Stories from the Civil War

Introduction

Approximately 125,000 men from North Carolina served the Confederacy, out of a white male population of 312,000. During four years of war, North Carolinians fought in major battles and countless skirmishes. Over 19,673 died in battle, another 20,602 died of disease, and thousands of others received crippling wounds. The state’s terrible losses during the Civil War exceeded those of any other Confederate state.

Seventieth Regiment North Carolina Troops (First Regiment North Carolina Junior Reserves). In February 1864, the Confederate Congress changed the enlistment age from 18 through 45 to 17 through 50. The new recruits aged 17 to 18, known as Junior Reserves, eventually were organized into the Seventieth Regiment.

For his service, each private from North Carolina received $11 per month, although payment was not always made. Ill-equipped, poorly fed, and inadequately clothed, soldiers endured severe hardships as the war continued.

African Americans played an active role for the Confederacy. Some slaves who had an emotional bond with their owners willingly accompanied them to war, acting as cooks, hospital orderlies, scouts, teamsters, and personal aids. Confederate authorities impressed or forced other slaves and free African Americans to work on Confederate fortifications, usually under harsh conditions. Slaves also produced the food and provisions used to supply Southern armies.

Camp Life

Soldiers on both sides of the war spent much of their time in camp. Military campaigns followed seasonal changes, so regiments usually spent the spring and summer campaigning and the fall and winter in camp. Once they selected a site for a winter camp, soldiers cleared the land and erected crude wooden huts. These structures often had chimneys made from barrels or wooden sticks daubed with mud. Split logs or canvas tents served as roofing. These rustic quarters permitted soldiers to survive the winter months and rest before spring brought a return to campaigning.

We are now busy completing our houses for the winter, but can’t get along very fast as we have only one axe in the entire company, which we bought with our own money. We have one house up and ready to put the roof on. It is 14 x 16 and will hold us in case of shower or snowstorm. We expect to build one more.

—Private John J. Armfield, Company C (Brunswick Double Quicks), Thirtieth Regiment North Carolina Troops, near Petersburg, December 22, 1864

Established military duties took up much of the soldiers’ life in camp. The day began with reveille at dawn, followed by morning and afternoon drill, dress parade, and finally taps. Warfare in the 1800s required soldiers to learn complex moves and commands so they could move in unison on the battlefield. Drill, therefore, occupied much time. Between drills, troops prepared and ate their meals, cleaned and maintained equipment, and walked guard duty. Soldiers frequently complained about the endless routine of drill during the day and guard duty at night.

Even with its unceasing work and boredom, camp life provided an opportunity to form friendships, enjoy moments of recreation, and correspond with loved ones at home. Military companies often included neighborhood friends or family members who had enlisted together. Many soldiers formed close friendships during the war because of shared experiences.

Soldiers found many ways to pass the time while not on duty in camp. To supplement their rations and food received from home, they ventured into the woods and nearby countryside to hunt and gather nuts and berries. After a snowfall, soldiers often engaged in snowball fights. Smoking, drinking, and playing games such as cards, dominoes, and marbles (and gambling on those games) took place throughout the year, and alcohol abuse became a serious problem for some.

It is fair now and the snow is melting and such snow balling you never saw. Cooks’ Brigade and Kirkland’s Brigade joined battle and I stood at one end looking over and saw the snow balls flying so if I could see you I could tell you a great deal about it for there was more laughing and hollering than ever I heard at one time.

—Private Theophilus Frank, Company B, Forty-eighth Regiment North Carolina Troops, October 16, 1863.

Music played an important role in the lives of soldiers. Bands played to lift spirits on long marches, and in the evenings musicians entertained troops and visiting civilians. Sometimes Union and Confederate bands that were camped near each other took turns playing songs in informal competition. During battle, band members served as ambulance workers, retrieving the wounded and dead from the battlefield. [Go to http://www.civilwarpoetry.org/music/index.html to listen to and read lyrics from songs from the Civil War.]

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Campaigning

Campaigns brought new challenges every spring. During each campaign, huge numbers of men and large quantities of equipment shifted and maneuvered across the landscape. Most North Carolina soldiers carried a haversack, an oilskin cloth, a blanket, a rifle, a bayonet, a cartridge box and cartridges, percussion caps, a drinking cup, and a canteen. Troops carried from twenty-five to forty pounds of equipment on average and marched twelve to fifteen miles a day. 

