Letters from Lee's army, or, Memoirs of life in and out of the army in Virginia during the War Between the States

by Susan Leigh Blackford

Charles Minor Blackford was a Virginia aristocrat who fought for the Confederacy as much out of obligation to his class and region as for political reasons. Letters from Lee's Army presents the correspondence between Captain Blackford and his wife, Susan Leigh Blackford, during the war. While Captain Blackford writes of the rigors of campaigning, the dramatically bad food, the constant dysentery, the cold and wet, we see the stoic Susan Blackford gradually relying less and less on her husband to make decisions. During the course of the war Susan Blackford lost her home, three children, and her belongings to the struggle, all without the camaraderie and sustaining sense of purpose known to the soldier. These letters emphasize the stresses that war and separation can place on a marriage. Publisher.