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2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Outstanding perspective on impacts of a devastating war! Jun 13, 2009
The author has brought forth a unique style that drew me in to a very special look at the Civil War. As I read this poignant account of Susan and John Morgan, living in this most horrible time, I began reflecting on the mud stained letters from Viet Nam. For anyone who has lost loved ones or are praying for a safe journey home from our war torn planet, this book gives an account that shows exactly how I felt when my brother was in Viet Nam. I came home everyday from school and watched the war on T.V. My parents, siblings, family, and friends kept going on with everyday life just as the Morgan family did. But the longing, the fear, and the anxiety was in our hearts and minds every day. How I wish I had saved those mud stained letters for my great, great nieces, nephews who will not see what the author has shared with the readers.
As you read through these letters, you know there will be the very last letter that Susan would ever see from her beloved husband, John. The plans that John had made for his family were shattered in an instant by a yankee sniper. The tragedy continues when Susan has a child who never knew her father, nor the father getting to embrace and love his third child. More tragedy, barely a year later, Susan dies they say from a broken heart leaving behind three orphans. The picture in the book of Susan and John, long before the war you can see the contentment of this loving couple joined in marriage. Then the picture of the three orphans, aged women, with no smiles. Looking at the detail of each line on their faces shows a hard life endured with no plans and love from their dear parents.
I look forward to more reading from this author who has shared what it was like for every day people living through what still many of us can relate to today.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
An important primary source. Apr 27, 2009
For too many of us our only exposure to history is far removed from the events which actually took place. "Well that's a no-brainer," you say. "That's because it's 'history.'" Yes, we are removed from a first-hand knowledge of history, too much so, but it needn't always be that way. There are many excellent primary sources available to the serious student of history; however, while primary sources are available, they aren't necessarily EASILY available. This one is.
The book, "The Letters of John and Susan Morgan: A Story of Everyday Life, Love and Loss in the Civil War Years" is a compilation of letters written by the author's great great grand-parents. In it Harry L. McNeer has made accessible to us a glimpse into the lives of everyday people and their concerns for the well-being of their family members and friends as they endured the hardships of that most tragic period in our nation's history. This reviewer was moved, for example, by the desperate plea that John Morgan was forced to make when he begged his wife: "If there is any possible chance of getting Col. Graves navy shooter for me, try to do it beg, buy or borrow it. I will try to have it sent for me..." Imagine going off to war and having to beg your wife to procure a weapon for you! The man could also never just concentrate on the job at hand of fighting a war; he had to always be worrying about the minutia of home life, as well: "Try to have him salted a little for fear of bots." This, concerning the need to keep the horses free of worms.
We are also privy, through Susan's letters, to the longing of a young wife for her husband: "Please write every week whether you get a letter or not, even if it's only a line or two, to let me know you are well. You don't know how it cheers me up to get a letter from you." She lets us see, as well, the trials she has to deal with as woman on her own: "You never saw the roads in such condition, I got stuck twice, once I had to get out and then the buggy had to be priyed [sic] up before Julia [Jule, a horse] could pull the empty buggy out."
From detailed reports on the Battle at Fayetteville, where John was killed, to instructions on how to best dye cloth black, we see first-hand how these good people lived in those terrible times. It is just this sort of book that we need more of in order to fully understand our history. The words of the people themselves, in their own time, can be as instructive to us in our time as any author's second-hand opinion.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
LEADING A REFRESHING TREND TOWARD GRASSROOTS HISTORY Oct 31, 2008
One of the sacred elders among American historians was the late C. Leland Sonnichsen. In reviews he pulled no punches and often wrote bluntly, "I can't see why this book had to be written!" Usually I shared his view. C.L. is gone, but I knew him well enough to state that he'd have loved this book and had no trouble figuring out why "it had to be" written.
Author, Harry McNeer gives us important insights into the lives of two of his ancestors, a husband and wife, John and Susan Morgan, tragically parted by his death in the Civil War after only a few years of marriage. A lovely well-preserved photo of them has survived for 163 years, and appears in the book, showing two remarkably good-looking people.
The form McNeer chose for is book is perfect - a series of personal letters between husband and wife, presented in chronological order.
The first is a love letter from John while courting and is dated August 14, 1855. It is a model of the flowery, but sincere, courting language of the era; also a model of good writing, which speaks for the more than adequate quality of schooling then, even in backwoods districts. John started his letter:
"Buoyed upon the pinions of hope from your sweet
promise, I take the liberty of writing these few lines. Hope, ah sweet hope, a mere blank would this world be to me were it not for the hope of one day sitting beneath the smiles of that sweet girl to whom I am writing, the hope that there is yet one that I may love and live for, one by whose interest and welfare every action of my life may be guided.