	Top: Canteen used by Edward Wooten of Pitt County. Middle and bottom: United States Army M1858 canteen used by Alfred May, also of Pitt County. Wooten enlisted in Company B, Sixty-third Regiment North Carolina Troops (Fifth Regiment North Carolina Cavalry) in May 1862. May enlisted in Company F, Sixty-first Regiment North Carolina Troops in August 1862. In 1875 Wooten's sister Ida Eugenia married Alfred May, and in 1891 she painted both her brother's and her husband's wartime Federal canteens with Confederate flags as a gift. May survived the war and returned home without surrendering and put all of his army accouterments away. His extensive collection was donated to the North Carolina Museum of History in 1996. In a letter thanking his sister for the canteen, Wooten writes, "The dear old 'Canteen' with the beautiful and appropriate ornamentation came par express today. It awakens old & sad associations of the dark days of war. The hardships & the many thirsts that its contents have quenched. Yonge thinks the work beautiful & we shall prize & treasure it. Many thanks to you for your thoughtfulness & taste &c- I had lost sight of the dear old friend & should probably never thought of it again. My sabre I gave to the Iredell Blues at Statesville N.C. some years ago. They had my name & rank &c carved on it & it hangs in their Armory as a Memento of the late "lost cause" & the poor services that I rendered in that sacred cause. The dear old canteen with its beautiful adornings hangs in the Parlor here & is admired by all who see it. My children will prize it after I am gone to rest where the unnumbered & unknown dead have gone before. Many mouths have sipped from the contents of this dear old canteen, whose lips are now still & whose parched & dry mouths will never again crave the cool & refreshing draughts that it so often contained dipped from a thousand springs & wells from which we quenched our thirst. This letter if preserved by you may at some distant day be read by a generation yet unborn & so the story now told of 1863 be new to those who may live in 1963 it may be. At any rate I thank you for yr handiwork that so beautifully adorns the dear old canteen of well nigh a generation ago. God bless you dear Ida for the old reminiscence of 28 years ago."

Mud and flooding after heavy rains made maneuvers even more difficult. Soldiers had to combat not only the Union but also the heat of summer, poor and irregular rations of food, and lack of proper footwear and clothing. Sleep usually had to be grabbed wherever and whenever possible, often on the ground without cover, and physical exhaustion was inevitable.

Unsanitary conditions, lack of medicines, and living in close quarters led to further misery among soldiers, both in camp and during campaigns. Contaminated food and water, as well as inadequate nutrition, took its toll. Many men had never been exposed to the communicable diseases that now spread quickly through camps and overcrowded hospitals. Typhoid, measles, smallpox, dysentery, tuberculosis, pneumonia, malaria, and scurvy were all common ailments. [See http://www.library.vcu.edu/tml/bibs/civilwar_medicine.html for information on Civil War medicine.]

Camp Near Winchester Va. Octr 11th, 1862.
Govr. Z. B. Vance,

I lay before you for your consideration the destitute condition of our Regt. with the hope that you, who have experienced some of the severe trials of a soldiers life, may hasten up the requisite relief—

We have present Six hundred & nineteen men rank & file in the 48th Regt. N.C. Troops—There are of that number Fifty one who are completely & absolutely Barefooted—& one hundred & ninety four who are nearly as bad off, as Barefooted, & who will be altogether so, in less than one month. There are but Two hundred & ninety seven Blankets in the Regt. among the 619 men, which is less than one Blanket to evry two men.

In truth there is one Compy (I) having 66 men & only Eleven Blankets in the whole company—The pants are generally ragged & out at the seats—& there are less than three cooking utensils to each Company—This sir is the condition of our Regt. upon the eve of winter here among the mountains of Va. cut off from all supplies from home & worn down & thinned with incessant marchings, fighting & diseases—can any one wonder that our Regt. numbering over 1250 rank & file has more than half its no. absent from camp, & not much over one third 449 of them fit for duty? The country is filled with Stragglers, deserters, & sick men & the hospitals are crowded from these exposures. A spirit of disaffection is rapidly engendering among the soldiers which threatens to show itsef in general Straggling & desertion, if it does not lead to open mutiny.

