The Civil War Letters of Joseph Hopkins Twichell: A Chaplain's Story Book

In 1861 young Joseph Twichell cut short his seminary studies to become a Union Army chaplain in New York's Excelsior Brigade. A middle-class New England Protestant, Twichell served for three years in a regiment manned mostly by poor Irish American Catholics. This selection of Twichell's letters to his Connecticut family will rank him alongside the Civil War's most literate and insightful firsthand chroniclers of life on the road, in battle, and in camp. As a noncombatant, he at once observed and participated in the momentous events of the Peninsula and Wilderness Campaigns and at the Second Bull Run, as well as at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Spotsylvania.

Twichell writes about politics and slavery and the theological and cultural divide between him and his men. Most movingly, he tells of tending the helpless, burying the dead, and counseling the despondent. Alongside accounts of a run-in with slave hunters, a massive withdrawal of wounded soldiers from Richmond, and other extraordinary events, Twichell offers close-up views of his commanding officer, the "political general" Daniel Sickles, surely one of the most colorful and controversial leaders on either side.

Civil War scholars and enthusiasts will welcome this fresh voice from an underrepresented class of soldier, the army chaplain. Readers who know of Twichell's later life as a prominent minister and reformer or as Mark Twain's closest friend will appreciate these insights into his early, transforming experiences.

Publishers Weekly

Joseph Hopkins Twichell's religious education began in 1861, when he interrupted his theological education to volunteer as a Union army chaplain. A New England Congregationalist with a strong Puritan heritage, an abolitionist and an evangelist, a firm supporter of Abraham Lincoln, Twichell joined a regiment raised in New York City. He found his ministry there, among the group's Irish Catholic immigrants, unchurched native Americans and youths who enjoyed cards, liquor and women. Well edited and annotated, his letters home convey loneliness, fear and alienation. They also reflect a growing generosity of spirit and a developing courage in addressing the war's suffering. Twichell banked men's pay for them and provided newspapers as an alternative to strong drink. But he was more than an ecclesiastical morale officer. Twichell's initial horror of blood gave way to a "skill and handiness" that enabled him to serve as "both nurse and minister," regularly assisting in amputations at the front. When God's word alone did not suffice, "a small bottle of morphine," he found, proved "a good angel" for men in pain. Twichell's developing brand of practical Christianity served his congregation until the regiment was mustered out in 1864. His correspondence suggests that the 19th-century, too, had its greatest generation. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.