For her (and his) eyes only: Candid correspondence between brigadier general and his young bride are donated to Virginia Tech. Their honesty still resonates

A letter exchanged by the Whartons (Virginia Tech) and a 2022 book about them

The recent donation to Virginia Tech of more than 500 letters exchanged by a Confederate general and his young wife is all the more remarkable because those she sent survived.

Civil War historian and author William C. “Jack” Davis explained why in an interview about the correspondence between Brig. Gen. Gabriel C. Wharton and Anne “Nannie” Radford Wharton from early 1863 to July 1865.

“Typically, the woman’s letters -- wife, mother, whomever -- didn’t survive because they got carried around in a soldier’s knapsack, got wet or were read or reread until they fell apart,” Davis said in 2022. “But General Wharton kept her letters, and every few months he would send them all back to her, and he told her to put them all together into a book to preserve them.”

Virginia Tech on Monday announced the donation of the letters and other 19^th century papers by Sue Heth Bell (left), a 1988 alumna and great-great-granddaughter of Wharton. She lives in Wellesley, Mass. (Virginia Tech photo)

When Gen. Wharton passed away in 1906 (Nannie died in 1890), he left the papers in steamer trunks and boxes in his Glencoe Mansion in Radford. The family sold the property in the 1980s (it is now a museum). Bell’s mother took the boxes to Florida, unaware of their contents, according to the Roanoke Times. Sue Bell located the letters in 2012.

“Buried under what seemed like a pile of forgotten papers, were over 1,000 Civil War era documents, including deeply personal letters that offer an unfiltered glimpse into history,” Bell said in a Virginia Tech article about the correspondence, much of which was stitched together.

Bell spent years going over what was inside. She and Davis collaborated on a 2022 book, “The Whartons’ War,” featuring many of the candid letters. It covers their courtship (He was 37, she 19 when they married), the course of the war, life at home, news from the front, the general’s superiors and more. Bell and Davis spoke Saturday night at Virginia Tech about the southwest Virginia couple.

One bit of correspondence must have been particularly difficult.

According to the Roanoke Times, Gabriel wrote Nannie to say her brother, Col. John Taylor Radford, had been wounded. Radford later died.

“One of the most powerful moments came on Nov. 15, 2018, when I opened a letter from Nov. 15, 1864,” Bell told Virginia Tech. “My heart stopped as I read that Nannie’s brother Johnnie had been shot -- presumed mortally but not confirmed. I forced myself to wait until the next day to learn his fate just as his family had to wait for the news. I kept reminding myself that these people had been dead for over 160 years but in that moment, their anguish felt so real. I can still feel my own emotion as I read that terrible letter.” (Virginia Tech photo of a letter)

Bell discovered signed orders of the day from Gens. Jubal Early and John C. Breckinridge, both of whom Wharton fought alongside, and documents reflecting Confederate roll calls of troops and sick calls, according to the Roanoke newspaper.

Davis, in his interview with “America’s Civil War,” said the letters collection “opens the door on southwestern Virginia itself -- on what was going on in one of those overlooked backwaters that was, in fact, vitally important to the Confederacy, in part because it was home to the only east-west railroad, and it was a major source of lead, coal, and other such essentials.” (At right, Sue Bell with Aaron Purcell of VT University Libraries)

The article was titled “A Confederate Love Affair: Was This the Most Romantic Couple of the Civil War?”

Davis describes Nannie as shrewd and direct.

“Whereas General Wharton is all about feeling. It’s like someone today who at the drop of a hat will start gushing about how he’s feeling. I’m not saying he’s not manly. He doesn’t seem hung up in the male ethic of the time. He’s willing to be very sensitive and vulnerable, and his openness with her is pretty striking,” Davis told the magazine

The officer served in Virginia and Tennessee, and his regiments included the 45^th and 51^st Virginia Infantry. As a brigade commander he fought at New Market, Cold Harbor and during Early’s raid on Washington, D.C.

