tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55813896907779057462024-02-19T04:01:55.271-08:00Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife by Lisa SaundersCivil War love letters between Private Charles McDowell and his teenage wife NancyLisa Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101292381161518noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5581389690777905746.post-88383529565882940642016-02-05T14:08:00.002-08:002016-02-14T08:11:10.297-08:00Tues, March 1, Civil War Letters, Old Saybrook<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99PPMtXCOSi02e7E7mnFm08GKwf9qVCvd7V917aII2QGVo6xHLApP5F2XsONoVOFeb1Bs9CoC_YnsGbnHAiTlpCaoHaeg8HpIbqwDCtnMoDpkTYRbxzA2Uc1FiduIN5BNYwvB637hjhc/s1600/lisa+civil+war+dress+by+fournier.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99PPMtXCOSi02e7E7mnFm08GKwf9qVCvd7V917aII2QGVo6xHLApP5F2XsONoVOFeb1Bs9CoC_YnsGbnHAiTlpCaoHaeg8HpIbqwDCtnMoDpkTYRbxzA2Uc1FiduIN5BNYwvB637hjhc/s320/lisa+civil+war+dress+by+fournier.png" width="213" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black;">IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><u>Civil War Love Letter Reading </u></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><u>at </u></span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><u>Acton Library, Old Saybrook</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Old Saybrook, Conn--The Shoreline Civil War Roundtable is hosting Lisa Saunders of Mystic, author of "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ever-True-Letters-McDowell-Artillery/dp/0788425269/ref=la_B001K7Z5AC_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1354038015&sr=1-3">Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife</a>," which features the love letters between Charles and Nancy McDowell.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b>Tuesday, March 1, 2016, 6:30-8:30pm</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Presentation: Love Letters of a Union Private and His Wife </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Admission: Free and open to the public</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Shoreline Civil War Roundtable </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Acton Library, upstairs meeting room </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">60 Old Boston Post Rd, Old Saybrook, CT 06475</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="tel:%28860%29%20395-3184" target="_blank" value="+18603953184">(860) 395-3184</a>; <a href="http://www.oldsaybrookct.org/pages/oldsaybrookct_library/index" target="_blank">http://www.oldsaybrookct.org/<wbr></wbr>pages/oldsaybrookct_library/<wbr></wbr>index</a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">For more information about the meeting, contact Tom Schuch, <a href="mailto:tom82baur@gmail.com" target="_blank">tom82baur@gmail.com</a>.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Shoreline Civil War Roundtable is hosting Lisa Saunders of Mystic, author of "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ever-True-Letters-McDowell-Artillery/dp/0788425269/ref=la_B001K7Z5AC_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1354038015&sr=1-3">Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife</a>," which features the love letters between Charles and Nancy McDowell. After discussing the research behind the book, Saunders, with the help of a "Charles and Nancy," played by Alex Young and Anna Carey of Old Saybrook High School, will read several selected passages. The story: Charles married Nancy when she was 15 years old. Enlisting as a private in the New York 9th Heavy Artillery <span data-term="goog_488016796" tabindex="0">two years later</span>, he asked Nancy to save his letters. Despite his grueling battles and marches, he was able to save hers as well. Together, their letters tell of bullets, hangings, prostitutes, venereal disease, typhoid fever, lying injured on the battlefield for days, “clever women,” and the court marshalling of a cow. (Note: Charles fought in several battles with the 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery in the Sixth Corps.)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">For more information about "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ever-True-Letters-McDowell-Artillery/dp/0788425269/ref=la_B001K7Z5AC_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1354038015&sr=1-3">Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife</a>," contact author Lisa Saunders at lisaSaunders42@gmail.com or visit www.authorlisasaunders.com</span></div>
Lisa Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101292381161518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5581389690777905746.post-61895307647612315792015-04-08T05:06:00.002-07:002017-06-08T10:59:36.273-07:00Lincoln's Assassination--150th Anniversary <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Abraham Lincoln November 1863"by Alexander Gardner*</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The interior of the President’s Box at Ford’s Theatre. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">View of the President’s Box at Ford’s Theatre. Photo by Maxwell MacKenzie.</span> </td></tr>
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<u>150th Anniversary of President Lincoln's Memorial Service at </u></div>
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<strong><em>Commemorated by Civil War Love Letters </em></strong><strong><em>and Eye-Witness Accounts of Assassination and Death </em></strong></div>
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Mystic, Conn.--In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln’s assassination on Friday, April 14, 1865, and memorial service hosted by the Union Baptist Church of Mystic the following Wednesday on April 19, 1865, the Union Baptist Church presented a dramatic reading of Civil War love letters plus eye-witness accounts of Lincoln’s assassination and death. Presentation included live Civil War era music. <br />
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<span class="im" style="background-color: #fff3db; color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fff3db; color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">About the Union Baptist Church: Excerpt from </span><em style="background-color: #fff3db; color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mystic-Seafarers-Trail-Titanics-Earharts-ebook/dp/B00A3RX85E" style="color: #956839;">Mystic Seafarer's Trail</a></em><span style="background-color: #fff3db; color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> by Lisa Saunders:</span><br style="background-color: #fff3db; color: #29303b; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br />
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With criteria in hand, my daily wonder-seeking routine began precisely at noon so Bailey and I could stroll downtown to the bell chimes of a massive New England-style church perched precariously on the edge of a little cliff near my house. Overseeing the Mystic Valley, the former Mariner’s Free Church doubled in size when a team of oxen dragged another church building up the hill on sleds in 1861 to unite the two buildings—well in time to accommodate the 1,000 residents who gathered to mourn Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Now called the Union Baptist Church, its original steeple was destroyed in the Hurricane of 1938 and rebuilt even taller. Visible and heard throughout the valley, it’s an overwhelming presence. Should it be declared a Mystic Wonder?</h4>
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About the memorial service held for President Lincoln on April 19, 1865: "<em>This was held in the Union Baptist Church in Mystic on the Wednesday following the assassination. All business was suspended, schools were closed and the people turned out en masse to do honor to the martyred President. A procession was formed at the Liberty Pole near the bridge at 10 a.m. ...The procession moved through the principal streets to the church, where services were held at 10:30 a.m...An air of deep solemnity pervaded the whole community and the large crowd of people--estimated at from twelve to thirteen hundred--filled the house to its utmost capacity, hundreds remaining standing through the entire service."--</em>excerpt of book "Groton, Conn. 1705-1905" by Charles Rathbone Stark (1922, p. 409).<br />
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About the "reader's theaters" by Lisa Saunders held at the Union Baptist Church on <strong> </strong>April 19, 2015: Charles McDowell married Nancy when she was 15 on Christmas Eve of 1860. In 1862, he enlisted as a private in the New York 9th Heavy Artillery and served for three years until the end of the Civil War. Together, their letters speak of talking with President Lincoln, battles, hangings, desertions and the court marshalling of a cow. The eye-witness account of Lincoln’s assassination is told through the letter of an attending physician from the regiment. The play uses excerpts from the books, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ever-True-Letters-McDowell-Artillery/dp/0788425269/ref=la_B001K7Z5AC_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1354038015&sr=1-3" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife</span></a> (Heritage Books, 2004), and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/After-Loss-Spouse-Henry-Julia/dp/0692705406/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8">After the Loss of a Spouse: From Henry VIII to Julia Child</a> (<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Act II Publications</span>, 2016), <span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">both by Lisa Saunders, the great-great granddaughter of Charles and Nancy McDowell.</span></div>
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<strong>More About the Reader's Theater on </strong><strong>Sunday, April 19, 2015, 4p.m.</strong></div>
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Dramatic Reading/Live Music: Civil War Letters</div>
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Union Baptist Church, 119 High St., Mystic, CT 06355</div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Admission: Donations benefited the Union Baptist Church Historic Preservation Fund for painting and repairs scheduled for summer 2015. More info: </span><a href="http://www.ubcmystic.org/" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">www.ubcmystic.org</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">, </span><a href="tel:860-536-9659" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank" value="+18605369659"><wbr></wbr>860-536-9659</a><span style="color: #555555; font-family: "times new roman";">, </span><a href="mailto:office.ubc.mystic@gmail.com" style="font-family: "times new roman";" target="_blank">office.ubc.mystic@gmail.com</a><br />
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Cast includes: </div>
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<strong>Lisa Saunders</strong> of Mystic, author of Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife, is an award-winning freelance writer, local TV talk show host, and part-time historical interpreter at Mystic Seaport. More info about the play: <a href="mailto:LisaSaunders42@gmail.com" target="_blank">LisaSaunders42@gmail.com</a> or <a href="http://www.authorlisasaunders.com/" target="_blank">www.authorlisasaunders.com</a> </div>
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<strong>Geoff Kaufman </strong>of New London, folksinger and guitarist, performs all over the world, sharing ancient ballads and poignant songs of people in struggle, giving humorous glimpses of human foibles and insights into history. More info: <a href="http://geoffkaufman.com/" target="_blank">http://geoffkaufman.com/</a></div>
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<strong>Sheri Winter</strong> of Mystic is a public speaker, writer, and professional businesswoman. A member of the Union Baptist Church, Sheri supports local theater and performs voiceovers and narration for radio, television and other industrial productions.</div>