Add to this that our surgeons have no medicines & don’t even pretend to prescribe for the sick in camp, having no medicines & you have an outline of the sufferings & prospective trials & difficulties under which we labor.…

Want we most pressingly need just now is our full supply of Blankets, of Shoes & of pants & socks. We need very much all our other clothing too. But we are in the greatest need of these indispensable articles & Must have them, & have them Now. Otherwise how can the Government blame the soldier for failing to render service, when it fails to fulfil its stipullated & paid for contracts? A contract broken on one side is broken on all sides & void.…

The soldiers of the 48th N.C. & from all the State will patriotically suffer & bear their hardships & privations as long as those from any other State, or as far as human endurance can tolerate such privations, But it would not be wise to experiment to far in such times & under such circumstances as now surround us upon the extent of their endurance. With Lincolns proclamation promising freedom to the slaves, What might the suffering, exhausted, ragged, barefooted, & dying Non slaveholders of the South, who are neglected by their government & whose suffering families at home are exposed to so many evils, begin to conclude? Would it not be dangerous to tempt them with too great trials?

Dear Sir…I feel the very earnest & solemn responsibility of my position as commander of this Regt. at this critical period & under these trying circumstances & wish to do all I can…to remove the evils by seeking a speedy supply of Blankets, Shoes & clothing. & therefore beg your earnest attention to the premises & your zealous & I hope efficient aid to supply our necessities.…

Your Excellencys most obt Servt.
S. H. Walkup Lt. Col. [Commanding]
48th Regt. NC Troops

(Governors Papers, State Archives, Raleigh.)

Colonel William R. Cox, from Edgecombe County, volunteered in 1861. On May 3, 1863, at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Colonel Cox was shot five times while leading an attack. A doctor cut open Cox's jacket and vest to reach wounds in his stomach and left arm. Colonel Cox returned to fight until the end of the war, surviving a total of eleven wounds.

 

Letters Home

Some of the most vivid descriptions of soldiers’ experiences are found in the letters they wrote home. Most soldiers had never been away from home for long periods. Furloughs were rare, and as the war dragged on homesickness increased. Consequently, many men became avid letter writers and mail became an important morale factor. Luckily, some of these letters have survived. Each is an invaluable source of information about the soldier’s experience.

Soldiers’ letters home included details of their daily routines, their current whereabouts, and their sincere emotions of love and pining for family and friends. Letters also contained pleas for food, clothing, and supplies. Soldiers who came from farms often gave instructions for farming, as wives were frequently unfamiliar with planting and harvesting schedules.

...Dear wife I rote in the other letter that you should Send me some clothing as we all lost our knapsacks and clothing in them...you may send me one Good Blanket and them Boots that rote for & my best Brown pants & 2 pair socks their will bee a heap sent from Newton in a box to the Company and you can send yours their put the mall in a bundle and mark them to mee they will be placed in the hands of the agent at Newton....I rote several times about sowen wheat you had better have new ground sowe as quick as you can before the corn is getherd Sow it with new wheat if you think it will do as well as the old...

Isaac LeFevers, 1862

(Isaac LeFevers Papers, State Archives, Raleigh.)

The following letter was written by Major General Bryan Grimes to his daughter. Grimes, from Pitt County, enlisted in 1861. He fought in many battles and had several horses shot from under him, but escaped death and serious injury. He remained with the army until the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse in 1865. [See http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/grimes/grimes.html for more of Grimes’ correspondence and recollections.]

