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Tax-exempt? | The Civil War Letters of Joseph Hopkins Twichell A Chaplain's Story In 1861 young Joseph Twichell cut short his seminary studies to become a Union Army chaplain in New York's Excelsior Brigade. A middle-class New England Protestant, Twichell served for three years in a regiment manned mostly by poor Irish American Catholics. This selection of Twichell's letters to his Connecticut family will rank him alongside the Civil War's most literate and insightful firsthand chroniclers of life on the road, in battle, and in camp. As a noncombatant, he at once observed and participated in the momentous events of the Peninsula and Wilderness Campaigns and at the Second Bull Run, as well as at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Spotsylvania. Twichell writes about politics and slavery and the theological and cultural divide between him and his men. Most movingly, he tells of tending the helpless, burying the dead, and counseling the despondent. Alongside accounts of a run-in with slave hunters, a massive withdrawal of wounded soldiers from Richmond, and other extraordinary events, Twichell offers close-up views of his commanding officer, the "political general" Daniel Sickles, surely one of the most colorful and controversial leaders on either side. Civil War scholars and enthusiasts will welcome this fresh voice from an underrepresented class of soldier, the army chaplain. Readers who know of Twichell's later life as a prominent minister and reformer or as Mark Twain's closest friend will appreciate these insights into his early, transforming experiences. Peter Messent is a professor of modern American literature at the University of Nottingham. Steve Courtney, an independent scholar, has worked for nearly three decades as a journalist and has had several positions at the Hartford Courant. April 2006 ISBN 0820326933 cloth • $34.95 352 pp. • 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 in. • 16 b&w photos • 1 map"The Civil War Letters of Joseph Hopkins Twichell present the human details of army life in often memorable and at times moving language. It is an extraordinarily literate collection that rises far above the usual quality of such correspondence. The letters make enjoyable reading in their own right in addition to being of considerable value for researchers." —Richard J. Carwardine, author of Lincoln"These letters provide a fascinating portrait of hopeful idealism and sanguinary realism as seen through the eyes of a young chaplain baptized by fire even before he was ordained. They will be regarded as a classic contribution to the fields of both Civil War and general military history because they contain universal themes that soldiers and their chaplains invariably encounter in combat. Twitchell's homesickness, faith in a God whom he never professed to fully understand, and determination to go where the suffering was greatest-to perform whatever ministry he could-underscore his commitment to humanity and his personal courage in the impersonal cauldron of war. Steve Courtney and Peter Messent must be commended for rediscovering and editing these letters that tell us so much about the impact of the unvarnished Civil War on American life. Their edition of these letters belongs in the same genre as The Red Badge of Courage and Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. I think every chaplain, perhaps every soldier, in uniform should read these letters as preparation for service in difficult and dangerous places." —Chaplain (Colonel) John W. Brinsfield, USA Ret., US Army Chaplain Corps Historian"These letters are a moving reminder that the Civil War was fought by intellectuals and churchmen, too-noncombatants who displayed enormous courage at considerable sacrifice. Twichell's personal passage from genteel Connecticut Congregationalism to war-hardened Christian wisdom is exemplary, and his epistolary account of it is deeply affecting."-Russell Banks, author of The Darling "Well edited and annotated, [Twichell's] letters home convey loneliness, fear and alienation. They also reflect a growing generosity of spirit and a developing courage in addressing the war's suffering. His correspondence suggests that the 19th-century, too, had its greatest generation."-Publishers Weekly "Articulate, informative, and highly valuable for the study of religion in the Civil War armies, the experiences of common soldiers, or operations in the eastern theater of the war."-Choice |
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