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<strong>Jane Coates</strong> of Mystic is a sophomore at the Science and Technology Magnet High School of New London. A member of Union Baptist Church, the Emerson Theater Collaborative, and the Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Jane has performed in plays and musicals since 4th grade. She plays piano, violin, recorder and handbells.<br />
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For more information and images, visit: <a href="http://civilwarloveletters.blogspot.com/2015/04/lincolns-assasination-150th-anniversary.html" target="_blank">http://civilwarloveletters.<wbr></wbr>blogspot.com/2015/04/lincolns-<wbr></wbr>assasination-150th-<wbr></wbr>anniversary.html</a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Notes: The play first debuted in New York in 2004. The Emerson
Theater Collaborative was the first to produce it in Connecticut on Valentine's
Day, Feb 14, 2012. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman";">Click on links and see below to learn more about the </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=SAoWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA409&lpg=PA409&dq=Union+Baptist+Church+Mystic+memorial+service+Lincoln&source=bl&ots=_KbM-B1Sup&sig=M5AoX_krBF9duJqsluuPg2A4XHA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ERAjVcCSMtKxyASM9IHgCA&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Union%20Baptist%20Church%20Mystic%20memorial%20service%20Lincoln&f=false">Mystic memorial service</a> at the Union Baptist Church on April 19, 1865 (which began as a solemn procession from the <a href="http://mysticlibertypole.com/">Mystic Liberty Pole</a>).</span></div>
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<span class="im"> </span>About the Union Baptist Church: Excerpt from <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mystic-Seafarers-Trail-Titanics-Earharts-ebook/dp/B00A3RX85E">Mystic Seafarer's Trail</a></em> by Lisa Saunders:<br />
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With criteria in hand, my daily wonder-seeking
routine began precisely at noon so Bailey and I could stroll downtown to the
bell chimes of a massive New England-style church perched precariously on the
edge of a little cliff near my house. Overseeing the Mystic Valley, the former
Mariner’s Free Church doubled in size when a team of oxen dragged another
church building up the hill on sleds in 1861 to unite the two buildings—well in
time to accommodate the 1,000 residents who gathered to mourn Abraham Lincoln’s
assassination. Now called the Union Baptist Church, its original steeple was
destroyed in the Hurricane of 1938<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "<span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Hurricane of 1938</span>"
<![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and rebuilt even taller. Visible and heard
throughout the valley, it’s an overwhelming presence. Should it be declared a
Mystic Wonder? <o:p></o:p></h4>
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More information on the Lincoln's memorial service held Wednesday following his assassination on Friday, April 14, 1865. According to the book "Groton, Conn. 1705-1905," by Charles Rathbone Stark (1922), page 409 :<br />
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<em>"...funeral service for Abraham Lincoln. This was held in the Union Baptist Church in Mystic on the Wednesday following the assassination. All business was suspended, schools were closed and the people turned out en masse to do honor to the martyred President. A procession was formed at the Liberty Pole near the bridge at 10 a.m. in the following order:</em><br />
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<em>Mystic Cornet Band</em><br />
<em>1st Division--Citizens</em><br />
<em>2nd " Charity Lodge No. 68, F. & A.M.</em><br />
<em>3rd " Citizens</em><br />
<em>4th School children</em><br />
<em>5th " Citizens in carriages</em><br />
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<em>The procession moved through the principal streets to the church, where services were held at 10:30 a.m., participated in by the following clergyman: Rev. Lorenzo Sears of the Episcopal Church, Rev. Erastus Denison and Rev. A.C. Bronson of the Baptist Church, Rev. C.H. Boyd of the Congregational Church and Rev. Isaac Stoddard of the Methodist Church. Colonel Hiram Appelman also took part in the programme. An air of deep solemnity pervaded the whole community and the large crowd of people--estimated at from twelve to thirteen hundred--filled the house to its utmost capacity, hundreds remaining standing through the entire service. "</em><br />
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<table id="metadata_content_table"><tbody>
<tr class="metadata_row"><td class="metadata_label">Title</td><td class="metadata_value"><span dir="ltr">Groton, Conn. 1705-1905</span></td></tr>
<tr class="metadata_row"><td class="metadata_label"><span dir="ltr">Author</span></td><td class="metadata_value"><a class="primary" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Charles+Rathbone+Stark%22&source=gbs_metadata_r&cad=7"><span dir="ltr">Charles Rathbone Stark</span></a></td></tr>
<tr class="metadata_row"><td class="metadata_label"><span dir="ltr">Publisher</span></td><td class="metadata_value"><span dir="ltr">author, 1922</span></td></tr>
<tr class="metadata_row"><td class="metadata_label"><span dir="ltr">Original from</span></td><td class="metadata_value"><span dir="ltr">the New York Public Library</span></td></tr>
<tr class="metadata_row"><td class="metadata_label"><span dir="ltr">Digitized</span></td><td class="metadata_value"><span dir="ltr">Feb 26, 2008</span></td></tr>
<tr class="metadata_row"><td class="metadata_label"><span dir="ltr">Length</span></td><td class="metadata_value"><span dir="ltr">444 pages</span></td></tr>
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According to the following online calendar, the Wednesday following the assassination (Lincoln was shot on April 14, Good Friday) would mean the 150th anniversary of the Union Baptist Church Lincoln memorial service would be on Sunday, April 19, 2015. Here is an online calendar showing April of 1865. <a href="http://www.rocketcalendar.com/calendar/1865-04" target="_blank">http://www.rocketcalendar.com/<wbr></wbr>calendar/1865-04</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Other play cast members in Connecticut have included: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Captain Marcus John Fisk </span></b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">of New London, a retired Navy Captain and consultant with the Department of the Navy on Special Operations and Irregular Warfare. He has appeared in over 30 stage productions, most recently in <i>A Christmas Carol (Scrooge). </i>He authored the book to the Vietnam POW musical, <i>Four Part Harmony,</i> slated for a 2015 NYC production and was the Technical Advisor to the Discovery Channel production, <i>Vietnam POWs: Stories of Survival,</i> which received the 1998 Emmy Award for Best Documentary. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Connie Howard </span></b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">of Niantic, Singer/Songwriter on piano, is Grand Prize winner of the first Nashville Songwriter's Association Contest. Connie writes songs with heartfelt lyrics and infectious melodies. More info: <a href="http://www.conniehowardmusic.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">www.conniehowardmusic.com</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><strong>Pamela Collins Fisk</strong>, author of recently released memoir, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Innkeepers-Diary-Pamela-Collins/dp/0692349642" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">The Innkeepers Diary</span></a><b>. </b>More info about Coastal Cottage Inn: <a href="http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/ct-new-london-coastalcottageinn.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">www.bedandbreakfast.com/ct-<u></u>new<wbr></wbr>-london-coastalcottageinn.<u></u>html</span></a>.</span></span></div>
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*"Abraham Lincoln November 1863" by Alexander Gardner - <a href="http://www.britannica.com/bps/media-view/112498/1/0/0">http://www.britannica.com/bps/media-view/112498/1/0/0</a>. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abraham_Lincoln_November_1863.jpg#/media/File:Abraham_Lincoln_November_1863.jpg">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abraham_Lincoln_November_1863.jpg#/media/File:Abraham_Lincoln_November_1863.jpg</a>Lisa Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101292381161518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5581389690777905746.post-31822086266252514372014-12-31T04:58:00.000-08:002014-12-31T04:58:09.238-08:00Johnnycake (or Hoecake) Recipe<span style="font-size: 12pt;">This recipe is from my book, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ever-True-Letters-McDowell-Artillery/dp/0788425269"><span style="color: #473624;"><em>Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife</em></span></a></span>, <span>by Lisa Saunders.</span><br />
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<span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Although the following isn't exactly the best tasting meal, Private Charles McDowell liked this Confederate fare better than his steady diet of hardtack. If you want to have a taste of the past, try this: </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">1/2 cup boiling water<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">3/4 cup ground white cornmeal<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stir together and pour by the
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<br />Lisa Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101292381161518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5581389690777905746.post-15568573217171918462014-12-31T04:20:00.001-08:002014-12-31T04:20:25.279-08:00Civil War: Charles McDowell, New Year's Day 1865 <div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><u>A 150-Year-Old Civil War New Year's Day Letter</u></strong></div>
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<strong><em>Melancholy voice from the past tells of bodies half buried, wounded lying on the battlefield for long periods, and Union soldiers killing their own wounded for money.</em></strong></div>
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<em>The following is a letter from my book, Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife, which is also a one-act play. Private Charles McDowell, and his wife Nancy, were my great-great grandparents.</em> <br />