Yorktown—Va
April 16, 1862

My Dear Little Darling,
   Your letters Cannot find me So I will write to you in order that you may know where to direct your letters.…at present I am stationed at Yorktown with the enemy in front of us not more than 1200 yds distant who are continually shoveling their big shot at us/ just as I had written that Sentence a large bomb in weight much heavier than you, Came rushing through the air which made us all drop flat upon the ground and fell within our regimental Camp not more than thirty or forty yds from where I am writing/ Three hours have elapsed since I Concluded the last Sentence the shells and shot of the enemy became too frequent and in too close proximity to us to remain quiet. So the regiment has been formed in what is called “line of battle,” and all…the positions in which we were ordered to stand or die but the firing gets slower and slower and in Consequence we have broke ranks to get something to eat. what at home would be a dinner but now it is merely a “filling up” to appease the cravings of hunger.…What would you think to See great grown Men eating Molasses and Sopping it out of an Oyster shell? and being well satisfied to be able to procure it any way. Our spoons were made by ourselves from a splint of pine—though for a week past we have had only Sassafras tea to drink and strange to say find it very palateable. We use Crackers…for plates and have found one great advantage in them that when we have finished all upon our plates-we turn in and eat them.…You doubtless would laught heartily to See us eating our meals. We frequently have the Colonels and Generals to dine and we all have to take it alike.…all this can be stood much better than laying down upon the…ground or at best upon one plank with not a particle of Covering to keep me warm—I frequently feel as tired when I wake as I did upon laying down and every bone in my body apparently grumbling at such rough treatment.…Dont you think we have hard times here—with nothing to sleep upon & but little time to do it even if we had an abundance of Necessary Covering. What will you think when I tell you that only one night Since the 8th day of March have I taken off any of my clothing to go to sleep and that Now I sleep with boots and all and half the time with Sword and pistol attached to my person—to be prepared to meet the foe at any Minute—but little to eat and Nothing to eat it upon—with the Yankees within 1/2 Mile shooting at us upon all occasions whenever we show ourselves—Not since my arrival here on the 10th of April has there been two Consecutive hours without their firing into our Camp and Sometimes at the rate of fifty a Minute—last Sunday night at about 2 O’Clock we all thought the battle was opened—Such a hail storm of iron and lead I had never Conceived of.…If you wish to imagine how a bomb or shot Sounds as it Come whizzing through the air get Spelman to make you a “whirlgig” that children often play with and whirl it around a few times and then the noise that it makes somewhat resembles the Sound except that you can hear the ball—that is a large one from a half Mile—and have time to drop behind the breastwork for protection.…Write me immediately upon the receipt of this...be a good girl—Remember me to all the family—

Afft. your father,
Bryan Grimes

(Bryan Grimes Papers, State Archives, Raleigh.)

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They Were There: The Stories continued

John Wesley Armsworthy

John Wesley Armsworthy enlisted in the Confederate army in April 1862. He joined Company H (Western Rangers), Fifty-fourth Regiment North Carolina Troops as a private. Armsworthy wrote many letters home to his wife, all of them giving some news about the war, offering advice on the management of the farm, and expressing his love and concerns for his wife and children. He fought in several battles, was captured and exchanged in May 1863, and received a promotion to sergeant later that summer. On November 15, 1863, Armsworthy was wounded in the right arm and captured in battle at Rappahannock Station, Virginia. At a hospital in Washington City, he wrote to his family on December 8, told them of his unfortunate circumstance, expressed hope that he would soon recover, and sent his love to his wife and children. It was his last letter home.

Abraham H. Galloway

Fugitive slave and abolitionist Abraham H. Galloway returned to North Carolina in 1862 or 1863. He worked as an intelligence agent for General Benjamin F. Butler and other Union officers and may have been the chief African American spy in North Carolina. Galloway probably identified coastal landing sites for the Federal army and supplied information on the location and strength of Confederate forces. He also used his influence to encourage free blacks and former slaves to enlist in North Carolina African American Union regiments or to work as laborers for Federal forces. By early 1863, Galloway had become eastern North Carolina's most important spokesman for African American rights. He envisioned a life in which blacks and whites enjoyed legal and social equality. In the spring of 1864, Galloway joined a delegation of black leaders who met with President Abraham Lincoln on the issue of African American suffrage. In the fall, he attended the National Convention of the Colored Citizens of the United States in Syracuse, New York.

Peter

In October 1861, Charles L. Pettigrew sent Peter to the Confederate army to serve Brigadier General James Johnston Pettigrew, Charles's brother. Charles wrote: "Peter is well acquainted with horses, is a capable servant in many respects; he can make clothes and is a first rate nurse." Peter had the responsibility for managing General Pettigrew's personal belongings and welfare. In June 1862, when Pettigrew was reported as killed in battle, a fellow officer wrote to the family: "Peter shall be as well cared for as if the General were alive. His grief at the loss of the General is most touching and draws out the sympathies of all of us." But Pettigrew survived. When the general returned to the army, Peter helped him recover from three wounds. In July 1863, Peter accompanied General Pettigrew at the Battle of Gettysburg. After the battle, Peter cared for Pettigrew, who had sustained injury again. Days later, Peter saw his master mortally wounded in another fight and helped carry him from the field. He remained by Pettigrew's side for three days, until the general died. Peter then returned to North Carolina with the body of his master.