After the war, Gen. Wharton was involved in mining and became instrumental in the development of a railroad line. He served in the state legislature and with Virginia Tech boards in the 1870s. The campus is in Blacksburg.

William C. "Jack" Davis and Sue H. Bell talk about the Wharton letters (Virginia Tech)

The couple’s correspondence will be cataloged by and preserved by Virginia Tech's  Special Collections and University Archives. Some of the letters will be digitized and be made available to researchers. (The Davis and Bell book includes transcriptions of much of the correspondence).

The materials also contribute to the African American history of the region, detailing the lives and experiences of enslaved individuals associated with the Wharton family, said the school.

“Unlike official records or polished memoirs, these letters were never meant for public eyes,” Bell told Virginia Tech. “The people who wrote them were simply corresponding with loved ones, sharing their thoughts, fears and daily struggles with raw honesty. Reading them 160 years later, I don’t just see history, I meet real people. And what is most striking is how much they resemble us today.”

James Longstreet was here: Civil War veterans often mailed or gave out calling cards at reunions and meetings. Manassas has one that belonged to the general

One of the general's calling (visiting) cards (Manassas National Battlefield Park)

William Adams Longstreet was born in 1897 to a family noted for its celebrity -- and controversy. His grandfather, Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, was in his final years, bloodied but unbowed after decades of defying the South, as a biography describes him.

William was just 6 when his grandfather, 82, died in January 1904 in Gainesville, Ga. Like others related to the general, William grew up in the town with a purpose.

“He was a jovial man who was dedicated to clearing the general’s name,” nephew Dan Paterson said of William.

James Longstreet was pilloried by foes for his performance at Gettysburg and, later, support for Reconstruction, black suffrage and the Republican Party. Recent books, however, have brought him a good measure of vindication.

William (second from left), half-sister Jamie (behind stone) and Dan Paterson at Alta Vista Cemetery in 1969

As the last direct descendant with the surname Longstreet, William felt an extra obligation by taking up the mantle and defending “OId Pete” whenever he could. William – who worked for the U.S. Postal Service and lived in Washington, D.C. -- made appearances at battlefields and joined a Sons of Confederate Veterans camp named for his grandfather.

The descendant in 1959 donated a Gen. Longstreet calling card and an unframed print of a painting of the general to Manassas National Battlefield Park. Park museum specialist Jim Burgess told me the painting was made by renowned artist Howard Chandler Christy.

I learned of the calling card after a recent visit to the park, and I decided to delve into the topic. Such cards were the equivalent of today’s business cards, though most did not include contact information.

That’s because they were often mailed or given out, such as the likely case with Longstreet, at battlefields, veteran reunions and public events. The general (right) dispensed them as a sign of goodwill, rather than the pursuit of business.

Calling cards (or visiting cards) were popular with members of the Grand Army of the Republic (Union), United Confederate Veterans and other organizations.

“The heyday was in in the 1880s and 1890s during their highest membership,” said Everitt Bowles, who sells calling cards on his “Civil War Badges” website. “They’re not hard to find if you're involved with Civil War events. The higher prices are usually because of the elite regiments or for how famous the soldier was. Of course, there were a lot more common soldiers in the war versus the generals.”

Such cards can go for as little as $10 to several hundred dollars.

“Longstreet was such a famous person. He would give them out at reunions,” said Vann Martin of the online shop “The Veteran’s Attic.”

General was warmly welcomed at reunions

Longstreet was all about national reconciliation after the Civil War and he famously traveled to Gettysburg and to all manner of meetings and reunions.

His card simply read “James Longstreet, First Corps Army of Northern Virginia, ’61-’65. The top left featured the third national flag of the Confederate States of America.

“I am not familiar with how extensive James Longstreet calling cards might be. Given his longevity, it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't use several different styles over the years,” said Jim Ogden, historian at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. “I'd say this definitely has to be postwar, probably, given the stylized Third National, very postwar.”