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<br /><br /><strong>To Nancy Wager McDowell from her husband Charles McDowell (A Canadian who enlisted in the New York 9th Heavy Artillery of the 6th Corps):</strong> <br /><br />DURING THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG [Near Petersburg] January the 1-1865 <br /><br />Dearest Wife <br /><br />Old Eighteen and Sixty Five has got around and I ain’t much sorry either. But time passes fast with us now. It soon will be spring. Now we have easy times. It is awful muddy now. The most we do is to get our wood and that ain’t very hard work. I wouldn’t care if it would keep muddy all winter. <br /><br />There has been a good [many] soldiers buried around here. You may go any way you are a-mind to and you will see graves throwed up. When we went after wood the other day, we found a man's skull laying a top of the ground. He hadn’t hardly any dirt throwed over him. <br /><br />I counted twenty- six ball holes in a tree about a foot through. This was done the time we took the railroad and they charged on us but they got badly whipped. Some of our regiment got taken prisoners last night. Co. M and some of the other company went out yesterday morning on picket. Our company didn’t happen to go, and about two O’clock this morning, we was waked up by the yelling and shooting of the rebs. They made a charge on them. I haven’t heard exactly how many of our regiment there was taken. They say thirty-five or forty-two killed, and five or six wounded. Our boys brought in a few of the rebs. They come on them by surprise. <br /><br />There is a good many deserting from the rebs most every night and come over here. I think this war will end this winter. It looks more like it now than it ever did before since I enlisted, but we can’t tell this war business is very uncertain. But I find most every one thinks so. I hope so anyway. I would like to have it come to an end this winter. <br /><br />You would have laughed to have seen us tumble out of bed when the rebs charged on our picket line this morning. We tumbled over one another pretty fast. We was soon in a line. We didn’t know but they would try our line of battle but they knowed better than to try that. If they had they would have had a nice time. <br /><br />You said you would like to have me come home on a furlough. I would like to go home as well as you would like to have me come but I don’t know whether there will be any more furloughs given or not. I think it will be a pretty hard thing to get one. Isae Woodruff started for home the other day. He had a furlough for fifteen days. He has been trying for one ever since his father died and if it hadn’t been for his father dying, he couldn’t have got one. <br /><br />You say we can afford it as well as any body. Well I think we could, but if we save the money that it would cost me to come home, we can have so much more to spend. You know we will want to go a- visiting some when I get there. We might happen to get back to Washington yet this winter. <br /><br />When we get orders to move, we don’t stop to tell long stories. We hear Dunbar and them other fellows is coming back to the regiment. I hear that Lee has give Lucy all of his property to keep till we comes back, then I suppose he will take her too. I wonder if he washed his face since he has been home. Robert Trevor is most well. Old Jef Davis is at home now. <br /><br />I helped carry Jef in when he was wounded. I couldn’t help but laugh and felt sorry for him to hear what expressions he made. He said it was too bad. He said there was a reb captain come up to him after he was wounded and commenced turning him over to search him. He asked him what he wanted and he said his money and Jef told him [he] would get it for him. He said he put his hand in his pocket and handed his pocket book and the captain took the money out and throwed the pocket book down and a boy came along and he gave him the pocket book for a drink of water. <br /><br />He would almost cry when he told about that. He said he thought it was too bad after shooting him to take the last cent he had. He said they took twenty-four dollars and ninety-five cents, which he had worked hard for. And he said there was some more come up to him and said, “You are wounded, are you old fellow?” And Jef said, “Yes.” “Well,” they said, “we will be a long with the ambulances and take you to Richmond you dammed Yankees. We will give you Fishers Hill!” Now I bet you Jeff’s eyes stuck out then. And, he said, in about two hours he seen them going back pell mell as hard as they could run and the Sixth Corps after them. He said then he felt glad. This was about now he laid there on the ground till next day noon before we found him. <br /><br />That is what hurts the men so, laying on the ground so long after they are wounded. They took lots of money from our boys that day. I could have made a thousand dollars if I had a-went around an got our wounded and killed and searched them, but I wouldn’t do such a thing but there is lots of them that does do it and the boys had lots of money then. <br /><br />There is a good many of our wounded a- coming back to the regiment now. There was two come today that was wounded to Monocacy, besides a good many new recruits. There was one come a few days a go, just like John Tree. You know him. The one we had so much fun with when we was at Fort Foote. The boys had lots of fun with him and night before last we left and we ain’t seen him Since. I don’t think they will look for him much. <br /><br />It’s a- getting so cold. I don’t know but we shall heft to set up tonight and keep a fire. It is a-freezing fast. But we had the good luck to make a haul on a couple of blankets the other night when we was guarding baggage. I find a man has to look out for himself here. If he don’t, nobody else will look out for him. My cousin was over to see us the other day. He is pretty sick of the war. <br /><br />I think I must write a letter to Canada before long. I haven't wrote to them since you left. Don’t you think it is too bad it has been so long since I wrote? I feel most ashamed to write now. I shall heft to apologize pretty well. I must write within a few days. Anyway I have had three or four letter from them this summer. Uncle Hiram has been a- trading farms lately. As soon as my time is out I think I shall go and see them Sometimes when I get to thinking about my native land and what good times I have had there it makes a feeling come over me that makes me feel sad. <br /><br />Little did I think when I left home that I would be gone for seven years. Oh how I long to see my sister Margaret and all the rest, and if I get out of this alive it won’t be long before I can see her. She thought [my likeness] an awful sight. She feels pretty bad about us. She is afraid we will never come home alive but I live in hopes that we will come out all right. <br /><br />And I must tell you what we had to eat for News Years. We didn’t draw no rations yesterday and we hadn’t nothing for supper last night, only coffee and nothing for breakfast this morning only we got an order and went and bought some bread. So we had bread, beef and coffee, and drawed rations after breakfast. So we had hardtack, coffee and pork for dinner. ain’t that pretty good? It’s getting so cold I must draw my letter to a close hoping soon to get an answer. We expect to go on picket now every day but I hope not till it gets a little warmer. I have just heard that they only captured twenty- three of our men. <br /><br />From your ever true and affectionate husband C McDowell <br /><br /><br />Note from Lisa Saunders (Charles's great-great granddaughter and author of Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife): </div>
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<em>The above letter is one of about 150 Civil War letters I found in my mother’s attic between Charles and Nancy Wager McDowell and their families. Charles McDowell was born in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada on 15 Feb. 1837. His family later moved to Norwich, Ontario, Canada. As a young man he and his brother David McDowell moved to Geneva, NY where Charles married Nancy Wager 24 Dec. 1860 when she was just 15. Despite his father's pleas (John McDowell of Norwich, Ontario) Charles enlisted in Lyons, New York in 1862. He served in the New York 9th Heavy Artillery under Secretary of State Seward's son, William H. Seward Jr., of Auburn, NY. </em></div>
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<em>The regiment was nicknamed "Seward's Pets" because the Secretary of State frequently visited his son's regiment and often brought along Lincoln. In the letters I read of a remarkable devotion to one another despite war’s infidelities, scandals and ever-present threat of death as well as Charles’s devotion to his new country. I also gained new insight into a wife's role in the camp life, a Canadian family’s views on the war and their participation, hangings, prostitution, amputations, desertions, theft and murder among Union troops, personal contacts with Lincoln and Seward (of "Seward's Alaskan Folly"), battles of Cold Harbor, Jerusalem Plank Road, Monocacy, Opequon, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, the Siege of Petersburg, Moseby's Men, and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Among my family’s papers I also found photographs of most of the letter writers as well as Nancy Wager McDowell's obituary which reads: </em></div>
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<em>"MRS. MCDOWELL IS DEAD - SHOOK HANDS WITH LINCOLN. With the death of Mrs. Nancy Wager McDowell...the town of Sodus probably loses the distinction of having a resident who could boast of having shaken hands and talked with the martyred Lincoln…She was married in 1860 to Charles McDowell, a native of Canada, who came to America when a young man. Mr. McDowell was a member of the Ninth New York Heavy Artillery in the Union Army and it was while stationed near Washington that his wife had an opportunity to speak with the President. Mrs. McDowell passed nearly a year in that vicinity and many were the pies she baked for the soldiers stationed at the capital. Typhoid Fever caused her to return to Alton to the home of her parents…" ("The Record," Sodus, Wayne County, N.Y. September 18, 1931) Charles McDowell died 17 April 1913. Their two children were May Belle (born 4 Aug. 1871) and Gilbert (born 6 Mar. 1883). Gilbert’s children were Gilbert and Russell (grandfather). <br /><br />The letters, along with background information and era recipes are found in my book: Ever True: Civil War Letters of Seward's New York 9th Heavy Artillery of Wayne and Cayuga Counties Between a Soldier, His Wife and His Canadian Family <br /><br />If you would like to see pictures of Charles and Nancy McDowell and read more letters, please visit my website at <a href="http://www.authorlisasaunders.com/">www.authorlisasaunders.com</a></em></div>
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Lisa Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101292381161518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5581389690777905746.post-42535781881773469852014-09-04T06:17:00.001-07:002014-09-04T09:18:47.478-07:00150-year-old Civil War Letter Warns Against the Clap!Civil War Love Letters Written 150 years ago <br />
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As we continue to commemorate the 150-year anniversary war, here is another excerpt from my book <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ever-True-Letters-McDowell-Artillery/dp/0788425269"><span style="color: #473624;">Ever True</span></a></em>: A Union Private and His Wife, published by Heritage Books. The following battles were fought by private Charles McDowell in September 1864:</div>
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19 Battle of Winchester<br />
September 22 Fisher's Hill<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--></span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span></h4>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Leading up to those battles are a few of the love letters between Charles and his teenage wife Nancy--my great-great grandparents from upstate New York. Nancy not only had to worry about Charles dying in battle, she also worried about "the clap!"</span></h4>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">To <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nancy</st1:place></st1:city>
from Charles:<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em>[Tenallytown]<span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sept the 4-1864<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em>Dearest
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We are at Tennallytown yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are having splendid nice weather her[e]
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There is quite an excitement here
about re-enlisting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bet you two thirds
of the army will enlist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grant's army is