John Newland Maffitt

Upon the outbreak of war, John Newland Maffitt resigned from the United States Navy. He assumed command first of the blockade-runner Cecile and then of the gunboat CSS Florida. Maffitt could not begin attacking Union vessels with the Florida, however, because its guns were inoperable, and yellow fever incapacitated its crew. Maffitt's stepson died from the fever, and Maffitt himself was unconscious for several days. After his recovery, Maffitt sailed for the Confederate port at Mobile. Four Federal ships blockaded the harbor, but on September 3, 1862, Maffitt charged straight into the port at full steam. He later wrote, "The loud explosions, roar of shot, crashing spars and rigging, mingling with the moans of the sick and wounded, instead of intimidating, only increased our determination to enter the destined harbor." Maffitt cleverly steered straight toward the Federal ship Oneida, which backed up to avoid a collision, giving the Florida "a momentary advantage." He also maneuvered the Florida between two Union gunboats, forcing them to cease fire temporarily in order to avoid shelling each other. Thus the Florida slipped into Mobile Bay in one of the most daring naval exploits of the war. The Florida had orders to "cruise at discretion," doing "the enemy's commerce the greatest injury in the shortest time." As captain of the Florida, Maffitt carried out these instructions admirably, capturing twenty-four ships.

William Holland Thomas

From the beginning of the war, William Holland Thomas openly promoted the idea of North Carolina Cherokee fighting for the Confederacy. In 1862 he entered the army and organized a military unit known as Thomas's Legion, which included Cherokee fiercely loyal to him. These soldiers spent much of the war in western North Carolina preventing Union forces in eastern Tennessee from entering the Tar Heel State. Thomas's men remained loyal to him throughout the war and fought until the end. Even so, Thomas was past his middle fifties when he entered the army, and the strain of active military service took a toll on his physical and mental health. Adding to the stress were his responsibilities as leader of the North Carolina Cherokee.

Alfred May

Alfred May left his Pitt County home in the summer of 1862 and traveled to Wilmington, where on August 25 he enlisted in Company F (Trio Guards), Sixty-first Regiment North Carolina Troops. He served in the same unit as his older brothers Robert and Benjamin May. The regiment fought in eastern North Carolina in 1862, and in 1863 it saw combat at Battery Wagner near Charleston. The following year, the Sixty-first North Carolina fought in several battles around Richmond. Benjamin suffered a wound to the head at Petersburg in July 1864, and Robert died in a Richmond hospital of unrecorded causes in October. The regiment participated in the last major battle of the war at Bentonville in March 1865. At some point in the war's final days or after the Confederate surrender, Alfred returned home and carefully put away his uniform, rifle, cartridge box, pistol, and many other items, including objects that he apparently carried home as battlefield souvenirs. Today the May collection is the largest extant collection of objects associated with a North Carolina Confederate enlisted soldier.

The Walker Brothers

Because both Henry J. and Levi J. Walker rushed to volunteer for the Confederate army in May 1861, they were hardened veterans by the time each lost his left leg during the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, campaign in July 1863.

On July 1, as Levi carried the regimental flag during a charge on Federal lines at Seminary Ridge, he was shot in the left leg, making him the fifth flag bearer in his unit to fall that day. At a field hospital, doctors amputated his leg below the knee. Because of his wound, Levi was left behind as the Confederates retreated. He was captured and sent to the Federal prison hospital at Davids Island, New York. He was paroled and exchanged in October 1863, then assigned to the Invalid Corps on May 2, 1864.

Henry, who had become a third lieutenant, avoided injury at Gettysburg but was shot during a skirmish near Hagerstown, Maryland, on July 13, 1863, as the army retreated south. Henry also had his left leg amputated below the knee. He was captured and imprisoned at Johnson's Island, Ohio, until he was exchanged on May 8, 1864.

John Thomas Jones

John Thomas Jones transferred to the Twenty-sixth Regiment North Carolina Troops in July 1861 and became a major in 1862. In May 1863, the regiment left North Carolina to join the Army of Northern Virginia. During the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1, the regiment was nearly destroyed. Jones was wounded but refused to leave his men. As the regiment's only remaining officer, he was placed in command. On July 3, Jones led the regiment in the last unsuccessful charge, when he suffered a second wound. His younger brother Walter Jones was mortally wounded at Gettysburg and left behind when the army retreated, to await capture and death. Shaken but not demoralized, John Thomas Jones recovered from his wounds and was promoted to lieutenant colonel. As 1863 ended, he felt confident that General Robert E. Lee's army would ultimately win the war.

