The Civil War Letters of the Late 1st Lieut. James J. Hartley, 122nd Ohio Infantry Regiment [Hardcover]

James J. Hartley (Author), Garber A. Davidson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1998 | ISBN-10: 0786405430 | ISBN-13: 978-0786405435

On August 15, 1862, 36-year-old James Jasper Hartley enlisted in the Union army in Guernsey County, Ohio. While serving nearly two years with Union troops as they fought their way toward Richmond, 36-year-old James Jasper Hartley wrote 89 letters to his wife Melissa back on the family farm. The poignancy of the letters-unpublished until now-comes from the fact that Hartley was an alert observer and a compassionate man with a sense of humor. He worried about worn out boots as well as the bullets of rebel sharpshooters; he was concerned about the state of his crops back on the farm and whether wife Melissa could get a good price for their old horse Bill. The letters provide direct glimpses of Hartley's life as a Union soldier, from his induction into the army to his brutal death in the disastrous battle of Cold Harbor, eight miles short of Richmond. Hartley's epistolary accounts make war not the abstract contest of debatable causes but the day-by-grubby-day coping of ordinary men caught in national chaos that destroyed homes, towns, farms, cities, industries, families, and the men themselves.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"interesting, often humorous, accounts of how it felt to be a soldier in the mid-nineteenth century...presents the true point of the Civil War: that this was a war fought by ordinary individuals" -- Film & History

"primary source material...useful" -- Crossfire

About the Author

Garber A. Davidson, James Hartley's great-grandson, spent 25 years with the Associated Press in Los Angeles; he died in early 1998 after completing this work.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 150 pages
• Publisher: Mcfarland & Co Inc Pub (August 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786405430
• ISBN-13: 978-0786405435
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,281,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars James J. Hartley's Civil War Letters...., October 22, 2010

By 

sandra blake (carlsbad, ca, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Civil War Letters of the Late 1st Lieut. James J. Hartley, 122nd Ohio Infantry Regiment (Hardcover)

This is a fascinating book that recounts Lt.James Hartley's Civil War experiences through his 89 letters.
My father, Garber Davidson,edited this book and was Hartley's great grandson. He initially titled the book, "My Dear Wife." An interesting excerpt from the book is on page 48. Upon seeing President Abraham Lincoln ride by on a horse, Hartley writes, "He's not a good looking man but still not near as homely as his pictures, that I saw before I saw him, represent him to be. " "This book is a valuable narrative depicting the day to day life of the 122nd Ohio Infantry through Hartley's Civil War letters to his wife, Melissa Hartley.