A common practice during the American Civil War was to print, in hometown newspapers, letters written home by soldiers. This collection of Mercer County, Illinois, letters are a great cross-section of the types of letters that enthralled and encouraged the folks back home.Sometimes the letters were written directly to the editor, in this case, of the Aledo Weekly Record. The letters were written by soldiers who could barely spell (and the spelling is retained in this book) and also by educated officers, including a brevet brigadier general.Included is a letter from Edman Spangler, an accused conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Spangler was sentenced to prison on the Dry Tortugas and later died of consumption.The soldiers remark on the mundane, the horrible, and the latest items in the news, including the president's death.Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever.For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.