The original Christy painting of the general hangs in Chickamauga and Chattanooga visitor center (Picket photo, left).

Longstreet’s widow, Helen Dortch Longstreet, a tireless advocate, commissioned the painting. A second version of the subject is on loan from Gettysburg National Military Park to the Longstreet Society, based in Gainesville.

Ogden cites Longstreet as an example of recent interest in Civil War memory.

Scholars and authors in recent decades have brought new interpretations of the man, finding he was not the “Southern Judas” he came to be called.

Many collectors love postwar reunion items and calling cards

Dan Paterson (right), William’s nephew and a great-grandson of James, said the general made numerous postwar journeys, including Fredericksburg in 1884; Knoxville, Tenn., circa 1893; Chickamauga for the 1899 dedication of the Georgia monument; Chicago; Gettysburg twice; and Richmond, Va., for the 1890 unveiling of its Lee monument

The general must have carried his calling cards to these and reunions.

Martin, with “The Veteran’s Attic,” said he has collected a few calling cards bearing a photograph, but they are somewhat unusual.

Longstreet’s card, he said, would have been treasured by those who received one. “He had people writing him all the time. They wanted his signature.”

Union veterans were more likely to have them printed “because they had more money. The South had to go through Reconstruction,” said Martin.

T.J. Jones of the 41st Tennessee (The Veteran's Attic)

Calling cards draw some interest, but they are not a priority, said Martin.

His website includes a card made for T.J. Jones of the 41^st Tennessee Infantry (above). The private was wounded captured twice during the war. He later worked for the railroad. He died in 1910. The card includes a photo of the bearded Jones as a veteran. The card is on sale for $335.

Some collectors focus on pennants, badges and pins from Civil War reunions. A more unusual item was one made of seashells in the 1890s for a GAR post in Buffalo, N.Y., Martin said.

Cards and portraits of Bowley, Lord and Wolff, click to enlarge (Library of Congress)

The Library of Congress has a few online images of Civil War calling cards, among them one for nurse Helena E. Miller Wolff, 1^st Lt. Charles P. Lord of the 6^th Massachusetts Infantry and 1^st Lt. Freeman Sparks Bowley of the 30^th U.S. Colored Troops.

Bowley, a white officer, is remembered for a vivid account of the battle of the Crater at Petersburg and its aftermath and his memoir.

Hated by many in the South, beloved at Gettysburg meeting

When I visited and interviewed people about Longstreet some 15 years ago, his story was little-known to most Americans. The novel “The Killer Angels” and the film “Gettysburg,” coupled with scholarship by historians, helped to usher in a reassessment of the general. More favorable books have followed.

At the Longstreet Society’s annual memorial at the general's grave at Alta Vista Cemetery this year, president Richard Pilcher gave a brief summary of the general’s life, mentioning his military prowess, public service and courage away from the battlefield – working for reconciliation after the war. “Many Southerners considered him a traitor to the cause, and blamed him for the Confederacy’s defeat,” he said.

Longstreet in postwar years voiced his opinion that Gen. Robert E. Lee should not have launched the disastrous Day Three attack at Gettysburg. Advocates of the romantic Lost Cause myth lashed out at him, and said he failed Lee at Gettysburg by delaying the execution of orders. Some of the general's writings in various newspapers often backfired on him.

Many Confederate veterans lionized him and he was popular at reunions, including a notable gathering at Gettysburg in 1888.

Civil War blogger John Banks has written about Longstreet’s trip to Pennsylvania and the general’s friendship with former foe Dan Sickles and other Union luminaries.

“The most celebrated man at the event sported massive, white whiskers and a cleanly shaven chin: James Longstreet, who commanded the Confederates’ First Corps at Gettysburg on July 1-3, 1863. Nearly everywhere Robert E. Lee’s ‘Old War Horse’ went he drew appreciative, and often awestruck, crowds,” Banks wrote a few years back.

