" I Think Of Thee, I Think Of Thee ", A Prisoner's Ode To His Love, His Wife

JPK Huson 1863

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Location
Central Pennsylvania
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Unidentified couple from the amazing gift the Liljenquist family made to all of through LoC. It's the photo Captain Beaudry's poem written while prisoner in Libby's tobacco warehouse Richmond made me think of, no idea why. Both are evocative of the war, maybe, and the couples whose thoughts of each other were all they had through long years. Or forever.

Men made what they could of prison life during the war. We know because they told us, they did their best in Adversary's leering face. Journals and diaries reflect that rampant sense of humor we see so frequently, just as frequently we see pangs of home. Written as men lay sick to the point of death or hungry to the point of despair or cold to the point of ink freezing these historical treasures are hopeful reminders. Who we were, who we are and who we can be. There's an awful lot of poignancy in these writing- some are incredibly tough reading. But go kiss your spouse. We're awfully lucky.

5th NY Cavalry's chaplain, Captain Louis Napoleon Beaudry found himself contemplating life, war and death in Libby Prison, Richmond. The war would be over for the captain. Libby life was cold and hot and dirty and tragic and awful and men there spent time thinking. Mostly, of their wives.

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wife 3.JPG

Beaudry came home. We don't know if the husband and wife in LoC's photo were reunited. In my head they were.
 
You'd think this stuff wouldn't get to you every, single time but it does, doesn't it?
Absolutely. It's just heart-wrenching to think of what families went through in the war. The more I think about it, the worse it is. And it doesn't help I'm a little sappy in general. :unsure:
 
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