I’m doing something a little different this week since today is Valentine’s Day.
I’ve always been intrigued by love letters — especially those I discovered while doing research for my novel Shades of Gray. Eloquently written letters were part of Victorian era courtship, and continued even after a couple’s marriage.
Sorry for the advertisement, but I enjoyed the letters I ran across so much that I gathered them up in a book called From The Heart: Love Letters and Stories From The Civil War.
(The ebook is only $2.99 for Valentine’s Day).
Text-messaging has unfortunately taken over as the number one way to communicate, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn something from the beautiful and elegant writings of the past.
Letters written during the Civil War often contained accounts of battles, life in camp, and general news, but many—even the ones penned by historical figures that we think of as strong, unemotional, and intrepid—are sweet, poignant, and heartfelt missives to their loved ones at home.
You would not expect to hear sweet murmurings of love from some of the most renowned soldiers to come out of the war—warriors with names like J.E.B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson and George Pickett, to name a few.
But these men were so romantic it will make you swoon. For instance, here is a short note from General Stonewall Jackson to his wife Anna.
Sept. 25, 1862
Darling, my heart turns to you with a love so great that pain flows in its wake. You cannot understand this, my beautiful, bright-eyed, sunny-hearted princess. Your face is the sweetest face in all the world, mirroring, as it does, all that is pure and unselfish, and I must not cast a shadow over it by the fears that come to me, in spite of myself. No, a soldier should not know fear of any kind. I must fight and plan and hope, and you must pray. Pray for a realization of all our beautiful dreams, sitting beside our own hearthstone in our own home—you and I, you my goddess of devotion, and I your devoted slave. May God in his mercy spare my life and make it worthy of you!…
Your soldier
Unfortunately, Jackson was accidentally shot by his own men on May 2, 1863, and died eight days later.
His last words were:
“Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.”
I hope you all have a wonderful and romantic Valentine’s Day!