Letters From Our Soldiers

Since the first Company was organized in Polk county, and went away to the war, the Register has contained between fifty and one hundred letters written by our Des Moines and Polk county soldiers. In most instances, these letters were published just as they were written; and in every other instance, the changes made were of the highest character. We have made it a point to preserve, as far as practicable, the precise phraseology of the writer. These letters – every one of them – show intelligence of a high order. They will do to keep. They form a part of the history of the great Rebellion. How strikingly they contrast with the awkward, misspelled, mispunctuated letters which are occasionally picked up in Secesh camps! Take the Daily Registers, for instance, of last Tuesday and Wednesday, containing letters from Lieutenant Godfrey, John Lynde, Mancel Goodrell, Captain N. W. Mills, Colonel Crocker, etc. When it is understood that every one of these letters was written in haste, and not one of them intended form publication, the literary finish of the task is remarkable. The Letter from W. E. Houston also showed much ability.

– Published in the Daily State Register, Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday, April 24, 1862