You’ve probably seen
him. In every war movie there’s always that guy, that genre-blind idiot who
talks incessantly about his girl and their plans for after the war. If he’s really dumb, he’ll flash her picture
right before getting his head blown off.
Of course, in reality, it doesn’t work that way. Soldiers rely on their loved ones back home
to help them deal with the homesickness, the fear and the uncertainty.
Take, for example,
Richard Guion. During the Civil War
Guion served with the 161st New York Volunteers. He was far from home, worried about the
future and deeply in love with a girl named Nellie. He wrote about his experiences and feelings
in his diary. He depended on her letters
to help keep him going. On November 27,
1862 he wrote I received Nellies letter
No. 1 this PM I feel 50 per cent better since I read it. It does me more good to read her letters than
it does to eat. Sometimes, just the
idea of her was enough to sustain him. I wish I could get alone somewhere &
have a good cry, he wrote on December 3, 1862. Oh, I
would give a good deal to be with my dear little Nellie now. But I will not
give up to bad feeling. I shall try and
keep up a good heart & I hope I shall soon find myself with my own dear
little Nellie again and oh I cannot express the joy it will afford me to see
& be with her again. When I
first read the diary I was worried Guion had fallen prey to the war movie
cliché, but you’ll be happy to know he not only made it home, he married his
beloved Nellie.
Seymour Dexter |
Ellie Weaver |
Then there’s Seymour
Dexter and Ellenior “Ellie” Weaver.
Dexter dropped out of Alfred Academy in 1861 to join the 23rd
New York Volunteers. In the 3 years he
served in the army, Dexter wrote over 100 letters to his “Dear Friend” Ellie as
he called her. Many of his letters can be
found in the Booth Library. In his
letters he complains about conditions, describes battles, shares his deep grief
over fallen comrades and teases Ellie about the somewhat slow nature of their
courtship. Another week has passed but still no letter comes from my friend Ellie,
he wrote on September 8, 1861. If this silence was in one in whom I did not
place the most perfect confidence I should hesitate to write but to thee I have
no such hesitancy. After the war,
Dexter finished up his studies at Alfred Academy and became a lawyer. It really shows in his writing. More importantly, after seven long years of
courtship, the couple married and, in rather short order, had 6 children.
Seeing the men's words themselves makes the whole war exprience more real and more touching.
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