The Pleasures of Civil War Letters

This post was inspired by an article in Blog Divided about a set of letters written by the men in a Wisconsin regiment.

Letters by soldiers and their wives are a great source of enjoyment and entertainment. I realized this when I went to Richmond to research my second novel in 2005. I visited the archives of the Beth Ahavah synagogue. The archivists allowed me to read the letters between a Jewish Confederate soldier and his wife. The soldier told his wife that he could not get leave. Noting the presence of men visiting from the army in her neighborhood, she replied, "Maybe you're not that smart." I nearly fell out of my chair laughing.

So Civil War letters are not only sources of history but of spousal jousting and entertainment as well.
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