Did Civil War Soldiers Hide the Real War?- CWI Summer Conference 2024 

Good job very interesting. Very clinical. What this shows is that despite the differences in period sensibilities the people of this era where the same as us. Writing a letter of a different tone to a mother as compared to a father is human nature. Different educational or economic backgrounds will have letters that are worded differently. Soldiers writing to soldiers are going to be different to letters to parents. As a former soldier I can tell you that is no surprise 😂. I would argue that censoring the horrors of war is no different either. You won’t see mangled bodies on the evening news today and civilians general don’t want to see this. Combat PTSD care is still a huge problem now despite the thought that we understand it better. There are many graphic accounts of the civil war if you look. I remember “Gone for a Soldier” by Alfred Bellard where he describes men killed by shell fragments in the 7 days campaign with their heads sliced up one as if with a knife and includes a color sketch of what he saw.

The part on letter-writing discrepancies beginning around 16 minutes was very illuminating and insightful on the part of the speakers (starting with the two ladies, forget their names). Moreover this applies to other differences than writing separate letters to a mother and father - every different recipient will get a different "voice", or viewpoint (letters to the father and male friends back home seem the most honest). Took me awhile to appreciate such nuances when sifting through the sands of history. The line about mastur**tion had me howling 😆 Also the matter of elapsed time from a traumatic event at :26 was very prescient. Well done.