rather getting the start of the rebs now but they ain’t whipped yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are tough fellows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I soon found that out when we went to the
front.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You wouldn’t hardly know me
now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hadn’t shaved since we started
for the front till today and my mustache got so long I couldn’t eat molasses
very well and I cut it off and most all the rest of my whiskers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The boys don’t hardly know me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>John Perkins is a prisoner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fred Stell is killed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can’t hear much about the prisoners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>From your ever true and affectionate
husband, C McDowell <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p><em> </em></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">To Charles from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nancy</st1:place></st1:city>:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Dearest Husband,</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span><st1:date day="4" month="9" w:st="on" year="1864">September 4 1864</st1:date><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have just got the letter that you wrote the
fourth of July.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think purty
much of that girl being so clever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>High
Thompson, he found some clever ones out there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The folks says that he has got the clap [gonorrhea] so that they can’t
go in the house because he smells so bad, and they don’t think that he will
live long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They thought he was dead one
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The doctor had been fixing
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cannons roared all night last night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They don’t know what it was for but they
think is some good news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They say that
we have taking <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mobile</st1:place></st1:city>
and they think that <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Petersburg</st1:place></st1:city>
will be ourn in a week’s time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope
it is all true but I am afraid it is almost too good to be true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They say that Old Abe says the war will end
in three months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You
say that you go and see Miss Feaks purty often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish I was there so I could go with
you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope that you can stay to
Tennallytown till your time is out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
seams almost like an age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A whole year
before you can come home but I am glad every time when night comes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think one more day has past and gone and
your time is so much nearer out but it will pass off after a while. It can’t
last always. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hank
Jule is drafted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know whether he
will go or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have filled up
Huron’s call. They give them fifteen hundred apiece, but Sodus, they will hafto
come to a draft for there has so many run too.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
paper states that they are paying all the armies off now but I though[t] your
being to Tennallytown your wouldn’t get your pay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like to know if your have heard
anything from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Cary</st1:place></st1:city>
or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She hasn’t heard from him since
he was… <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>From
your ever true and affectionate wife Nancy McDowell </span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p><em> </em></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">To Charles from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nancy</st1:place></st1:city>:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em>Dearest
Husband, <span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>September the 11 1864<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You spoke about the regiment
enlisting again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope that you won’t
be so foolish to enlist again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had
drather go with half enough to eat than have you enlist again. The big bounty I
would[n’t] look at it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had drather have
my freedom than all the money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The men get from two dollars to
twenty sh_______ pr day and thirty dollars pr month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any body can earn a living, and if you get
hurt, I can work ____ get us a living.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
would work night and bet<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you should have
enough to eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wouldn’t have you
enlist again for two thousands dollars if I could have my way about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You said that your captain resigned and had
gone home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who is your captain now?<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sent you some camphor gum I would like to
know if you got it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like to
have your likeness since you shaved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
think I would know it. <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Am here all alone today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the rest has gone to meeting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish you was here with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This makes me think of my dream last night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought I was out there with you and we
was up to Miss Feaks and we had a good visit and we was carrying on like
everything and I laugh so loud that it woke me up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have thought about it all [?] morning <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Dave wrote home to know what Pa and Ma
thought about his enlisting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think he
is foolish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said he wouldn’t enlist
for all of Verginey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think he turns
his tune but [?] him enlist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t
you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I don’t suppose that [you] hafto
stand guard nights now. <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>From your ever true affectionate
wife <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">To <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nancy</st1:place></st1:city>
from Charles:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em>[Probably
Tennallytown]<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sept the 12 - 1864<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em>Dearest
Wife<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We have had a considerable of rain
lately and it is pretty cool weather here now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They say Hammond and his wife had a quarrel and he has enlisted. <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I got the letter that had the dollar
in I guess I won’t send it back for I have got it most all spent for apple
dumplings and milk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is peddlers
here all the while with them and you know how I like dumplings. I wish you was
here now to make another such a batch as we had last winter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I could manage some of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are ten cts apiece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mrs. Hoxie has 25 cts apiece for pies now, 75
cts a meal. <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That fellow that [you] spoke about
[the one with the “clap”] is pretty bad off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You talk as though you thought I might get in that way. But Nat you
needn’t be uneasy about that and I don't think I am quite as soft in the head
as to go in such speculations as that and I don't think that you would think
that I would do any such a thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway
if you do, you are greatly mistaken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What does the folks think about
election out there? Here the most of them thinks Old Abe will get it again and
I think so and I think the war will be settled under him as quickly as any body
else. The most the rebs is waiting now is election.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think they will come to some settlement
after election. They would like to have McClellan in if they could. <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was to Mrs. Feaks today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I left a nice little there that I found. She wants me to give it to her
but I don't know whether to give it to her or send it home. <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You said you was pretty lonesome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I dare say you be Nat but you must keep up
good courage. The time will soon run round when I can be at home again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes I feel very lonesome, but when I
think of the time and how fast it is passing, I get over it again. If I can get
through the remainder of my time as well as I have the fore part I shall feel
very thankful, although I have had some pretty close calls. <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I think I told you that at Monocacy
a piece of shell or a ball broke my gun and Carpenter told me to throw it away
and pick up another and I picked up a nice rifle. You could have picked up a
gun there any place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was afraid I
would get over heated that day for I was one of the last off of the field and I
was awful warm when I came off, and then we had to take a double quick once and
a while to keep out of their batteries, and I was most choked for a drink, but
I doesn’t drink much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was so warm and
another thing, we hadn't any too much time to get it.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I ain’t doing much of anything but I
get just as much pay as though I had worked hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am afraid I have got in a bad place to
learn how to work but I guess I can learn how when I get home again<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>From your ever true and affectionate
husband c. McDowell<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" itemprop="description articleBody">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<em><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I hadn’t but just my letter finished
when we had orders to move. We are in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:state>
now waiting for cars to take us to <st1:place w:st="on">Harpers Ferry</st1:place>.
