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7 I Sincerely Wish You Could Make Up Your Mind to Come Here april 1865 to september 1865 Lizzie’s patience was sorely tried by April 1865.With Richmond now in Union hands and Confederate general Robert E. Lee and other generals surrendering, she expected Madison to return home with other soldiers. Even as the war wound down,Madison made no move to muster out,and Lizzie wrote,“I do not think by your letter that you are thinking much about coming home, since you have taken so much pains to get a black Regt organized.” Madison’s recruiting eJorts had finally paid oJ,and he was appointed major in the 113th U.S.Colored Infantry in April 1865. Unlike his earlier letters, however, Madison did not explain his decision to remain in the army as one of duty to country.Now,Madison saw the army as a place where he could earn money to support his family and save money. Lizzie’s letter of June 2 opens with an explanation of a previous letter written when she had “a terrible fit of the blues.”Next comes mention of the weather, and local gossip fills the remainder.Buried in this letter is Lizzie’s concession to join Madison in Little Rock that fall.After six months of intense pleading and teasing on both their parts—and over three years of Lizzie’s wistful comments that Madison return home—one might expect Lizzie’s decision to set the tone of her letter, for her to have started with her decision, rather than embedding it within news of other people. But perhaps it does begin the letter. If Lizzie had the blues when she wrote her previous letter,it might have been about her loneliness , herworry forVictoria and her mother if she took her daughter south with her, her anxiety about summer sickness in a warmer climate, and her fear that she and Madison andVictoria might not return to Minnesota and her family.She was making a diIcult decision,and this gave her the “blues.” For his part,Madison wrote the next day in a similar state of mind.Unaware of Lizzie’s decision,Madison expressed his unhappiness over his lack of authority in their marriage.If Lizzie would not agree to join him in Little Rock,he had 286   failed her as a man and as a husband.Even though he was a major in the Union army,he could not command his wife,and he saw this as a flaw in his masculinity , not as a flaw in her femininity.1 It is in this letter that we read Madison at his most vulnerable. Once he received her letter, however, Madison resumed his composure and remarked with some impatience,“I just want you to make up your mind to come here;then we can talk.” But making that decision and carrying out her plans to move to Arkansas were two diJerent matters, and Lizzie would not be rushed. * * * April 5th, 1865. Dear Lizzie: . . . That consolidation which I referred to in a former letter, has come oJ. My Regiment is now the 113th U.S.Colored Infantry.The new oIcers have not yet received their commissions, but have been nominated by Gen. Reynolds, and assigned to duty as such.I am on duty as major.It makes the finest colored Regiment in the Department.We have an excellent Band of Martial Music.Wish you could hear it play.The Brigade to which we belong forms the Garrison of Little Rock, and belongs to the 1st Division, 7th Army Corps. Brevet Brig. Genl. J M Williams,col of the 79th,commands.Gen.Solomon commands the Division and post of Little Rock. . . .2 Ever your loving, Madison. Nininger Minn April 9th 1865 My Dear Madison . . . I do not think by your letter that you are thinking much about coming home, since you have taken so much pains to get a black Regt organized. But never mind.I am in hopes it will not be many months before there will not be so many soldiers needed as there now is.The fall of Richmond was hailed with great joy Make Up Your Mind 287 1. StephenW.Berry II,although focusing on Southern men,captures the connection between men’s conception of themselves and women’s regard that Madison expresses. Berry writes,“The woman,once acquired,would sustain and bearwitness to the male becoming ; the male would in turn reconceive his becoming as a tribute...

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