Parker D. Robbins

Like many other North Carolina African American men, Parker D. Robbins enlisted in the Union army to help end slavery and win equal rights for his kinsmen. In 1863 he went to Norfolk, Virginia, and enlisted in the Second United States Colored Cavalry. Apparently a natural leader, Robbins reached the rank of sergeant major. Little else is known about his military career. Robbins was discharged from service in 1866 because of illness.

Stephen Dodson Ramseur

served with distinction in 1862 and 1863, received a promotion to brigadier general, and suffered wounds three times. He also fell in love with his cousin Ellen Richmond of Caswell County, and they married in October 1863. During their months of separation, the couple wrote many loving letters to each other. Ramseur earned a promotion to major general for leading an attack that saved the Confederate army at Spotsylvania Courthouse in May 1864. While he was fighting in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley in the summer and fall of 1864, Ellen was at home awaiting the birth of their first child. On October 16, Ramseur received news that his wife had given birth and that all was well. But the message did not say whether the baby was a boy or a girl. Three days later, Ramseur was mortally wounded in the Battle of Cedar Creek, without knowing that he had a daughter.

Related Web Sites

The Civil War Soldier
http://www.nps.gov/gett/soldierlife/soldiers.htm
Information from Gettysburg National Military Park about the daily life of Civil War soldiers.

Civil War Weapons
http://www.civilwarhome.com/civilwarweapons.htm
Information about weapons, artillery, and related equipment used during the Civil War.

Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier
http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/leon/leon.html
The diary of Private L. Leon, who served in Company C (Charlotte Grays) First Regiment North Carolina Volunteers.

General Military Hospital for the North Carolina Troops in Petersburg Virginia
http://docsouth.unc.edu/imls/generalhospital/hospital.html
The manual for the hospital’s operation.

North Carolina Troops
http://www.nctroops.com/
A list of Confederate and Union regiments formed in North Carolina.

Selected Civil War Photographs
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html
More than 1,100 Civil War photographs from the Library of Congress’s collection.

Soldier Talk and Civil War Slang
http://www.nps.gov/gett/gettkidz/soldslang.htm
A list of slang terms used by Civil War soldiers from the Gettysburg National Military Park Kidzpage.

Assignment 2: A Confederate Soldier’s Life

Complete one of the following assignments:

Option 1:
Using the information and Web site resources provided here, create a lesson plan to make the daily routine of a Confederate soldier come alive for your students. Be creative: have the students write a diary entry or letter home as a soldier, listen to Confederate music, practice a drill outside, etc. The lesson plan can cover one or more class periods. Submit your completed lesson plan via e-mail to jessica.humphries@ncmail.net.

Option 2: (If you are seeking technology credits for this course, choose this option.*)
Find three Web sites (not included in this session) about Civil War soldiers’ experiences. Briefly describe each site and answer the following questions:

• What did you learn from visiting the Web sites? What questions did your visits provoke?
• How applicable is the information to what you teach? How could it better suit your needs?
• How can you use these Web sites in your classroom?
• Would you recommend them to other educators? Why or why not?

Post your assignment on the workshop’s Bulletin Board.

Option 3: (If you are seeking reading credits for this course, choose this option.)
Create a lesson plan appropriate for your curriculum in which your students compare personal narratives, letters, oral history transcripts, and/or memoirs of a soldier(s) in the Civil War with a soldier(s) in a different war(s). Personal accounts such as these can be found in books, archives, and, increasingly, on the Internet. Have your students explore questions such as:

• How are the soldiers' experiences different? How are they similar?
• How do the soldiers feel about the war and their roles in it? How can you tell from their words?
• Did you enjoy reading the accounts? Which did you like best, and why?
• How are the personal accounts different from the history in a textbook? In historical fiction?

Alternatively, have your students compare the personal accounts from several Civil War soldiers.

*We encourage you to contact your principal or LEA if you are interested in this option to receive prior approval. If questions arise, feel free to refer your LEA to Jessica Humphries (919-807-7971 or jessica.humphries@ncmail.net). If your LEA does allow technology credits for this workshop and you complete Option 2 of this session and the assignments from sessions 4 and 5, the museum will specify on your certificate of participation that you qualify for those credits. 

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