We have got orders to fall in now. </span><u><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></em></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Chapter Eleven<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Sheridan</span></i></b></st1:place></st1:city><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">’s <st1:place w:st="on">Shenandoah
Valley</st1:place> campaign<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The Battles of Opequon (or <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Winchester</st1:place></st1:city>), Fisher’s Hill and Cedar Creek<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">To <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nancy</st1:place></st1:city>
from Charles:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em>(Near
Berrysville - 22 miles from <st1:place w:st="on">Harpers Ferry</st1:place>)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sept the 18-64<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em>Dearest
Wife,<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We lay in front of the enemy but there is no
fighting on either side, and I guess there won’t be any very quick without they
attack us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All we want is to keep them
here at present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We are encamped in the woods. It’s a
nice place but we don’t know how long we will stay here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are about 22 miles from <st1:place w:st="on">Harpers
Ferry</st1:place> near Berryville.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
letter that had that dollar in ain’t here nor them papers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess that is lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got your letter dated the 11 when we was at
<st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:state>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carpenter is acting as captain now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You say you was alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know you was lonesome but you must keep up
good courage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel in hopes that I
shall soon be with you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now you had
quite a dream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would have been glad if
it had been true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You said you didn’t
want me to enlist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You needn’t be
scart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t [I] think shall if you
didn’t want me to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I shouldn’t anyway
for all the money they can stack up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>From your ever true and affectionate
husband C. McDowell <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<!--[endif]--><br /></div>
</span><br />
<div class="post-body entry-content" itemprop="description articleBody">
The above was an excerpt from my book and play, Ever True: A Union and His Wife. If you would like to see or present a reading of their letters, contact me at <a href="mailto:saundersbooks@aol.com">saundersbooks@aol.com</a></div>
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Lisa Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101292381161518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5581389690777905746.post-2197252236160320062014-06-09T13:42:00.000-07:002014-06-09T13:47:20.467-07:00Civil War Love Letters Written 150 years agoAs we continue to commemorate the 150-year anniversary war, I reread the letters between my great-great grandparents in my book <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ever-True-Letters-McDowell-Artillery/dp/0788425269">Ever True</a></em>, published by Heritage Books. Their following letters highlight the Battle of Cold Harbor in June of 1864 (the book also includes a letter from the doctor who amputated my long-ago cousin's arm amputation after the battle). At the battlefield site, a plaque says that the amputations caused blood to seep through the floorboards onto the family who owned the house turned hospital. <br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Charles: <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><st1:date day="6" month="6" w:st="on" year="1864"><span style="color: black;">June
the 6th, 1864</span></st1:date><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Near </span><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-size: small;">Cold Harbor</span></st1:city><span style="font-size: small;">,
</span><st1:state w:st="on"><span style="font-size: small;">VA</span></st1:state></st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dearest Wife<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">We have
been fighting for most four days. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">We was
relieved about three hours ago to come to the rear and rest a little, but we
have been for three days where we doesn’t stand up a minute without having a
dozen bullets sent at us. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">The first
night we came here, we charged on them and took eleven hundred prisoners.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">Some of our boys was so excited when the Rebs
jumped upon the parapet, with both hands held up to surrender, that they fired
right in them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">Seward
shows himself a man, not a coward.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">In
the charge he went right in.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">He took one
rebel with his sword and knocked him head over heels. He got one leg of his
pants tore most off.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">He looked pretty
rough.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">When we
was on the march coming down here, I used to feel sorry for some of the women. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">They cried and went on awfully. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">The boys would shoot their cattle and chickens
and pigs, and everything else, and go right in the house and take anything they
wanted.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">Vanderbelt
was shot right through the under arm.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">It’s pretty bad.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">Hank Porter was
just shot dead.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">I help carry him out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">I hope
they will give us some chance to sleep some tonight.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">From your ever true and affectionate husband.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Mrs. Janet Seward:</span></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">“On
the evening of the 1st of June, while sitting in the twilight, I heard my
Husband call ‘Jenny.’ </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">I jumped up,
listened, and heard again, ‘Jenny,’ so distinctly that I went into the hall,
and again came the voice, ‘Jenny’ so plain I looked over the railing, fully
expecting to see him coming up the stairs. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">There was no one there, and I went back
disappointed, thinking how strange it was.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">Afterwards, I found that this occurrence took place at the very hour
that he was in the Battle of Cold Harbor, and came very near losing his life.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"></span></b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Charles:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<st1:date day="19" month="6" w:st="on" year="1864">June the 19th, 1864</st1:date><o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
Near <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Petersburg</st1:city></st1:place><o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
Dearest Wife,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I tell you a soldier’s life is a
curious life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes we are ordered
to halt and put up our tents, and we just get them up, when we are ordered to
pack up and leave. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have seen some of
the men drop right down in the middle of the road, they would be so tired. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes the dust flies so we can’t see a rod
ahead of us.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We was ordered to make a charge
yesterday morning, but we got in front of their works and found them rather
strong, so we had to fall back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John
Dean was shot through the head when going out of the pit to make some
coffee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He died instantly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a rebel sharp shooter that done it.
They are pretty good marksmen.<span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black;">We had a flag of truce hoisted twice when we was there to
have a chance to bury the dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would
go half way to meet the Rebs and change newspapers, and they talked very
reasonable about the war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">They say if it wasn’t for the
officers they would be all right. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Nancy:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
Dearest Husband,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I was very glad to hear from
you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh yes, I had almost give you up
for dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is all I ask for in the
world, that your life may be spared so that you can return home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think that anything would make me
unhappy when I could have you so near me, and know that you wasn’t in such
great danger. But the Lord knows best whether I shall ever see you again or
not. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My cousin Stephen Wager was in that
battle [Cold Harbor] and got his right arm shot off. He had it amputated in the shoulder
joint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Miss Carry don’t hear anything from
her man, as he can’t write. They have the story around that he is wounded. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I bid you goodbye, hoping to hear
from you again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Narrator: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="color: black;">Nancy</span></st1:city></st1:place><span style="color: black;"> continues to receive Charles’s letters describing his involvement
in history-making battles, marches, and the destruction and theft of
Confederate property. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
But
Charles also writes of the mundane, the kind of information only a wife would
be interested to know. Like the time he is living in Southern territory with
two Confederate women.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Charles: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: justify;">
<st1:date day="4" month="7" w:st="on" year="1864">July the 4<sup>th</sup>,
1864</st1:date><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
Dearest Wife,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I aint where I was last fourth, but
we have got a nice place here for a day or two.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There is two women lives here. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An old woman and a girl, and they cook for us
and we fare pretty well.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Before we guarded the house, other
soldiers came before the women was up, and broke in, and took everything they
had.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They was left without a thing to
eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know what she would do if
it wasn’t for us soldiers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We give them
hardtack and coffee.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Goodbye <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Nancy</st1:city></st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I wish I was with you today.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I will now write a few more lines to
you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fourth is past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I enjoyed myself very well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That woman cooked me some more greens and
they was good. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it wasn’t for one
thing, I would be most a tempted to strike up a bargain with the girl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is a real nice clever girl.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Nancy</span></b></st1:city></st1:place><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b>I have just got the
letter that you wrote the Fourth of July.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t think purty much of that girl being so clever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>High Thompson, he found some clever ones out
there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The folks says that he has got
the clap so that they can’t go in the house because he smells so bad. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They don’t think that he will live long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They thought he was dead one day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The doctor had been fixing him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p>...</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p>My books is also a one-act play. Contact me at <a href="mailto:saundersbooks@aol.com">saundersbooks@aol.com</a> if you would like to discuss presenting it. </o:p></div>
Lisa Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101292381161518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5581389690777905746.post-1292232806668943532014-05-01T12:47:00.003-07:002014-05-01T12:51:20.953-07:00Civil War Fried Cakes (donuts)I included the following recipe in my book, Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife, because my great-great grand parents spoke of them in their love letters to each other (other mentioned foods are also included in my book such as <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Johnnycakes, </span>apple dumplings and Mrs. Seward's Pound Cake).<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></b> </div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Fried Cakes (donuts)</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">My mother
remembers her mother making fried cakes on their farm in </span><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sodus</span></st1:city><span style="font-size: x-small;">, </span><st1:state w:st="on"><span style="font-size: x-small;">N.Y.</span></st1:state></st1:place><span style="font-size: x-small;">
For an extra treat she coated them with sugar. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">5 tablespoons butter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">1 cup sugar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">2 beaten eggs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">4 cups sifted flour<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">4 teaspoons baking powder<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">½ teaspoon salt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">1 cup milk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Cream together sugar and butter.
Stir in beaten eggs. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt; add to sugar mixture
alternately with milk. Chill thoroughly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Roll out 1/3 inch thick on
lightly floured surface. Cut with floured donut cutter (the hole is necessary
in order for the dough to cook throughout).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Fry a few at a time in deep fat
(turn deep electric frying pan to 375 degrees) until brown, turning once.