Longstreet (center) and Sickles (right) during the 1888 reunion (Gettysburg NMP)

As the blogger points out, the general was more popular in the North than the South because of his alignment with President Ulysses S. Grant and the Republican Party. Former colleagues in gray savaged him for daring to criticize Lee’s decisions at Gettysburg.

The main hallway at the Piedmont Hotel in Gainesville, home to the Longstreet Society, has copies of documents on his appointment to federal offices, including postmaster, U.S. marshal and minister to Turkey. He also served as a railroad commissioner.

I recently asked Banks to describe Longstreet’s personality.

“Seems like guy I’d want to have a beer with -- good dude. Not a loudmouth.”

As for Sickles?

“Loudmouth”

William A. Longstreet was an ambassador for his grandfather

Dan Paterson’s late mother, Jamie Louise Longstreet Paterson (left), was crucial in the fight to vindicate the general’s conduct, during and after the Civil War.

Jamie was born 25 years after the death of James Longstreet, who had moved to Gainesville in 1875 and operated a hotel.

She was born in Gainesville to Fitz Randolph “Ranny” Longstreet – one of the general’s sons -- and Zelia Stover Longstreet.

Randolph’s first wife, Josie, died in 1904 and he remarried in 1929. William A. Longstreet’s mother was Josie and Jamie was his much younger half-sister.

Jamie grew up in Gainesville, married the late William D. Paterson and they lived in Washington and Bowie, Md.

Dan Paterson, now in his mid-60s and living in Centreville, Va., said the calling cards were passed on to Ranny, who kept them in a metal box. That container survives today and remains in the family.

Dan used the card as a template for his own business card.

Ranny Longstreet was a farmer and loving father, said Dan Paterson. “My grandfather was  … easy-going, he did not go into the military.”

William with book by James Longstreet, with Herman Leonard and in 1969 (Courtesy of Dan Paterson)

Paterson recalls his time with William in Georgia and elsewhere. They joined the same Richmond-based SCV chapter that was named for James Longstreet.

Paterson, a member of the Bull Run Civil War Round Table, has defended James his entire life. So did Herman Leonard, a family friend who gave talks about the general.

Paterson keeps a copy of a photo  (below) of William Longstreet and Leonard taken at Gettysburg in 1965. They stand in front of a shack that was labeled as Longstreet’s headquarters, which actually was a short distance away.

William A Longstreet and Herman Leonard (Courtesy of Dan Paterson)

“It was a tourist attraction from a leftover bunch of buildings in the area that were vendors.  I have the sign hanging in my basement,” said Paterson. The building no longer stands.

“That shack, much like that portrait, were my landmarks at Gettysburg when we were kids.”

William Adams Longstreet died in 1973 at age 76. He and his wife Gladys left behind no children.

He rests near Jamie, his parents and the general in the family plot at Alta Vista.

A U.S. flag flutters above them.

Dear mom: Unfiltered letters from three Massachusetts brothers about combat and camp life are featured in new book

Nearly 100 letters written by three Massachusetts brothers have been transcribed and published in a new book, “My Dear Mother: Civil War Letters to Dedham from the Lathrop Brothers.”

The correspondence by John, Joseph and Julius Lathrop to their mother and three sisters stretched from December 1861 to a postwar visit to the Antietam battlefield by John in September 1865.

“The letters tell of the fierce battles, long marches, camp life and the brothers’ dedication to the Union cause,” says a description by the Dedham Historical Society & Museum, which transcribed the material. “The letters are published as written, without corrections or sanitation, but transcribed using the language of their time.”

A letter written by Julius to his mother on Feb. 13, 1862, details the taking of Roanoke Island, N.C., several days before and describes the 24^th Massachusetts Infantry’s role in the capture of more than 2,000 Confederate prisoners.

