Well and Eager for the Fray

Letters from Northumberland County Soldiers to the Local Press during the Civil War, 1861–1865

In 1861, young men from Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, enthusiastically answered the call to war. From towns and farmlands along the Susquehanna River to the anthracite coal fields, they flocked to the national colors, ultimately serving in more than twenty different Pennsylvania regiments. Their service collectively spanned the entire length of the Civil War.
These soldiers had a story to tell. While most of them typically corresponded with family and friends, apprising loved ones of their well-being and recounting military adventures, many also wrote for a more public audience. Acting as impromptu field correspondents, they penned reports to hometown newspapers on a regular basis, keeping communities informed of their activities, conveying news about the fate of neighbors, and perhaps most importantly, providing relentless support for hometown morale. Above all else, they voiced unwavering belief in the just and righteous nature of the Union cause.

Little has been done to highlight the role of Civil War soldiers as war correspondents, yet a huge, untapped body of work remains hidden among the columns of period local newspapers, waiting to be discovered. Some of these soldiers even came from a journalism background, bringing a more professional perspective to their descriptions of the war.

With this book, author John P. Deeben assembles for the first time an anthology of soldier letters written specifically for publication in two local Northumberland County newspapers, the Sunbury Gazette and Sunbury American. The letters collectively bring to life the story that Northumberland County played in the Civil War.