In as fine a post I’ve ever seen on the tragedy of the Civil War, Damian Shiels reminds us of what the supreme sacrifice meant. Read it.
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Crossroads 
Beautiful story. Thanks for sharing. Letters/stories such as this bring the Civil War home to me in a way that no other discussions/conversations possibly can. Poignant and moving. Much more so, I believe, than “Who was the best/worst general?” or “Was secession legal/illegal?” or “What about that darn tariff?” I believe I have written you before to mention that I visited Shiloh some years ago and followed the steps of my g-g-uncle, Conrad Meinert, who fought there with the 46th Illinois. Such makes it personal.
Very moving…
Kristen Schroeder Konate 804.447.5119
Sent from my iPad 3
Damian Shiels does a great job from thousands of miles away from the nearest Civil War battlefield.
The coast of Cherbourg isn’t that far away. 🙂
Slipped my mind. 🙂
Stunning and incredibly moving.
Hi Brooks,
Many thanks (both for reading the post and for sharing it) I really appreciate it. It is an extremely powerful letter. William Duffie clearly went to a lot of trouble with it- he is a man I would love to find out more about.
Quite right about Cherbourg too- one of the Kearsarge’s Medal of Honor recipients Michael Ahern was illegally recruited only a few kilometres away from where I am sitting!
Kind Regards,
Damian.
For anyone who has not read it, Damian’s blog Irish in the American Civil War presents excellent research on the subject.