June 16, 1861

(from his first letter written home during basic training)

It does not really seem that men are being trained here for fighting. There is no excitement and no talk about battles and war as there is at Hopewell and Bloody Run. *2 There are 8 companies in camp now and very few disorderly persons among them all. As soon as one misbehaves, he is thrown into the guardhouse. If he attempts it the second time, the usual way is to drum him out of camp after shaving his head and stripping him of his uniform. There have been 2 or three drummed out lately poor fellows. They looked chapfallen indeed. *3

Author’s Notes:

*2 James was from the Borough of Bloody Run, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, sometimes referred to in his letters as the Run. Throughout the letters, James mentions many friends from his hometown as well as from near-by Hopewell. The town name was changed to Everett in 1873 in honor of Edward Everett, the orator who spoke at the dedication of the Gettysburg Cemetery just before President Lincoln’s Address.

*3 Chapfallen (or chopfallen) means dejected or dispirited. It comes from chap or chop (jaw) + fallen.

July 7, 1861

(from the only letter I have that was written to his mother)

After supper, J. H. Williams and I took a walk of about an hour and a half through the suburbs of the city [Pittsburgh] which was delightful indeed. We talked of home and friends, of our present situation and future prospects. When we thought of the chequered *1 stage on which we are acting and of the vanity*2 of every earthly good, the question of “What is life?” forced itself upon us. We felt that it is truly but as a “span” or a hand’s breath” *3 compared with the great future beyond.

Oh, how truly dear to me are these hours of meditation and thought. All the recollections of the past rise vividly before me and the dim misty veil of the future seems at least partly unfolded and I read *4 the end of man. Sometimes painful emotions are awakened, but then in the thought that I am in the hands of and watched over by a kind, wise, and unerring God, there is a solace and pleasure which cannot be defined.

Our men all seem contented. We are comfortable and I feel that we are in the line of duty.

May God aid us, bless our cause, and grant us a speedy termination to this civil war. With love to you all, I must bid you good night for Taps have already beat for bed.

Author’s Notes:

*1 cheque: British spelling of check; checkered: means varied.

*2 vanity: worthlessness or futility; Ecclesiastes 1:2 – All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose. (Bible of Basic English); Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. (King James Version)

*3 Psalm 39: 4-5 Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life. You have made my days a mere handbreath; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath. (New International Version)

*4 read, meaning “foretell”

November 23, 1861

Last Wednesday we had the greatest review of troops that ever took place in the United States. The review took place at Baileys cross roads. 70,000 soldiers were presented. When I look over this living moving mass of true and loyal men all sworn and willing if needs be to sacrifice their lives their all in defense of the Constitution and the Union, my heart swelled within me. I felt proud that I was one of the units of which the whole was composed. Here it was in the ranks that could be seen true patriotism. An officer may be influenced to deeds of daring by selfish ambition, but the private falls and is unnoticed and unsung. They suffer many privations the officer never experiences, and yet they do it cheerfully for their country, rewarded by the knowledge that they are on the side of justice and of right.

January 3, 1862

Well, another year has gone and is recorded with the past; an eventful year, truly giving birth to the most unholy and wicked rebellion ever known. *2 What the year just born may accomplish Heaven alone can now tell, but God grant it may restore peace and prosperity to our land, but ere this is done, many valuable lives and brave hearts must be quenched in death. Oh, what an awful account the leaders of the rebellion will have to answer before God.

Author’s Notes:

*2 As James looked back at the year gone by, and looked ahead at what the year just born might bring, it appears that his need for reflection is shared by General “Stonewall” Jackson as he wrote to his wife, Mary Anna, on December 25, 1862: “But what a cruel thing is war; to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joy and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world.”

June 21, 1862

I know you are all looking with an anxious eye toward Richmond. But do not grow impatient. You can form no idea of what a vast amount of labor is being done here. More than that, two great armies are standing in the very face of each other, one offensive, and the other defensive. And all the preparations for attack and defense that great minds can conceive are being made.

July 18, 1863

Enclosed I send some of Mrs. Lincoln’s hair taken from her head in this hospital. I want Lizzie to untangle it and put it on the hair tree if she can. The way it came to be cut off was in this wise [manner].

(James goes on and gives a detailed explanation.)