Brig. Gen. Ambrose Burnside and his troops secured a vital victory in the Union effort to put a stranglehold on Southern ports. Rebel forces surrendered after they were routed from one battery and rushed to the northern end of the island, as described in the letter.

The corporal wrote his regiment was supposed to be among the first to land early in the battle but the steamer carrying troops ran aground. “We had the mortification of watching all the other regiments pass by us as while we were left lamenting.”

The unit witnessed the bombardment of the Confederate battery and its line was eventually formed near hospital buildings. Wounded Federal soldiers cheered the regiment and its brass howitzer, he wrote.

Fanciful depiction of Union attack at Roanoke Island (Library of Congress)

Other Federal forces took the battery as the 24^th moved up. Lathrop got his first look at the horrors of war, seeing dead and maimed men, some nearly cut in two by artillery shots. “I saw … a poor fellow who was shot through the head with a grape shot. He was still alive though his brains were running out of his wound.”

His letter home to Dedham, about 10 miles southwest of Boston, asked his loved ones to “excuse the dirt but, I must tell you this is Secesh paper; of course it can’t be clean.”

Between them, the Lathrop brothers saw action across the breadth of the war, from Antietam and Fredericksburg in the east to Port Hudson in the west, the historical society says.

Julius, who later in the war accepted a commission with the 38^th Massachusetts, was a captain when he was mortally wounded on April 23, 1864, in a skirmish at Cane River, La.

A regimental history says Lathrop "has rode in an ambulance the day previous, unable to march; but upon the approach of an engagement, had taken command of his company, and was leading his men when he received the fatal shot." He died a few days later.

John Lathrop

John Lathrop served as a captain in the 35^th Massachusetts, took part in several battles, including Antietam and South Mountain. He left service in November 1863 because of disability resulting from malarial fever. He became a lawyer and associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. He died in 1910.

Joseph Lathrop, who served in the 43^rd Massachusetts Infantry and the 4^th Massachusetts Cavalry before capture late in the war, also survived. He wrote only one of the letters in the book.

Michael B. Chesson, editor of “The Journal of a Civil War Surgeon (2003),” wrote an Amazon review praising the book and the range of subjects in the letters, from Army life to skulkers and the home front.

Chesson wrote: “Some of the letters describe close combat as raw and immediate as a scene from the movie version of 'Cold Mountain.' The letters span the full range of human emotions, expressed in the characteristic reserve of old time New Englanders.”

A recording of Julius’ letter is on the Dedham Historical Society & Museum website. Five other recordings are being uploaded weekly. The letters were donated to the society in 1928. Volunteers began transcribing them about three years ago, according to the Dedham Patch.

The book includes photographs of the brothers and images of battlefield maps drawn by John and Julius in their letters. The volume, put out by Damianos Publishing, sells for $25 through Amazon and the publisher.

Letters from Camp Stephens: Remnants of earthworks at Ga. training site survive, as well as stories of soldiers and their loved ones

Interior of training entrenchments at Camp Stephens (Picket photo)

Letter written from Camp Stevens to Sarah Brinson (Siegel Auction Galleries)

Within weeks of the April 1861 bombardment of Fort Sumter, young men rushed to enlist, and training centers were soon established across the North and South. In Georgia, Camp Stephens trained thousands of eager recruits before they were sent to the front.

Remnants of trenches and breastworks built for training are still visible at two sites in a neighborhood on the northern outskirts of Griffin, a railroad city about 40 miles south of Atlanta. I made a short visit this week and walked some of the grounds on a muggy morning.

(As a side note, the land used for Camp Stephens had been owned by the father of John Henry “Doc” Holliday, a local boy who became a dentist and later gained fame as a gambler and gunman in the Old West. More on him in an upcoming Picket post.)

Several Confederate units, including the 27^th and 44^th Georgia infantry regiments, were formed at Camp Stephens. For most of the men, this was their first extended time away from home, and they became accustomed to drilling, discipline and perhaps a little homesickness.

