A Private Letter, A Public Story: Sharing the Civil War’s Lost Words

 


War leaves behind many relics—battle-scarred landscapes, weathered uniforms, and yellowed documents that were never meant to outlive their owners. Among these remnants are letters—personal, intimate words exchanged between soldiers and loved ones, carrying emotions that transcended war itself.

But not every letter stayed personal. Some were intercepted, confiscated, or even abandoned in the chaos of battle. Others—like the letters featured in this blog—became family relics, preserved as remnants of a tumultuous time in both personal and national history.

One such letter, penned by James Harden of the 36th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment, was meant for his sister. Tucked away at the end of the letter was one simple paragraph of news. It began:

I have some Yankee letters for your perusal… Will send you a sample in this. 

They were a Yankee woman’s words to a soldier - perhaps a lover - that Harden found among captured correspondence. Harden shared his thoughts on the letter as casually as one might forward an interesting message today:

"She is a good writer, but I think she is flirting with him… I also send a picture which I think is hers—I am not sure, for there were several pictures captured together. But she speaks in one of the letters of sending a picture to him, and as this was the newest-looking one of the lot, I take it for hers. Isn’t she loving?"

At first, Harden’s reading and then casually sharing the Yankee woman’s letter might seem intrusive—an uninvited peek into someone’s private exchange. In fact, he read, judged, and commented, passing the letter along to his sister as if it were a curiosity rather than a deeply personal correspondence.

Yet, before we condemn Harden’s unfiltered interest, we must ask ourselves: Are we any different? 

Through time, we have inherited these letters—not just the words of this soldier, but the voices of countless others—soldiers, lovers, and friends. Like that unknown Yankee woman, they never imagined their private thoughts would one day be displayed on a modern town square—the internet—to be read, judged, and commented on by strangers across the world.

And yet, we do.

We study, analyze, and sometimes speculate on their intentions—were they afraid? Were they in love? Were they sincere? It is the same impulse that drove Harden to share that letter and drives us to piece together their stories today.

And therein lies the irony. The very blog where these words now appear—The Civil War in Their Words—is built upon this act. It is a space where letters and diaries meant for private eyes are shared, examined, and given new life through modern interpretation.

So, do we judge Harden, or do we recognize ourselves in him?

Perhaps we absolve ourselves by believing that, in parsing these words—words never meant for us—we are ensuring that even the smallest voices of history are heard.

Even hers.

Thoughts - candlelight for the soul.

Mac

Works Cited

[1] "James Harden Correspondence, 1861-1865". Letters, Diaries and Manuscripts, VMI Archives Digital Collections, Virginia Military Institute. Retrieved May 28, 2025.


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