After Chancellorsville: Letters from the Heart: The Civil War Letters of Private Walter G. Dunn and Emma Randolph

By: Judith A. Bailey

Book Overview

Emma Randolph, a young woman not yet twenty, wrote poignant letters to her distant cousin, Private Walter G. Dunn of the 11th New Jersey Infantry, as he lay in a crowded, filthy hospital ward during... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0938420623
• ISBN13: 9780938420620
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Maryland Center for History and Culture
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

An outstanding contribution to Civil War studies.

After Chancellorsville: Letters From The Heart is a collection of the Civil War correspondences between Emma Randolph and Private Walter G. Gunn of the 11th New Jersey Infantry as Dunn. They began their exchange of letters when Walter went off to war and Emma was a young girl not yet twenty years of age. Water was carried from the bloody battlefield of Chancellorsville to a hospital in Baltimore. And it was their that he relayed to her the everyday events that comprise an intimate, eye-witness account representing a compelling and informative account of the hardships he endured while in the service of his country. Emma's letters were of the familiar things of home that Walter so badly needed to counter the horror that he lived through -- and almost died from. In time, the grew to love one another and planed a life together after the carnage and slaughter of war was ended. After Chancellorsville is an engaging and much appreciated contribution to the growing body of Civil War literature left in legacy for the benefit of future generations.

A rare view of the homefront during the Civil War

Among all the hundreds of books about the Civil war, very few show the human dimension of men away on duty and the folks back home. Here Private Walter Dunn of New Jersey, wounded at Chancellorsville and with a minie ball still in his shoulder, is sent to a hospital in Baltimore. He works as a medical orderly as the wounded stream in from Gettysburg. And he renews his correspondence with Emily Randolph back home in Plainfield, New Jersey ( he lost her letters to a Rebel scavenger on the battlefield) Emily is an unforgettable young woman, playful, optimistic, dutiful, and serious, a fine observer of the people and the activities at home (among them the Lincoln reelection campaign). Walter, in turn, is in a vantage point for interpreting the events of the war, particularly as Baltimore lies vulnerable to Confederate attack. There is an interesting love story here, but more than that, the book is outstanding in reaching daily life and customs during the war. A fine addition to Civil War literature.

A rare look at the Civil War from the homefront.

Among the thousands of Civil War books, only a few show us what life was like back home and the human longings and feelings of women at home and their men who were away for indeterminate time. Walter Dunn and Emily Randolph had corresponded from the war's beginning, but her letters to Walter were lost to a Rebel scavenger as Walter lay wounded on the field at Chancellorsville. Walter, gravely injured but healing, is transferred to duty as a medical orderly in Baltimore hospitals, just in time to help receive the flood of wounded from Gettysburg. The correspondence with Emma is renewed. We see Emma's community in wartime and the war from Walter's vantage point--including the rumors that swirled around Baltimore. Lincoln's reelection campaign, ice cream socials, church picnics, and the like fill Emma's days as she comes to love Walter. Emma is one of the most charming and intriguing characters of Civil War literature. Walter, the perfect Victorian gentleman, is overcome with love for Emma; together they plan a life after the war. This is a remarkable story of the war in terms of people who lived it.