RhinehartRoots
Private
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2019
I found this in a Civil War pension file at the National Archives on a recent trip. Jared Benjamin’s file included letters he wrote during and after the war. This one, from 16 April 1865 was written the day after Lincoln died, and a week after the war ended. He was stationed in Mobile, Alabama when he wrote this.
Word of the war's end must not have fully reached him yet, because he wrote, “I hope all the rumors are true that we hear about Davis and Lee. If they are, the war is near its end. That is [word missing] but they are too good to be true. I am afraid, we will hope for the best. If they want to fight more we are ready to fight...”
Great insight into the mindset of these soldiers in the final days of the war!
Word of the war's end must not have fully reached him yet, because he wrote, “I hope all the rumors are true that we hear about Davis and Lee. If they are, the war is near its end. That is [word missing] but they are too good to be true. I am afraid, we will hope for the best. If they want to fight more we are ready to fight...”
Great insight into the mindset of these soldiers in the final days of the war!