5 options
A quiet corner of the war : the Civil War letters of Gilbert and Esther Claflin, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, 1862-1863 / Gilbert Claflin and Esther Claflin ; edited by Judy Cook.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Claflin, Gilbert.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Soldiers--Wisconsin--Oconomowoc--Correspondence.
- Soldiers.
- Wisconsin--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives.
- Wisconsin.
- United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives.
- United States.
- Oconomowoc (Wis.)--History.
- Oconomowoc (Wis.).
- Claflin, Gilbert--Correspondence.
- Claflin, Gilbert.
- Claflin, Esther--Correspondence.
- Claflin, Esther.
- Claflin family--Correspondence.
- Claflin family.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (240 p.)
- Place of Publication:
- Madison : The University of Wisconsin Press, [2013]
- Language Note:
- English
- Summary:
- 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 1862-63 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 Gilbert's absence. 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. Esther's experiences provide insight into family, farm, and village life in the wartime North, an often overlooked aspect of Civil War history. 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.
- Contents:
- ""Contents""; ""List of Illustrations""; ""Foreword by Keith Bohannon""; ""Preface""; ""Time Line""; ""Prologue""; ""The Letters""; ""Epilogue""; ""Appendix A: Family ""; ""Appendix B: Neighbors ""; ""Appendix C: Summit and Oconomowoc""; ""Appendix D: Military ""; ""Appendix E: Transcribing and Editing ""; ""Bibliography""; ""Index""
- Notes:
- Description based upon print version of record.
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed December 5, 2013).
- ISBN:
- 9780299294830
- 0299294838
- OCLC:
- 927484130
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.