Diary of Musician David Lane, August 27, 1863

Nicholasville, Ky. We are again enjoying the quiet of camp life. Our miniature tents are pitched in regular order, streets are policed and brigade guards posted to keep our unruly boys within bounds.

Colonel Luce, five line officers and twenty privates have gone home on furlough—others to Cincinnati on leave of absence. Everything indicates a period of rest. Our boys are trying to make up for their privations "down below." Nearly every tent presents the appearance of a market for the sale of fruit or vegetables.

Potatoes, peaches, apples, cabbages, onions, watermelons and green corn are piled in heaps or lie around loose throughout the camp. Then we have artists, too. Two Daguerian cars are running full blast, where the boys get indifferent pictures at one dollar each. I saw a great curiosity today—a relic of bygone ages. About a mile from camp there is a shop where the old-fashioned spinning wheel is manufactured on quite an extensive scale, and they find a ready sale. This is a fair index to the progress of the people. Their manners, forms of speech and customs all point to past ages. They are very loyal and very friendly when sober, but when filled with corn whiskey, hypocrisy and self-interest take a back seat, and they speak their real sentiments with a frankness and fluency that is not at all flattering to us "Yanks." From what I have seen, I conclude all Kentuckians drink whiskey. There are distilleries in every little town, where the "genuine article" is turned out. I called at a farm house one day for a drink of water. The good woman was catechising her son—a lad of ten or twelve years about ten cents she had given him with which to buy some little notion at the store. She gave me a drink of water, then, turning to the young hopeful, angrily inquired, "But where's that ten cents I gave you?" "I guv five cents to Bill." "Where's the other five?" "Bought my dram with it." The explanation appeared satisfactory.

SOURCE: David Lane, A Soldier's Diary: The Story of a Volunteer, 1862-1865, pp. 78-9

Lieutenant-Colonel William T. Lusk to Elizabeth Adams Lusk, July 28, 1863

Headquarters Del. Dept.

Wilmington, Del., July 28th, 1863.

My dear Mother:

That I have not written you more punctually, the enclosed carte-de-visite must be my excuse. At last I have fulfilled my promise, and I trust the result may prove satisfactory to you. The carte was promised last Thursday, but only furnished yesterday. “There's a twist to your nose” says the ingenuous artist, while taking his preliminary surveys. “Perhaps you fell down once, and injured it.” I answered mildly that I had no recollection of such a catastrophe. “Well,” he says, “it isn't straight anyway.” Then adding with a sigh, “There are very few things that are straight in this world.” I suppose that this philosophic photographer is right.

After all I am going to be present to-morrow at Horace's wedding. There really is so little doing, that I feel as though I could absent myself for a couple of days with propriety. The General says “All right,” so I shall go on to-night at 11:30. You have not written whether it is your intention to be present. It would be a great pleasure to me if I should find you among the guests. Never mind, Fall is near at hand, and my stay in the army is hastening to an end. I have much leisure time to read, and as it is long since I have had such an opportunity, I am indulging myself in books with a vengeance. My previous visit to New-York was merely to vary a little the monotony of Wilmington life, by the excitement of the mob-rule then prevailing in the former city. I there met Charley Dodge, who was serving as Chief of Cavalry on Gen. Wool's staff. Charley contrived to give me some little employment, but all I did was not much in amount.

I dined a few days ago at ———'s. ——— is a capital good fellow, but painfully lazy and objectless. Much attention and kindness has been shown us since we have been here by the Union people. Unionism means something in a slave state. The most violent secessionists would not venture to express half the disloyal sentiments that one hears from pretty good Union people in Connecticut. The Union people here, from their position, are forced to take such strong ground as to make the sentiment of New England seem cold by comparison. Much love.

Most affec'y.,

Will.

SOURCE: William Chittenden Lusk, Editor, War Letters of William Thompson Lusk, p. 291-2

In The Review Queue: Silent Witness

Silent Witness: The Civil War through

Photography and its Photographers

By Ron Field

The Civil War changed America forever. It shaped its future and determined its place in history. For the first time in military history, the camera was there to record these seismic events, from innovations in military and naval warfare, to the battles themselves; from commanders at critical moments in the battle, to the ordinary soldier tentatively posing for his first ever portrait on the eve of battle.

Displaying many rare images unearthed by the author, an acclaimed Civil War historian, this beautiful volume explores how the camera bore witness to the dramatic events of the Civil War. It reveals not only how the first photographers plied their trade, but also how photography helped shape the outcome of the war and how it was reported to anxious families across the North and South.

About the Author

Ron Field is an internationally acknowledged expert on US military history. Awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 1982, he taught History at Piedmont High School in California in 1982–83, and was Head of History at the Cotswold School in Bourton-on-the-Water in the UK until his retirement in 2007. In 2005 he was elected a Fellow of the Company of Military Historians, based in Washington, DC, and was awarded its Emerson Writing Award in 2013. In 2015 he became senior editor of Military Images magazine, devoted to the American military image of the nineteenth century. In 2014–2015 he also advised on the Confederate uniforms worn in the Civil War film Free State of Jones. He lives in the UK.

ISBN 978-1472822765, Osprey Publishing, © 2017, Hardcover, 328 pages, Maps, Photographs & Illustrations, Glossary, Notes & Bibliography, Index. $35.00.  To purchase this book click HERE.