This Terrible Conflict of the American People: The Civil War Letters of Thaddeus Minshall

This Terrible Conflict of the American People": Tbe Civil Wal'Letters of Thaddeus Minsball EDITED BY LISA M. BRADY ewofuswouldrelishourprivatecorrespondencebeingmadepublic,and Thaddeus Minshall of Chillicothe,Ohio,was no exceptic,n. In a letter tc, a friend in 1862, Minshall wrote: " Esteemed Frieiid,With much trepidation I bring inyself to the task ot writing you a letten This may seem a strange introduction fc, r a letter froiii a friend. But I ha\ e in view that terrible draiver into which it may be dropped, and produced in judgement Isicl against me in after years. The publicatic, n of his Civil War letters nearly a centur>and a half after their writing is notintelided to elicit judgment against Minshall, but rather to serve a purpose that he himself might judge appropriate and worthwhile. Captain Thaddeus Armstrong Minshall of the 33rd Ohio Vo unteer Intantry wl-(} te e loquent, insightful, and descriptive letters that were at times profoundly serious, at others , humor() us and lighthearted . Through these letters, Minshall bequeathed to posterity tiot the means by which to judge him, but instead an opportunity to understand the complexity of a culture and society that made terrible war upc, n itself. Captain Minshall served with the 33rd Ohio from September 1861 through the end of the Civil War,when he mustered out as acting colonel at the age The editor wishes tc, thank I) r. Mai·k Wetheringt n. ]. 1 nies Hc)linberg, . ind the staff of The FiIsc)! i Misti,rical Society fc,r their assist. 111ce. The description for the letters iii the ilinshall collectic,n can be accessed at http:// www.filsonhistc,rical.org SPRING 2004 The battle of Perryville, Kentticky,fought Oct(} ber 8, 1862. Sketcbed by Mr. H. Moster. Harper's Weekly.November 1, 1862. Tbe Filson Historical Society 1 A t. 1 3 THIS TERRIBLE CONFLICT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE" of 31. His unit distinguished itself early in the war at such critical battles as Perryvilie, Kentucky,and Stones River in Tennessee. He and his men took part as well in the bloodbath at Georgia's Chickamauga Creek,the capture of Chattanooga,Tennessee,and the destruction of Atlanta, Georgia. The regiment then joined in William T. Sherman' s famous " March to the Sea"and fought in the ensuing Carolinas campaign,ending its service with the surrender of Confederate General Joseph Johnston at Durham Station,North Carolina, mustering out on July 12, 1865, in Louisville, Kentucky. For its continuous service and participation in some of the fiercest battles of the war,the 33rd Ohio ranked in William E Fox's postwar compendium among the federal army' s top three hundred fighting regiments. inshall survived the war,returned to his law practice in Chillicothe, and in 1873 married Julia E. Pearson. His election as judge of the court of common pleas in 1876 initiated a quartercentury of public service, which culminated in his election to the Ohio Supreme Court in 1885. Indeed, between 1889 and 1902,Judge Minshall served as chief Justice of the state's highest court for three terms, during which he wrote opinions that were " models of brevity and conciseness,and bear evidence of learning, careful thought,and stt dy." Like his legal opinions, Minshall 's Civil War correspondence reflects his education and keen sense of observation. He recorded not only the tangible, but also the philosophical character of the conflict.+ Minshall covered p. a wide range of topics, including the contents of his mess kit, the landscapes he marched through, national and international politics, and the propriety of courtship. He displayed in his letters a p assionate loyalty to the Union and bemoaned the war' s destruction of the " fair Landing of 0610 troops face of nature, yet all the while he deferred to his female correspondent's at Louisville,Kentucky sens bil ties,apologizing when his letters strayed from subjects appropriate for Sketched by My.H. Moster a " true woman."' As such, the letters reveal much about prevailing gender Harper's Weekly,lanuary 11, 1862 The Filson norms for the period. Historical Society Indeed, in that respect Minshall's letters are an historian' s dream,containing not only beautiful prose and a goldmine of...