Joel Arthur Moore's Blog (48)

Nine letters that Thomas wrote during the Civil War were preserved and sent to Bowling Green State University. The letters dating between April 8, 1862 and April 3, 1864 were written to the Vance family by Thomas while he was serving with Company I, 69th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

Below are Thomas’ letters dated September 28, 1863 – April 3, 1864. The September 28, 1863 letter was written after the Battle of Chickamauga (the 69th was primarily employed as a train guard during battle as…

Nine letters that Thomas wrote during the Civil War were preserved and sent to Bowling Green State University. The letters dating between April 8, 1862 and April 3, 1864 were written to the Vance family by Thomas while he was serving with Company I, 69th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

Nine letters that Thomas wrote during the Civil War were preserved and sent to Bowling Green State University. The letters dating between April 8, 1862 and April 3, 1864 were written to the Vance family by Thomas while he was serving with Company I, 69th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Below are Thomas’ letters dated May 14, 1862 – September 5, 1862. During this period, the 69th saw action at Gallatin against Morgan (mentioned in the letter of September 5, 1862). Read more here…

Born around 1847 in Millwood, Guernsey County, Ohio, Thomas Vance enlisted in the Union Army in the 69th OVI Company I in 1862. Lying about his age to get in the army, Thomas served throughout the war and mustered-out on 19 Apr 1865 at Goldsboro, North Carolina. He was only 15 years old when he enlisted.

According to the 1850 Census he had two sisters, Mary A. and Sarah E. and two brothers, James and Asa. His parents, Thomas and Anne Vance, had a farm in…

Before the American Civil War, Midshipmen studied for four years at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. They also trained aboard ships each summer. When the Civil War broke out on April 12, 1861, the United States government made plans to move the Academy since Southern sympathy ran high in Maryland. However, the sudden outbreak of hostilities forced the US government to move the Academy sooner than anticipated. On April 27, 1861, the War Department issued the order:…

William Bircher lived in Minnesota when fighting began in the civil war. Like most 15 year-old boys William was excited by this war business. William wanted to become a solider and help the union army defeat the confederacy. At first he was rejected by the union army because he was too young. Fortunately “company K” of the Minnesota regiment needed a drummer. Bircher was allowed to join the union forces, as a drummer boy. http://bit.ly/1OJdFpF

Julian Scott was 15 years old when he enlisted as drummer and fifer with the 3^rd Vermont Infantry.  He liked to sketch pictures and frequently sketched scenes and people in camp as well as scenes from the battlefield.  During the 7 Days Battle retreat from Richmond in the early summer of 1862, his unit was involved in combat with the Confederate Army which required crossing a creek.  As his regiment retreated across the creek, many wounded…

Among the many who fell on the Federal side was little Henry Burke, the 13-year-old drummer boy, who was among those who perished in the fighting in “the Hornets Nest.”  Some soldier who, perhaps, viewed the dying scene of this brave boy, penned the following lines shortly after the battle, entitled The Drummer Boy of Shiloh.

http://bit.ly/1NlQOBC

Aaron Stauffer  [1847-1869] enlisted in 1864 at age 17, trained in Harrisburg, assigned to infantry, wounded at Cold Harbor, while in hospital contracted tuberculosis, died at age 22 of  this illness contracted during the war, buried in the Pike/Stauffer cemetery in Snyder County, his grave marked with a Union Army flag holder shaped like a star marked GAR for the Grand Army of the Republic [Mennonite] http://bit.ly/1HNH2Wd

William Horsfall  was just 14 when he left home with three friends, without money, or a warning to his parents, and stealthily boarded the steamer, Annie Laurie, moored at the Cincinnati Wharf at Newport on the 20th of December 1861.  At the last minute, his friends had a change of heart and ran ashore as the steamer prepared to leave port.  William stayed hidden until the boat was well under way.  When discovered, he said he was an orphan, and was allowed to remain on board.  On January 1,…

          Blake’s Story, Revenge and Forgiveness takes place during the Kentucky Campaign of the American Civil War from 1861 to 1862. It is the story of Blake Bradford’s journey into the war in search of the enemy soldier who killed his father at Shiloh. The war is very real and the events of the war as seen through Blake’s story are very real. http://bit.ly/1VRN75e

Journey Into Darkness takes place during the American Civil War from 1861 to 1864. It is the story of Duane Kinkade’s journey through the war in search of his father. The war is very real and the events of the war as seen through Duane’s story are very real. http://bit.ly/1jNpCOL

Profiles of young Civil War soldiers who died fighting for what they believed in. http://bit.ly/1KSESk7

Most young readers of Civil War historic fiction meet Hugh for the first time in Elaine Marie Alphin’s book Ghost Cedet. In the story, Benjy, a teenager visiting his grandmother in New Market, Virginia, meets a strange boy as he visits the battlefield. It turns out that the boy is a ghost from the battle that took place there over a hundred years before and he is looking for his lost watch. It turns out through research that Hugh, his watch, and the battle are all real. …

Great sacrifices were made during the Civil War. And children were among the fallen heroes http://bit.ly/1EPpxUs

The kids were excited to be on the battlefield, but were they prepared for death? http://bit.ly/1JyLRAm

Who is this twelve-year-old lieutenant during the Civil War? Hint: His father is famous http://bit.ly/1WRu9z2

David Wood was 10 years old when the war broke out. His father, Samuel, had moved the family from Ohio to Kansas in 1854 to help “Free Staters” keep slavery out of the territory. The elder Wood forged a reputation as the “Fighting Quaker.” Growing up surrounded by hostility, it was natural for David to feel ready to march off with the troops when his father became lieutenant colonel of the 6th  Missouri Cavalry in 1861. - See more at:…