Eastern Kentucky Archives: A Window into the Past

            Throughout grade school students are taught that the Civil War was one of the most devastating and disturbing times in American history. Movies immortalize the war and teachers work tirelessly to stress its devastation, yet as a student I always walked away untouched by these descriptions. It was not until I entered the archives of the Eastern Kentucky University Library that I finally saw the extent of damage the war had on our nation and the individual soldiers who fought for what they believed in.

            It took around two hours for me to decipher the content of only 2 letters, but these letter contained information that transformed my outlook on the Civil War. The first letter was from Matilda Jane Sanders to her brother in Lexington, Kentucky named A. Sanders on June 22, 1864. The second letter is from a Union solder named Joseph M. Foster to his father on August 5, 1864. The first letter is a historically insignificant piece, yet it gives insight into the effects of the war. While discussing the health of the family and the state of the tobacco crop, Matilda mentions that her eighteenth birthday was only a week earlier. In this piece an eighteen year old girl writes to her older brother whom she obviously adores, only hoping that he will ever receive her letter. This is only one of the heartbreaking letters that I analyzed as I researched.

 

            The second letter I read helped me to realize the miserable lives soldiers had to live. Foster explained to his father that his boots were worn to the ground and that he desperately needed a new pair. Despite the terrible need of this soldier, he could not afford to purchase a new pair because the Union army had not paid him in five months. Foster also describes how he had made several friends, but many had died. Lastly, Foster discusses how he hopes to be able to wash his clothes soon because the only time they had washed their shirts in the last month was in a mud puddle along the road.

 

            These letters are not simple descriptions of the Civil War, but windows into the past which show the true devastation and distress Americans faced throughout the war. I highly recommend that students take a trip to their local archives and examine the Civil War collections available to them.

 

 

Matilda Jane Sanders to A. Sanders, June 22, 1864, (Civil War Collection Box 1 Folder 1), Eastern Kentucky University Special Collections Archives, Richmond, KY.

Joseph M. Foster to His Father August 5, 1864, (Civil War Collection Box 1 Folder 1), Eastern Kentucky University Special Collections Archives, Richmond, KY.