* * * * *
"Though I have not golden treasure to lay at your feet, yet I bring you what gold cannot purchase - a heart that will love you while it beats in this breast.
"Your humble servant
And admirer
Jno. E. W. Morgan"
Saccharine, moderns may snort? Even sappy? What girl today wouldn't love a similar letter from as suitor as honest and earnest?
These two lovers had so few happy years before them. From their Dec. 18, 1855 marriage to his Sept. 10, 1862 death at the small skirmish at Fayetteville, W.Va. (today - it was then still in Virginia). John was killed instantly by a shot through his head below the left ear, from the rifle of a sharpshooter, while he was serving a cannon in Chapman's Battery of Virginia artillery. He had served only since May.
Lest readers today miss the significance of the photos of author, Harry, at the gravestone of Susan Morgan, his great, great, grandmother, and the three photos of the children orphaned by her death a year after her husband's, it is this: I have found over and over that the precious grassroots history that takes us back into the hearts and hopes of ancestors, is preserved by the ladies. It is they who hoard precious ancient letters, tied by an equally ancient ribbon and protected in trunks in musty garrets. We owe them all a great debt in bringing us, for at least a few moments, closer to the ancestors to whom we owe our existence. The lady on the left in the photo with the strong face showing the survival lines placed there by a hard life, is Harry's great grandmother, Lillie.
This trend today, illustrated by such heart warming recollections as this one which McNeer has brought down to us, represents something new that has been needed. It parallels the company histories of Civil War units now being published, whereas previously we never heard of anything but generals and their brigades and divisions and armies. I, for one, have had enough of hearing about generals and congressman and presidents. The individual memoirs of common soldiers are now being published more and more too. It is a great way to sort out the generals, by the way. Enlisted men can smell a fathead wearing stars in their first battle with him, or maybe even their first training camp.
Harry can't escape generals entirely since Stonewall Jackson was his cousin removed a time or two. Nobody ever called Stonewall a fathead. We can forgive Harry for being somewhat prejudiced, such as shows a little in such terms for the Civil War or War Between the States, as The War of Northern Aggression. Well, I guess it sure looked that way down South. It didn't go entirely unpunished, though. My great grandfather ate off the mantle for a few years after he came home and used two cushions in his rocking chair.
As a final word of praise for this work, premier Civil War (or should I say War of Northern Aggression?) historian, James M. McPherson put it well and succinctly as only he can: "What a poignant story!"
Bring three hankies, ladies. Susan died only a year after her husband - they said of a broken heart - and left three orphans, one a babe in arms born after her father's death.
A major strength of this production is the appearance of the hand-written letters themselves, along with typewritten versions for ease of reading. In that Harry has the originals, it would be of interest to have a handwriting analysis of these two lovers; perhaps in a revision someday.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Most Informative Collection of Civil War Letters Oct 30, 2008
There is much to be gained by reading this collection of Civil War letters of John and Susan Morgan. They provide incite into the personal thoughts, goals, duties and faith of a Confederate artilleryman (could be any soldier on either side of the war), his wife (which likely echoed many thousands of other wives on both sides), family members and fellow soldiers.
Civil War (or American History) enthusiasts will enjoy reading this fine collection of letters that author Harry L. McNeer, a descendant of the Morgans, assembled. The Battle of Fayetteville is also described with first-hand details.
For me, the biggest surprise was the seemingly everyday acceptance of death in this horrible war. The citizens were emotional to be sure, but it seemed that death was not unexpected.
The letters are poignant, expressive and very easy to read in the transcribed form. They are also presented in their original handwriting.
I highly recommend this exceptional book.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Letters telling a story Oct 28, 2008
The Letters of John and Susan Morgan, A Story of Everyday Life, Love and Loss in the Civil War Years offers the readers an insight through correspondences into the lives of a family from Peterstown District south of Union, (West) Virginia who suffered during the War Between the States. The author Harry L. McNeel states in the introduction, "I am a firm believer in `grassroots' history as opposed to textbook history, and these letters tell the story as only people who lived back then could tell it." Not all the letters survived the effects of time, but the ones that did allow the readers to step back and examine the simplicity of this era.
One of the final communications shows the ultimate sacrifice this family made. "I am sorry to say your husband fell victim to the enemy. We are this morning making preparations to bury him as circumstances will allow," states Lt. F.G. Thrasher of Chapman's Battery. John E. W. Morgan left behind a wife and three daughters, one who he never met. This story is not an anomaly to this era, but common.
This publication is an easy read suitable for men and women both, as well as middle and high school students and adults. The scanned original letters follow the transcribed ones allowing the reader to actually view the script. These letter "are a documentary and descriptive time trip through a short period..., the American Civil War."
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