by Rachel E. Mellen and David Powell, editors
El Dorado Hilla, Ca.: Savas Beatie, 2025. Pp. x, 278.
Illus., maps, stemma, notes, biblio., index. $24.95. ISBN:1611217407
A Fascinating Collection of Letters from a Soldier
The letters in From Camp David Douglas to Vicksburg were first researched by co-editor, Rachel Mellen over thirty years ago. Kennedy, the great-great-great-grandfather of her husband Robert, served in the 55th Illinois Infantry from 1861-1863, until his mortal wounding on May 22, 1863. His original letters reside in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Archives in Springfield, Illinois and had been acquired from the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago in 1965. She found most of them had never been read before.
These letters offer an exceptional view of the war from William Kennedy’s personal experiences, reflecting his fears and prejudices, and offer a soldier’s ground-level perspective on war and life in mid-nineteenth century America, with “insight into the inner workings of the 55th Illinois Infantry as well as a touching sense of family life including the problems with money, the importance of letters from home.” (p. ix)
Most of the original letters are hard to read, but Mellen transcribed all of them. Most of the letters are addressed to his wife but a few are addressed to Kennedy’s mother and some to friends as well.
The editors have grouped the letters into ten chapters, each with a particular theme,
- From LaSalle to Camp David.
- Into the Unknown.
- From Paducah to Corinth.
- From Shiloh to Corinth.
- Memphis: A City Under Occupations.
- More Occupation Duty.
- Memphis to Vicksburg.
- Chickasaw Bayou to Arkansas Post.
- Vicksburg.
- Stuart’s Farewell and Final Taps.
In putting the book together, Mellen and Powell made several important observations. Kennedy, a Republican, joined the army to save the union, not to free the slaves, though he “sympathized with their plight.” (p. 97)
Kennedy died in Memphis, Tennessee. His remains were not found by his family. His death greatly affected his wife Jane, one of tens of thousands of widows left by the war, and she wrote a series of poems mourning his passing, including “My Husband’s Grave.”
Offering a fascinating collection of letters on the American Civil War and the Western Theater, this reviewer highly recommends this work.
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Our Reviewer: David Marshall has been a high school American history teacher in the Miami-Dade School district for more than three decades. A life-long Civil War enthusiast, David is president of the Miami Civil War Round Table Book Club. In addition to numerous reviews in Civil War News and other publications, he has given presentations to Civil War Round Tables on Joshua Chamberlain, Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the common soldier. His previous reviews here include, The Cassville Affairs, Holding Charleston by the Bridle, The Maps of Second Bull Run, Hell by the Acre, Chorus of the Union, Digging All Night and Fighting All Day, The Confederate Resurgence of 1864, Building a House Divided, Feeding Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, A Grand Opening Squandered, “No One Wants to be the Last to Die”, A Campaign of Giants, The Battle for Petersburg, Vol. 2, The Sixth Wisconsin and the Long Civil War, Gettysburg: The Tide Turns, The Second Manassas Campaign, and Fighting for Philadelphia: Forts Mercer and Mifflin, the Battle of Whitemarsh, and the Road to Valley Forge, Exceptionalism in Crisis, and The 14th New York State Militia in the Civil War, Volume 1.
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Note: From Camp David Douglas to Vicksburg is also available in e-editions.
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