While researching the camp, I came across envelopes of letters mailed by two soldiers, one of whom died in combat only a few months after his stint at Camp Stephens.

David Greene is believed to have enlisted with the 27^th Georgia in September 1861. Members of his Company K were from Talbot County. Columbus State University in Columbus, Ga., has several of his letters in its collection.

On Oct. 25, 1861, Greene wrote to his mother Isabella, telling her that many in the camp had the measles and he “decided to raise the price of his horse from the $250 to $350.”

The soldier wrote her again on Nov. 8, from Manassas, Va., saying his company was building a bridge over the Occoquan River. In letters from February-May 1862, Greene detailed service at Manassas and Camp Rappahannock.

In an April 23 letter, according to the university archives, Greene “tells that they have now moved to York Town.  Here he was very sick and went to Richmond to get well.  He tells of a fight in York Town in which they lost eight men and the enemy lost between 400 and 500.”

Greene’s last correspondence home may have been on May 5, 1862, telling them the army was evacuating Richmond. He was killed at Seven Pines in Virginia – the regiment’s first major battle -- on May 31, 1862. The unit broke Federal lines the next day, with more than 150 casualties in the two-day battle.

Greene was 25 or 26 when he died. Two brothers who also served in the Civil War survived.

Letter from David Greene to his mother (Siegel Auction Galleries)

My impetus to learn more about Greene was an envelope posted online by Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries. The soldier used an envelope (above) he purchased at Camp Stephens to write his mother from Tudor Hall, Va., on Dec. 2, 1861.

The sender information includes the name Capt. Hezekiah Bussey of the 27^th Georgia. According to my brief internet research, Bussey was captured and exchanged in autumn 1862 and later promoted to lieutenant colonel. He died at age 77 in Columbus in November 1917.

Another Siegel Auction Galleries envelope (top of this post) provides no clues to the Camp Stephens sender. It was simply addressed: Miss Sarah Brinson, Cannoochee (sic).

I found that a Sarah Missouri Brinson of Emanuel County married Confederate veteran James Emmett Coleman on Oct. 22, 1865, several months after the war’s end. This letter is postmarked Sept. 7 (likely in 1861 or 1862).

Sarah had two brothers who served in the Southern army and perhaps one wrote her from Camp Stephens. Or it could have been authored by Coleman while they were courting or engaged. I just don't know.

Coleman was a sergeant with the 5^th Georgia Cavalry and Sarah served as a postmistress for both the Confederate and US governments in Canoochee, according to Findagrave.com.

The couple had 10 children and the couple lived to be 74 (1912) and 77 years old (1923), respectively.

Emmett, Sarah Coleman with family (Courtesy Emanuel County Preservation Society)

Arcadia Publishing’s “Images of America” series includes photographs gathered by the Emanuel County Historic Preservation Society. One photograph, taken circa 1895, shows the Colemans with most of their children outside the home.

The caption provides a family memory from the Civil War.

“In November 1864, Emmett was with Company E, 5^th Ga. Cavalry fighting a delaying action in front of Sherman’s army. His unit came to Canoochee, where Sarah Brinson was serving as postmistress, in time to warn her that a Yankee Cavalry unit was just behind them. Arriving soon after, the Yankee unit began loading pigs, hogs, and taking everything they could find including butter out of a butter dish. Sarah gave a masonic distress signal she had learned from her father. A young lieutenant ordered his men to unload everything and posted a guard to protect her. Sarah and Emmett were married shortly after the war.”

(Civil War Picket photo)

Legendary Civil War historian Ed Bearss would love to get letters from those touched by his dedication to history, publisher says

Bearrs with former Georgia football coach Vince Dooley in 2009 (Georgia Battlefields Assn.)

[Sept. 17 update: Ed Bearss dies at 97]

Well into his 90s, Ed Bearss roamed Civil War battlefields, a stream of devotees hanging on to every word as the expert described what happened on that particular piece of hallowed ground.

