;andmdash;
KliattReview
and#160;andldquo;Not many collections of wartime letters between spouses are in print, and this collection builds on other Civil War primary materials in an important way: the reader is able to get simultaneous reports on the scene at home, in the Army camp, and in the field.andrdquo;andmdash;Suzanne Bunkers, editor of The Diary of Caroline Seabury, 1854andndash;1863and#160;
Review
andldquo;I have read many Civil War era diaries and letter collections, but this is the most interesting and touching.andrdquo;andmdash;Thomas D. Mackie, director of the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum
Review
andldquo;A treasure trove of correspondence providing a personal glimpse into the experience of war during a turning point in our nationandrsquo;s history.andrdquo;andmdash;
Lake Country LivingReview
andldquo;An unusually fine and valuable collection of primary material. It provides insight into the early war situation in Missouri and Kansas, the burdens of small-unit command and administration, the areas in which the regiment served, Civil War era courtship, and especially Loveandrsquo;s prison experiences. . . . Highly recommended.andrdquo;
Synopsis
Forgotten for more than a century in an old cardboard box, these are the letters of Guy Carlton Taylor, a farmer who served in the Thirty-Sixth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War. From March 23, 1864, to July 14, 1865, Taylor wrote 165 letters home to his wife Sarah and their son Charley.
From the initial mustering and training of his regiment at Camp Randall in Wisconsin, through the siege of Petersburg in Virginia, General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, and the postwar Grand Review of the Armies parade in Washington, D.C., Taylor conveys in vivid detail his own experiences and emotions and shows himself a keen observer of all that is passing around him. While at war, he contracts measles, pneumonia, and malaria, and he writes about the hospitals, treatments, and sanitary conditions that he and his comrades endured during the war. Amidst the descriptions of soldiering, Taylor’s letters to Sarah are threaded with the concerns of a young married couple separated by war but still coping together with childrearing and financial matters. The letters show, too, Taylor’s transformation from a lonely and somewhat disgruntled infantryman to a thoughtful commentator on the greater ideals of the war.
This remarkable trove of letters, which had been left in the attic of Taylor’s former home in Cashton, Wisconsin, was discovered by local historian Kevin Alderson at a household auction. Recognizing them for the treasure they are, Alderson bought the letters and, aided by his wife Patsy, painstakingly transcribed the letters and researched Taylor’s story in Wisconsin and at historical sites of the Civil War. The Aldersons’ preface and notes are augmented by an introduction by Civil War historian Kathryn Shively Meier, and the book includes photographs, maps, and illustrations related to Guy Taylor’s life and letters.
Synopsis
andldquo;Unlike many of his fellows, [James Newton] was knowledgeable, intuitive, and literate; like many of his fellows he was cast into the role of soldier at only eighteen years of age. He was polished enough to write drumhead and firelight letters of fine literary style. It did not take long for this farm boy turned private to discover the grand design of the conflict in which he was engaged, something which many of the officers leading the armies never did discover.andrdquo;andmdash;Victor Hicken,
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society
and#160;and#160;and#160; andldquo;When I wrote to you last I was at Madison with no prospect of leaving very soon, but I got away sooner than I expected to.andrdquo; So wrote James Newton upon leaving Camp Randall for Vicksburg in 1863 with the Fourteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. Newton, who had been a rural schoolteacher before he joined the Union army in 1861, wrote to his parents of his experiences at Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, on the Red River, in Missouri, at Nashville, at Mobile, and as a prisoner of war. His letters, selected and edited by noted historian Stephen E. Ambrose, reveal Newton as a young man who matured in the war, rising in rank from private to lieutenant.
