Their Patriotic Duty
The Civil War Letters of the Evans Family of Brown County, Ohio
Edited by Robert Eng and Corey Brooks, 2007

As the subtitle says, this book collects letters written by a soldier in the 70th Ohio, along with letters that his father, siblings, cousins, and friends sent to him. There are about 250 leters, with 100 being from Samuel Evans to the folks back home, 90 from Sam's father to Sam, and another 60 from other folks to Sam.

Samuel Evans was 30 years old when he joined the 70th OVI shortly before the regiment fought at Shiloh. Later Evans became an officer for a USCT regiment. He saved the letters he received in the field and asked men who were returning home on furlough to carry them back for safekeeping.

Brown County, Ohio, on the Ohio River just across from Kentucky and home of the town of Ripley, is known today as an important link in the Underground Railroad. But during the war it was also a hotbed of Copperheads and followers of Clement Valandingham. For the most part, the Evans family was pro-Union and anti-slavery, but not necessarily pro-emancipation. The family's letters clearly show the the way their feelings and opinions shift as the war progresses and as Sam turns to duty with the USCT.

This book is also an excellent resource for anyone who wants to "write 1860," as the correspondents "take pen in hand to write a few lines" and report that everyone is "well as common," except when an epidemic of measles sweeps through the community.  

--Last edited by 90thOHCoG on 2008-03-16 15:03:26 --