As "History's Pied Piper," Edwin Cole Bearss has more than lived up to the title of Jack Waugh’s 2003 biography of the decorated Marine Corps veteran and National Park Service chief historian emeritus.

But Bearss now is no longer physically able to participate in tours, according to his publisher. Nearing 97, the gravel-voiced legend spends his time at his Virginia residence, according to Tom Broadfoot, whose publishing company has published numerous works written or edited by Bearss.  

[Updated Jan. 18 and 20: The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District, said it wanted to tamp down concerns about Bearss' health, saying the historian this week spoke with CEO Keven Walker. "He was great; preparing for a trip and in good spirits," says the group. "The two are looking forward to getting together in a couple of weeks for their annual winter meeting, so things are business as usual. Ed appreciates the concern but would want everyone to know that he is just as ornery as ever and doing fine." Broadfoot later said he stands by his message.] 

In a message this week, Broadfoot asked fans of Bearss to send him letters, which Bearss’ caregiving daughter says “make his day.” Her father is hard of hearing, so phone calls and visits are not beneficial. Memories and photographs are.

“If your interest is the Civil War, Ed has contributed greatly to your interest,” the publisher wrote.

Broadfoot asked people to write to Bearss about books he authored, or a tour or speech he gave, or just to thank him for his service to his country and the NPS. Among his accomplishments with the agency was the discovery and raising of the USS Cairo in the 1960s, when Bearss was historian at Vicksburg National Military Park. The majority of the public came to know him from his appearance in Ken Burns' 1990 “The Civil War” series on PBS.

The historian is “the man whom people follow to learn about history in a way that no person or book or map or video or other medium can emulate,” says Charlie Crawford, president of the Georgia Battlefields Association.

Several Facebook pages devoted to the Civil War included fond remarks this week about his remarkable memory and presentations, with a touch of wistfulness as Bearrs steps back.

One commenter on Civil War Pittsburgh’s page wrote: "The man never used notes! He remembers everything! If you were on any of his tours you were lucky. We've been blessed with his wisdom, character and good humor."

Author and historian Eric J. Wittenberg posted Broadfoot's email on Wednesday.

"Rarely has one person who was not an emperor or entertainer touched the lives of so many people, one Facebook commenter on that page posted. "A true national treasure."

Another person wrote: "About 15 years ago, Ed gave me the best advice about the best way to learn about CW battles. He told me, 'Walk the ground little lady, walk the ground!’ That has served me well for many years."

In Athens, Ga., in March 2019 (GBA)

A 2005 Smithsonian Magazine article captured part of his spirit and panache:

"As he talks, Bearss marches back and forth, brandishing a silver-headed swagger stick, tucking it from time to time under his withered left arm -- a casualty of a bullet at a battlefield on the other side of the world in 1944. He keeps his eyes tightly closed while he lectures, and he later tells me that way he can see the events of 1863 unfolding before him."

Crawford told the Picket that Bearrs, known for his booming voice, led GBA’s March 2019 tour. The guide cut back on such appearances later in the year because of limitations, Crawford said.

In 2014, Crawford was interviewed for the documentary, “American Journey: The Life and Times of Ed Bearss.” The program concluded with this statement: Ed Bearss is sui generis -- one of a kind.

Letters, in 12 to 14 point or equivalent, can be sent to Bearss, who probably will not reply or sign books. Send them to Ed Bearss, 1126 17^th St. S, Arlington, Va. 22202

US Navy engineer's letters home provide riveting details of blockade, life aboard ships. They are on display in Columbus, Ga.

Display case at the National Civil War Naval Museum (Civil War Picket)

Letters written by a US Navy engineer describing the blockade of Charleston, S.C., soldiers of the legendary 54^th Massachusetts, Gen. George B. McClellan and even a hippopotamus at Barnum’s American Museum in New York City are now in the collection of the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Ga.

