The Civil War Letters of Joseph Hopkins Twichell: A Chaplain's Story

Twichell, Joseph Hopkins

ISBN 10: 0820326933 / ISBN 13: 9780820326931

Published by University of Georgia Press (2006), Edition: 1st ed., 338 pages, 2006

About this Item

Book may have light/sometimes moderate wear and tear due to storage and age. May have writing or old price on inside cover. May be price clipped. Spine is intact, in good condition, clean. Pages are intact, in good condition, clean. None of the defects detract from the readability! From a non-smoking environment. Ask for pictures!

Seller Inventory # 276406313

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Civil War Letters of Joseph Hopkins Twichell: A Chaplain's Story
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press (2006), Edition: 1st ed., 338 pages
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0820326933
• ISBN 13: 9780820326931
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Epic Books at BHB

About this title

Synopsis

In 1861, young Joseph Twichell cut short his seminary studies to become a Union Army chaplain in New York's Excelsior Brigade. A middle-class New England Protestant, Twichell served for three years in a regiment manned mostly by poor Irish American Catholics. This selection of Twichell's letters to his Connecticut family will rank him alongside the Civil War's most literate and insightful firsthand chroniclers of life on the road, in battle, and in camp. As a noncombatant, he at once observed and participated in the momentous events of the Peninsula and Wilderness Campaigns and at the Second Bull Run, as well as at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Spotsylvania. Twichell writes about politics and slavery and the theological and cultural divide between him and his men. Most movingly, he tells of tending the helpless, burying the dead, and counseling the despondent. Alongside accounts of a run-in with slave hunters, a massive withdrawal of wounded soldiers from Richmond, and other extraordinary events, Twichell offers close-up views of his commanding officer, the ""political general"" Daniel Sickles, surely one of the most colorful and controversial leaders on either side. Civil War scholars and enthusiasts will welcome this fresh voice from an underrepresented class of soldier, the army chaplain. Readers who know of Twichell's later life as a prominent minister and reformer or as Mark Twain's closest friend will appreciate these insights into his early, transforming experiences.

About the Author

Peter Messent is a professor of modern American literature at the University of Nottingham. Steve Courtney, an independent scholar, has worked for nearly three decades as a journalist and has had several positions at the Hartford Courant.