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; A Wisconsin Boy in Dixie reveals Newton as a young man who grew to maturity through his Civil War experience, rising in rank from private to lieutenant. Writing soberly about the less attractive aspects of army life, Newton's comments on fraternizing with the Rebs, on officers, and on discipline are touched with a sense of humorandmdash;andquot;a soldier's best friend,andquot; he claimed. He also became sensitive to the importance of political choices. After giving Lincoln the first vote he had ever cast, Newton wrote: andquot;In doing so I felt that I was doing my country as much service as I have ever done on the field of battle.andquot;
Synopsis
The Missouri History Museum Archives is full of collections that provide firsthand accounts of both historic and everyday events, and give readers a more personal understanding of history. The James Love letters create a great book because the letters cover the entire span of the war and discuss many different aspects of his life.
and#160;
My Dear Molly consists of the 166 letters that St. Louisan James E. Love wrote to his fiancand#233;e, Eliza Mary and#147;Mollyand#8221; Wilson, during his Civil War service from 1861 to 1865. The letters discuss the Civil War, including activities in Missouri, battles, a soldierand#8217;s life, and prisons, and follow the love story of James and Molly. The book begins with a prologue that describes Loveand#8217;s life before the war, including his immigration to the United States from Ireland, his early career, and his trip to Australia in the 1850s. The information for this section comes primarily from Loveand#8217;s reminiscences. The main part of the text, the letters, is divided into three sections: Loveand#8217;s early service with the 5th U.S. Reserve Corps, most of which was spent in Missouri; his service with the 8th Kansas Infantry, which includes descriptions of military life and battle, ending with him being wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga and taken prisoner; and his years in various Confederate prisons and his attempts to escape. Each section begins with an introduction to place the letters in their historical context and briefly explain the events and people that Love mentions in his letters. The book concludes with an epilogue describing his final, successful escape, his life with Molly after the war, how the letters came to the Missouri History Museum, and the authorand#8217;s discovery of her links, through family friends, to James and Mollyand#8217;s descendants.
Synopsis
In 2002, Judy Cook discovered a packet of letters written by her great-great-grandparents, Gilbert and Esther Claflin, during the American Civil War. An unexpected bounty, these letters from 1862andndash;63 offer visceral witness to the war, recounting the trials of a family separated. Gilbert, an articulate and cheerful forty-year-old farmer, was drafted into the Union Army and served in the Thirty-Fourth Wisconsin Infantry garrisoned in western Kentucky along the Mississippi. Esther had married Gilbert when she was fifteen; now a woman with two teenage sons, she ran the family farm near Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, in Gilbertandrsquo;s absence.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; In his letters, Gilbert writes about food, hygiene, rampant desertions by drafted men, rebel guerrilla raids, and pastimes in the daily life of a soldier. His comments on interactions with Confederate prisoners and ex-slaves before and after the Emancipation Proclamation reveal his personal views on monumental events. Esther shares in her letters the challenges and joys of maintaining the farm, accounts of their boys Elton and Price, concerns about finances and health, and news of their local community and extended family. Estherandrsquo;s experiences provide insight into family, farm, and village life in the wartime North, an often overlooked aspect of Civil War history.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Judy Cook has made the letters accessible to a wider audience by providing historical context with notes and appendixes. The volume includes a foreword by Civil War historian Keith S. Bohannon.
About the Author
Gilbert Elton Claflin (1822andndash;79) was born in Sandisfield, Massachusetts. Esther Patience Colby Claflin (1830andndash;1900) was born in LeRoy, Ohio, and grew up in western New York State. In 1844, each moved to Wisconsin, where their families had bought adjacent forty-acre farms. Gilbert and Esther married in Oconomowoc in 1845. Judy Cook tours universities and historical societies in the United States and United Kingdom, performing multimedia presentations based on the Claflin letters and songs of the Civil War era. Her CDs include If You Sing Songs, Far from the Lowlands, Tenting Tonight: Songs of the Civil War, and Lincolnandrsquo;s America.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations and#160; and#160; and#160; and#160; and#160; and#160; and#160; and#160;Prefaceand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Introductionand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Foreword by Keith S. Bohannonand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Timelineand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Prologueand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;The Lettersand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Epilogueand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Appendix A: Familyand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Appendix B: Neighborsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Appendix C: Summit and Oconomowocand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Appendix D: Militaryand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Appendix E: Miscellaneous Documentsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Appendix F: Transcribing and Editingand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Bibliographyand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Index