Chuck Roots
29 MAY 2017
www.chuckroots.com
A Soldier’s Reflections
Memorial
Day is now passed. As Americans, we celebrate this special day each May
acknowledging the sacrifice of patriots who placed their lives in harm’s way so
you and I could live in peace and freedom.
So, all of
this attention on the price of freedom and the visit to a special Memorial Day
service at a local cemetery got me to thinking. Browsing through my shelves of books
on the Civil War, I ran across one particular volume about Charles W. Sherman,
a soldier with the 12th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. The book is
the compilation of letters (160 in all) that Private Sherman wrote home to his
wife, Virtue, during his two years of military service. Entitled, Letters to
Virtue, the book is subtitled, A Civil War Journey of Courage, Faith, and Love.
Charles
Sherman is truly and American story! He was born in England in 1828,
immigrating to the United States in 1838 with his family. In 1848, Charles
married Virtue James, also an immigrant from England. They had five children.
He seems to have been something of a Jack-of-all-trades, working first as a
harness maker in Connecticut as recorded in the census of 1850, then as a
carpenter in Webster, Massachusetts in the census of 1860.
The Civil
War began in 1861, requiring men to leave their families and their vocations to
serve their country in order to preserve the Union. In January of 1862, at age
33, Charles Sherman enlisted in the 12th Connecticut. He must not
have had much of an education as his letters reflect poor spelling and grammar
usage. However, his ability to express what was important to him comes through
with clarity. You see, “Charles enlisted
because of his strong belief in the principles of his adopted country as well
as his firm opposition to slavery.”
It is a
fascinating journey to catch glimpses of a soldier’s life during the most arduous
of wartime challenges. His unit left Connecticut, traveling to Louisiana, then
to Virginia, before finally returning to Connecticut at war’s end. He is quick
to express his love for his wife and five children in each of his many letters.
His graphic descriptions of combat and its horrors are not enjoyable reading, but
he is frank and honest in his assessment of their conditions and the combat
they are frequently engaged in.
In his
last letter home, dated October 15, 1864, Cedar Creek, Virginia (The Battle of
Cedar Creek), he shares a thought that must have been troubling him for quite
some time. Describing preparations for battle, he writes, “It is not fear, but a sad feeling when you see the skirmishers deploy
into line, and the regiments unfold themselves into a line of battle.” He
further describes the cacophony of battle. “When
the thunder of the artillery comes upon you, you forget everything else and
look out for the shells that come screaming toward you, not that you can dodge
anything, but you want to see where they are coming from.”
He conveys
the relief in returning to camp, saying, “A
man feels better in going away from danger than in going to it.” I can
vouch for that!
But it was
this expressed thought that captured my attention, and his reluctant acceptance
of war’s horrific devastation, regardless of who wins and who loses. He wrote, “I do wish this cruel war would come to an
end, for this going about to kill one another has an unchristian look to me,
when you come to look at it in that light, but it has to be done, I suppose.”
On October
23, 1864, Sergeant Edward S. Larkum wrote a letter to Charles’ father. “Dear Sir, It devolves on me as a tentmate
of your son to line (write) the sad news of his death, which occurred in
terrible battle of the 19th of the present month. As a soldier, he
was much respected. He was courteous alike to everyone and there was not a man
in his regiment who did not respect him. He was killed in the foremost rank,
bravely fighting for his country which he thought so much of. . . . Any
information that I can give will be gladly attended to, and if I can be of any
benefit to you in any other way, willingly will my services be offered and
gladly will I pay the last tribute to him who was so brave and so kind.”
Corporal Charles
Sherman joined the ranks of the fallen, but whose shed blood has helped to
insure a future for all Americans, whether native born, or naturalized citizen.
God bless
America!
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