Drain. Makes about 3 dozen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">To sugar donuts: When cool, place
a few at a time in a paper bag with confectioners or granulated sugar and shake
well.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Mary Ann McDowell Avazian<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Lisa Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101292381161518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5581389690777905746.post-3100811031625547322014-03-02T06:09:00.001-08:002014-03-02T06:09:46.725-08:00Lisa Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101292381161518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5581389690777905746.post-34940228669567304162014-02-27T08:27:00.000-08:002014-03-02T06:20:06.779-08:00Recipe: Civil War and Apple Pies<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The following apple pie recipe is from the book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ever-True-Letters-McDowell-Artillery/dp/0788425269">Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife</a></span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></i></b><br />
(see televised<a href="recipe: Civil War and Apple Pies"> "reader's theater")</a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">by </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lisa Saunders<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nancy</st1:place></st1:city>'s time at Forte
Foote was spent baking pies and selling them to the soldiers. Apparently she
was a large supplier of these delicacies despite the effort to enforce
protection <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"against free trade in
pies” </i></span><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(Roe 51).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 8pt;">Civil War letter describing Nancy's apple pie business at Fort Foote along the Potomac River. Excerpt from EVER TRUE (now a "reader's theater):</span></div>
<span style="font-size: 8pt;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span> </div>
<span style="font-size: 8pt;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">To Friends from Charles and Nancy:<o:p></o:p></span></b>
</span></div>
<span style="font-size: 8pt;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 8pt;">
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em>[<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Fort</st1:placetype> <st1:placename w:st="on">Foote</st1:placename></st1:place>]<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>November
the 6-1863<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em>Dear
Friends,<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have neglected writing for some time but to
tell you the truth, I haven’t got much time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am detailed to work on the barracks and nights, I heft to help <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nancy</st1:place></st1:city> peel apples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nancy</st1:place></st1:city>
is in the pie business pretty strong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Since she has come here she has made up seven barrels of apples and most
two barrels of flour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has a woman to
help her a good deal of the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
pays her three shilling a day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We sell
about seventy pies a day and after payday, we can sell three times that many,
if we had them, and we expect that every day now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Money is getting pretty scarce with the
boys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can’t tell how long we shall
work in the pie business, but as long as we can get things reasonable, we will.
If we could get apples as cheap here as we could out North we could do very
well, but apples is four dollars a barrel and flour eight and a half and sugar
fourteen cts per pound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lard fourteen
cts and everything else high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I tell you though I wished you could
see our bluff now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are a-going to
have the nicest place you ever see and a very strong place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was part of a Russian fleet went past
here the other day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They lay near at <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Alexandria</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They though[t] of going to the Navy yard but
they draw so much water they think they can’t run up there. Is four of
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The smallest one draws
twenty-seven feet of water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tell you
they look nice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a monitor
[ironclad] went down the river day before yesterday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We think that the war business looks pretty
favorable now but it will be some time yet. In my opinion it depends a good
deal on congress now. <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I have traded my old watch off for a
revolver and <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nancy</st1:place></st1:city>
is practicing on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is getting to
be quite a marksman.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>From Charles and Nancy</em></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><em><o:p></o:p></em></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
</span><a href="http://youtu.be/GYv6TC-vP4U">(See a televised reading of the one-act play.)</a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">I
do not have <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nancy</st1:place></st1:city>'s
exact recipe for those famous bootleg pies, but her great-granddaughter, my mother,
is also known throughout the region for her delicious apple pies and has baked many to raise funds for scholarships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve asked her to share her apple
pie recipe.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">My mother, like <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nancy</st1:place></st1:city>, makes apple pies
in bulk. <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nancy</st1:place></st1:city>
and Charles’s farm had apple orchards, so when apples came into season, my
mother and grandmother put together several pies and stored them in their large
chest freezer that stood in their mudroom. Now my mother owns a similar freezer
and fills them with apple pies every fall. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Charles wrote
that <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nancy</st1:place></st1:city> made
seventy pies a day with the help of others doing the peeling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mother believes she probably put some
apple filling into one crust, folded it over, pinching the sides together,
making small “finger pies.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Mom's Apple Pie</strong> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Pastry for two crust 9 inch
pie</u>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">2 cups flour<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">1 tsp salt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Generous 2/3 cup shortening
(Crisco)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">4 - 6 tbsp milk or water<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<u><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></o:p></u></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Filling</u><br />
¾ - 1-cup sugar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Dash of salt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">1 tsp cinnamon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">¼ tsp nutmeg<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">6 apples<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">1 tbsp butter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Pastry - Sift flour with salt
into large bowl. Cut in shortening with two knives criss-crossing (I use
a pastry blender) until pieces are the size of peas. Add milk one tbsp at
a time, stirring gently after each addition. Use just enough liquid to make it
possible to gather half of dough together with a well-floured hand. Too
much water and/or too much stirring make pastry tough. Shape dough with
hands into a large thick round disk. Pat down somewhat with hand on a well
floured piece of wax paper. I put the wax paper on a marble slab.
Put more flour on top of dough. Roll dough with a marble rolling
pin. Roll lightly, but evenly from center to edges. When pastry is
the correct size, pick up wax paper and drape wax paper with dough over right
hand (if you are right handed). Carefully place on pie tin with dough
side down. Gently lift wax paper off dough. If dough sticks in some
areas, scrape off with floured knife. Tears don't matter too much because
dough is easy to patch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">
Filling - Combine sugar, salt and spices. Peel, core and thinly slice
apples. Stir in sugar and spices. Place apples in pie tin making a
high rounded dome of the mixture. Dot with butter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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After filling is placed on bottom pastry in pie tin, put second rolled out
pastry on top. Pinch edges of two crusts together so that it stands up
around pie. Bake in 425F degree oven for about an hour. Turn down
to 400F after 15 min.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">
I generally spend a day in the kitchen making several pies. I bake only
the pies we will be using within the next couple of days. The rest are
put in freezer unbaked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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The kitchen and I are covered with flour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mary Ann McDowell Avazian</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<h2>
Buy Ever True</h2>
<div class="widget-content">
<ul>
<li><a href="http://heritagebooks.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=HBI&Product_Code=101-S2526&Category_Code="><span style="color: #473624;">From publisher, Heritage Books</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.authorlisasaunders.com/"><span style="color: #473624;">Buy signed copy from author</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ever-True-Letters-McDowell-Artillery/dp/0788425269/ref=la_B001K7Z5AC_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1354038015&sr=1-3"><span style="color: #473624;">Purchase From Amazon</span></a></li>
</ul>
