Civil War humor – 10 Funny Comments from Soldiers' Letters

  

Two Union soldiers getting their picture taken.
(War is hell?)

Laughter is definitely the best medicine, and even in the Civil War, as terrible as it was, humor – like the conflict – was irrepressible.

Here are ten comments – some funny, some dry, and some tongue-in-cheek – about a wide range of topics from both armies.

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William E. Endicott, 10th Massachusetts Light Artillery, May 28, 1863:

The fact is the rebellion is like my otter that was hurt – a little active in the head and neck but powerless behind the shoulders.

Benjamin Fitzpatrick, 10th Mississippi Volunteer Infantry Regiment, July 14, 1861:

Mr. Cobb has been promoted from private to fourth Corporal He is in a srait road to be a Captain or even a Colonel – if there should be a great battle and a great many slain.

Charles H. George, Sharpshooter Battalion, 5th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment, December 13, 1862:

There is no news of importance to write you, I saw the President of the Confederate States yesterday.

W.H. Randolph, Company E, Sixth New Jersey Volunteer Infantry Regiment, March 6, 1862:

you was asking me something concerning our Chaplain in what way he employed himself. it is a question very easy answered . . . it is seldom that he prays and when he does the heading of his prayer is god bless the comadants of companys. I suppose he thinks any thing below them is of no consequence.

M.L. Kirkpatrick, 1st Alabama Cavalry, July 10, 1862:

The enemy, professing not to be aware of our whereabouts, is well aware that a forward movement towards our vicinity would eventuate in his discomfiture.

John B. Bell, 85th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment,(no date)

Geo Groff is one of my friends he is a very homely looking fellow

Newton N. Davis, 24th Alabama Infantry, July 2, 1862:

I want you to send Billy back as soon as he gets well enough to return. I get along badly without him. My horse suffers from the want of attention.

John W. Darby, 22nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, May 18, 1864:

I have thought that if I should be killed it might be the means of your salvation. But if this sacrifise necessary, a word to the wise is sufficient

Francis McDade Danielly, Company K, 14th Alabama Infantry, November 30, 1862:

you said you had just eaten a hearty dinner & you wished that I had been there to take dinner. I wish so too as you never told me what you had. you said your weight was one hundred and forty lbs thats very good size for a lady.

William O. Holmes, U.S. Army Signal Corps, Signal Detachment of General Philip H. Sheridan, May 2, 1865:

I may be talking pretty plain Father, but all though you have a clear incite into men, I do not think you understand the feelings and wants of women very well.

There are millions of stories from the Irrepressible Conflict. These are just some of them.

Mac

Works Cited

[1] “Civil War Letters Collection”, Auburn University Digital Library. Retrieved October 23, 2024.