Why should you read In Their Letters, in Their Words: Illinois Civil War Soldiers Write Home? What makes the book unique? Here are seven secrets (plus a “bonus”) of what went into the making of the book and, in a way, what makes it tick and, for readers, what makes it click. And finally, why it is a good read for both period scholars and those who have never read a book about the Civil War.
#1 The book has three primary uses. First and foremost, it is the sharing of the experiences and lives of Illinois Civil War soldiers as told through their personal letters. Secondly, it is a reference book to the collections of 165 Civil War soldiers who originated from 65 different Illinois counties. These are all public collections and accessible to everyone. Thirdly, it is a guidebook to reading any collection of Civil War soldier letters. The book is arranged by the most common themes about which soldiers wrote, and includes original spellings, colloquialisms, and historical contexts.
#2 The soldiers determined the content more than I did. The soldiers were poets, in their own ways: expressive, passionate, and had something to say, sometimes as if it was their last words. In starting down the path that resulted in this book, I simply began reading Illinois soldiers’ personal letters and transcribed portions that described something of the period (originally as part of a poetry project; see the sidebar on this page). Over time, topics began to emerge, which coalesced into sections, and sections into chapters. Essentially, the Illinois soldiers wrote the book’s content and my role was to pull them together and provide Civil War context for the topics, sections, and chapters.
#3 An ethnographic approach allowed for an inductive construction. I researched it by gathering period facts through personal letters written by informants experiencing the military subculture as soldiers. I essentially started with myself as a tabula rasa and thus entered the project with few biases or expectations. The approach is similar to a cultural anthropologist doing an ethnography in a foreign land. If indeed “history is a foreign country,” then I was close to taking that literally.
#4 In a way, it is more oral history than written history. Almost without exception, soldiers wrote letters without a sense of history and instead penned what was, at that time, the here and now. In fact, many soldiers wrote as if they were talking. It is as if an oral historian asked individual soldiers the same question throughout the entire war: “What is on your mind today and how would you express it to your family and close friends back home?” Because the resulting narratives are often so personal, I thought it necessary to include an appendix containing a brief biography for each soldier who has become a latter-day contributor to the book.
#5 Come for the personal insights, come away with the history. The strongest draw might be the intimate stories from a turbulent era. I have found for many readers (and listeners, as I encourage audience members to read the quotations aloud when I do presentations) it is as if they are being immersed in history and hardly realizing it. Personal letters, if well presented, are sometimes the best way for general readers to relate to history.
#6 You and I were never meant to read a single word of what they wrote. Reading this book is – literally – reading other people’s mail that was never intended for anyone in the twenty-first century to see. There is a certain unguarded, honest appeal to that. Like the ancient city of Pompei buried in volcanic debris, this book features unique time capsules that were not constructed for posterity.
#7 Overall, it is about all soldiers, in all wars. The book’s dedication reads: “To Illinois’s soldiers and sailors, past and present.” I think many of the emotions and experiences soldiers had during the Civil War are applicable or relate-able to U.S. veterans of virtually any war: thoughts and communications with loved ones, wondering about domestic situations while far away, bonding with “the boys” in the military, and personal survival. The book focuses on social history, and less so on military and political history.
Bonus #8 The title is a hidden haiku in plain sight:
in their letters in
their words Illinois civil
war soldiers write home
In a haiku format, the lines give a nuanced focus about the nature of the book. The first line—”in their letters in”—conveys that the focus is on letters, and the double “in” underscores that this is the key to its content. Although less conversational, the second line—“their words Illinois civil”—states their words are “civil,” in the sense the writers are expressing their true and honest thoughts to their Illinois family, friends, and neighbors. The third line—”war soldiers write home”—emphasizes that these are the writings of war soldiers, those who have “seen the elephant” and likely have been changed by their military experiences.
Overall, the soldiers had as much a need to write letters as they had a need to receive them. It was part of what kept them grounded during a chaotic war. It was for them a lifeline of letters, both sent and received.