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Lisa Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101292381161518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5581389690777905746.post-29933255376775804482014-02-01T07:08:00.001-08:002014-02-05T14:31:04.540-08:002/10, Mon, 7pm, Civil War Love Letters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99PPMtXCOSi02e7E7mnFm08GKwf9qVCvd7V917aII2QGVo6xHLApP5F2XsONoVOFeb1Bs9CoC_YnsGbnHAiTlpCaoHaeg8HpIbqwDCtnMoDpkTYRbxzA2Uc1FiduIN5BNYwvB637hjhc/s1600/lisa+civil+war+dress+by+fournier.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99PPMtXCOSi02e7E7mnFm08GKwf9qVCvd7V917aII2QGVo6xHLApP5F2XsONoVOFeb1Bs9CoC_YnsGbnHAiTlpCaoHaeg8HpIbqwDCtnMoDpkTYRbxzA2Uc1FiduIN5BNYwvB637hjhc/s1600/lisa+civil+war+dress+by+fournier.png" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Monday, Feb 10, 7pm</strong></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Presentation: Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife</span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Admission: Free and open to the public</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">New London County Civil War Round Table</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Main Auditorium of the Slater Museum <br />Norwich Free Academy <br />108 Crescent St.<br />Norwich, CT 06360 <br />For more information about the program, call Barry Wilson at 860-889-5449 or Vic Busch, Program Director, </span><a href="mailto:pvb27@att.net"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">pvb27@att.net</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> (Most programs last about 45-60 minutes).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">The New London Civil War Round Table is hosting Lisa Saunders of Mystic, author of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ever-True-Letters-McDowell-Artillery/dp/0788425269/ref=la_B001K7Z5AC_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1354038015&sr=1-3"><span style="color: windowtext;">Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife</span></a></i>, which features the love letters between Lisa’s great-great grandparents, Charles and Nancy McDowell. Charles married Nancy when she was 15 years old. Enlisting as a private in the New York 9<sup>th</sup> Heavy Artillery two years later, he asked Nancy to save his letters. Despite his grueling battles and marches, he was able to save hers as well. Together, their letters tell of bullets, hangings, prostitutes, venereal disease, typhoid fever, lying injured on the battlefield for days, “clever women,” and the court marshalling of a cow. <i>Ever True</i> is also a “Reader’s Theater,” and Saunders, with the help of the audience, will read several selected letters. (Note: Charles fought in several battles with the 2<sup>nd</sup> Connecticut Heavy Artillery in the Sixth Corps.)</span><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">About the Presenter: </span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Lisa Saunders of Mystic is a</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">n award-winning writer, TV host, part-time history interpreter at Mystic Seaport and member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. A graduate of Cornell University, she is the author of several books, including the humorous and historical travel memoir, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mystic-Seafarers-Trail-Titanics-Earharts/dp/1480085847/ref=la_B001K7Z5AC_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354029707&sr=1-1" target="_self"><b><span style="color: windowtext;">Mystic Seafarer's Trail</span></b></a></i>. Visit Lisa at: <a href="http://www.authorlisasaunders.com/"><span style="color: windowtext;">www.authorlisasaunders.com</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"></span>Lisa Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101292381161518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5581389690777905746.post-17974192046350221262014-01-13T04:14:00.000-08:002014-01-21T14:12:20.802-08:001/23/14, Waterford Women’s Club Presents Civil War Love Letters <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99PPMtXCOSi02e7E7mnFm08GKwf9qVCvd7V917aII2QGVo6xHLApP5F2XsONoVOFeb1Bs9CoC_YnsGbnHAiTlpCaoHaeg8HpIbqwDCtnMoDpkTYRbxzA2Uc1FiduIN5BNYwvB637hjhc/s1600/lisa+civil+war+dress+by+fournier.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99PPMtXCOSi02e7E7mnFm08GKwf9qVCvd7V917aII2QGVo6xHLApP5F2XsONoVOFeb1Bs9CoC_YnsGbnHAiTlpCaoHaeg8HpIbqwDCtnMoDpkTYRbxzA2Uc1FiduIN5BNYwvB637hjhc/s320/lisa+civil+war+dress+by+fournier.png" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h3>
Author Lisa Saunders of Mystic presents the Civil War love letters featured in the book, Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife, published by Heritage Books. Photo by Collette Fournier. <o:p></o:p></h3>
</td></tr>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Free
and open to the public<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 4.5pt 165.75pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Author
Lisa Saunders will present Civil War love letters from her book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ever-True-Letters-McDowell-Artillery/dp/0788425269/ref=la_B001K7Z5AC_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1354038015&sr=1-3"><span style="color: windowtext;">Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife</span></a></i>
published by Heritage Books, to the Waterford Women's Club. The public is
invited to attend. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 4.5pt 165.75pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">T<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">hursday, Jan. 23, 2014, 11 a.m.</span><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Presentation: “Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Waterford Library, lower level<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Admission: Free and open to the public<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">The Waterford Women's Club is hosting Lisa Saunders of
Mystic, author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ever-True-Letters-McDowell-Artillery/dp/0788425269/ref=la_B001K7Z5AC_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1354038015&sr=1-3"><span style="color: windowtext;">Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife</span></a></i>,
which features the love letters between Lisa’s great-great grandparents,
Charles and Nancy McDowell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charles
married Nancy when she was 15 years old on Christmas Eve in 1860. Enlisting as a private in the New York
9<sup>th</sup> Heavy Artillery two years later, he asked Nancy to save his
letters. Despite his grueling battles and marches, he was able to save hers as
well. Together, their letters tell of bullets, hangings, prostitutes, venereal
disease, “clever women,”
and the court marshalling of a cow. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ever
True</i> is also a "readers theater." (Charles fought in several battles with the 2<sup>nd</sup>
Connecticut Heavy Artillery in the Sixth Corps.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><strong>Lisa
Saunders</strong> of Mystic is a</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">n award-winning writer, TV host, and part-time history
interpreter at Mystic Seaport. A graduate of Cornell University, she is the author of several
books, including the humorous and historical travel memoir, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mystic-Seafarers-Trail-Titanics-Earharts/dp/1480085847/ref=la_B001K7Z5AC_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354029707&sr=1-1" target="_self"><b><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Mystic
Seafarer's Trail</span></b></a></i>. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUQQ1_zcTSXo_rxuqXESvFgWQ2n2lvy3zjut2tlrml8RsfcCX9tI0ND8Lf37mWmiZtvTvnJxSycYKxNFIthYgm1hUv3asEHfWd8k7HGt-maCZBU-RnRhiHFlDoXCegwLdcwZPRZKAGrXA/s1600/Civil+War+Letters+by+Larry+Chester.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUQQ1_zcTSXo_rxuqXESvFgWQ2n2lvy3zjut2tlrml8RsfcCX9tI0ND8Lf37mWmiZtvTvnJxSycYKxNFIthYgm1hUv3asEHfWd8k7HGt-maCZBU-RnRhiHFlDoXCegwLdcwZPRZKAGrXA/s320/Civil+War+Letters+by+Larry+Chester.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<o:p> </o:p>The Civil War love letters of Private Charles McDowell and his wife Nancy featured in the book, Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife, published by Heritage Books. </h4>
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Photo by Larry Chester.</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6SV57jlKPS52GBorDRHMTqL6F-Xv_sSRdHR-CQDGqDpNt0SroDf1Ir4FTw-Y-zT4IuyER_rZ_GQ8cLFpYmh_w6ZahBCOqRD2jRhup3drienwMl5hl83jdfhlGr4BamblifGXxjl2M61A/s1600/Marcus+and+Pam+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6SV57jlKPS52GBorDRHMTqL6F-Xv_sSRdHR-CQDGqDpNt0SroDf1Ir4FTw-Y-zT4IuyER_rZ_GQ8cLFpYmh_w6ZahBCOqRD2jRhup3drienwMl5hl83jdfhlGr4BamblifGXxjl2M61A/s1600/Marcus+and+Pam+cropped.jpg" height="320" width="303" /></a></div>
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Lisa will be joined in the reading of the letters by Captain Marcus John Fisk and Pamela Collins Fisk of New London, Connecticut.</h4>
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><h4 class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"></span></b></span> </h4>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>Captain Marcus John Fisk has
appeared in over 30 stage productions in Virginia, Maryland, Colorado and California.
Most recently, Fisk was in <i>A Christmas Carol (Scrooge), Gross Indecency: The
Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, 1776,</i> <i>Broadway Bound, </i>and <i>Who’s
Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (</i>George),<i> </i>in the Washington DC area.
He authored the book to the Vietnam POW musical, <i>Four Part Harmony,</i>
slated for a 2015 NYC production and was the Technical Advisor to the Discovery
Channel production, <i>Vietnam POWs: Stories of Survival,</i> which received
the 1998 Emmy Award for Best Documentary. He has just completed the screenplay,
<i>The Sea Devil,</i> on the life of Count Felix von Luckner, a swashbuckling,
chivalric German Officer who raided allied shipping in WWI. A retired Navy
Captain and graduate of the Naval Academy, Fisk is a consultant with the
Department of the Navy on Special Operations and Irregular Warfare. <o:p></o:p></span></span></h4>
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</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Pamela Collins Fisk</span></b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"> worked many years
as a staffer for Congressman Joe Kennedy and then went on to own and operate a
Bed & Breakfast on Nantasket Beach in the Boston area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has modeled for various designers doing
both runway and print, and was a Historic Interpreter for George Washington’s
home at Mount Vernon in Virginia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is
planning on opening another B&B at her new Victorian home in New London
this spring, and is currently finishing her book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Innkeepers Diary, </i>to be published this summer. Pamela and
her husband, Captain Marcus John Fisk, have two sons and a daughter and
are expecting their first granddaughter in April. The couple now lives in
New London, Connecticut. They can be reached at <a href="mailto:pcollins0404.pf@gmail.com"><span style="color: blue;">pcollins0404.pf@gmail.com</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">See event flyer at: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WhYlLsRaWuEHvUkuu-2kvwtz6xC9iyBYa0f-BRGJI0Q/edit?usp=sharing">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WhYlLsRaWuEHvUkuu-2kvwtz6xC9iyBYa0f-BRGJI0Q/edit?usp=sharing</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><strong>For more information about the event, contact Gay Clarkson, Co-President, Waterford Woman’s Club, at </strong><a href="mailto:gaywil@cox.net"><span style="color: windowtext;"><strong>gaywil@cox.net</strong></span></a><strong>, or </strong></span><strong><span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Waterford</span><span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> Public <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Library</span> at 49 Rope Ferry Road <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Waterford</span>, Connecticut 06385, Tel. 860-444-5805.</span></strong></div>
