Publication of Note | December 2022
Mark Edwin Paul, ed. “A Company of Boys in Blue: The Civil War Through the Eyes of a Soldier” Williamsburg, WV: Mark Edwin Paul, 2011.
*Throughout 2022 the “Publication of Note” portion of the newsletter will highlight important collections of letters and primary documents relevant to the Civil War era in the Shenandoah Valley published by smaller publishing houses.
In the summer of 1862, Thomas J. Orr was among 300,000 men to answer President Abraham Lincoln’s call for 300,000 volunteers. Orr, a native of Ohio County, Virginia (later West Virginia), enlisted in Company D, 12th Virginia (later West Virginia) Infantry. From the moment of his enlistment, until the time the regiment mustered out of service in the spring of 1865, Orr wrote frequently to family at home.
This volume, compiled by Orr’s great-great grandson, is of significant value to those interested in the conflict in the Shenandoah Valley as the regiment spent the majority of its service in the Shenandoah. Orr’s letters prove useful for those studying not only military operations in the Valley, but for those seeking a deeper understanding of interactions between Union forces and civilians. Additionally, Orr’s letters offer important insight into what Union troops thought about the Emancipation Proclamation. For example, in a letter Orr penned from Winchester on Feb. 15, 1863, he offers thoughts about the “great many different opinions in regard to the presidents [sic] proclamation [sic].”
Anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the experiences of United States soldiers in communities such as Winchester, Martinsburg or Harpers Ferry will find much value in this volume.
