Letters from the Front: A Glimpse of a Civil War Soldier

While examining the correspondence, history concentrator Chris Elias '06 found value even in the ordinary.

by Deborah Goldstein

While most young adults these days communicate by text message, IMs, and e-mail, Chris Elias '06 (below) relishes writing letters. He also enjoys reading them - an interest put to use when Elias became the first person ever to study the personal letters of Civil War soldier G.W. Buntly.

Relatively unknown in the annals of American history, Buntly was an ordinary soldier who went to battle for the Confederacy in 1862. His letters are among the 60,000 historical documents archived in the Gilder Lehrman collection at Columbia University. Elias was given access to that vault of documents as one of fifteen students in the country selected as a 2005 Gilder Lehrman History Scholar last summer.

For six weeks, Elias pored over fifteen letters written by Buntly over a two-year period. They were all addressed to the soldier's younger brothers, still living at home in the mountains of Tennessee.

What struck Elias was the simplicity of Buntly's words.

"I went in wanting to read something in the letters about slavery or states' rights, since he was fighting for the South," Elias said. "But most of the time, Buntly mentioned everyday things and everyday challenges."

He wrote about concerns for his family and often urged his brothers to send newspapers and more mail with updates from the home front.

Some of Buntly's words particularly resonated with Elias.

"There were about three letters in which he pleaded with his family to send a hat, because the sun was really bothering him," Elias recalled. "It was so average, so immediate. It became very easy to imagine myself in his position."

Specific names and places mentioned by Buntly led Elias to contact the Historical Society in Lincoln County, Tennessee, for more information about the soldier's family.

He found just what he was looking for. The historical society sent Elias entries from the front of the Buntly family Bible. One of the last things written in the book was that the eldest brother, G.W. Buntly, was killed in action in spring of 1864 while defending Atlanta from General William Sherman's troops.

"I had no idea what happened to him until I read that. It was jarring."

At the end of the session, Elias, who is concentrating in history, compiled a pamphlet about the soldier's war experiences. His materials may be used by history teachers in Buntly's home state of Tennessee to "help humanize the Civil War" for students. The pamphlet is also being considered for use at the new Gettysburg Museum and Visitor's Center, slated to open in fall 2007.

And how did the experience change the way Elias writes his own letters? Now, he says, he's always sure to date the pages and, most importantly, make sure his handwriting is legible.