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Lisa Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101292381161518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5581389690777905746.post-26249218840561573242014-01-07T15:47:00.001-08:002014-01-07T16:24:11.814-08:00Lisa Saunders to Present Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdk278X0YK_D4I22elKCsFwD5QINw4bvMp9uaOw4xGopviKN9C_yEVN8vjEvmWgFfM2lD81ou7-JbmRKRS2f2K00e7qSczytgJf32ncl7jUhCe7xONSFUDY9KtA-d7wjaXlc7SByiOPPs/s1600/lisa+civil+war+dress+by+fournier.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdk278X0YK_D4I22elKCsFwD5QINw4bvMp9uaOw4xGopviKN9C_yEVN8vjEvmWgFfM2lD81ou7-JbmRKRS2f2K00e7qSczytgJf32ncl7jUhCe7xONSFUDY9KtA-d7wjaXlc7SByiOPPs/s1600/lisa+civil+war+dress+by+fournier.png" height="320" width="213" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ever-True-Letters-McDowell-Artillery/dp/0788425269/ref=la_B001K7Z5AC_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1354038015&sr=1-3"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife</span></a></em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is the story of one couple’s devotion to their country and each other in the midst of the Civil War’s infidelities, scandals and ever present threat of death. Through the actual love letters of Private Charles McDowell and his 17-year-old wife, Nancy, you will not only hear of dreams, desertions and disease, but of hangings and the court marshalling of a cow. Published by Heritage Books. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>"Charming and romantic</em></strong><em><span style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><strong><em> in a very personal way."</em></strong> </span></em><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Heritage Books</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>"The story of how the marriage between Charles and Nancy survives separation, disease, the threat of death, and malicious gossip is compelling."</em> </span></strong><a href="http://www.ithaca.com/arts_and_entertainment/ever-true-a-union-private-and-his-wife/article_c56dac28-fb77-55e4-b29e-35152133c5a8.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pamela Goddard, Ithaca Times</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Charles McDowell married Nancy when she was 15 years old. Enlisting as a private in the <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">New York 9<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>th</sup> Heavy Artillery</span></span>, he asked Nancy, then 17, to save his letters. Despite his grueling battles and marches, he was able to save hers as well. Nancy’s letters give us the worries and gossip of a teenage wife during the war.<b> </b>Her fears for Charles are many and include: <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nancy’s happiest time during the war was the year she spent with Charles while he was stationed at Fort Foote in Washington. She ran an apple pie business, selling 70 a day to the soldiers, and learned how to shoot a revolver. Before returning to her parents to recover from Typhoid Fever, she met Lincoln and shook his hand. Nancy was unable to return to Washington because Charles’s regiment was sent out to "chase old Lee." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Charles’s letters tell of the battles<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> of Cold Harbor, Jerusalem Plank Road, Monocacy, Opequon (Winchester), Cedar Creek, the Siege of Petersburg, an attack by Mosby's Men, and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Great-great granddaughter Lisa Saunders will tell the “back story” of her book, <i><a href="http://heritagebooks.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=HBI&Product_Code=S2526&Category_Code=" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext;">Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife</span></a></i>. She is also available to present her “reader’s theater,” <i>Ever True: A Civil War Love Story, </i>with members of your organization if so desired. The play, which debuted at Lafayette Theater in New York, has been produced by </span><a href="http://www.theday.com/article/20120211/ENT12/302119984/1044"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Emerson Theater</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><a href="http://senecadaily.com/?p=4682#axzz2plABlVHD"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Historical Societies</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, Lincoln Depot Museum and many others. Play reviews include:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span family="SANSSERIF" lang="0" ptsize="10"><big><em>"The audience was greatly moved... The letters of the play's characters, Charles and Nancy McDowell, bring to vivid life our ancestors' world</em></big></span><em><big><span family="SANSSERIF" lang="0" ptsize="10"><big>. </big></span></big>We travel with Charles and Nancy through the trials of camp life, the devastation of battle, and the challenges of day-to-day life on the home front. Nancy's gossip is a wonderful release when we are swept up in one of the most turbulent times in American history. At the play's end, feeling an overwhelming sense of our nation's history, we responded with raised voices to sing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," our tribute to the sacrifices of all the veterans and citizens who have preserved our freedoms and way of life." </em>John Quinn, Event Coordinator of the 2005 Civil War Music Heritage Gathering And Encampment,<span style="color: black;">New York Regimental Balladeers.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>"Dear Lisa, I wanted to thank you for making "Ever True" possible. The Museum of Wayne County History recently performed the play under a tent on our lawn. The atmosphere--complete with crickets, church bells, and train whistles in the distance--evoked what Charles and Nancy could have heard. Everyone in the audience LOVED the performance. One man told me he was "hanging on every word." People laughed at Nancy's gossipy chatter and fell silent when Charles spoke of men who had been killed. The entire experience was very moving. This production of "Ever True" was one of our most memorable events of the summer." </em>Joe O'Toole, Executive Director, Museum of Wayne County History</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>"[Nancy] could have been the Rona Barrett of the Civil War." </em></span><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9Klfxar2CmjOWp1UTg4dUo0WVk/edit?usp=sharing"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sun & Record</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">About Lisa Saunders: </span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lisa Saunders is an award-winning writer and </span><a href="http://authorlisasaunders.blogspot.com/2013/03/invitation-to-tv-talk-show-doers.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TV host</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> living in Mystic, Connecticut, with her husband and hound. She works as a part-time history interpreter at Mystic Seaport and is a columnist for </span><a href="http://intownct.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Town</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. A graduate of Cornell University, she is the author of several books, winner of the National Council for Marketing & Public Relations Gold Medallion, and continues to write for several clients. She holds </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OjTb4sSaf8" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">writing/publishing</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> workshops for children and adults.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note: Charles fought alongside the 2<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>nd</sup> Connecticut Heavy Artillery in the Sixth Corps. </span></span></span></div>
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Lisa Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101292381161518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5581389690777905746.post-78000505197109580872013-09-23T07:37:00.000-07:002014-01-07T15:12:56.365-08:00Civil War Script Read by AuthorLisa Saunders reads the part of the narrator with others reading the parts of Charles and Nancy. These are excerpts of letters from the book, Ever True: A Union Private and His Wife.<br />
See: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G74TBGATbSE&feature=youtu.be">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G74TBGATbSE&feature=youtu.be</a>Lisa Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101292381161518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5581389690777905746.post-51193689828718118112008-01-11T16:52:00.000-08:002008-01-14T16:39:45.052-08:00Civil War Letters FoundEver True: A Civil War Love Story<br /><br />I carefully unfolded the stiff yellowed paper, incredulous that I was actually touching a letter written during the American Civil War. It was one of 150 letters written between my great great grandparents that I had discovered in a small wooden box in my mother's attic in Suffern, New York. The note I held in my hand, authored by Private Charles McDowell to his wife Nancy, was written on a small, plain piece of stationery--not at all fancy like some of the others in the batch which bore sketches of the White House and battle engagements. I gently smoothed it flat on the table, afraid I would tear it. The handwriting was strange, the ink somewhat faded, making it difficult to read. And then suddenly I came upon a word I recognized in an instant--Abe! It read, "We have [Secretary of State] Seward down here about every other day, and sometimes he fetches Old Abe with him and [he] looks about like any old farmer." I couldn't believe it - Charles met Lincoln!<br /><br />In addition to the letters was Nancy's obituary, which reads: "MRS. MCDOWELL IS DEAD - SHOOK HANDS WITH LINCOLN. With the death of Mrs. Nancy Wager McDowell...the town of Sodus probably loses the distinction of having a resident who could boast of having shaken hands and talked with the martyred Lincoln… Mr. McDowell was a member of the Ninth New York Heavy Artillery in the Union Army and it was while stationed near Washington that his wife had an opportunity to speak with the President. Mrs. McDowell passed nearly a year in that vicinity and many were the pies she baked for the soldiers stationed at the capital. Typhoid Fever caused her to return to Alton to the home of her parents…" ("The Record," Sodus, Wayne County, N.Y. September 18, 1931)<br /><br />I took the collection of letters back to my home in Maryland and began what was to become an exciting ten-year adventure. First I arranged the letters from Charles by date and began to read. Once I grew accustomed to his old-style handwriting and run-on sentences, I felt myself leaving the present and entering his past. I traveled back over 130 years and joined Charles in heart and mind. I felt his loneliness, his boredom, his fear. I laughed when he found a reason to laugh. He and his brother had enlisted despite his Canadian father's pleas to stay out of the war. As the months of his service turned into years, I hurt over his deep longing for his wife and home and for the life and family he left behind in Canada.<br /><br />In other letters I was shocked to read of the desertions, hangings, amputations, prostitution, and even theft and murder among Union troops. Charles wrote home about the battles of Cold Harbor, Jerusalem Plank Road, Monocacy, Opequon (Winchester), Cedar Creek, the Siege of Petersburg, an attack by Mosby's Men, and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.<br />Next I tackled Nancy’s writing. As her collection of letters drew to an end, I was completely immersed in her anxious thoughts about Charles's welfare. She hoped there hadn't been a "ball made to kill" him. She hoped he wouldn't get too close to the Southern women when he occupied their homes. She longed for him to return to her--even if it was just for a short furlough. She wrote that she would rather be dead than continue to live the way they were. I now pondered the final years of her life spent rocking in her chair looking out the window. Perhaps she was awaiting her death so Charles could come for her once more…Lisa Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101292381161518noreply@blogger.com1