Between Home and the Front: Civil War Letters of the Walters Family

The personal letters of Americans during the Civil War preserve first-person accounts of the trials and tribulations of this significant period in the nation's history. These records of news, people, and emotions humanize the horrific events of the Civil War and provide unique insights into the conflict's effects on individuals, families, communities, and America. Often, only the letters sent home survived, leaving half of the story missing, but the Walters family's letters in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum includes the exchange of correspondence between the home front and front line, a perspective not often seen in published anthologies.

My Dear Companion gives us a glimpse into the poignant questions, answers, and sentiments Private David Walters of the 5th Indiana Calvary and his wife Rachel shared in their correspondence. The letters from David give details about some of the lesser-known actions of the Western theater of combat, such as Morgan's Raid. The letters by Rachel Walters at home show how she became the hub of communication for the family, often receiving missives from David's brothers, Isaac and John Wesley, both of whom served with Indiana units, and relaying the information to others. In order to gather more information about her husband, Rachel Walters turns to letter writing, including seeking assistance from Clara Barton's Missing Soldiers Office. Through her post-war correspondence with veterans, Rachel gathers the proof necessary for her and her young son to secure a much-needed survivor's pension.

From the early letters describing a Civil War soldier's enlistment to his widow's struggle in the aftermath of the war, the letters of the Walters family add incomparable details to the study of the Civil War. Lynn Heidelbaugh and Thomas Paone of the Smithsonian Institution meticulously and lovingly transcribe and annotate the letters, providing valuable historical context of the events, people, and material culture described in the letters.