In starting this assignment, I very quickly realized my own
personal ignorance when it comes to exactly what is tucked away in the depths
of libraries. I had never set foot in a
library archive in my life. After
meeting with several very helpful librarians, I was led to a collection of
letters written by William Waste. Most
of these letters were written during the civil war by William, to his love
interest, that later became his wife, Sarah J. Day. The letters spanned from the late 1850’s to 1888,
there are roughly 60 letters in the collection; all of which are intact and included
the stamped mailing envelopes. This was
fascinating to me that I was allowed to respectfully and delicately handle these
handwritten documents that are roughly 155 years old!
William
Waste was not a high ranking soldier nor was he very privileged with an
abundance of money or power. He was what
I would consider a perfectly “average” American. He enlisted in the Union army before the war
began for a period of three years. William
seems to be fairly well educated by his language and writing technique. In most of his letters, he gives a very insightful
recollection of the events he encountered. He balanced the horror of what he saw
very well with his growing love for Sarah (Jane) Day. The first letter in the collection is William
writing to Sarah reaching out to see if she had feelings for him. He reminisces of the good times they shared by
saying that the thoughts are “treasured up in my memory as bright spots in the
dreary journey of life” (Waste, Oct. 17, 1858).
And the love story began from there; however I plan to focus on his
military experiences.
Throughout his military career William spent
a tremendous amount of time marching from one area to the next with numerous battles
in between. He was in several different
regions during the war and on one account he recalled “I have been upon the bloody
battle field (.) I have marched many a
weary mile and have laid on the damp ground exposed to all kinds of weather (,)
have been separated from those that I love most…” and continues to say that “I would
do it all again under the same circumstances” (Waste, Apr 21, 1862). His views and emotions of the war were clearly
expressed throughout the collection and directly reflected the horrors that he
had recently experienced. It was very
apparent that he was having a difficult time dealing with the emotions brought
on by the severity of his actions in battles he participated in, and the horrible
scenes of the fields he saw after battles.
William expressed several examples of
his emotional and spiritual struggles during the war. In one letter William recalls being on guard
duty when he broke down and cried because he was suddenly overwhelmed by the
realization of all the good things he left behind, to support his beliefs in
time of war. He continued by saying he
promptly wiped the tears from his face and continued on with his duties (Waste,
June 12, 1860). I have not had the privilege
of serving in the military however I can definitely recognize his struggle with
emotions having seen similar reactions by my brother and other friends who have
served overseas.
He gave very detailed descriptions
of the times of famine and poor living conditions he was subjected to while
marching from one camp to another. Stating
that “at one time we had only 8 crackers per man for 4 days and a few beans and
a little bacon” and continued to say that the 5th day “all we had
was a cup of coffee for breakfast and did not get anything more till night”
(Waste, June 15, 1862). He later travelled
by rail car to Washington and upon arrival he stated that the fort he was
staying at was built by the rebels but they had evacuated last spring. While in Washington he “went to the capitol
building and all through it. It is a
splendid building.” However he did jokingly add that “I did not get a chance to
see old Abe.”
Also while in Washington, William wrote
that “Mclelands army has fallen back to bulls run (.) They have been fighting
for the last week we can hear the cannons quite plain” and continued to say
that “I think if we win this battle the war will soon come to a close for the
enemy have all of their forces engaged…” (Waste, September 2, 1862). William was very insightful in how he
expressed his thoughts concerning the things that he saw during times of battle
and in his down time. He and Sarah
(Jane) were able to be married during one of his furloughs late in 1863, but
then he had to return to service a few days later. It was overall a very positive collection of
letters since he survived the war and was able to spend the rest of his life
with the woman he loved.
Waste, W.
(1858-1888). Correspondence. William Waste Papers. Eastern Kentucky University
Archives, Richmond, KY.
I found that your post was really interesting. I really like that you found something personal not just another history book. Its something you do not get to read about the civil war through the eyes of someone that wasn't high in rank. The civil war was won by these men that risked their lives and left everything behind not by just the generals. The section where he wrote his emotions was even more interesting to read about, that type of emotion isn't something you learn about in history class. Where I've grown up in a military house hold you see that with today war. Even though years apart they are still so affected the same way. With the same attitude of you have to wipe it away and keep going. That William even though he did not love being in the army and what he had to do knew that it was for a good cause. I really enjoyed reading your post.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amanda tht it is refreshing to read the accounts of an average individual experiencing the most devastating conflict in American history. So often the Civil War is depersonalized and summed up into a series of military campaigns led by great (or poor) generals, orchestrated by adept political titans, and at the cost of some statistically significant portion of the REAL American population. These first hand accounts provide the true story that cannot be corrupted through 150 years of historical interpretation. What I can gather from this report of Waste's journey is a man who felt the electric obligation to take up arms, followed by the harsh reality that he had committed to giving up everything he had ever known and loved, possibly forever. This is a fascinating find from the archives! Enjoyed the read!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your comments! I would highly recommend you all checking out this collection of letters! They have all been typed so they are very easy to read and of course the originals are in the folder as well. You could easily breeze through the civil war content in 2 hours if you just read the letters to his love interest.
ReplyDeleteMy brother served 2 tours in Iraq. It is fascinating for me to read the comments that William wrote 150 years ago about how he was coming to grips with the harsh and brutal reality of war. Seeing many of the same struggles in my brother in the years after his service I get a much more in depth realization of the comradery that military people have with one another.
This collection really was as much of a love story as it was an accurate documentary of the events he encountered. Several of the letters were interrupted and had to be postponed until a safer opportunity etc. But yet the next paragraph he would state how he wished she was sitting in his lap on a friend’s front porch rocking and enjoying the evening. It really is a nice dynamic of topics and issues throughout the collection.