Today Rev. Mark R. Watkinson, troubled by brother killing brother in the Civil War that has now continued for longer than many imagined, writes a letter to Salmon P. Chase. Watkinson is pastor of the The First Particular Baptist church of Ridleyville, Pennsylvania (later renamed Prospect Hill Baptist Church). Few outside of Pennsylvania have heard…
As the days turn colder, southern concern for soldiers’ health grows. Soldiers are anxious about illness in their midst, while family and friends on the home front fret about disease and illness among loved one. As Confederate soldiers serve far from homes and hearths and suffer travails, patriotic appeals for assistance from residents in the…
West Virginia, officially formed last month as a state by popular vote (but yet to be formally admitted to the Union), is on the side of the Union. Yet, Union control over the former western region of Confederate Virginia is tenuous. This weekend, Confederate forces exploit the weak Union presence in the town of Guyandotte…