I Was Given a Letter from my Great Grandfather William, who Served in the Union Army in the

[Wolf Frankula]

Civil War.

Here is an excerpt.

"Why am I here? It is God's will. Men should not own men. That is abomination.. Please send me the pipe you promised, and the good Pennsylvania leaf."

Wolf

[Suich]

1. That's awesome, Wolf Frankula!

[nomorenomore08]

2. Like a soldier in any war, small comforts (tobacco) obviously meant a lot to him.

Inspiring to think how many on the Union side were willing to die to free other human beings. At the same time appalling, though, to think how many Confederates were willing to die to prevent that freedom.

[alphafemale]

5. ....yeah tobacco. more like wacky tobacky.

Johnny Appleseed sowed some other seeds in the woods.

[Major Nikon]

6. Both Washington and Jefferson grew hemp

[nomorenomore08]

8. I don't know how common weed smoking was in the 19th century. But you may be right.

[alphafemale]

9. like you think that stuff was just laying around....waiting for Abbie Hoffmann to be born?

people have been smoken that at least as long as they have been smoken tobacco. lol

[nomorenomore08]

10. I'm sure it's been smoked in some form for thousands of years.

I was just wondering how common it was 150 years ago, out of pure curiosity...

[alphafemale]

11. Fairly common...I would guess.

It is the arrogence of youth to imagine they have invented pleasures.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. What a treasure you have, my dear Wolf...

I love hearing these voices from the past...

Thank you!

[mockmonkey]

4. Sounds like

the mail service is a little slow there.

[REP]

7. I have one from my great great great grandfather, while he was in a Union hospital:

"Yesterday I was so sick I could not sit up. Today I can sit up, so tomorrow I think will rejoin my Regiment."

[RedCloud]

12. Words that should echo throughout America.

It will help cleanse some of the opposite line of thinking.

[MadrasT]

13. Very cool!

I spent yesterday traipsing around Cedar Creek battlefield and stood in the same places my great great grandfather was during the battle. Gave me chills. He fought under Sheridan with VI Corps there (Union).

I do not have any personal artifacts. My dad had his commission to 1st Lieutenant but we have nothing as cool as an actual letter.

[trof]

14. Suh? Do yew refuh to thuh Wawah of Nawthun Agression?

Sorry, couldn't resist.
We used to get a lot of North-South Civil War flame wars.
Happily not so much any more.

Historians say that with modern communications we're losing those historical records and observations.

NO ONE WRITES LETTERS ANYMORE.

It's all email and texting and then it's deleted and there's no record for future generations.

[Taverner]

15. Men should not own men.

Exactly

[Wolf Frankula]

16. I won't print the whole letter but he begins

by answering a question as to why he is serving in the army. William says he was conscripted and did not have the 300 dollars to buy an exemption. After a while in uniform, he converted to the cause of freeing the slaves.

Most of the letter is complaining about the boredom of army life. "It's all marching, standing, waiting and more waiting", and the food, "We get shuffle bread (what is that?) and beans and coffee for breakfast, beans and salt bacon for dinner, shuffle bread, beans and salt pork and more coffee for supper. We are supposed to have a whiskey ration, but almost never get it"

And the good Pennsylvania leaf is tobacco. Possibly he broke his pipe and wanted a new one.

His writing is hard to make out.

Wolf

[WilliamPitt]

17. Shuffle bread

Another term for it is hardtack. Basically, unleavened bread. It keeps longer; perfect for troops in the field, if by "perfect" you mean "bullet-hard bread you can't chew without a swallow of water." Just a guess, but I think the term "shuffle bread" comes from the fact that it is hard and thin, so you could shuffle it like a deck of cards.

Very cool letter to have, frame it and protect it.

[davidpdx]

18. That is very interesting

I'd research what you can to do to protect the letter from degrading. I'm sure after 150 years it's already worn quite a bit. Take a scan of it for a picture frame and keep the original in a safe place.