*Throughout 2024, the “Publication of Note” portion of the newsletter will highlight some of the director’s favorite primary sources relevant to the Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley published prior to 1940.
In the Civil War’s aftermath, Mason Whiting Tyler’s family and friends frequently implored him “to put into some permanent form the story” of his “experience in the great Civil War.” Tyler, who rose to the rank of brevet colonel in the 37th Massachusetts Infantry, eventually acquiesced and pulled together his recollections in the final years of his life. Unfortunately, Tyler was unable to complete his work prior to his death in 1907. Nonetheless, he completed a significant portion of it and his son, William, edited the manuscript and submitted it for publication to G.P. Putnam’s Sons. The press released the book five years after Tyler’s death.
This volume, which traces Tyler’s wartime experiences from the moment of his enlistment in the summer of 1862 through the conflict’s end in the spring of 1865, contains a significant amount of diary entries and letters. For students of the conflict in the Shenandoah Valley, Tyler’s “Recollections” is quite significant. Tyler’s volume provides important insight into the aftermath of the Battle of Cool Spring and Sheridan’s 1864 Shenandoah Campaign. While Tyler’s “Recollections” offers much insight into the battles in which the 37th Massachusetts fought, its value extends far beyond the battlefield. Excerpts from Tyler’s diaries and letters reveal much about the experiences of civilians in the Northern Shenandoah Valley during Sheridan’s campaign and what soldiers thought about waging war on civilians.
While no longer in print (copies are still available on the antique book market), Tyler’s “Recollections” is digitized and accessible via Google Books.