(Heritage Auctions, HA.com)

The museum last year purchased about 120 letters and other items from Heritage Auctions for $16,000. It has been displaying letters from third assistant engineer George S. Paul to his parents and other family members.

Jeffery Seymour, director of history and collections at the museum, said officials decided to make their first major purchase in some time, through the help of a major donor and a few other givers.

The museum wanted the perspective of a junior officer who detailed operations of the vessels on which he served: the gunboat USS Paul Jones, the ironclad USS Nahant and the gunboat USS Sonoma.

“We need more information about what life is like in the engine room,” Seymour recently told the Picket.

Paul, a native of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, failed in his first attempts to pass an engineer exam and moved in the fall of 1861 to Wilmington, Delaware, where he worked on federal government shipbuilding contracts. The 24-year-old recalled in a September 1862 letter the passage of a train through the city carrying wounded Federal soldiers.

“Yesterday morning the citizens of W. received word that there would be fourteen hundred wounded soldiers through here at noon and citizens were invited to bring down refreshments so just before noon women began to string along the road with baskets of provisions and the track was lined on both sides for half a mile with people and their baskets....At about two oclock the cars came along....There were forty car loads of them...some had one ear shot off others had their heads all bandaged up. One had his chin shot off another had both heels shot of[f]." 

(Civil War Picket)

By January 1863, he passed the Navy test and began his service. Seymour said Paul was likely on the low end of the totem pole.

Paul wrote a letter to his parents: "It is the duty of the Third Asst. Engineer to keep water in the boilers keep an account of the amount of coal used, to register the pressure of steam per square in. every hour and to keep the register of the height of water. His duties are not hard. His watch is four hours on and eight hours off so it makes the days work eight hours each day. The rest of my spare time I can spend in studying and as I will carry all my books with me, I can get along very well." 

According to Heritage Auctions, Paul was in St. Simons, Ga., in the summer of 1863. He detailed seeing Col. Robert Gould Shaw of the 54^th Massachusetts, the famed regiment of African-American troops, come aboard. Paul said while his captain opposed such units, he and others believed in their service.

The Second Battle of Fort Wagner, which involved an assault by the 54th Massachusetts, took place in July 1863. Although a tactical defeat, the gallant service of the 54^th led to further use of black troops.

(Heritage Auctions)

Paul was transferred to the monitor USS Nahant in January 1864. The engineer inked two drawings of the vessel and wrote this vivid description:

"Every thing is under water and the men mess and sleep in the next room to the board room and at this time they are making considerable racket as they have got up a walk around dance and are playing 'dixie' on two violins and the bones so you can imagine what kind of noise we have got...the waves run over every thing but the Turret....In perfectly smooth water the deck is about eighteen inches out of water." 

Paul’s other letters described life on the Nahant and described various bombardments of Confederate positions in South Carolina. Regarding one: "We went into action at 11 AM, and in one hour we were struck nine times three times cutting holes in the deck each one three feet long. One cut through in the Engine room and knocked a good many splinters down into the room. They were very fine, and not capable of doing much damage...and the third shot that cut the deck, cut it nearly over the powder magazine and knocked a piece of the deck plate through the deck which struck a fireman....It cut him in the head just above the right ear cutting a frightful gash, and then went down and struck him in the collar bone, breaking it and cutting him badly."

(Civil War Picket)

(Heritage Auctions, HA.com)

Seymour said Paul wrote about the February 1864 sinking of the USS Housatonic, though he did not mention the Hunley. He probably did not know at the time that the Confederate submarine was responsible.

Paul saw service through the end of the war. He later worked in Pennsylvania before moving to Ohio, where he worked an engineer for a railroad line. After a stint in Iowa, Paul settled in Cuyahoga Falls. He died in 1900 at age 62.

Seymour said the museum will continue transcribing and rotating the letters, with the hope of eventually digitizing them.

USS Nahant (Wikipedia)